Brisket too Big?


 
G

Glenn Fleming

TVWBB Fan
well just scored my Brisket for smoke day a whopping 14 lb hunk of Black Angus 1855 choice..looks good but it may be a bit large for my 18.5 WSM.. any suggestions??? BTW i paid 2.99 per pound.. cya on smoke day!!!
 
It's not too big, I did one that size last week on my 18.5.
"Shoehorn" it between the handles on the top grate, and use foil on the ends to keep them from burning while they are over the outside 3" of the grate.

Voice of experience.
 
thnax charles, so i little of the point hangs over one handle and a little of the flat hangs over the other?? sounds good getting excited for smoke day number 3 for me, the last 2 have been very eventful and i hope this goes smooooother.. got some wicked good and some chigger creek chunks, and plenty of beer and bourbon.. Glenn in SC
 
Not over but "Between". Think arc of brisket. As it cooks it will shrink down and pretty much fit. As Charles says, be sure to protect the two ends with some foil.
 
Like this...
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It ain't exactly "Arced", but that's one big, mean, floppy, 14 lb Packer there.
 
I cooked that one at ~325° till it got to 165° internal, then removed it to a foil pan, covered, and placed it in the oven at 375° till tender.

I'd say about 2.5 hrs on the smoker, 3 hrs in the oven.

Remember to cook to tender rather than to time.
 
Great advice from Charles on using the foil and the grate handles. However, where I differ is, I want the point end to cook faster since it has so much fat to render before overcooking. Because of that, I don't protect that end, but I ALWAYS use some foil and/or fat trimmings under the end of the flat.

Sometimes the shape of the brisket will call for FOLDING or ROLLING. I know it's hard to believe that it stayed that way before shrinking, but I was able to just fold a wayward flat corner on my last LONG brisket up and over back onto the flat, with the other corner wedged at the handle. Briskets are all shaped differently, and I've even seen a post on another forum of a great big one almost rolled up into a ball that looked like it turned out great.

Here's one other idea, though, particularly if you're not gonna slice the point. If you have one with a long-ish point, I've done this: Adam Perry Lang (and Keri C. once posted here to do this as well) suggests cutting the end off and cooking it seperately. (The only way you can go wrong here is to cut so far toward the middle that you get into the flat.) You just lay that cut off point chunk by the "main" brisket and don't mess with it til you pull the flat off. There's no way it'll overcook before the flat is tender and you'll get more bark going this route, so it's especially a good way to go if you're think of making "burnt ends" or chopping it up.
 
ready too rock dave, just made my sauce and trimmed the brisket, took almost 3 lbs off and i was easy on it, heavy dose of rub applied, not sure when i will get started smoking yet, i deal with some not so easy to work with conditions. i live in a condo complex that forbids grills, but they have a commumnity area so i camp out there, bout 75 yards from my house... gonna be a LONG night.. but it beats work.. Glenn in SC
 
thanx for all the help folks.. arced the beast in bout 3am and was rolling, took the wsm a while too get up too temp, but not really sure why but by 5am i was barely over 200 at the dome and the meat in the flat was allready at 145, does that make any sense?? pretty much stayed round 230 the rest of the day and at 2pm the meat hit 185 so i foiled and coolered it..my smoke ring was not so much, and the point was just a glob of fat, i pulled it a part and shredded and chopped the stringy pieces of meat too make sandwichs for the guys at work today.. the flat was pretty good but a little dry.. it was a fun night/day, will try too get some pics up.. it did look awesome when i took it off, but it was reall wobbly and had a hard time handling it.. doing a brisket is always interesting too say the least.. Glenn in SC
 
You say it was dry. Was it dry/flakey as in crumbling? Once the flat is done tender (not temp) I separate the point, re-rub and put it on for another 1.5-2.5hrs.
 
glenn, no it held together and was tender pretty much, everyone liked it so think i did a good job, not sure what i could have done diff.. last 3 briskets i have odone have all got too the 140 mark so quick.. thanx dont know what i could have done different,, glenn in sc
 
Glenn W makes a good point about the point.
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Seperating to get more fat to render is a good thing, and as I've mentioned before, you can cut the end off it at the start of the cook to get the point to cook faster as well.

As to cooking temps and the smokering, I like to start off with a cold brisket right out of the fridge. This causes my smoker to take a while to get up to temp, but I get thicker smokerings this way. (Also, I hear that briqs give thicker rings than lump.)

I don't trust the wsm OE gauge, and even if your's is accurate, I suspect it will start reading low in the near future...at least all THREE of mine have. It's ok though, cause it's better to measure in the stream of circulation anyway. After that ramp up, I like my Maverick probe, hung just inside the dome vent, to be in the 235-250 range, but if nothing is on the bottom rack, 250-265 would probably be just as good or better...probably need to just check the water pan a little sooner.

Every brisket is different, and no matter what you do, some are gonna be different than others, whether in flavor or texture. That's why the pros inject with stuff a lot more potent than beef broth. As long as your tasters are happy though, you should be
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as well. That's what counts.
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that is a good idea with the maverick.. i did take it right from the fridge, thus the cooker taking a little while too get up too speed.. the smoke ring thing seems like such a wild card for me u just dont know untill u slice into it what u got, but i used plenty of wood. as far as the wicked good briquettes, i had too stoke it a little at the 10 hour mark, but i think i could have gotten 13 hours outta them, not bad.. i see a lotta folks foiling the brisket what is your opinion of that?? thanx Glenn in SC
 
i see a lotta folks foiling the brisket what is your opinion of that??
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Once I tried the foil for briskets I was hooked. It evens out the doneness, without foil the thinner parts are done before the thicker parts, with the cost of this meat I want it perfect!

Try it next time when it gets to 160ish, if it is a overtrimmed flat then add some beef stock or broth when foiling
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will do, it was weird cause when i took the lid off after 9 hours i check the hunk for temp all over and nuthing was the same the point was in the 190s.. so i will try foil nextime what the heck.. thanx Glenn in SC
 
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