A couple of Brisket Questions?


 
Mache said:
1. Butt takes a long time on the order of brisket time but it does not need to be wrapped. Ribs can be done in 5-6 hours depending on your method. From a culinary standpoint, its a purely a matter of personal preference how you pair your meats.

2. I personally would not inject the brisket with veal stock. Its a prime brisket, if you don't screw it up, its going to be very juicy, tender, and flavorful because we all know that its the fat that gives meat its flavor and prime means well marbled.

3. I have been doing the Aaron Franklin method of briskets with my HeaterMeter ATC and they typically run around an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes per pound at 250F and a small foil loaf filled with water at grate level. There are no rules about when to wrap. If you look at his videos, he wraps when the bark is set and the meat has good color. That could be 150F internal temperature (IT) or 170F IT, its just personal preference on how you like your bark and the level of dehydration you may experience in the meat. If prefer 24", 40 pound, unwaxed, butcher paper to wrap others do heavy duty foil. My 20+ year old 18.5" WSM has a Cajun Bandit door and a compression latch and is pretty tight. With my ATC, I can sustain 160F and can use my WSM as a holding oven for a wrapped brisket once it is probe tender and rested. I don't remember if you have an ATC or if you can reliably maintain that temperature, but if you can, that approach would mimic the commercial cook and hold ovens (like an Alto Shaam) that many commercial BBQ restaurants use.

So If you have a 14.5 pound brisket, first you need to trim excess fat to around 1/4". Lets assume that takes off around 2 pounds and gets you to 12.5 pounds of trimmed meat. Next do the math on the longest time you would expect it to take. (12.5 pounds) * (1.25 hours per pound) = 15 hours 38 minutes. Once it is done, you want to let it rest at room temperature until its internal temperature is around 170F (around an hour) and for two hours you want to either hold it wrapped in towels in an ice chest rinsed with boiling water or do my holding oven thing, so I would add an additional three hours to the 15 hours 38 minute cook time to get 18 hours 38 minutes which means that to eat at 4:00 PM you would have to start around 9:22 PM the previous day.

The last issue is when you would have to get out of bed to wrap the brisket. Again, that is a matter of personal preference, but if it were me, I would structure it so that I would wrap in or around 7 hours into the cook so I can get some sleep. That said, here is how I would schedule the brisket.

7:30 PM - light 20 or so coals in a chimney
8:15 PM - add lit coals to a full coal ring of unlit (Minion Method) and either with an ATC or by adjusting dampers get the grate level temperature stable at 250F.
9:22 PM - Assuming all goes well, put the room temperature rubbed brisket on the WSM fat side up.
10:15 PM - Assuming grate level temperature is stable and things look OK, go to bed.
4:00 AM - Check brisket to see if it is reading to wrap, and assuming things are OK, spritz well and wrap.
4:15 AM - Go back to bed.
8:00 AM - Get up and check the brisket for IT and probe tender
9:15 AM - Check the brisket for IT and probe tender - Keep checking every hour or so until its probe tender.
1:00 PM - No later than this time brisket should be probe tender and taken off. Rest until IT is 170F (about an hour) and then wrap and hold until 4:00 PM.
4:00 PM - Slice and serve.

-- Mache
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One point of clarification. I thought wrapping would power me through the cook and make it a little shorter. So while it should take around 15 hours to cook the brisket, wrapping it should lower the cook time by a couple of hours correct?
 
In my experience, wrapped brisket takes around 1-1:15 hours per pound. If others have other experiences, please chime in.

-- Mache
 
Mache said:
In my experience, wrapped brisket takes around 1-1:15 hours per pound. If others have other experiences, please chime in.

-- Mache
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Sounds good to me if we're talking 225-250, with the traditional formula being 1.5 hr/lb if NOT wrapping at 225-250. It's a little less than 1 hr/lb if wrapping with foil and cooking a steady 250, but a brisket's thickness and when you wrap are big factors.
 
newbie question...

I'm trying (having) to decide on the best rub for an upcoming competition

So...If I cut a full packer into quarters (or more) - to test various rubs - Will the timings still apply, or will (as i expect) the individual smaller pieces cook quicker???

thanks folks
Chris
 
Chris Arnold said:
newbie question...

I'm trying (having) to decide on the best rub for an upcoming competition

So...If I cut a full packer into quarters (or more) - to test various rubs - Will the timings still apply, or will (as i expect) the individual smaller pieces cook quicker???

thanks folks
Chris
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They'll cook quicker, but probably not as quick as you might expect.
 
Chris Arnold said:
that's what i thought...will just have to keep a close eye on 'em.

So - open question to the floor.....whats your favourite/preferred brisket rub mix??? anyone care to share secrets???
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Beef can hold up to a lot of flavor, but I also like keeping it simple with salt and pepper. Instant coffee makes a very interesting addition. I've gotten rave reviews from salt, pepper, onion powder, granulated garlic and instant coffee.
 
I agree with Dave R. that sausage is a very nice compliment, however, given your question, I'd do babyback ribs while the brisket is resting.
 
I just did my best brisket ever on Sunday night/Monday. It was 11 pounds after trimming, rubbed with salt, coarse ground black pepper, ancho chile powder, cayenne and fine-ground coffee. It went on the smoker at 12:40am. I had serious temperature stability issues with my 18" WSM - I couldn't get it back below 225° and it hovered around there the whole time, but even so, it was done at 6:05 the following evening (maybe a tad overdone but not by much). No foil needed, and a bark so thick and flavourful it was pure heaven. It was still showing 189 on my original ET-73, but my new (BLUE!) ThermaPen was in the mid-190s and low-200s, depending where I poked it, with the probe going in with almost no resistance.

I let it stand for 10 minutes, wrapped in heavy-duty foil and set it in the oven at 170° for two hours. Supper at 8pm. Seriously, this was the best I've ever had. It was an Angus brisket from Restaurant Depot (12.3 pounds in cryo, at $4.49/lb). If you've got the time, I'd say just go low and slow.
 
PeterD said:
I just did my best brisket ever on Sunday night/Monday. It was 11 pounds after trimming, rubbed with salt, coarse ground black pepper, ancho chile powder, cayenne and fine-ground coffee. It went on the smoker at 12:40am. I had serious temperature stability issues with my 18" WSM - I couldn't get it back below 225° and it hovered around there the whole time, but even so, it was done at 6:05 the following evening (maybe a tad overdone but not by much). No foil needed, and a bark so thick and flavourful it was pure heaven. It was still showing 189 on my original ET-73, but my new (BLUE!) ThermaPen was in the mid-190s and low-200s, depending where I poked it, with the probe going in with almost no resistance.

I let it stand for 10 minutes, wrapped in heavy-duty foil and set it in the oven at 170° for two hours. Supper at 8pm. Seriously, this was the best I've ever had. It was an Angus brisket from Restaurant Depot (12.3 pounds in cryo, at $4.49/lb). If you've got the time, I'd say just go low and slow.
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You say that you could not get back down to 225, so at what temp was it for most of the cook? Or were you saying you couldn't get lower than 225, if so, why would you want it lower than 225?
 
Chris Arnold said:
newbie question...

I'm trying (having) to decide on the best rub for an upcoming competition

So...If I cut a full packer into quarters (or more) - to test various rubs - Will the timings still apply, or will (as i expect) the individual smaller pieces cook quicker???

thanks folks
Chris
Click to expand...
I'd personally test rubs on steaks. Way quicker to cook.
 
Chris Arnold said:
i would usually agree - but need the practice on brisket...having only ever cooked ONE is not a great way to go into a competition :) !!!
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But, you aren't going to quarter the brisket for the competition, so that won't get you good practice either. Test the rubs on a steak, once you get your flavor profile, practice cooking the whole brisket...
 
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