First Full Packer Brisket on the 22.5"


 
Gary London

Gary London

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Special dinner party from 8 people, chose to take the risk of smoking my first ever brisket.

Need to have it ready for 8pm Saturday (UK time).

Meat arrives between 5am - 9am tomorrow morning (Friday) It is about 13lb (6kg) in weight.

Planning to trim it, get a rub on it and leave it in the fridge for a few hours then inject some beef stock and put it on the smoker around Midnight Friday.

I have 33lb (15kg) box of restaurant grade lumpwood charcoal so will fill the grate and use minion method.

I will fill the water pan as it might help keep the temp more stable. I plan to foil at 150f and remove and hold when meat temp hits 200f

I have a Maverick ET732 to monitor the temps and will aim for 225-250f cooking temp.

Any thoughts or advice?
Have I missed anything?
Is the timing right? Thinking I could start at 2am instead?

Forgot to add smoke - I have some Apple and Cherry chunks and some Hickory chips.
 
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Have you considered "high heat" smoke (275-300o) ? I have no experience with it but it seriously cuts down smoke time yet produces excellent product. If no one pipes in here, try starting a new thread for high heat brisket. Search function doesn't allow to search for phrases is why I suggest a new thread with that in the title. Good luck.
 
Len Dennis said:
Have you considered "high heat" smoke (275-300o) ? I have no experience with it but it seriously cuts down smoke time yet produces excellent product. If no one pipes in here, try starting a new thread for high heat brisket. Search function doesn't allow to search for phrases is why I suggest a new thread with that in the title. Good luck.
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I second that. I only cook high heat brisket now. It saves time and does produce a very good, consistent product.
 
I think you have a good plan but with wrapping I'd start later maybe at 2 and plan on it having a long rest with the brisket in foil wrapped in towels in a cooler up to 5 hrs. The rest will add to the tenderness and moisture. That gives some leeway if the brisket finishes early. I'm a 225 to 250 guy myself. Do whatever you are comfortable with as far as temp. I get better results with lower temps. If you are used to cooking in the 225 to 250 range I wouldn't experiment with high heat with guests on the way.
 
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I personally prefer 275F because it helps render fat better and cuts down on cook time. I just tried 275 for the first time after multiple brisket cooks at 225, and I won't be going back. However, Dustin makes a good point that if you're more comfortable with 225-250, you might want to stick with it while you're having guests over. You could also foil whenever you're happy with the bark instead of the moment it hits 150 internally.

Starting at 2 am will give you plenty of time to give the brisket (and the cook) a nice long rest before guests arrive.
 
Thanks everyone.

The high heat cooking sounds interesting and the time saving is very tempting, not least because it avoids staying up until stupid o'clock.

However, I have been researching and planning for a while now and I don't want to change at the last minute. If I think this through it seems that you could pick a temp between 225f and 300f, keep it steady and it's ready when it's ready?

I am also thinking that using the water pan will help with temp control at the 225 - 250f range (that's what I have read anyway) and as a brisket noob I need all the help I can get.

The brisket arrived at 05:05 this morning. I have used Turner and George, a reputable London butcher. Only a few butchers in the U.K understand full packers and pork butt.
T&G even include the provenance of the cut and this one is from an Angus from Ashberry Farm in North Yorkshire. Only the name of the cow is missing!

I will put some photographs up later.
 
good luck Gary. as it's UK beef remember to add some jus/stock/beer when you wrap. Our beef doesn;t have the intramuscular fat of USDA beef.
 
Chris Arnold said:
good luck Gary. as it's UK beef remember to add some jus/stock/beer when you wrap. Our beef doesn;t have the intramuscular fat of USDA beef.
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Thanks Chris, I am going to inject some beef stock and keep some back to add to the wrap.

I have seen USDA brisket on sale here http://www.tomhixson.co.uk/beef/cuts/brisket-27.html but they don't actually say what grade it is. Sorely tempted by their Wagyu brisket but at that price it could be a very expensive disaster.
 
The Tom Hixson meat is usually very good - lots of us competition BBQers use it - and the Australian grain fed beef too.
 
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Trimmed and rubbed
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This lumpwood charcoal is really good quality, very dense and heavy but runs hot.

Top vent fully open and 2 out of 3 intakes closed the other one open just a tiny bit.
Gradually dropping from 273f, went to 268f then back up to 270f.
Now shut all the intakes, moved the barbecue sensor to middle (think it was hotter nearer the edge)
After an hour I think it might be steady at 250f so going to put the brisket on soon. 3am now.
I was hoping to get some sleep!

Brisket looks a bit too thin to me. Hopefully it won't all end up as burnt ends.
 
That was an interesting night. It went in at 3.05am. Got temp under control most of the time.
Meat temp got to 150f in less than two hours, but I didn't want to wrap so early.

WSM temp went down to 221f at one point so tweaked the intakes. Topped up water at 7am. Kicked the WSM legs to shake off the ash as running borderline 225f.

Temp then went up to 256f and the reason for that (I think) was the wind had really picked up. Shut the intakes and got back down to 230f.
Meat was up to 160f but then dropped to 156f and stayed steady. I had hit the stall.

4 hours 40 minutes I wrapped, adding some stock. Opening up the door and with lid off it really flamed up some unlit charcoal and it hit 313f, damped it back down to 230f and it has surged through the stall.
7 hours in, now on 190f and WSM temp a steady 230f.

It seems to have a reasonable bark. I am happy with the temperature management for first time using that Big K Restaurant grade lumpwood.
Still not happy with the shape of the brisket. It used the full 22.5" diameter when it went in as though it was flowing and thinning out.
Also when wrapping it didn't have much bend. Is that normal, will it loosen up?

Some pictures.

Uncooked ready to go in.
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Some bark

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Close ups

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Wind problems

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Enrico Brandizzi said:
You could match a second stall in a moment!
Good luck
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Thanks.

It's at 201f now. 8 hours before I need it. Going to learn some holding techniques very quickly. A duvet in cooler to start with.

Can I put it in the oven at 170f and keep it going until dinner time?
 
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It's out after only 9 hours and 15 mins, tucked up in a towel and a duvet in the Igloo. Only 7 hours to go before I see if it's success, failure or somewhere in between! Now where is that Chinese takeaway menu, just in case.
 
Well? how were the results? That point look like it was perfectly pulling away from the flat. Hope you made some nice ends out of it.
 
Despite the problems with the timing it was a relatively happy ending.
Got the rub wrong too, too hot and peppery for some.

Passed the pull test but would have been more moist if I didn't have to hold it for so long.

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