Cooking brisket... question on 1 vs. 2 briskets?

[Dano C.]

So I have a question about cooking some brisket in my 18.5" wsm. I have cooked a decent amount in my wsm with pretty good success, but never brisket, and never with the top AND bottom grate. So....

I was looking at this method here for overnight brisket:
http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/brisket2.html
And saw the rule-of-thumb 1 - 1.5 hrs of cooking per pound of brisket. Does the number of briskets affect this time at all?

The way I read the article, it does not, but that seems surprising to me I guess.

Anyways, is there any time difference for 1 vs. 2 briskets (one on each rack)?

Thanks!

 

[Dave Russell]

Dano, the difference in the length of the cook is in the additional time needed to get the cooker up to temp with an additional cold brisket. It's no big deal though if you just light more coals to begin with.

I wouldn't try the cook w/out water in the pan, and if you trim any fat, put the pieces under the end of the flat, along with some aluminum foil if you'd like. I'd cook 225-250* fat down the whole time with no mopping and first check for tenderness when the IT* of the smallest one (bottom rack) reaches about 185*. Try to reserve enough time to rest 'em in foil for a couple hours or so.

 

[Monty House]

I did two (almost identical 13.5 lb'ers = 27 total) last July and they were on from 12:30am - 4:30pm (16 hours). I used water in the pan and kept lid temp close to 225. They were pulled at 192-194 internal and were not foiled. No appreciable difference in time over a single brisket, IMO.

I have a 18.5

They turned out great.

 

[John Henderson]

The amount of heat going into the meat is probably trivial compared to what is flowing out through the metal walls, so the amount of meat in there will not have noticable effect.