Brisket Advice


 
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Andy-CaliCowboy

New member
Howdy yall; been a while since I've been here but alas another grilling and smoking season is upon us. I was planning on celebrating this Father's day(my first as a father as well) by smoking a brisket on my 18" WSM. It's not my first cook with the WSM but it is my first brisket on it.

Looking at many sources has led me to multiple cook time estimates and temperatures. So does anyone have any solid advice to help me gauge how long the cook should take? And really any advice at all; FWIW I have some beers iced down and ready to get me through the cook 😂

The Facts: 18" WSM; Brisket will be 6-8 lbsbut shooting for closer to 8; I plan on wrapping with butcher paper.
 
Can't really comment on your WSM..... but.....

I season 12-24 hours, wrap & refrigerate before the cook. 225 degrees F, and time is so dependent on your cooker, your brisket, ambient conditions & such. I cook to temp, and start probing at 195 degrees, and pull it when it probes tender. For my smoker, I allow 12-18 hours. Put it in a picnic cooler, close the lid, and walk away. No, seriously, walk away for at least 2 hours, and longer is good. Resist the urge to open the cooler, you really do want to keep the heat in while the brisket rests. I'm quite convinced that a long slow rest is critical for a good brisket, and I've gone 6+ hours in a cooler and still had a brisket that was far too hot to handle with bare hands.
 
Good to know; what size do you usually cook(after trimming or before)?

Good protip on the cooler too. Going to be hard to resist the urge to check it; but I'll manage.
 
Andy-CaliCowboy said:
Good to know; what size do you usually cook(after trimming or before)?

Good protip on the cooler too. Going to be hard to resist the urge to check it; but I'll manage.
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I almost always cook full packers, package weight starts generally 14-18 lbs, I've gone 22 lbs. fairly successfully. I also have one of the larger smokers around here, up to 10 full packers at once.

We've hosted some medium scale barbecue parties here in the back yard, with up to 50 people in the back yard, it can be a bit difficult. "Don't open the cooler. No, really, Do NOT open the cooler!" The regulars know their patience will be well rewarded. :)

If you really are really careful about food safety, leave a food probe in it with a remote read base on top of the cooler.
 
Are you cooking a whole brisket or just the flat? 6-8 pounds sounds small for a whole brisket, probably about right for a flat. My first time I cooked just a flat and it left me wondering what all this brisket fuss was about to be honest. Now I cook whole brisket only and have cooked many.

As for cooking time, and again this is with a whole brisket, I just plan for the unplanned. Everyone in the house understands I don't actually know when we will be eating, like if the brisket will be lunch or dinner even. Most of the briskets I cook take 18-19 hours plus the resting time, but it is wildly variable. With the 18" WSM, watch the size of the brisket if you end up with a whole brisket as it has to fit across the circle. I often have to kink it up to get it jammed in there and close the lid on it.
 
Just did an 18# packer, this sucker took 20 hours! One never knows, I’ve had them go in at 5:00 pm and had a 14# come off at 6:00 AM!
Went old school, Texas style, trimmed the brisket, salt and coarse black pepper lit the sidewinder method and dropped it in about 6:00 PM on the dot! It came off at 2:00 PM sliced at 6:00 PM. I’m happy that slicing time got delayed the extra two hours. We were supposed to eat nearer four which would have not been a long enough rest (in my experience)
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I think it’s a good idea to start with a 8 pound flat for your first brisket.
Get it on early as it can handle a long rest.
Or go hot and fast…
There is a ton of info on this sight for briskets.
Have fun and enjoy those beers!
 
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JKalchik said:
quite convinced that a long slow rest is critical for a good brisket, and I've gone 6+ hours in a cooler and still had a brisket that was far too hot to handle with bare hands
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I want to say someone on YouTube did a comparison and long rest time made a significant difference in the final product. Also most good BBQ joints I've been to rest for at least 8 hours. So I tend to agree resting is key for good brisket.
 
This is trivial, so please understand I'm simply asking for my own knowledge or memory correction. When I was reading several years ago about smoking a brisket I thought there were these two terms:

Rest: I would pull my finished brisket from the cooker and allow it to rest loosely tented on the countertop for a span of time to stop the cooking process. This could be possibly half an hour

Hold: then I would wrap it tightly and place in a cooler to serve later

Am I wrong on this?
 
That’s a good question
BFletcher said:
This is trivial, so please understand I'm simply asking for my own knowledge or memory correction. When I was reading several years ago about smoking a brisket I thought there were these two terms:

Rest: I would pull my finished brisket from the cooker and allow it to rest loosely tented on the countertop for a span of time to stop the cooking process. This could be possibly half an hour

Hold: then I would wrap it tightly and place in a cooler to serve later

Am I wrong on this?
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I use the terms almost interchangeably, but, that’s just me. I wrap and towel briskets for four hours and six seems best for my taste. Saturday I was forced to only go four, and it was delightful!
 
BFletcher said:
This is trivial, so please understand I'm simply asking for my own knowledge or memory correction. When I was reading several years ago about smoking a brisket I thought there were these two terms:

Rest: I would pull my finished brisket from the cooker and allow it to rest loosely tented on the countertop for a span of time to stop the cooking process. This could be possibly half an hour

Hold: then I would wrap it tightly and place in a cooler to serve later

Am I wrong on this?
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Those are good points.

At final final temp, I place the paper wrapped brisket in a large aluminum pan, cut one vent slit in the paper, and let it sit for 30 minutes on the countertop. Then place a towel under the pan and one atop it to hold the brisket either on the countertop or in an off oven as it sits for service. Sometimes the sit is 3 hours and sometimes 6. Key point is the brisket must sit for a few hours to settle down and absorb its juices.
 
A flat only is going to cook a lot of quicker than a full brisket.
But the old saying is, it's done when it's done.
I have had whole briskets take anywhere between 9 hours to 21 hours... Depending on temperature.
Paradoxically........ The fastest cooking brisket I've had have been the biggest. Go figure.

I would wager you're paying more for that flat as you would pay for a whole 10 to 11 lb packer brisket. My experience is a charge $7 to $8 a pound for just brisket flat... Where you can get the whole brisket for three to four dollars a pound.

Cook at 275 and I doubt it will take much more than 8 hrs for only a flat. But plan to hold it 1-4 hours wrapped in the oven or an ice chest anyway..... And no matter how long you plan.....your right. Because your plan is flexible. I'd allow 12 to 14 hours and just plan to hold it however much is necessary.
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Happy Father's Day to all of you. I have read that when you pull your brisket off at 205ish it's too hot to put directly into the cooler. Is that accurate? I have usually let mine sit, wrapped, on the counter until the temp drops to 195 then into the cooler for a minimum of two hours.
 
John Neuser said:
Happy Father's Day to all of you. I have read that when you pull your brisket off at 205ish it's too hot to put directly into the cooler. Is that accurate? I have usually let mine sit, wrapped, on the counter until the temp drops to 195 then into the cooler for a minimum of two hours.
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I'd think there is a little truth to that. Coolers are either blow molded, or sheet molded, and the thermoplastics have a relatively low "plastic" temperature. This is effectively nearly boiling water temperatures, and yeah, depending on material, it may deform. Laying a kitchen towel in the bottom as an insulator would help.

There's also a school of though to simply let it cool down a bit, regardless of what sort of hot box you're using.

Me..... I'll go straight to a cooler.
 
Maybe this is not conventional, but I use the word "rest" to rest a brisket in a cooler or whatever without a temp aid, and I use the word "hold" to describe putting the brisket in an oven or whatever to hold at a specific temp (e.g. 150 F) for a long number of hours (e.g. 10-18 hours). When I smoke a brisket, I'll either cook it all day and hold it all night and have it for brunch, or I'll cook it all night and hold it all day and have it for supper.
 
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