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J

John VB

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I have an 11.5 lb brisket in cryovac and two butts in cryovac (18 lbs!), going to try the pork saturday, and the brisket overnight for the Packer game Sunday. Is 1.5 hrs/lb a safe estimate for both types of meat? The butts look to be about 10 and 8, brisket 11.5.

Any advice on timing these out?

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
Holy Cow! That's about 20 hours on the big butt. Looks like I better start tomorrow night and have pork for the Badger game, then do the overnight brisket for Sunday!

Busy weekend!
 
what temperature do you plan on cooking them? At 225-235, you are right, the butts will likely take around 17-19 hours, in my experience. With Brisket on the bottom, I'd push the temps up a bit though (225 at the top grate is like 215 at the bottom). So I'd cook around 250 at the top grate. That will bring the cook time down about 3-4 hours, most likely.

Anyhow, plan for extra time. With that much mass, it will be easy to keep it hot for a number of hours wrapped a few layers of foil and sitting in a dry cooler.

Plus, you really want that brisket to rst for a few hours before you cut into it.
 
The two hours/lb estimate gives you some extra time for flexibility. You can't cook by a clock, so these are just estimates. Your times will vary.
 
All I can say is I'm beat. The butts went okay on Friday/Saturday, but I had to pull at 185 degrees after 20+ hours, out of charcoal. Same deal with the brisket, I cooked an 11 pounder for over 20 hours and couldn't get the stupid thing over 175 internal. I'm sure you all know how mentally draining it is to babysit a chunk of meat for almost one entire day, to have it turn out like smokey pot roast. The edges that were done more turned out like I imagine good brisket is supposed to taste, but most of it will end up in stew.
 
John - reall sorry to hear that. I'm sure there is an easy fix to the problems - butts don't take longer than 20 hours. Sometimes close to it, but not longer.

if you give us some more detail, maybe we can get to the problems:

What temperature were you cooking at?
Did your fluctuate throughout? If so, what where the highs and lows?
were you measuring the lid temp or grate level?
Did you use any foil?
You mention pot roast. Was it falling apart like pot roast? or just tasted like it?
What kind of fuel?
 
Hi Adam,

Lid temps were 245-255 the whole time, with the exception of a dip to about 220 on the brisket for a few hours in the middle of the night. Didn't see very much fluctuation. Kingsford charcoal with chunks of hickory or mesquite, Minion method used. Both cuts were foiled after cooking and allowed to rest in a cooler for about an hour. The pot roast refers to flavor, it was moist and tasty, but the texture wasn't nearly as relaxed as what I assume proper brisket should be.
 
John

I think the first thing I would do is to check the accuracy of my meat therms. The boiling water test can be used fairly easily. Possibly your meat temp was, in fact, higher than the therm showed. On butts, I multiply 2 times the weight of the heaviest butt and use that as an outside finish time. If its not to 195 by then, I get suspicious. Check the bone to see how far its pulled back and if it has a little give when you wiggle or pull it. If it does, its done.

On a brisket, maybe look at 1.5 hrs per pound ? Then, take a meat fork, insert and twist. If you feel a little give, its done.

Things will improve.

Paul
 
I agree with Paul - make sure your therms are accurate.

The other thing I'd do is employ foil during the cook. If you have butts or briskets that have gone for 15 hours with no end in sight, wrap in foil and put back on the smoker. I'd also bump up the temps another 10+ degrees. It will greatly expedite the finish of the cook. Since it has already been on the smoker for many hours, you won't get any benefit, really, not foiling to finish. Plus it ensures you don't dry out the meat on the way to finishing it...
 
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