High temp brisket question


 
After enjoying this thread for so long, I will be doing a high heat brisket tomorrow. Will rub and smoke with hickory between 300 and 350.

Two question for you experienced brisket masters.

1) My brisket is a 6.4 lb flat. About how long should it take till done? I will go by feel, but want to be close to my dinner time estimate.

2) Any advice for sauce?

Thank you everyone.

James
 
quick question for you Kevin as well as the other high heat brisketiers out there. Have you ever heard of a 14 lb brisket being done in 5 hours at a cooking temperature of 280*? If you haven't well you have now. I put mine on this morning at 6:30 am and at 11:30 am she was done. Just separated the point and put it back on for a few more hours.
I guess I should ask if this is normal or not, as that is what I am wondering.
 
I just picked up a brisket today that was just about 3 lbs that I thought was a flat. When I got it home and unwraped it, I think it is the point not the flat. You could actually see an angled piece of fat in the meat. Between it and the fat cap was an angled sliver of meat. Is this the point or the flat? I did not take pictures of it to show you guys before putting on the wsm. Now after reading this thread for the last two hours I think I have the point. Do the same rules apply for the cook on this piece of meat? BTW 2 hrs @ 325-350* we are @ 160* inturnal temp. Going to foil it now in an aluminum pan covered with the last small piece of foil I have. Basically not enough foil to do as advised in this thread. Note to self get foil when ever you smoke. Thanks Vince
 
OK to answer my own question I think the small piece of meat between the fat was part of the point. It was much more stringy when I tried to cut it. I will say it was more tender than the other part of the cut but did not slice the same. The high heat was definitely a great way to make this and I will do it again. My little brisket took about 3 hrs 15 min. I foiled after 2 hrs and started to check it with a probe at the 2:45 marker because of the size of the cut. 15 minutes later it felt like the probe went in fairly easy. I let it go for another 15 and then pulled. I would not say like soft butter but it did go in fairly easy. I then plugged in the thermometer and it was reading over 190 in all places. I will say it was very tender and juicy. The wife and son said it was a very good brisket. I did not quite get the smoke ring that some of you have posted but I think there could have been a couple of reasons for that. One is that the meat had been sitting out for over an hour. I went to the store and did not put it in the frig when I got home. Basically fired up the chimney and got things ready while it sat out. Also I did use a mustard base for the rub to stick to. I wounder if this blocks the smoke a bit. IDK but the brisket had a good smoke flavor. I used 3 chunks of hickory and then after an hour i used a mix of maple, adler and cherry chips to finish the second hour. I did let it rest for about 20 minutes before slicing. Maybe next time I can try out a full packer! Thanks Vince
 
Originally posted by Ed Cardoza:
I foiled after it hit 165*
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Sounds about right then Ed. It took longer because of the 280º cooking temp. If you would have been cooking in the 325º-350º range, then I'd say about 4-4.5 hrs. for the packer.
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How did it turn out for you? Happy with the results?
 
Originally posted by Bryan S:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ed Cardoza:
I foiled after it hit 165*
Click to expand...
Sounds about right then Ed. It took longer because of the 280º cooking temp. If you would have been cooking in the 325º-350º range, then I'd say about 4-4.5 hrs. for the packer.
icon_wink.gif

How did it turn out for you? Happy with the results? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Just seemed a bit quick for such a big brisket. I am used to doing them at 225* and taking anywhere between 17-20 hours to complete. Sure am glad I didn't put that dude on at 10pm the night before.
It turned out very good, very moist and somewhat tender, and the flavor was killer. Really need to thank Kevin K for the rub recipe. I used his coffee/cocoa rub and man is that some good eating.
 
This thread has proven too tempting. Am now in mid process of the HH brisket method. Only the 2nd brisket I've done.

Picked up some 28 day aged brisket and gave it a rub with mustard and a basic homemade rub. Used lump/wood for the intial cook. Hit 160 after about 1:45 in, then foiled and transferred to the genesis for stage 2. Am a bit concerned that it is cooking too fast. It's around 176 now, just 2:05 in. The gasser is at 325, I may adjust to 300.

The brisket looked great going into the foil. Will update later, and yes with pics.

Thanks all.
 
Originally posted by Mark B:

Am a bit concerned that it is cooking too fast. It's around 176 now, just 2:05 in. The gasser is at 325, I may adjust to 300.

The brisket looked great going into the foil. Will update later, and yes with pics.

Thanks all.
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The meat hit 190 but the skewer test found the meat to still be very firm. Lots of juices in the foil. Will give it another 30 min before testing again.
 
It came out really good
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There's a couple of things I may do different next time - more assertive rub and smoking. I used some birch and maple. But the beef itself turned out great. Tender but not mushy. Could maybe have gone another half hour which would have got me to 4 hrs. The brisket was around 7 lbs.

I may trim a bit more next time, the lack of smoke ring in areas is due to fat cap. Got about 1.25 cups of juice from the foil, which went into the separator and added some of that to the No. 5 sauce which was served on the side at dinner.

A few photos here.

I'm really enthused about the results - good brisket in a reasonable amount of time.

Thanks to all.
 
It's taken me all week to post about the results, apologies. Fantastic. I took pics, but I need the wife to help me out and get them uploaded.

Besides for the shortened cooking time, for me the real magic was that the method let me screw up big time and still recover. Since the temp rise was slowing down, I lifted the lid off a fraction to speed things up. Had to go be a good parent, when I got back a few minutes later temps had shot up over 400! Took me some time to shut the vents and bring the temps back down into the desired range. And then my meat thermo went on the fritz, so all I had was time and grate temp to go by during the cook. Nonetheless, I foiled at 2:30 in and just let it go per procedure. Found myself probing at 3:50 with a thermo (temp was 200+!), felt resistance, wrapped it back up. While part of me was petrified that I'd overcook it, I found myself muttering a mantra along the lines of "Kruger says temp don't matter, cook till tender, cook till tender." 4:37 in, I decided probe said "done." Foiled in cooler for 2 hours until dinner.

I feel like I still suck at pit temp control and adjusting the vents, but this one worked beautifully. 10lb+ packer, not a scrap left.

Gonna switch gears and do a chuck roast low and slow for pulled beef tonight. Can't wait to see/eat the results.

Thanks to all who contribute here...
 
Originally posted by Mordechai F:
this one worked beautifully. 10lb+ packer, not a scrap left.
Gonna switch gears and do a chuck roast low and slow for pulled beef tonight. Can't wait to see/eat the results.
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Nice job on the brisket. You screwed up nothing based on your "not a scrap left" comment.
Since you brought it up, you are really going to love smoked chuck.
 
K Kruger I have a question for you. When you let the brisket rest do you remove the brisket from the juices from the foil first or just let is stay foiled with the juices for a while? Thanks in advace. Vince
 
I remove most if the juices, about 2/3-3/4, which I defat. The rest remain in the foil.

Meat increases its ability to both absorb and retain juices as it cools.
 
Thank you as always. Man it is like you were next door when I asked! I'm going to drain some and cover with foil on the counter with a towel for about a 1/2 hour wile I try my luck with the #5 sauce. Thanks again for the fast reply. Vince
 
read the thread while on a conference call and had the do one up. Went a got a nice 16 pounder. Kevin made a point that missed me, to use an empty foiled pan. No issues holding 350 2 hours in. seems pretty obvious now. just was so used to the saucer.

any thoughts on the cook time? still 4 4 1/2 hours?
 
OK, I'm thinking of trying one of these this coming weekend on some guests (who so far have loved my PP and pulled chicken). Looking to do a flat, most of which I've seen at my grocery store in the 3-ish pound range. From what I've read, i should smoke for about 2 hours, then foil until tender. So, at temps of 325-ish, knowing that every piece of meat and cook is different; roughly how long should I plan for?

Any recommendations on a rub? Should I attempt this on the WSM, or just throw it on the Performer? Sorry for the multitude of questions. Never done a brisket, but I'd love to try one. And my guests are encouraging it. But I don't want to disappoint.
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