Small Brisket - Some Questions


 
Originally posted by Jim Lampe:
Glad I read this thread, although not happy to hear about Chris' experience with this cut...

I am planning on smoking this weekend... Sam's Club has both 8lb'ers and the packers over 12.
Is it cool to smoke over night? I mean, if it is gonna take 12 hours, I'd like to have it ready for the late Sunday football games (including the Packer game at 7).
Suppose I could start it early Sunday mornin' about 4-5....
Any ideas?
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I don't cook briskets overnight, just don't have the need to. I generally cook flats, or when I do cook packers I separate prior to smoking. An 8lb flat generally takes me between 8-10 hours, cooking in the 245º-260º range and foiling at 165º.

So if you got it on at 4am, it would be finished by 2pm at the latest and you could let it rest for a couple hours and be eating by 4pm kick off! If you want it ready for 1pm kick off, put it on late Saturday night!
 
Originally posted by Larry Wolfe:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jim Lampe:
Glad I read this thread, although not happy to hear about Chris' experience with this cut...

I am planning on smoking this weekend... Sam's Club has both 8lb'ers and the packers over 12.
Is it cool to smoke over night? I mean, if it is gonna take 12 hours, I'd like to have it ready for the late Sunday football games (including the Packer game at 7).
Suppose I could start it early Sunday mornin' about 4-5....
Any ideas?
Click to expand...

I don't cook briskets overnight, just don't have the need to. I generally cook flats, or when I do cook packers I separate prior to smoking. An 8lb flat generally takes me between 8-10 hours, cooking in the 245º-260º range and foiling at 165º.

So if you got it on at 4am, it would be finished by 2pm at the latest and you could let it rest for a couple hours and be eating by 4pm kick off! If you want it ready for 1pm kick off, put it on late Saturday night! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ok, due to uncontrollable issues here, I finally got the brisket on at 7:45 this morning. It weighs 7 and one half lbs, I trimmed the fat to about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch, marinated it over night, made a rub and seasoned the brisket generously.
The temp so far is a steady 240'.... anything I'm forgetting to do? When I foil it at 165', do I increase the temp? Will it take 8 to 10 hours in 80' sunny heat? Am I asking to many questions?
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Originally posted by Jim Lampe:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Larry Wolfe:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jim Lampe:
Glad I read this thread, although not happy to hear about Chris' experience with this cut...

I am planning on smoking this weekend... Sam's Club has both 8lb'ers and the packers over 12.
Is it cool to smoke over night? I mean, if it is gonna take 12 hours, I'd like to have it ready for the late Sunday football games (including the Packer game at 7).
Suppose I could start it early Sunday mornin' about 4-5....
Any ideas?
Click to expand...

I don't cook briskets overnight, just don't have the need to. I generally cook flats, or when I do cook packers I separate prior to smoking. An 8lb flat generally takes me between 8-10 hours, cooking in the 245º-260º range and foiling at 165º.

So if you got it on at 4am, it would be finished by 2pm at the latest and you could let it rest for a couple hours and be eating by 4pm kick off! If you want it ready for 1pm kick off, put it on late Saturday night! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ok, due to uncontrollable issues here, I finally got the brisket on at 7:45 this morning. It weighs 7 and one half lbs, I trimmed the fat to about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch, marinated it over night, made a rub and seasoned the brisket generously.
The temp so far is a steady 240'.... anything I'm forgetting to do? When I foil it at 165', do I increase the temp? Will it take 8 to 10 hours in 80' sunny heat? Am I asking to many questions?
icon_smile.gif
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

First Jim you can never ask too many questions!

Now, bump up your heat a touch if it's been sitting at 240º for a while. I mean, ever so slightly open up one vent and get the dome temp closer to 250º, if it goes a touch higher, don't worry about it.

When you foil, you can bump the temps higher if you want, but once it's foiled and your WSM comes back up to temp the brisket will be done in a couple hours.

Remember to let rest in the foil at least an hour and then open the foil and let cool 15-20 minutes before slicing. Nothing can ruin a brisket faster than slicing it hot.

I gotta question for you.....what's the temp of the brisket now after 4 hours? You should be getting close to 165º?? I'll guess you're at 155º.
 
Larry, it's been on for three hours (7:45 central time) and the temp is at 260 now and has been for about an hour now.
 
Originally posted by Jim Lampe:
Larry, it's been on for three hours (7:45 central time) and the temp is at 260 now and has been for about an hour now.
Click to expand...

PERFECT, them don't make any adjustments!

Brisket temp??
 
Originally posted by Jim Lampe:
Internal temp is now 165.2' after three hours...
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Jim you said you got it on at 7:45am, that's 4 hours!
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LOL!

Perfect, time to foil! You'll have plenty of time to let that puppy rest!!!! I wonder if I left now, could I be in Wisconsin by dinner time?
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Larry, it's 10:56 in Raymond Wisconsin right now... I put this meat on 3 hours and 15 minutes ago.
Help!
 
Ok, at the internal temp of 165.6, I foiled the brisket and the WSM temp is between 265 and 270'.
I hope I don't screw this up.
I don't care if it gets done sooner than expected, just so it's edible.
It looks GREAT now (when I foiled it).
Thanks for your help Larry, anything else I'm forgetting?
(My neighbor with no experience in any type of cooking suggested covering the brisket with bacon. Not a stupid idea).
 
Originally posted by Larry Wolfe:

Chris, this is exactly why I recommended
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Larry Wolfe:<span class="ev_code_RED">Chris, if you have a grinder, grind that 'piece' of brisket you have and make burgers.....brisket burgers are awesome. But that piece of brisket is gonna tick you off in the end if you cook smoke it. Honestly, I would not bother smoking it.</span>
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You started off with a bad, overly trimmed piece of the brisket flat....You missed out on some good burgers though!
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Glad to see you are ready to try another brisket, DON'T GIVE UP! You will succeed once you're given a good cut of meat.

Search around and find a flat of around 6lbs. Cooking in the 245º-260º range that piece of meat should take between 6-9 hours until tender. That's foiling at 165º and cooking until tender. Don't go by temp, but use temps as a guide to begin when to start checking for tender. I generally begin to check for tender around 190º, then every 5º from there. It's tender when you can easily slide your meat probe in the thickest portion of the flat. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes you certainly did. I don't own a meat grinder so it wasn't an option.

Costco had 5lb flats and some larger ones too but they all looked pretty lean. I don't think I will be able to find a whole packer in these parts without really hunting. I'd prefer to cook for no more than 8-10 hours (not overnight). I will look for the high heat method recipes. It sounds like a good compromise.

I did baby back and St. Louis cut spares yesterday. Man were they good. Rave reviews from my guests. So easy to cook too. Not sure when I'll attempt the brisket again. I will need to do a lot more research and have a much better gameplan. I was totally unprepared and tried to wing it.
 
Don't give up Chris....
I'm doing my first today... and as stated above, it can be scary.
Anyway, I took it off the smoker after 5 hours and the internal temp reading 206.8'.
I hope it's not "cooked"
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It's wrapped in foil and ain't touching it for AT LEAST 2 hours.
I expected it to cook for 8 hours, but the WMS temp was high at 265 to 270'.
I'll find out soon how it is....:|
 
Originally posted by Jim Lampe:
Ok, at the internal temp of 165.6, I foiled the brisket and the WSM temp is between 265 and 270'.
I hope I don't screw this up.
I don't care if it gets done sooner than expected, just so it's edible.
It looks GREAT now (when I foiled it).
Thanks for your help Larry, anything else I'm forgetting?
( My neighbor with no experience in any type of cooking suggested covering the brisket with bacon. Not a stupid idea).
Click to expand...

Horrible idea in my opinion! It's not necessary and do you want your BEEF brisket to taste like SMOKE PORK?
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Begin to check for doneness when it hits 190º, when the meat probe goes in with ease, take it off and begin to let it rest and reabsorb the juices.
 
Originally posted by Larry Wolfe:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jim Lampe:
Ok, at the internal temp of 165.6, I foiled the brisket and the WSM temp is between 265 and 270'.
I hope I don't screw this up.
I don't care if it gets done sooner than expected, just so it's edible.
It looks GREAT now (when I foiled it).
Thanks for your help Larry, anything else I'm forgetting?
( My neighbor with no experience in any type of cooking suggested covering the brisket with bacon. Not a stupid idea).
Click to expand...

Horrible idea in my opinion! It's not necessary and do you want your BEEF brisket to taste like SMOKE PORK?
icon_eek.gif


Begin to check for doneness when it hits 190º, when the meat probe goes in with ease, take it off and begin to let it rest and reabsorb the juices. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I did not add the bacon...
I did, however, take the brisket off the smoker when the internal temp hit 206' ... is this wrong? Should I put it back on???
 
I have it STILL wrapped in foil and resting... Not planning on opening it for hours....
Am I incoorect with this plan?
 
I don't own a meat grinder so it wasn't an option.
Click to expand...
Just FYI: If you have a food processor you can 'grind' beef. You simply chuck then par-freeze it first, then process in small amounts.
 
Originally posted by K Kruger:
Did you check it for tenderness before removal?
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Kevin, it's pretty tender... but then, this is my first brisket... the temp probe went in quite easily... if that's any indication...
 
It is.

How long it will hold wrapped is tough to say. At 206 there could be substantial residual cooking - which might not be a good thing. That would have ended by now. You'll know when you slice...
 
Originally posted by K Kruger:
It is.

How long it will hold wrapped is tough to say. At 206 there could be substantial residual cooking - which might not be a good thing. That would have ended by now. You'll know when you slice...
Click to expand...

I checked the internal temp again about 20 minutes ago and it read 169.9'.
I hope it's good... or my dinner tonight will be grilled corn, zucchini and onions with a thirst quenched by plenty of gin.
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