Brisket, Butts & Bragging Rights - Help!


 
J

JohnJTN

New member
Hey Guys!

My daughter's school is hosting it's first annual Cook Off next week, and they have some some rules that are taking me out of my comfort zone, and I was hoping I could get some advice on over coming the challenges. Here goes:

I'm cooking on an 18 WSM. I'm a Texan in TN and ALWAYS cook slow and low. I've entered in the Beef & Pork competitions and am planning on brisket & pulled pork (because I'm a Texan in TN.)

So, the rules (which they say are KC BBQ rules:

No pre-seasoning of the meat (so there goes my 24 hour season.)

Cook starts at 8:00 a.m with turn in at 5:30 (there goes my low and slow.)

So, for the brisket. With the limited time, should I skip the whole packer and just do the flat, of do a whole packer on high heat? I'm thinking i give it an hour with the rub on it, then give it 7 hours for cook time (allowing for an earlier finish) and then a minimum hour in the faux cambro. Thoughts?

For the butts, I'm thinking I'll need to inject, because I can't pre-season. Basically, following the time table above.

Cooking around 275?

Have any of you cooked with these kinds of restrictions? I'd love any tips. Thanks in advance!

Oh, and so you can groan with me, because the competition is on school grounds, no alcohol. :(

JJ

:wsm22: :blackgenesis1000:
 
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Salt and pepper only on the brisket, would be my first labor saving tip, can you light earlier than 8:00? Butts, I’d go your basic “go to” rub and get them on first. No water and I would probably go hotter and see how things progress. 275-300 granted backing down is harder but, you will have a lot of mass with a butt and a brisket in there.
Not a competitor but, I eat a lot!
 
I've smoked a brisket and butt at the same time using the high heat method as described in various e-mails on 18 WSM. I had no issues with the cooks. Both meats came out fine. There were no complaints from the partygoers. If I can do it, so can you.
 
John that is a bit of a tight timeline for brisket but it's doable. See if you can light your smoker before 8 am. That should give you a little more time.

Cook brisket at a little bit higher temp (~250) and wrap in foil when its the color you want. Both of these will speed up the process. We get our briskets done in 6-8 hours on our WSM like this.

Most of all, HAVE FUN with your kids and the event. You'll look back in a couple of weeks and laugh at all the mistakes you made.

Let us know how it goes!
 
Yeah how'd you do?

I did the H+F brisket a few weeks back (15lb Pre trim Prime) and it was done start to finish in 4.5 hours with a 45 minute rest.

One of top 2-3 briskets I have ever done. It was insanely good.
 
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