Medium heat brisket?
- Thread starter Lew
- Start date
Bob Sample
TVWBB Diamond Member
The temperature I choose to cook brisket or shoulder is based on the amount of time I can invest on that particular cook. Some days I may feel like sitting back and doing a 12-15 hour cook while other times I need to get'er done.
Dave Russell
TVWBB Honor Circle
IMHO, it's a great idea as long as you use foil and cook overnight, or get up really early and keep the temp up. (For an decent rest, I'd try to keep the temp up close to 300* and wrap in foil as soon as the bark looks ok.) Even if cooking over 275, they can be stubborn, and the foil will really help speed up the cook as long as you don't put it off too long.
It's my experience cooking on my 18.5" wsm, that unless wrapping it for part of the cook, it's easy to end up with too much in terms of "burnt ends" if I cook too fast, preferring to cook with water at about 250* at the vent. Protecting the end of the flat with foil and fat trimmings helps, but the flat end is the first part of the brisket to dry out, and it's sitting right over the hottest part of the cooker, afterall.
I cooked briskets in 9-10 hours on my old UDS, no foil, but the temp coming up around SIDES of the drum was mostly sub 250*, with the temp in the middle close to 275 or a little more at the most. I flipped 'em a couple of times as well.
It's my experience cooking on my 18.5" wsm, that unless wrapping it for part of the cook, it's easy to end up with too much in terms of "burnt ends" if I cook too fast, preferring to cook with water at about 250* at the vent. Protecting the end of the flat with foil and fat trimmings helps, but the flat end is the first part of the brisket to dry out, and it's sitting right over the hottest part of the cooker, afterall.
I cooked briskets in 9-10 hours on my old UDS, no foil, but the temp coming up around SIDES of the drum was mostly sub 250*, with the temp in the middle close to 275 or a little more at the most. I flipped 'em a couple of times as well.
Medium heat (275 deg) is how I cook my briskets as that's where my 22inch seems to settle in on long cooks. Each vent about 1/3rd open. Top wide open. Cajun Bandit replacement door. Foil at about the six hour mark and start probing for tenderness. Rest an hour or so. My cooks average about 8 to 10 hours for a 12 lber so I can start at 8am and be ready for dinner.
Randy
Randy
Dave Russell
TVWBB Honor Circle
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Randy B:
Medium heat (275 deg) is how I cook my briskets as that's where my 22inch seems to settle in on long cooks. Each vent about 1/3rd open. Top wide open. Cajun Bandit replacement door. Foil at about the six hour mark and start probing for tenderness. Rest an hour or so. My cooks average about 8 to 10 hours for a 12 lber so I can start at 8am and be ready for dinner.
Randy </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yep. That's about how I'd do "day cooks" for briskets and butts on the wsm, and I'd even change to a "dry" heat sink for more bark development before foiling.
I remember enquiring here and on another site about the best way to cook butts (or briskets?): overnight vs. day
...and the only folks who recommended cooking during the day also used foil. It's only taken me three or four day cooks and MANY more overnight cooks to determine that I got really good answers.
Medium heat (275 deg) is how I cook my briskets as that's where my 22inch seems to settle in on long cooks. Each vent about 1/3rd open. Top wide open. Cajun Bandit replacement door. Foil at about the six hour mark and start probing for tenderness. Rest an hour or so. My cooks average about 8 to 10 hours for a 12 lber so I can start at 8am and be ready for dinner.
Randy </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yep. That's about how I'd do "day cooks" for briskets and butts on the wsm, and I'd even change to a "dry" heat sink for more bark development before foiling.
I remember enquiring here and on another site about the best way to cook butts (or briskets?): overnight vs. day
...and the only folks who recommended cooking during the day also used foil. It's only taken me three or four day cooks and MANY more overnight cooks to determine that I got really good answers.