1st time Brisket Questiions

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Hey All,

How's it going??? I have a standard Weber charcoal grill and and a 4.5 pound brisket that I am plannig to cook up. Its my first time doing a brisket and I'm looking for some tried and true methods that I can use to get me on my way.

I've never done anything like this and as I understand I gotta go the slow route and smoke the meat, but I really dont know how to accomplish this.

I would really appreciate any insight you all can provide. Thanks in advance!!!


Wade
 
By standard grill, I'm assuming you mean a kettle. To cook low/slow in a kettle can be a challenge, but it can be done. You need to set up for indirect cooking. Fill your charcaol basket and then remove 6 from each. Light the 12 seperately and then put 1/2 on the top of the briqs in each basket. Put a drip pan between the baskets and fill with tap water. Put the meat on the grill over the water filled drip pan Put some type of therm through the top vent in the kettle. Leave the bottom vent in the kettle open till your lid temp approaches 200 and then begin to close it. The goal will be to attain and hold a temp in the range of 240 to 265 or so. It will require attention - that's why we have WSMs. You'll need to add a few coals along, probably and replenish your water. The water is acting as a heat sink to hold your temps down. Also, put a small chunk of smokewood in each basket. Use a meat therm and when you reach 165, remove the meat and wrap in HD foil after adding a little beef broth. Put it back on the grill and remove when meat temp is around 200.

Good luck with your cook.

Paul
 
Thanks for the reply, Paul. I'm defintely a mega-newbie here, so please forgive me.

I have the standard kettle jobber, but I'm not certain I know what you mean by a charcoal basket. I've always just arranged the coals on the bottom grates and burned away, but then again I've nevver slow-cooked anything before.

Should I arrange the briquettes on 2 sides and leave a channel in the center for the water pan??? or briquettes all to one side and water on the other side???

The temps and smokewood all make perfect sense though. I've also read that I should allow about an hour per pound. How often should I be uncovering to check on it/replenish coals and water etc???

What is a WSM??

Again, I really appreciate all of your advice. I feel ike I'm being a pain, I hope you all dont mind. Thanks.

Wade
 
Wade

If you don't have charcoal baskets, containers to hold the briqs, then do 2 piles, one on each side seperated by the waterpan in the middle. In reviewing some posts here, 6 lit coals might be too many on each side. Try using 5 on each side. The idea is that the lit will gradly catch on the unlit and provide a longer burn time and a lower temp. This allows for the low/slow cook you're trying to achieve. Maybe you don't even want to bother with the thermometers. Just cook for about 4 hrs without the foil, then foil it and cook for another hour or two. Take it out of the foil and test with a meat fork. If the fork goes in easy and you can twist it slightly, its done.

The more you check the slower the cook will go because you'll lose heat and have temp flcuations. However, if you aren't using a thermometer, you'll just have to guess. I would probably let it go for 3 hrs and then check every 45 min. or so. You will need to keep water in the drip pan, so you may need to check a little sooner than 3 hrs.

Be sure your lit coals are fully ashed over, lit, before you add them to the unlit piles.

Give it a try, it will probably turn out fine. If it doesn't tell everybody Doug D gave you some bad advise.
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Paul
 
Wade--You're already in good hands with Paul, I'm just supporting his suggestion to use 5 lit coals to start. I was most successfful in my pre-WSM days with 5. If you're able to monitor your cook temp you'll be ahead of the game. Paul's figures for adding coals reflect most of my experiences although I've had a few where the first addition was more toward the 2.5 hour mark. You might want to take a quick look then to see what's what. Good luck.
 
This is excellent guys, the excitement is becoming too much. im debating taking off of work tomorrow to do the cook, instead of Sunday. hehehe.

So your saying light only 5 coals on each side and add from there??? or establish a nice bed of coals, let them ash over, and then add the 5 coals???

im going to buy a thermometer to use. i feel like i should defintely learn the ways of the temperature and plus ill get a good feel for the timing.

I think I'm well on my way.
 
Wade

This is your lucky day, Kevin responded to your post. He is one of the most knowledgable experienced people on the Board. Listen to him.

Initially you'll be putting the 5 lit coals on the unlit pile. The Weber manuel would say to add a few unlit each hour but they're talking about a different type of cook. Unless I could tell my temps were falling, I think I would add a few unlit along. Maybe 4 to 6 on each side every couple of hours.

Enjoy the cook.

Paul
 
Wade,

Welcome to the board. Here is a little "nudge" to a WSM. Ifin you choose to purchase one, use the link on the Home page of this site to help support it. You'll love the WSM, and you'll wish you would have had one long ago. I used a Brinkman for MANY years before I bought the WSM. (Along with many mods to help the Brinkman hold steady temps!) Little did I know the difference between the two smokers.
Have fun with your Brisket, it can be done on the kettle, just a lot more work.
 
As Paul said above, monitor the cooking temp by sticking a therm through the lid's vent (which should remain at least partially open through the cook). If it rises fairly quickly, close the vent more. What you're looking to do is get the cooking temp somewhere around 250, (225 on the low side, 265 on the high side) by adjusting the intake of air through the lower vent. When you make a vent adjustment it will take several minutes to be fully reflected on your therm; patience is a virtue. Briskets can be tricky on a kettle. Good luck. Consider purchasing a WSM. It's much easier!
 
Wade

Go to the top of this page and click on "find". In the box type in "kettle Minion". This will take you to several posts where people discuss using the kettle for low/slow cooking. It's not the way people on this forum do their cooking very often and if you stay with us we'll convince you of the wisdom of a WSM.

Incidentally, you'll see that lots of people bank their coals on one side of the kettle and have their waterpan directly above. The meat would be next to the waterpan. I would also put a drip pan under the meat. I think either way would work.

Paul
 
Wade,

As someone who often does his barbecuing using a kettle-style grill, I completely agree what these guys have already posted.
Only difference for me is that I don't use a drip pan; I monitor the temps by time and feel, but I've also been doing this for a while, and I started out without a drip pan to control temp, so it is what I'm used to.
I would recommend it in your case.

Also, I would go to a home depot or lowe's store and buy two small metal hand rakes, like the type you use for gardening. These will come in handy whe you are trying to move around hot coals and push together piles of lit charcoal so you can manage your indirect fuel source.

You can achieve excellent results and excellent cue using kettle-style grills, you just have to pay a little more attention to the small details like temp, b/c you have less room for error.
Definitely do by the thermometer, your temp is going to be important, especially on your first time.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.
 
Jim

Congratulations, that's quite an achievement. You know, of course, I was only using search words
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. Keep up the good work, I think REGULAR moderate exercise is one of the keys to maintaing weight loss. I used to run marathons, but a back injury has reduced me to a Nordic Track or speed walking - whatever, it's all about time and motion.

Paul
 
Hey, Hey, Hey!! Yesterday's brisket was a success, albeit a slightly dry one. hehehehe. I was very pleased with the results considering this was my first time doing a real low/slow BBQ.

I put the brisket on around 9:30am yesterday. Everything was going smooth, I was maintaining an even 245-255 for the first 3 hours. At about 12:30 I uncovered it to check the water and coals and what not. I added some water and moved the coals around which was defintely a mistake. After that the fire was burning way hot (about 290-310 at times) and there wasn't much I could do to get it down, I just closed my vents and cracked the top on the kettle to let some heat escape and my therm was reading between 260-280 during the last 2 hours. Not sure how that affected the outcome, but I figured that was my only option.

Meat was tender, but a little on the dry side. I'm guessing it dried out due to the higher temps towards the end???

Thanks to you all for helping me get started. I've got the bug, and I believe a WSM is in my future, but I have to admit, I liked the 'against all odds' feeling of barbecueing with the kettle.

Thanks Again Everyone!!!

Wade
 
Congrats on your first cook!

Several things can contribute to dryness not the least of which is the condition of the actual meat itself before cooking, the amount, condition, and placement of fat, etc. It is possible the higher temp caused it but that depends on its duration and at what stage of the cook it occurred. Another, usually more common cause, is that the meat cooked to too high an internal temp, or was cooked to a fairly high temp and then wrapped and rested too long. If the internal hits 200 before pulling or, importantly, during the wrapped-and-rest phase where the internal keeps climbing for a while, the meat can lose juices it wouldn't otherwise. At what temp did you pull it?

Q-ing on the kettle is enjoyable, I agree. Some things are easier than others on it. But the WSM allows for more options and versatility, as well as the ability to smoke 2 or more different meats (and cheese, nuts, vegetables, eggs, beans!) during the same cook.

Good luck on your next cook. Let us know how it goes.
 
I brought the brisket to about 160 - then I foiled it and put back on until it reached 195, then pulled it for rest. My girlfriend unwrapped it about 15 minutes after I pulled it off, so that may have had some ill effects.

It did look damn succulent, so I couldn't really blame her for wanting to showcase it!!!
 
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