20#, nope, now 16# brisket


 
Darryl - swazies said:
Looks great man....its satisfying when the dinner guests have really had nothing that good before....happens sporadically and its good fun when it does.

Mine had similar color this weekend....my selection on the cut was off though.
I actually had a 12 pound " piece " of brisket and it was a mid section....so a tad bit of the flat and a goed size hunk of the point.
The bad part was it had all that diagonal fat running through it......the whole cut had mega fat in it, the fat where you would separate the 2 muscles if one was to cook them individually. I trimmed a lot off, and cooked it as is, started at 6 am.....came out like good brisket beef, just had to watch for some of the fat here and there.
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At least you had the best piece of the brisket, the mid section.

I always like to buy a full packer and cut off and save the beef trimming for burger (blend). This way you decode how your brisket will cook; shape and size.

And I've learned to upsize my packer purchase due to only getting around a 60-65% yield of the original packer weight (fat trim and shrinkage during the cook). It went on the grill as a 16# and came off with around a 13 pounder. We were 9 people for dinner and only had around 20-24 slices leftover.

For serving, I like to separate the flat and point. This way I can slice out that sheet of fat that doesn't render during the cook. And get nice slices of flat and point, and since the grain changes at the point, slicing the point is easier too.

Try an overnighter if you get a chance with a larger packer. By far, this was the easiest cook I've done in many years. Literally, a set it and forget it type of cook, and was able to grab a solid ~7 hours or so of sleep.

I also found that the long rest after the cook was key to the brisket settling down. My slicing temp was 127 and it allowed for even slices without the brisket shredding from the knife.

How long did your cook go at that size? Hopefully you have some leftovers for sandwiches and more. Sadly, my kids were eating brisket and beans for breakfast today so I might only see a little leftover for dinner. So it goes. I've gotten used to my vultures eating leftovers. At least they're eating good food and not fast food.
 
I said to the MRS when I was putting it in the cooler that it actually looked great, slicing this thing is going to be a different story.
I had to cut from 3 ends before I got something that would slice.
The way it looked like it should slice just wasn't working and after being cooked I didn't know which side was thicker with flat vs. point.
It was rich and fatty, everyone still seemed to like it, I have made way better.
I have not done it but I would be interested in trying to separate the flat from the point and do a cook that way.
Then I could regulate both pieces with more control.
My cook started with meat hitting the grill at 6:30 and it cooked at 250 the whole time...wrapped later in the cook around 180.
Total grill time was about 8.5 hours with me increasing the heat in the last hour to 350. Cooler time was about 2 hours.
It looked like yours but just oddly shaped. I did snap a pic, but not cut or anything, it's at home, I could post later but it is nothing special.
I could of cooked that and just called it smoked chuck roast or something and then no one would have noticed anything odd.
I had left overs for lunch today with the same for tomorrow I think.
 
Darryl - swazies said:
I have not done it but I would be interested in trying to separate the flat from the point and do a cook that way.
Then I could regulate both pieces with more control.
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not needed. i probed my brisket in 3 places; the flat, middle and point. i'll post a pic of my total cook and you will see that once a brisket cooks, the proverbial @ss meet's its face when it cooks, as in the flat will cook sooner than the point, but once exiting the stall, all three sections cook in unison.

my Signals gave me incredible insight to how a brisket cooks. i think it makes for a great teaching lesson to other backyard cooks like us so we can better learn under understand cooking a brisket and the science that goes on in the background.

and, specifically the E/S6 WSC/K, ( i don't have logging data from my WSM days) cooking a brisket LAS at the onset made for an incredibly tender brisket, WITH a very moist flat too.

my overnight portion of the cook was stable and smooth. it made all the difference in the final product.

I'll get that pic posted today as soon as I can get to my phone and online log/graph.
 
Since this was my first time cooking a brisket with my Signals, I learned a bunch on how a brisket cooks. I’m being a bit geeky here but think this data could be helpful to others who might now have probes or data on how a brisket cooks over time. So, let’s dissect this time and meat temps.

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from the data log, there were a few evident points, so far, that i see:

the flat absorbs heat at a much faster rate than the point. while not earth breaking data, the temp differences were around 50 degree early on in the cook. the flat took on temp at a much faster rate, BUT, as you see in flat, middle and point datasets, it was like 3 trains leaving three different stations yet arriving at the same destination a few hours later.

brisket went on around 1030P and I felt comfortable with the cook and grate temps to go to bed around 1115P that evening as the E6 was in target range and stable with a high temp of 246F during the first session through the stall (around 6AM was when I awoke to check temps and data).
 
after the stall and wrap in butcher paper, i forgot to add more AJ into the aluminum tray. that's what i get for "working" at 0600 and talking to my neighbor who was at the side fence (that startled me for sure) seeing if her son left the fire pit on from the previous evening, only to ask me what i was cooking because it smelled great. thankfully i was appropriately dressed at that hour. who's is up at that hour in a sunday except crazy brisket smokers?!?!?!?!

anyways, forgetting to add more AJ to my bath pan resulted in higher temps on the second part of the cook when i took the brisket from 174.5 on the flat, 171.6 on the middle and 168.4 on the point, wasn't a smart idea. no AJ or water in the water pan led to some temperature swings as the final chunks of wood cooked off. BUT the brisket was well insulated and i only had to move the temp to finish temp (200F target). this happened occurred from 0608:25AM through 1050:03AM with a done temps of 203.4 on the flat, 196.4 on the middle and 200.4 at the point at grate temps of 264.4.

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basically, even with the more wild temperature swings, the whole brisket moved 30 degrees over 4 hours 42 minutes (282 minutes). that's an escalation rate of 0.106 degrees per minute, or 1.06 degrees for every 10 minutes. this is a very stable climb rate. i didn't see any adverse effects from this temp rise rate. the brisket was still moist and juicy when cut and served.
 
I appreciate the fine details of everything you wrote. I was considering the separation mainly due to people always complaining they have a flat and it is dry and not how they wanted it. I understand completely about the temp differences and what happens at the stall and post stall cooking.
Makes me more confident. The low n slow is most likely the key to an end result where the point and the flat are within a couple of degrees.
I will mimic these techniques my next full packer cook.....I still have a couple pieces to work through in the freezer.
 
Darryl - swazies said:
The low n slow is most likely the key to an end result where the point and the flat are within a couple of degrees
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YUP. and the feedback from my family was that this was the BEST brisket i've ever made. i've been cooking briskets for 30 years now so that means something when family says so.

the LAS and into and through the stall, say 170-173, was key to cooking an even brisket. once the entire slab was unified in temp, the rise from 173 to 200 average temp (across all three sections) delivered a perfectly moist and rendered brisket.

note. i did separate the point from the flat as i sliced into the flat. when i hi mid section of the flat, i cut the flat in half so the slices weren't 10 inces across, but 5 inches each, for more normal serving size.

then the point was sliced into nice, fatty slices. again, full of moisture and juiciness.
 
Wil A said:
Great job Brett!

I’ll take the extra fatty piece in the closeup photo before the plated picture 🤩
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that was the flat section where the point sits atop the flat. i had just separated the point off the flat to get those cuts.

and YES, those slices and a few point slices were mine. glad you enjoyed this cook along with me. hopefully i had some valid info to share here with the members.

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DanHoo said:
Pics look good. How was the flavor?

Edit I meant compared to your other brisket done in the oven, Jewish holiday style?
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@DanHoo, here's a direct link to the Passover cook. You can see the differences between both cooks; oven roasted and LAS on the E6. The E6 drives a more tender brisket IMO and the smoke flavor adds an incredible dimension that oven roasted just cannot deliver.

tvwbb.com

✡️ Passover 19.74# Jewish style brisket 🐄 Coming up. 🍷

Ok ok 👌🏻 now we know where the 1st annual NorCal Weber eat a lot of food and drink get together is happening. See u soon Brett! I’ll bring some beers and my NINER cornhole boards. I’m sure Rich will bring something insane to eat. Dan H we’ll pick you up. Of course Chris rides shotgun!
tvwbb.com tvwbb.com

i really think you're ready to try one on your E6. i'd help you build a cook plan if you want one.
 
Not that I have a thread yet but I was chatting about our week in the woods and cooking on the JJ in here......
Rain was for 4 days....and I said we usually have good luck.
Looks way better and I am more excited....looks like 1 travel day to get supplies we may run low on.
we are there Saturday to Saturday. This is Celsius, easy rule to follow is double it and add 30 degrees.......you will be within a couple F.
so around 80 a lot of the time......this is nice.

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Brett, why did grate and point temps plummet at around 6am? Did you open the cooker?

Edit: SORRY! I got excited before finishing your posts. Open dome makes sense.
 
Brett-EDH said:
Since this was my first time cooking a brisket with my Signals, I learned a bunch on how a brisket cooks. I’m being a bit geeky here but think this data could be helpful to others who might now have probes or data on how a brisket cooks over time. So, let’s dissect this time and meat temps.

View attachment 52883
View attachment 52884
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Awesome data. Interestingly, in addition to their finish, they all hit the stall simultaneously, too
 
Tim Campbell said:
Awesome data. Interestingly, in addition to their finish, they all hit the stall simultaneously, too
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exactly. that was the big data reveal to me. three different trains, went at different speeds yet reached the same station (stall into post stall) at the same time. it was like the flat just waited for the point to play catch up. one of my big learns on this cook is to really wait until you're through the stall and all parts are near equal temp before wrapping. so i'll move wrapping to somewhere between 171-176 in the future. and the climb from unison to done was very smooth and consistent, even with an even and stable tempt rise, even with the erratic grate temps experienced.
 
Tim Campbell said:
The grill temps spiked by 200° during the stall...did you wrap it?
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yup. the wrapping, opening of the dome, took place at around 6AM. wrapped in butcher paper, no added moisture. a good wrap; tight and full coverage. the temp bombs were unburned wood chunks firing up from the bottom of the coal grate. i will add fewer chunks next cook as i don't think i needed as many as i had. AJ made for a nice mellow smoke as the smoke was in the AJ air. that overall flavor was mellow with no bitter wood flavors.

i did wrap post-stall. i had temp movement upward as soon as i wrapped and then closed the grill.
 
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