First ever brisket seems to be cooking quickly today - advice please


 
B

BryanSW

New member
Hi, I am the unofficial smoking consultant for a friend who is hosting a super bowl party, and cooking a whole, 12lb brisket for the first time. The brisket went on at 8am, smoker at 210 or so. Two hours later, the brisket is already up to 125. We were expecting an hour a pound, but I'm thinking at this rate it's going to get done really really early. The pork butt is at 90 degrees, which seems more reasonable.

Questions:

1. Is the brisket going to continue at this rate and be done at 1pm?!?!? Or will it stall out (like pork) for a couple of hours once it reaches 160 or so. We are going to foil at 160-ish and then finish at 195-200.

2. On the off chance this thing continues cooking quickly, any holding suggestions? Low oven or warm a cooler and insulate? How long will it keep? I understand that's relative, but guidance appreciated.

Note: He doesn't have a WSM, but a high quality offset smoker.

Thanks as always,

Bryan
 
my experience with low and slow brisket is that the internal temp rises rapidly to 130-150 and then the rise slows drastically.
 
The only time I ever did a brisket low and slow was for a party last August. I put the 13 pound packer-cut brisket on at 6am at roughly 225 grate-temp. By 6pm, it was still in the 165-plateau. It finally was ready at 9pm after a stint in foil in the oven at 275 and even then it was a bit underdone and chewy.

If you're targeting kickoff for the game tonight, that's a 9-hour cook. For a 12# packer, I don't think that'll be enough time if you're only cooking at 210. Maybe by half-time?

I'd say bump up the temps considerably; maybe 250 to 275.
 
Both pieces of meat are going to hit a plateau eventually.
Regardless if they get done sooner, I've foiled and wrapped in a towel and put in a cook for up to 4hrs and it was still almost too hot to pull.
I'd say you'll be just fine but I'd cook them a little higher temp.
I dont' ever cook anything lower than 235-250.
 
I've got a 5lb trimmed brisket on right now, since 10 am (now 1pm). It rose quickly-as others have said-and now has only risen 6 degrees (from 159 to 165) in the last 45 minutes or so. I plan on foiling at 170 (or as soon as I get back from the store for the mac & cheese ingredients). At that point, I will not be cooking by temp, but rather will cook for another 2 hours or so until it is tender.

I've read enough on this board to be convinced that it's done when it's tender, not when it hits a certain temp.

Good luck sir.

Ps-I'm only a trimmed brisket b/c that's what Costco had. I had hoped to do a packer, but it wasn't available.
 
How did it turn out? I don't have a ton of reference points, but I think it turned out quite well. Beginner's luck perhaps.

I was advising from afar, so I couldn't/didn't tell my buddy to turn the heat up. So the brisket cooked at around 210 (offset smoker so temp not consistent on entire cooking surface, may have been hotter at times as he moved the food around) for 8-9 hours. As was mentioned here, it slowed down considerably once it hit 130 or so and was on schedule to get done at the perfect time. Thanks again TVWBB. Cooked fat-side up, sprayed with apple juice/beer mix every hour-ish. Overnight rest per recipe from "Way to Grill."

Foiled at 160, taken off at 195-200 and rests comfortably in an insulated cooler in foil for 1.5 to 2 hours in his chilly garage. I was a little concerned about that, but both it and the pork butt were HOT when we got them out to pull/slice. I was expecting a ton of fat in his fat-catcher, but there really wasn't that much. There was quite a bit of juice in the cooler, even considering that he ripped the foil on the grill and prior juice spilled out earlier. It also didn't shrink up as much as I expected; it was still a massive hunk of meat. Sliced thin against the grain, good smoke ring and everyone enjoyed. It was tender, but still had some "chew" to it. I wouldn't say it was like a hot knife through butter, but it wasn't tough either.

Maybe the first decent brisket I've ever had - really liked it, BBQ with that beef-taste underpinning. There was some crazy-good looking juices in the cooler and pan, will remember that and do something with them next time.
There was a ton of food, so the point was saved and will hopefully make burnt ends someday.

Guests were happy, and both cook and consultant enjoyed it.

Now that you've read that, I always wonder . . . how could I make it better next time? Definitely try and do something with the juice - remove fat, reduce and use as sauce. Any other thoughts?

Thanks for reading,

Bryan
 
Bryan, congrats on the cook!!!! I used to take a turkey baster and suck all the juices off the foil before lifting. What I do now is after foiling I put in a aluminum foil turkey pan that i have to "modify" to fit in my WSM. It catches all the juices. I've used the juices in meat loaf,chili,beef stew, etc. Many uses for this stuff.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top