High temp brisket


 
C

Craig Castille

TVWBB Wizard
Well, I'm finally gonna do it today.

I'm gonna cook a brisket flat (7 lb) at 325-350. I'm expecting it to take around 5 hours, plus rest time.

I met Myron Mixon, and this is what he does in comps, says there is no need for low and slow(?). After cooking he'd let it rest wrapped in towels for an hour (not a cooler).

We'll see.
 
Higher/faster has become my method of choice for the no-roll packers I do. Even though they are not graded they come in at mostly mid-level Choice. Prime/Kobe I still do quite slow as I think they benefit from that due to their structure. Choice, imo, is simply not fat/tissue-striated enough anymore.

Anyway, I foil at above 170 then cook till tender. Once foiled, I use the therm to remind me of the first time I'll check but do not pull at any particular temp as the readings do not necessarily coincide with 'done'. To me, it is time@temp that determines doneness when cooking this way, not temp alone.

I Minion the start, cook ~335, sometimes unfoil at finish for bark texture (usually I don't), wrap in towels and rest in the microwave. I recommend partially unwrapping 10-15 min before serving to cool a bit and make slicing smoother. They take 4-4.5 hours tops this way; never had one go longer.
 
I decided to do a 11 lb packer instead.

Same method as above.

Making a light paste now. Will let you know the results.

Thanks Kevin.

ps- I was planning to use the therm for the initial 165-170 reading only (like you said)....after that, I will rely on the feel of fork tender.

Ps - Gonna use Picnic lump again today. It's perfect for this.
 
I have just opened my last bag of WGC. I would very much like to try the Picnic. Actually, since I know what you think of WG and recommend Picnic I just want a bunch of Picnic. I have to figure out getting it.

Yes, abandon any notion of a targeted finish temp. When the brisket hits the low 190s look at the clock. If it's been over 90 min since you foiled but not quite 2 hours you'll likely need more time, 30-45 min, but check the brisket. Don't move it--check it where it is. Keeping the crimp high, uncrimp carefully around the probe. Uncrimp enough so that you can probe in a few places to feel the meat. Check in the usual center area, not the tip nor the point. If there's some resistance, remove the probe, reseal and cook another 30 min or so and check again. There is more leeway, finish-wise, with briskets cooked this way--if you go 30 min but the brisket needed 15 no problem. I have been getting 12-pounders and the time in foil has been between a bit over 2 hours to 2:40.

Remember, too, that since you're cooking higher you'll get good residual cooking after pulling. Get a large cup measure ready and new foil. You will have scoped out the liquid quantity situation the first time you checked. If it seemed scant (not likely) have some chicken stock (or beef) ready. When the probe enters easily it's done, as you know. Carefully lift off the package and drain the juices into the measure (You could have as much as 3 c so be prepared. Wrap anew in doubled foil and stick a good 1.5 c back in there, unseparated. Separate and de-fat the remainder, if desired, for sauce (I separate the remainder and put some or all of the lean juices into the sauce or build a sauce from it directly, or both.)

Definitely let us know.

I have a 3.2-lb hunk of chuck in the cooker now. Cooking @ 310 at the moment. In the 170s I'll foil with onions, garlic and wine/balsamic/sherry reduction and a couple sprigs of thyme. Doing duck confit sous vide overnight tonight. I've been on a roll!
 
Kevin,

I get Picnic from a wholesale restaurant supply/grocer.

They are Sanwa growers...I believe they are based in Miami, and have a Tampa and Jax location.

They sell 15 lb bags for 7.50. The lump is Brazilian. If you need any, and I can be of help, let me know.
 
Finished the high temp brisket in 4 hours cook time.

Cooked at 350 lid most of the time using Picnic lump and no water. Could have gone several more hours at that temp easily as there was plenty of fuel left.

Wrapped in foil once temp hit 172, and took off when fork(probe) tender. The brisket stayed in foil for about an hour while in the wsm. I didn't measure the finishing temp though.

The brisket was an 11 lb select packer cut from walmart.

It was as good or better than any brisket I've ever done. Very tender, very moist, which is saying a lot for a crappy select cut.

I am now hooked on doing the "rapid fire" brisket.
 
which is saying a lot for a crappy select cut.
Click to expand...
It is. I thought you'd like it. I'm not a fan of butts in the 300s with foiling but it works very well with the significantly less fatty brisket. Even Choice ones.
 
Originally posted by Bob T.:
How was the bark Craig? Do you still use the same amount of sugar in the rub?
Click to expand...

I used a paste on this one....so the bark lacked some texture.....but I also used less sugar as well.

The flavor of the bark was terrific though....the paste was primarily a chipotle, steak dust, turbonado sugar, and granulated garlic.

2 guys that work for Darden restaurants (Smokey Bones) said it was the best brisket they ever had.

I could have thrown the brisket back on for a spell to firm up the texture, but I didn't want to chance messing anything up.
 
A little more than usual. I just tried to hack into the cap a bit more, but trying to still leave some on. I didn't think the cap would have enough time to render down like normal.

I don't know if that was the right call or not, but it turned out well.
 
Craig, one last question. Did you let the brisket rest in a towel outside or did you throw it wrapped in a cooler? Im going to try one of these in the next couple of weeks. Did P.B. using high temps but wasn't impressed with the results. Maybe brisket would be different especially , as you say, when you use Wally World meat.
 
Right call, Craig. The fatcap doesn't render all that appreciably even when cooking low/slow (but it loses moisture); less occurs at high temps, especially with the foiling stage.

Paul, I'm with you on the PB. Though I cook them higher than many (~265 grate) I don't foil and find that I still get good rendering with a somewhat shorter cook. The internal fat structure of brisket is very different from butt and I think supermarket briskets (up to midrange Choice) are well suited to a high temp cooks. See what you think.
 
Paul,

I intended to towel and microwave hold it, but I had to hold it a little longer than I wanted.

So, I left the brisket out for a little bit to slow the cooking, and then held in the cooler.
 
Craig or Kevin, I'm going to do a brisket this coming weekend (not sure if flat or packer yet). Thinking about trying a modified version of the high heat. Maybe start in the 250 range and later bump the heat and possibly foil. Any experience with this, or best to go with high heat only? I've had great success doing this with butts, sans the foil. Brisket is a different beast however. Just wanted to hear your thoughts.
 
Ed,

The packer I did in this thread was a select cut that came out more moist and tender than most of the choice cuts that I've done in the past.

If I had a really well marbled brisket, I'd probably still do a lower temp, but since just about every cut that I've ever bought lacks sufficient marbling, I'll stick to a high heat cook.

I don't see much reason for extending the cook, except that maybe you'll get a little more of a defined smoke ring. I'd rather have moist and tender than dry but picture perfect.

So, if it were me, I'd just go high heat all the way...and if I were you, I'd call it experimental, so you'll have a bailout if it doesn't meet your standards.

325-350, about 4 hours cook time. I'll be curious as to what you do.

Keep us posted.
 
I'm using the high heat approach for all but Kobe and Primes, though even with those I'm cheating temps higher. Probably 98% of the briskets I do are no-roll but my assessment of them leads me to infer they would be mostly Choice (low-mid-range) with only the odd Select quite rare.

This brisket was a no-roll I'd consider likely to be mid-range Choice. It was a high-heat cook. I trimmed and rubbed while the coals were starting for a Minion (so it went in cold) then moderated the come-up so that there would be time for ring formation. As I recall, it was nearly an hour to hit ~335. The ring, to me, is sufficient. I like smokerings though I quite agree with Craig that picture perfect is secondary. I have found, however, that so long as the come-up is steady (and you hit actual cooking temps relatively quickly) the cook time extension is minor, if any.

Let us k now what you think.
 
Picked up a 7.5# flat last night from Sam's. Let me tell you, things were picked over with the Royal starting up today. I saw a guy with 2 carts of meat, both loaded.

Not too terribly concerned about presentation, so I think I'm going to follow the high-heat method as written. Have a Stoker, so I'm debating whether to go Stoker or Stokerless.

I'll rub it [the brisket] tonight and place on the WSM cold, straight from fridge. I do like the smoker to be near target temp, so i may try to get it on when in the 225-250 range and let it come up from there.

I'll report back with results.
 
Hey thamks guys, I ttried this out and it was awesome..it was only my second brisket but everyone loved it thanks I didn't like brisket before but this tasted better than some pulled pork I have done that I thought was pretty darn good. Iam sold and have a new weapon to blow taste buds away.

Woody
 
Well, tried the high-heat over the weekend. Results for me were less than desired (don't believe it was due to the high-heat method however). Not sure what happened. At any rate, I had the cooker going 300 at grate and brought the brisket up to 165. At this point I double wrapped in foil and left temp alone. In a matter of 15 minutes i was getting a 205 reading on the probe (hooked to the Stoker). I thought something was haywire, so i checked with a dial and it was right on. I unfoiled, leaving the probe in, to improve the bark. After unfoiling temp dropped into 180s within 5-10 minutes. Sooo, something was amiss. I'll go it again...brisket is tough to cook anyway, let alone changing method.
 
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