Giant Brisket...What can be done?


 
I

Ian G

New member
So, I'm cooking for a large group this weekend and I called around to locate a good size brisket...something in the 10-12lbs range untrimmed. I found a place that had them, but showed up and the smallest they had was 17lbs!!! I couldn't say no to that, so I grabbed it anyway. I haven't measured it against the size of my WSM (2009 18"), but it appears to be at least as wide as the smoker.

I've searched around and seen one reference to pinning back the flat (thinnest part, right?) using a skewer. I've also seen a reference to 'curling' the brisket - not sure if this refers to pinning back with a skewer or laying the brisket on it's side and curling it (like a seashell would). Putting it on it's side seems bad because too much fat would drip off too fast. Maybe I'm paranoid. Using a skewer seems like an OK idea.

If the brisket is touching the side of the kettle, I'm thinking this would be a problem. The sides are probably warmer than the air inside and would cause an inconsistent cook throughout the meat. Is this a proper assumption?

Thanks,

-Ian
 
You could try shoe-horning it between the handles on the upper grate, protect the ends with a bit of foil ... lift the middle 'till the ends fit in then drop the middle. I'd go fat side down.

If you don't like that or it just won't fit lopping the point off wouldn't be horrible. You could throw it on the bottm, freeze it and cook it another day, w/e.


Here's a pic of 'shoehorn':

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I did a 15 lb and used my rib rack in the middle of the top grate to arch the brisket over the top of the rack with the ends foiled and wedged between the handles (think St. Louis Arch but not quite so arched)...about 1/2 way through the cook I could remove the rack since the brisket shrinks as it cooks. Was not a problem at all.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Don Irish:
I did a 15 lb and used my rib rack in the middle of the top grate to arch the brisket over the top of the rack with the ends foiled and wedged between the handles (think St. Louis Arch but not quite so arched)...about 1/2 way through the cook I could remove the rack since the brisket shrinks as it cooks. Was not a problem at all. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hmmmm....I DO have a rib rack I haven't used yet. I planned to do pork butt during the same cook and was going to do the butt on the top only 'cause I think the brisket will take longer and it's easier to pull the butt first if it's on top. OTOH, the top is a little wider. I'll have to measure it tomorrow night after it's trimmed, before applying the rub.

-Ian
 
If you can cram it in whole go for it, wont matter if it touches the sides as it will shrink in size quite quickly once it gets to temp.

Like Shawn said, you could also seperate the flat and the point and either cook the point or grind it up for burgers.
 
I'd just wedge it between the handles as others have mentioned. I've done it a number of times and the brisket always comes out great!
 
I decided to trim off a piece of the flat for later use in a stew (I'm thinking Irish Stew MMMmmmmmm). I don't have a scale, but I'm guessing I trimmed off 1.5-2lbs for the stew plus a couple more pounds of fat so I'm probably around 12-13lbs now. I'll have to weight it tonight to estimate my start time. Midnight smoke!!

It now will just barely fit on the grate, so I'll initially just squeeze it in slightly and after the first half of cooking time, it should be shrunk up enough to easily flip and position without touching the sides.

Thanks for the responses, guys. This is still one huge hunk of beef, but slightly more manageable now. Sure made my butcher block look small!!!

-Ian

P.S. When placing it on the grate, I couldn't help but think I should've bought the larger smoker. Ultimately, it'd be too much room for me and I have no real regrets, but this piece of brisket is just asking for it.
 
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