Fresh brisket

[Gary S]

Today I was over in Mennonite Country and stopped into a small packing house. I was able to buy my very first ever Angus Brisket and they cut it right off the carcass while I waited. It's a full packer but only about 9 lbs. I can hardly wait to cook it. The end of the flat tapered down pretty thin so I'm thinking that part will dry out. I could always trim that off before hand. I'm thinking I will do this one low and slow. I can't find butcher paper here that is not waxed so I might have to foil it or wrap in parchment paper and put in a pan. Not sure yet.
Any suggestions?

 

[JimmyE]

You will have to be careful with this one because it's small. The flat part will be the problem so I would have a plan going in you'll probably need to separate it before it dries out. Have your thermapen handy along with some foil with maybe a bit of beef broth for moisture if necessary.

 

[Gary S]

Thanks for the advice Jimmy. I've decided to remove a portion of the flat so I can cook it separately. It's on with the rest of the brisket but I can remove it or foil it sooner. I don't want to risk harming this piece of Angus.
I'm doing this LNS with my new modified 26" Kettle. Here are some pics

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I ran this setup for a couple of hours before hand with a heavy metal serving plate wrapped in foil. I had no problem holding grill temps at 230. I'm thinking the plate will act as a diffuser for indirect cooking, catch drippings and possibly help to keep temps relatively stable. I used the fire bricks to take up some space and provide a platform for the plate.

I have lowered the charcoal grate as mentioned in other posts substituting the original for a BGE CI cooking grate. I'm simply heating deeper into the kettle and the CI is helping to hold more heat.

I want to attempt a more exact dome vent setting now that I have added Nomex so have made 3 wooden plugs. It seems allowing a single 1" vent or 25% of the vent open is working well.

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[Glenn W]

Nice looking table/grill mod! What are you trying to accomplish with this set up excatly? Notice my signature, I am familiar with ceramic cookers. I have done many briskets on my 26 OTG. Just curious.

 

[Gary S]

Well Glenn I am simply exploring the different possibilities, other than grilling, provided by the size of this kettle. Looking seriously at a ceramic somehow led me to check out other offerings available from Weber. I was impressed by the size and depth of this kettle but not the stand or the naked way it's offered. I was inspired by a Christmas turkey cook I did on the 22 OTP. I've found I can manage a kettle better than a WSM in the cold weather. My interest in the 26 evolved from there. I found the OTP design to be very functional. The side tables are a great feature and something I could replicate. I also like the fact the lid opens to the back of the kettle as compared to the side. Using Weber cubes or other lighting materials in my mind is no different than the propane assist provided by the Performer. I'm ready to cook in about 15 minutes.
There are times that I want a bigger grill surface than the 18 for smoking and times that I wish I had more space for CI pans when I'm grilling with the 22 so I have adapted the 26 to provide the advantages of my OTP as well as the occasional smoke. I can also easily reach pizza cooking temps. I had a WSM 22 and found it more than I needed. It was expensive to operate when cooking small quantities.
I have walked away from ceramic cookers several times but I suspect at some point one will come my way. It's not a matter of the cost as much as I have seen many damaged and heard of many more. The weight and the fragility cause me concern. I have considered the metal cookers but am still undecided.
I will make the accessories I need for the 26 based on my OTP 22 and at that point I will keep the 26 and the 18.5. I do not have an interest in collecting cookers. Right now I'm experimenting with the 26 for LNS and today the setup I used worked well although I created more of a hot zone outside of the steal plate than I expected but in hindsight it's only doing exactly what a WSM would do because of the setup I used. I will likely try other methods for LNS as I like to experiment. The brisket cook turned out pretty well. I'm not liking the foil but have not been able to get butcher paper up here that does not have wax.

If you have other ideas about LNS I'm all ears. I was able to maintain a very steady 230 throughout the cook inside the hot zone. I was totally done in 6 hours. The flat was done in 4 1/2 hours. I had plenty of fuel to spare.

Ready for foil at 160

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[Gary S]

I would have taken more photos but I spilled hot juices on the deck when bringing the platter in the house. . It threw a lot of juice. I wish I had a cement patio but since we want to move I have no intention on building one.
My wife thought it was the tastiest brisket I've ever cooked. The Angus was a great change from what is normally available to me.

 

[David]

Gary,

That is an awesome grill to make yourself. No doubt the OTP, now discontinued, was a model for this, but this surpasses that even. Your side tables, since they are made of wood, can handle just about any hot plates put on the also. As you know I had a old cooker that had wood side tables on each side on which I put anything I desired on them, however, they had no chemical coating on them as it will discolor or burn I suppose. Again, awesome work!!!!!!..........................d

 

[W Tyler]

Yep Gary, you've done an outstanding job with the big kettle. I think I'm going to replicate your 18.5 WSM/CI charcoal grate idea to make mine a smoker - and ditch the 22.5" WSM. One thing i'll probably do different is use a wider steel disc - wider than the WSM charcoal ring - and weld 4 "legs" on it so it "hovers" above the charcoal ring instead of sitting on it. In my design the legs would rest on the inside of the kettle walls keeping it from slipping or sliding downward - it would look somewhat like a 4-legged spider. It should also help air circulation and allow for an even larger charcoal capacity for longer smoking.

Again job well done!

 

[Gary S]

Gary,

No doubt the OTP, now discontinued, was a model for this, but this surpasses that even. Your side tables, since they are made of wood, can handle just about any hot plates put on the also. As you know I had a old cooker that had wood side tables on each side on which I put anything I desired on them, however, they had no chemical coating on them as it will discolor or burn I suppose.

Thanks David, the tables are 1" cedar with tongue oil but they're replaceable when necessary or can be sanded and refinished so I agree it's the way to go.
It really is too bad Weber would not take their OTP design and apply it to the 26". After all if you read many of the Amazon customer complaints about the 26 they centre around the spindly legs and the heavy and awkward lift of the centre handle given the shear size of the lid. All I really did was take their proven design and apply it where it was needed.
You know when you look at the Chargriller and to a lesser extent, the Keg you could incorporate air intake by adapting the ash bucket on the One Touch, lower the charcoal grate somemore, make it cast iron, double wall the kettle and the lid, put a hinge on it, add a gasket and you would have one Kick *** Kettle.