Smoking two briskets on Weber 18 Smokey Mountaim


 

RBerr

New member
I am going to be smoking two briskets on my 18 inch weber smokey mountain (10-12 lb each). I have a couple of questions that I would appreciate some advice.

1) I know every cook is different but when you cook two briskets vs. one change the cooking time significantly?
2) If I have a brisket on each rack and I am using a temperature probe, do I put it in the one on the lower and the upper rack?
3) Do I need to switch them between the racks midway through?


Any extra advice on two vs. one, I would be most appreciative.

Thanks in advance for all the help.
Rich
 
Keeping in mind that no two pieces of meat will cook at the same rate I would probably put the larger one on the top rack since it will tend to be warmer. I do not think the time will be significantly longer. It will be important to monitor both pieces of meat so I would probably put the probe in the top piece but only use it to tell me when the temps are getting close not as the definitive indicator.
Basically keep an eye on both pieces and things should be fine.
 
I’d probably shuffle them halfway through, 20-24 will likely trim down to 16-20 cooking pounds so, you’re looking at either a very early start or an overnight. Probe the top one, is my thought,then you can change it out halfway through, the top will be hotter than the bottom but, it should not be too tough to end up with a nice feast!
 
Ok so I did the two briskets for the Jewish New Year. One was about 10.5 lbs and One was slightly over 12. Put the smaller one on the bottom. Both were fat side up. Did not change racks. smaller one came off at 11 hours and the second at 12.5 hours when my wife and I agreed that the probe was going in and out like butter. Temp was about 193-194 in each brisket when I pulled each one off. Had them both in the cooler wrapped and with towels for a number of hours. Used hickory wood (About six pieces).

Some observations:

1) Came out very tasty.
2) When I made the single one earlier in the summer, it was fork tender. These were pretty tender but not as moist or fork tender.
3) The smaller one which was on the lower rack has a little bit of inconsistencies on the ends. When we did the first few slices, the bottom of the brisket was hard and crumbly but the top was fine. By the fourth of fifth slice, it was fine though. The larger brisket did not have that issue.
4) The temperature was definitely bouncing around more this time. When I did the single brisket, I was able to get the temperature to stick at 238 from about 2am to 6am. For the cook with the two briskets, I happened to wake up at 430am and the temp had dropped from about 240 to about 210.

Overall, I was pretty happy (others kept going back for more so I think they seem to enjoy it) and if I had to rate it, I would rate it an 8 out of 10 which I think it is pretty good considering this was only the second time I cooked brisket and the first time I did two at once.

Any suggestions on what I should do to avoid the issue on the brisket on the lower rack would be appreciated. (Trying to make really good brisket into the awesome brisket)

Thanks,
Rich
 

 

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