11 lb brisket on at 12:15 pm.


 
C

Craig Castille

TVWBB Wizard
Went to sam's this morning about 11 am, and saw choice briskets for 1.48 lb.

Being the brisket addict that I am, I snapped it up, canceled my other errand and went home to change dinner plans for a lazy sunday afternoon.

Got home at 11:45.

Topped off the ring with some fresh lump, loaded the chimney full, and lit it.

Went inside and made the paste, lightly trimmed the point cavity, and salted the brisket.

Went back outside, dumped the lit onto the unlit, added cherry and pecan chunks and went back inside.

Applied the paste, seasoned the surface of the brisket.

Assembled the cooker, put the brisket on, and removed the door.

Let temps rise to 400, and put the door on upside down, and wedged about a half inch open.

Reached temps at 12:15.

Will be eating by 5:30.

Try it some time.
 
Yummy! I can only dream. Driving today.

Cooking at ~325-350 lid? What sort of paste and rub did you make this time?
 
Onion, garlic, pickled jalapeno's, steak dust, dijon, and a couple of splashes of Jack Daniels.

Never added the booze before, but what the heck.

Happy trails.

PS- yeah lid temps are about 350.
 
Craig,

I did a high heat 10.45lb brisket a few weeks ago in 3 1/2 hours. It was awesome!!, it's my new prefered method.
 
Well done.

I am struggling a bit today, as the wind came up out of nowhere acouple of hours ago.

Temps running around 300-310 lid.

Might take just a little longer today.
 
I was just about to get a similar thread going. I have the coals heating up now, and Im about to throw on a 13 lb brisket for a high temp. I didn't really consider leaving the door off, or doing the upside down thing before, simply because I haven't tried it yet.

Maybe I should though, cause the fog and wind has rolled in, and I dont want to have to chase temps all day.

And just for sake of simplicity, being this is my first attempted hi temp, I am going to leave it on till done, no foil. Hopefully my bark will be better.

This brisket has been wet aging for about 4 weeks now, and it feels extremely tender.
 
So about 40 minutes into the start up, my temps shot to 400, with the door flipped upside down, and open about an inch or so. It wont allow for much adjustment. So I returned the door to its normal location, and am hoping for the best.

I have been thinking, there is no way to prevent the wood chunks from igniting and creating alot of heavy smoke, at these temps. I dont think throwing soaked chips on a fire this hot will do much. But I am only guessing, I haven't played around with this method before. Hopefully if all goes right, I can post some pictures. Im sick of tough, dry brisket.
 
Temps have settled in, at about 350,which is fine with me.

By the way, this is also my first attempt using Wellinghams' marinades and rubs. I like the smell of the rub. It seems to have some sort of lemon peel or citrus component to it. Both it and the marinade have an aroma similar to A-1 sauce. I docked the brisket well before putting on the marinade and rub last night. It has been marinading for about 14 hours.


Anybody else have an opinion on either of these products?
 
Wow, it cooks up quick! The meat went on right before 2 pm, and its just now 6 pm, and it has already been above 190. I know the temps are a bit too high, its been steady at 350 the whole time.

I checked to see how tender it was, and it was still pretty tough at 198 on the thermapen.I checked it in a few places on the flat. So its going to have to sit on there for a bit.
 
The internal temp of a high heat brisket only means that it's that hot in there--it has nothing to do with a doneness indication whatsoever. (It doesn't--really--in low/slow cooks either.)

Lack of foil in a high heat cook of a tough cut can work--but it can also present problems. Because the time is extended due to the lack of foil, evaporative pressure on the moisture in the meat is greater. This leaves the results almost totally dependent on the actual cut itself--its marbling, internal soft fat deposits, external fat, and so forth. Foil is the great equalizer in this regard.
 
Tom I personally don't temp brisket. As Kevin says it can the internal doesn't have much to do with when it's tender. Once I can put a fork in the brisket and give it a bit of a turn and then take it out clean. I feel it's done.

Clark
 
If it is not yet tender then no it is not too late. The problem is knowing when next to check it for tenderness. My suggestion would be to foil (wrapping in a way that allows you to open the foil easily), cooking another 20 min, then checking for tender. If you are used to the way brisket feels then when you first check it and should it not be tender yet, you should get a sense of the time left. If you're not used to it or if unsure (and if not yet done), close the foil and go another 20-30 min and check again--and so forth, therafter. These relatively short chunks of time should allow you to catch tender whenever it occurs.
 
Thank you Kevin. I will run out now and do that. I did check it at 208 and it was alot better than it was a half hour ago.I just dont want to dry it out cooking it too long, or Im just going to shoot myself in the foot.
 
Here's hoping it didn't go too long unfoiled!

I foil because a) it shortens the cook (along with the higher cooktemp), b) it does reduce the problems that can occur due to evaporation, and c) it really does 'equalize' brisket grades. I buy no-roll briskets (meaning they are ungraded). Though I can be a pretty good judge of the likely grade, it is somewhat of a crapshoot. Foil helps immeasurably with that--letting me not wonder about it at all.
 
When you say " the problems that can occur due to evaporation" do you mean drying out? Or does it mess with the finish time or internal temps?

I think Im going to pull it in the next ten minutes or so. It feels better than any brisket I have done before, but that isn't saying much.
 
The former: drying out. Higher heat accelerates evaporation. Because we cook tough meats to tender, as opposed to more tender meats we cook to 'medium-rare' or whatever, cooking tough meats is a process (a battle?) to cook them long enough so that the rendering necessary for the meat to become tender can occur, but not so long that excessive moisture loss occurs. (This is why too low on the low/slow front can be a problem...). Foiling protects the meat during the accelerated process of a high heat cook and forces rendering to occur in a shorter timeframe and more evenly.
 
So all said and done, I am happy how it turned out. It is ten times more tender than any brisket I have ever had, and is slightly less dry than them as well. I think I will foil them earlier like you mentioned before.

The taste is wonderful, the seasoning is worked thru the whole flat. The brisket has a good smokiness, but the smoke ring is not very prominent.

All in all, I am finally getting better at it.

Thanks again Kevin and all, for the advice.
 
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