Looong Brisket Smoke


 
S Wagner

S Wagner

TVWBB Member
I bought a 17 lb packer (16 lbs trimmed) for a party I'm having tomorrow. I plan on doing a long overnight cook, possibly 18 - 20 hours to have ready by late afternoon/early evening tomorrow. Does this seem like a reasonable amount of time for a brisket of this size? I know a lot of people prefer HH methods, and can get one done a lot faster, but I don't mind doing an overnight cook and have always had success low 'n slow.

I'm only asking because this is my first brisket, and I'd hate for it to not turn out well. Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!
 
I used to plan 2 hours per lb but lately I have been adjusting that to 1.5 hrs per lb. At 1.5 hrs per lb @ 275* I would plan for more like 25 hours. ...just my .02
 
good luck ! but really, doing yer first brisket right before a party is rather risky. long as you do the probe test you should be ok.
 
George Curtis said:
good luck ! but really, doing yer first brisket right before a party is rather risky. long as you do the probe test you should be ok.
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I know! I actually should say that I did my first brisket a few years ago, before I purchased my WSM. It was on a cheap Brinkman POS, and I couldn't get the temp up above 200 to save my life. Turned out like shoe leather!

I figure I'll probably have to crutch it at some point and finish it in the oven. Does anybody have any good advice as to when to foil & throw it in the oven? (i.e. how long before, what temp. I should set the oven to, about how long in the oven, etc...)

As always, your advice is greatly appreciated!
 
I did 2 14lb yesterday. Wrapped in red butcher paper after 5 hours. 170 internal temp after 6 hours and both were probe tender after 9 hours. Cooked at 250. Weather was in 50's, no wind. These were prime grade. They seem to finish a little quicker, I'm guessing because they are much better marbled.
Best burnt ends so far. Haven't tried the brisket slices yet. One brisket and a butt was for a small party job.
 
I usually calculate an hour per pound @250 and add one hour for resting. If you wrap it, wrap after it passes 165, or at least after it gets past the stall temp.
 
I've wrapped in the 150's and did not like it. The bark turned to mush. I'm with Bill on the 165 or thereabouts. It will still throw lots of liquid which you can capture. I would wrap it giving it some space or put it in a foil pan and cover it to gather the juices. You can firm up the bark afterward if you choose.
 
I usually avg a little over an hour a pound. For me though, I like to give myself at least 2 hrs of resting and an additional 2 hrs for a backup plan. I also feel like I trim enough off to compensate for the shorter cook time per hr.

I also run bet 220-230 in the WSM. Not to hijack the thread, but IMO low n slow is marekdly better than hnf. I also never wrap in foil, as I dislike the mushy texture you get from the foil. I'm a big butcher paper person and I usuallymwrapmit around 165ish, or when I like the texture of the bark
 
Yesterday I smoked 2 briskets, trimmed weight was 23.1 lbs. It took 9 hrs @ 230-250F, another 2 hrs @ 300F (panned/foil wrap) in a oven then 90 mins rested in a cooler. From start to finish (incl cleanup) took 14.5 hrs.
 
Well, I figured I'd follow up to let you all know how it went. Surprisingly, it was finished at right around 15 hours, which was surprising considering I didn't foil it, the temp never reached above 240, and the external temp was about 40 degrees and rainy.

Go figure! This left me with a problem, because my guests didn't arrive for about another 7 hours. So what I did was wrap the flat in foil, and kept it in the oven to keep warm (at 120 degrees) The point went back on the smoker for another few hours for burnt ends. Once those were done, I foiled the pan and put them in the oven with the flat. The end result... pretty tasty burnt ends, and a bone-dry, overcooked flat.

Fortunately I was able to salvage the flat meat by chopping it up and saucing the heck out of it, but there was no way it would cut into nice uniform slices.

Well, I guess you live and learn! Thank you again for all of your input, and it looks like I've got my work cut out for me when it comes to brisket!
 
Total weight (i.e., 23.1 lbs) does not matter. The operative issue is the weight of each piece separately, for coming up with a ballpark cook time. For instance, if one is cooking a 13-pound packer and a 10-pound packer one would figure the cooking time based on the 10-pound, to get an idea of when it might roughly be done, and figure the time on the 13-pounder to to get a rough idea of when it would be done. Obviously, the 10-pounder would finish within the time the 13-pounder would.

Ditto with butts. If cooking, say, three butts, at 7, 8 and 9 pounds each, one would ballpark based on the 9-pounder, realizing the two smaller butts would likely be done sooner, within the time it takes to cook the 9-pounder.

Total weight is immaterial.
 
S Wagner said:
So what I did was wrap the flat in foil, and kept it in the oven to keep warm
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Therein lies the problem. With that much time to kill, if doing a flat that has been cooked to tender, don't wrap in foil, don't keep warm. Cool on the counter, stick in the fridge, cover when cold. Reheat for service.
 
K Kruger said:
Therein lies the problem. With that much time to kill, if doing a flat that has been cooked to tender, don't wrap in foil, don't keep warm. Cool on the counter, stick in the fridge, cover when cold. Reheat for service.
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Duly noted. Thanks, Kevin!
 
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