Brisket/Butt Question


 
T

Tom P

TVWBB Fan
On Saturday we’re having some friends over. My plan is to serve pork butt and brisket.
The brisket is a whole packer about 11 lbs and the butts will be boneless (2) at approx 7 lbs each.

Option 1: I was thinking of smoking the butts Thurs night/ Fri and reheat Saturday and then cook the brisket Sat , the hot and fast method.

Option 2: I could smoke the Butts fri night and time it so I can pull the butts off early Sat and then put the brisket on.

Any thoughts of which way will work out better would be appreciated.

I will be using Guru for it’s first overnighter for the butts.

I’d also like to make the ABT’s everyone talks about.

Thanks

Tom
 
I know you can do flats "hot and fast" but rarely of doing whole packer's this way.

My vote is to do the butts on the bottom and the packer on top. With the Guru it's "set it and forget it"
 
High heat for packers is my method of choice so that is how I'd do them. I could go either way with the options. #1 has the advantage of keeping your Fri-through-Sat early afternoon pretty open for whatever else comes up. #2 leaves you open till Fri night. I suppose for me it would depend on what sides I was making and whern I wanted to/planned to make them.
 
Packers high heat for sure...I like option #1 and rememeber to shread or pull your pork before you cool it. Do not try and reheat the whole butt it wont shread.
 
Since you're doing butts anyway, I'd put the butts on top and the brisket on the bottom. Do them in one shot.
 
I haven't had that much luck going lo and slow w/ the briskets. They come out ok but not great. It sounds like alot of folks are having good luck w/ the hot/fast method, that I would give it a try.
 
Tom,

I'm doing the exact same cook, but for Friday. I am going to fire up my smoker (Stoker assisted) late Thursday. I will put 2 butts on top and the brisket below. 225 for 14-16 hours gets them done and in the cooler between 1 and 3 pm Friday. I plan on serving dinner around 5 or 6. Whenever people are ready. I'm doing easy, make-ahead sides. I want Friday to be relaxed.

The butts will drip and baste the brisket for the entire time - whether that provides a significant benefit or not, I don't know, but I think it at least sounds good
icon_cool.gif


I foiled my last packer at 160 while cooking at 225 and then ran it to 195. Rested for a couple of hours. It turned out very good.
 
I never did the foil on the briskets before. Maybe that will give me a better brisket.

Wouldn't it be easier for the brisket to be on the top grate for foiling purposes?

It seems like either way will be fine, now just to choose one and get smoking.

Tom
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Tom P:
Wouldn't it be easier for the brisket to be on the top grate for foiling purposes?
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, it would. I just have blind faith in the basting concept. You could move the brisket to the top once you foil.
 
i would do what pat does if it helps you decide at all. I don't feel i'm a good enough cook to do high heat yet, i leave that to the grill, but im not well rounded w/ high heat anything except ribs. my number is 235-245 w/ no rhyme or reason w/ me. wherever she settles best and have had many awsome briskits, and then again some not. maybe these guys could tell you more about the meat 'quality' that would be beyond my knowledge, but for me butts and ribs have consistency, briskit doesn't seem to, and can be tricky. something different every time for me. that may or may not be true but my thick and tall ones are always better then my little 1 inch tall flats, and (it seems to me anyway) i think the marbeling is important, although I never have cooked a "choice" brisk. yet either, I just cant imagine the 'huge' difference myself if you select one w/ decent marbeling. not real sure bout any of that though, hope your stuff turns out great, enjoy your family and friends.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Pat McCreight:
Tom,

I'm doing the exact same cook, but for Friday. I am going to fire up my smoker (Stoker assisted) late Thursday. I will put 2 butts on top and the brisket below. 225 for 14-16 hours gets them done and in the cooler between 1 and 3 pm Friday. I plan on serving dinner around 5 or 6. Whenever people are ready. I'm doing easy, make-ahead sides. I want Friday to be relaxed.

The butts will drip and baste the brisket for the entire time - whether that provides a significant benefit or not, I don't know, but I think it at least sounds good
icon_cool.gif


I foiled my last packer at 160 while cooking at 225 and then ran it to 195. Rested for a couple of hours. It turned out very good. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>This is the way I would and have done many times and works well for me.
 
Thanks for all the info.

It looks like I'm going low/slow this time.
One last question: approx how long at 235 deg will it take the brisket to reach 170?

Tom
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Tom P:
Thanks for all the info.

It looks like I'm going low/slow this time.
One last question: approx how long at 235 deg will it take the brisket to reach 170?

Tom </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well that will also depend on the thickness of the brisket, plus the marbling. If I had to guess, minimum of 1 hour per pound, maybe a little longer. Be sure to measure temps in the flat as the point can give off some errant readings due to all of the fat.
 
Therein lies another advantage to high heat brisket--no needing to figure time approximatons. One can temp the rise but i don't bother. I just cook in the lower 300s, foil when 2.25-2.5 hours in, then cook till tender, at somewhat higher temps, which falls around the 4-hour mark (total).
 
Kevin- You did it again! LOL You changed my mind again.

Butts 16 hr approx- pull put in cooler;
Bring WSM to hi temp
put brisket on
2.5 hrs foil
1.5 2 hrs check for tender
let rest slice, serve!

How long will I be able to hold until slicing?

Thanks for all the help!
 
Wasn't trying to change your mind. Just mentioning one of what I think are advantages...

I prefer to cook to tender, rest 30 min or so, foil opened a bit, some of the juices drained for a paint sauce, then slice, paint and serve. If I'm needing to hold it longer I usually do the very same thing, then wrap and hold in the microwave or something.

What I try to do is avoid excessive cooking. Pulling the brisket when tender and keeping it wrapped, imo, sets it up for excessive residual cooking (consider the temps at which it cooked) so if I'm going to hold it I rest it in a way the heat will dissipate. This shortens the potential holding time as you'd imagine. You can get an hour out of it, post rest, but that's about it.

Mostly I try to time things so I am only holding for the rest period--30 min.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top