Need advice on first Prime brisket


 
T

Tim Altimus

New member
Hi, All! Need some advice here. I've got my first ever prime brisket to smoke; also, it's by far the largest brisket I've ever smoked (19.6 lbs..holy crap!) I ordered it here: https://store.creekstonefarms.com/, but I had ordered a 14-16lb prime and they sent me a 19.6lb prime. It needs a good bit of trimming, so possibly will lose a few pounds before the cook.

All that said - I've done my fair share of the Costco packers, around 12lbs and they have turned out great. I do them at 225 until they get somewhere between 198 and 205 (I check them for tenderness around 198, then again at 203 to see if they are ready). They typically take about 1.5hrs per pound. BUT, never done prime and never so big. SO:

1. Can I still expect the prime to take ~1.5hrs per pound or will it cook much faster because of the additional fat?
2. Any concern with drying out the brisket if I just cook to temp? That could theoretically be a 30 hour smoke, which I don't think I've ever heard of anyone doing.

I have 16 people coming to the house, dinner to be served at 6pm... I had planned on starting around 2pm the previous day, estimating a ~24hr smoke and 3 or 4 hours to rest in the cooler - too long? too short? Any and all thoughts welcome. I've never been so excited nor so terrified to cook a brisket!

Thanks,
Tim
 
Tim... Cook it exactly as you have been cooking briskets. If your other briskets have been successes, then make no changes OTHER than possibly start checking for tenderness maybe at 195 instead of 198.
 
In my experience, primes to tend to get tender at lower temps than others. I've never cooked one that big, but I don't think the 1.5 hrs per pound is completely linear with weight. Thickness plays more of a role. I think you are still looking at 16 to 18 hours but that's honestly just guessing. Are you wrapping in any way? That will play a huge role in time. You definitely want to build in a 3 or 4 hour rest.
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
...Are you wrapping in any way? That will play a huge role in time....
Click to expand...

I hadn't planned to wrap it; I've never done so before on the smaller briskets. That's one of the questions I had though - should I consider that for this one since the cook will be so long? I'm concerned about it drying out and I'm pretty sure that people that dry out a 19lb prime brisket go to the bad place.
 
Tim, Dustin has it about right. I do 10-12lb (trimmed) primes pretty regularly and they take about 12 hours, give or take. I use water in the pan (fill it with hot water once, and don't refill) and I don't wrap. The stall can sometimes be 5 of those hours. I have had primes probe tender under 190°, so start probing in the mid-180s. You can't overcook the point on a prime, just make sure that the thick part of the flat probes like buttah. I'm gonna guess and say that you could be in the 16 pound range once you're trimmed. If I was planning, I'd give myself 16 or so in the cooker, with a 4-hour rest. So if you get it in the smoker at around 10 the night before, you should be good. I'd also shoot for about 250 pit temp. After it's cooked, a big boy like that should stay hot in the faux Cambro for a good 5-6 hours, so you'll have plenty of flex-time. Of course, adjust my advice as per your experience with your cooker and fuel. If you have some post oak, use it. If not, hickory or pecan do a nice job. Have fun.

Jeff
 
Thanks, J. Good info. I may try to push my temp up to 250 instead of the usual 225 for this one and target ~18hrs for the smoke time with a 4 hours rest. 16 hours seems low based on past experience - plus, this thing is THICK (3.5" flat, 4.5" point). If it were to get done too early - is there any harm in wrapping it in foil and putting in the oven @ 200 to hold temp for an hour or two before resting?
 
J Hasselberger said:
Tim, Dustin has it about right. I do 10-12lb (trimmed) primes pretty regularly and they take about 12 hours, give or take. I use water in the pan (fill it with hot water once, and don't refill) and I don't wrap. The stall can sometimes be 5 of those hours. I have had primes probe tender under 190°, so start probing in the mid-180s. You can't overcook the point on a prime, just make sure that the thick part of the flat probes like buttah. I'm gonna guess and say that you could be in the 16 pound range once you're trimmed. If I was planning, I'd give myself 16 or so in the cooker, with a 4-hour rest. So if you get it in the smoker at around 10 the night before, you should be good. I'd also shoot for about 250 pit temp. After it's cooked, a big boy like that should stay hot in the faux Cambro for a good 5-6 hours, so you'll have plenty of flex-time. Of course, adjust my advice as per your experience with your cooker and fuel. If you have some post oak, use it. If not, hickory or pecan do a nice job. Have fun.

Jeff
Click to expand...

Start probing at 185 F ????
Only for prime ???
 
Tim Altimus said:
... If it were to get done too early - is there any harm in wrapping it in foil and putting in the oven @ 200 to hold temp for an hour or two before resting?
Click to expand...
Yes, there is - Overcooking !
Run the oven at a temperature below the cooking temp (170), but above 140.
Air cool the brisket down to approx 170, then wrap tightly in foil and place in the oven.
 
Thanks Bob! That's good stuff. Good to know I have a backup plan if my timing is off.

I'm starting to think that this will only take between 12 - 16 hours @ 225, based on all the reading I'm doing and what others are saying (taking into account that I will be trimming at least 3, possibly 5 pounds of fat before cooking). So actual weight may be down to 14-16lbs. I think my current plan is to start the cook at midnight; hope that it takes at least 12 hours and not more than 16. If done in 12, then I will have to rest it for 6 hours (is that too long?) or if done in 16 hours then I will only rest it for 2 hours. Hopefully it is closer to 13 or 14 hours and hits the sweet spot to rest at 3 or 4 hours. Does that seem legit? Worst case scenario it takes too long and I need to use the Texas Crutch (which I will know around 10am) to speed it up. I don't see that it would be possible to take less than 12 hours so I'm not too concerned about that, but if I needed to, I can put it in the oven (after air cooling to 170) as Bob suggested.
 
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