I've smoked brisket 3 times in my life (all on a kettle)
All 3 were done Texas style (salt and pepper) using the snake method with a waterpan (filled with boiling water) in the middle of the snake.
Here are my learnings
Attempt #1- I went low and slow around the 225 mark. I used Royal Oak Charcoals 2x2 Snake Method. I didn't know what to expect as it was my first Brisket. I had invited a lot of friends so I bought a big brisket. (dont remember but probably at least 16 lbs. They showed up for dinner. We were all hungry but brisket wasnt ready. I tried to quicken the pace by pulling and putting it in the oven wrapped in Butcher paper. Briskey was dry and tough. I was dejected
Attempt #2- I was cooking for a smaller group. I absolutely did not want to fail. To limit my chance of failure, I went with buying a trimmed Wagyu Point (no flat) and total weight was 7.5 lbs. This ensured I had more than enough room in my kettle to do indirect heat as I did not want any part of the brisket being close to direct heat.
I used Kingsford Briquettes. I had trouble getting the temp up as I did not light enough coals initially. During this time, I also realized that kingsford briquettes were smaller than the royal oak ones so I ended up redoing my snake and going 2x3(height). Once I added more charcoal, I got it to 215 and kept it nice and steady. Even though it was only 7.5 lbs, I gave myself more than enough time. I put the brisket on at 11 PM. Lucky I did because I ended up pulling 1.5 hours before dinner. I think this cook took long because 215 was a bit too low. I also had to readd more charcoals throught the day the next day. I wrapped at 160 and a few hours later, I did increase the temp to 235 as I started to worry about time to finish. The internal temp characteristics of this one was different. At 196, it probed like butter everywhere so I pulled it.
I then wrapped in a towel and put it in a pre warmed yeti cooler. I had prewarmed it by lining it with towels and placing pots of boiled water inside.
The brisket (even though Internal Temp was 196) was delicious. It was better than any restaurant brisket I've ever had. I also received rave reviews which always feels great.
Was it the wagyu or my skills? Was it the small size of the brisket or just cooking the point without the flat? lol
Attempt #3- Still riding off my high of Brisket 2, I attempted brisket 3 a week later. I wanted to test my skills and compare the Wagyu I smoked to a full packer Triple A Brisket from Costco. ( I think Triple A is Choice in the States?) I found the smallest packer I could find (12 lbs). I also wanted to test a different charcoal so I tried the Jealous Devil Maxxx XL Briquettes which are supposed to be twice as big and burns hotter and longer. I pretty much did 3/4 length Snake and went 2x2 with waterpan in the middle. I was also recommended by a friend to try smoking at 250 grate temp as the difference between 225 and 250 is neglegible but will cook faster.
The brisket (12 lbs) was still slightly big in the kettle. I used the weber rib rack and draped the brisket over it. I knew that within 4-6 hours, I would need to turn the grill grate and brisket to keep it away from the coals and the direct heat. (Basically the Brisket was placed on the far side of the kettle as far as it could go and the plan was to remove the rack in 4-6 hours when I opened lid to turn the grate and lay the brisket flat once it shrunk.
This was an overnight cook. I started at 8:30 PM and wrapped around 1 AM when IT was 160. This is when I also removed the rib rack. I set my alarm to wake me up every hour so I could look at my wireless thermometer. I had alerts set if grate temp spiked over 260 but my own alarm was to check to make sure temp didnt fall below 240.
I give major thumbs up to Jealous Devil Maxxx XL. The temp held steady all night. The next morning I woke up and saw lots of charcoal still left which is incredible on a Kettle.
Throughout the night, I realized that the brisket stalled at 174. It then got up to 187 by 10:30 AM and I thought all was going well and then...a big problem occured
A wind storm came. As a newbie, 25 Mph wind is a scary thing. The temps were spiking and I had no idea what to do. I closed the bottom vents full but there was still enough wind that temp was running high up to 270 at one point. I then closed the top vents full and finally got the temp steady at 245.
I thought I was doing fine but the weirdest thing happened. At this point, Brisket was wrapped but I thought I hit a second stall. The temp did not move from 187. It sat there all day long while grate temp was at 245 and wind was howling all around.
It literally sat there and climbed from 187 IT (10:30 AM) to 193 IT (4PM).
Point probed like butter but flat still felt tough. I was running out of time. I pulled and took the brisket into the kitchen and unwrapped to see what the heck was going on. I then realized a big mistake... The butcher paper was soaked and there was pools of brisket juice sitting on the brisket and the bark was all soft and mushy.
When I was fighting the wind and closed all the vents (top and bottom), there was no airflow and no convection so the brisket sat there in 245 temp with no air movement like it was being incubated in a wrapper.
I put it in the oven at 265 with wrapping on and cooked it until 203 IT. It probed like butter in the point but flat was still a bit tough.
I was dejected.
I pulled at 203 and let it rest for 1.5 hours.
The brisket in total was overcooked slightly.
Point was actually very tasty but was slightly overcooked as it didnt pass the finger test and broke off.
Flat, was slightly dry but not like brisket 1. It was much tastier and the dry was more so that the brisket didnt pass the finger test by crumbling. This is when i realized that Brisket 1 was pulled way too soon and thats why it was tough and dry.
This brisket ( brisket 3) was still very much tasty but wasnt perfection as it was overcooked.
Soooooo
What did I learn in all this?
Brisket is hard to do for a beginner but not impossible
main thing is
1) Give yourself more than enough time. If you think you have alloted yourself enough time according to the caluclations, add a few more hours because worst thing that can happen is you finish 3-4 hours early and have it resting in a cooler (which is actually a good thing)
2) Pay attention to the air flow. Ensure top vents are open and on the opposite side of the charcoals to give it air movement and have the brisket under the vents
3) Kind of like point #1, but dont pull too early and if you need to, throw it in the oven.
Now for the seasoned vets, maybe you can help out a newbie
1) In crazy wind conditions, if the brisket was already wrapped, would you advise a beginner to throw it in the oven at that point? I literally felt like there was nothing I can do. Vents were fully closed but grate temp was still at 247 the entire time. If I crackd open the vent slightly, temp was spiking to 275 and perhaps more (I didnt want to risk and find out)
2) What is the largest recommended size to smoke on a kettle for a beginner?
3) Can the flat actually probe like butter the same as the point does? Is that within a realm of possibility?
4) Why did the flat still probe tough at various stages of probing when the brisket turned out overcooked?
All in all Brisket 3 was still a success. It was still tasty and the kids really liked it and asked for brisket again this week (which is a good sign) .
My goal is to replicate brisket 2 but with a full packer and using triple A instead of Wagyu
Is that possible?
All 3 were done Texas style (salt and pepper) using the snake method with a waterpan (filled with boiling water) in the middle of the snake.
Here are my learnings
Attempt #1- I went low and slow around the 225 mark. I used Royal Oak Charcoals 2x2 Snake Method. I didn't know what to expect as it was my first Brisket. I had invited a lot of friends so I bought a big brisket. (dont remember but probably at least 16 lbs. They showed up for dinner. We were all hungry but brisket wasnt ready. I tried to quicken the pace by pulling and putting it in the oven wrapped in Butcher paper. Briskey was dry and tough. I was dejected
Attempt #2- I was cooking for a smaller group. I absolutely did not want to fail. To limit my chance of failure, I went with buying a trimmed Wagyu Point (no flat) and total weight was 7.5 lbs. This ensured I had more than enough room in my kettle to do indirect heat as I did not want any part of the brisket being close to direct heat.
I used Kingsford Briquettes. I had trouble getting the temp up as I did not light enough coals initially. During this time, I also realized that kingsford briquettes were smaller than the royal oak ones so I ended up redoing my snake and going 2x3(height). Once I added more charcoal, I got it to 215 and kept it nice and steady. Even though it was only 7.5 lbs, I gave myself more than enough time. I put the brisket on at 11 PM. Lucky I did because I ended up pulling 1.5 hours before dinner. I think this cook took long because 215 was a bit too low. I also had to readd more charcoals throught the day the next day. I wrapped at 160 and a few hours later, I did increase the temp to 235 as I started to worry about time to finish. The internal temp characteristics of this one was different. At 196, it probed like butter everywhere so I pulled it.
I then wrapped in a towel and put it in a pre warmed yeti cooler. I had prewarmed it by lining it with towels and placing pots of boiled water inside.
The brisket (even though Internal Temp was 196) was delicious. It was better than any restaurant brisket I've ever had. I also received rave reviews which always feels great.
Was it the wagyu or my skills? Was it the small size of the brisket or just cooking the point without the flat? lol
Attempt #3- Still riding off my high of Brisket 2, I attempted brisket 3 a week later. I wanted to test my skills and compare the Wagyu I smoked to a full packer Triple A Brisket from Costco. ( I think Triple A is Choice in the States?) I found the smallest packer I could find (12 lbs). I also wanted to test a different charcoal so I tried the Jealous Devil Maxxx XL Briquettes which are supposed to be twice as big and burns hotter and longer. I pretty much did 3/4 length Snake and went 2x2 with waterpan in the middle. I was also recommended by a friend to try smoking at 250 grate temp as the difference between 225 and 250 is neglegible but will cook faster.
The brisket (12 lbs) was still slightly big in the kettle. I used the weber rib rack and draped the brisket over it. I knew that within 4-6 hours, I would need to turn the grill grate and brisket to keep it away from the coals and the direct heat. (Basically the Brisket was placed on the far side of the kettle as far as it could go and the plan was to remove the rack in 4-6 hours when I opened lid to turn the grate and lay the brisket flat once it shrunk.
This was an overnight cook. I started at 8:30 PM and wrapped around 1 AM when IT was 160. This is when I also removed the rib rack. I set my alarm to wake me up every hour so I could look at my wireless thermometer. I had alerts set if grate temp spiked over 260 but my own alarm was to check to make sure temp didnt fall below 240.
I give major thumbs up to Jealous Devil Maxxx XL. The temp held steady all night. The next morning I woke up and saw lots of charcoal still left which is incredible on a Kettle.
Throughout the night, I realized that the brisket stalled at 174. It then got up to 187 by 10:30 AM and I thought all was going well and then...a big problem occured
A wind storm came. As a newbie, 25 Mph wind is a scary thing. The temps were spiking and I had no idea what to do. I closed the bottom vents full but there was still enough wind that temp was running high up to 270 at one point. I then closed the top vents full and finally got the temp steady at 245.
I thought I was doing fine but the weirdest thing happened. At this point, Brisket was wrapped but I thought I hit a second stall. The temp did not move from 187. It sat there all day long while grate temp was at 245 and wind was howling all around.
It literally sat there and climbed from 187 IT (10:30 AM) to 193 IT (4PM).
Point probed like butter but flat still felt tough. I was running out of time. I pulled and took the brisket into the kitchen and unwrapped to see what the heck was going on. I then realized a big mistake... The butcher paper was soaked and there was pools of brisket juice sitting on the brisket and the bark was all soft and mushy.
When I was fighting the wind and closed all the vents (top and bottom), there was no airflow and no convection so the brisket sat there in 245 temp with no air movement like it was being incubated in a wrapper.
I put it in the oven at 265 with wrapping on and cooked it until 203 IT. It probed like butter in the point but flat was still a bit tough.
I was dejected.
I pulled at 203 and let it rest for 1.5 hours.
The brisket in total was overcooked slightly.
Point was actually very tasty but was slightly overcooked as it didnt pass the finger test and broke off.
Flat, was slightly dry but not like brisket 1. It was much tastier and the dry was more so that the brisket didnt pass the finger test by crumbling. This is when i realized that Brisket 1 was pulled way too soon and thats why it was tough and dry.
This brisket ( brisket 3) was still very much tasty but wasnt perfection as it was overcooked.
Soooooo
What did I learn in all this?
Brisket is hard to do for a beginner but not impossible
main thing is
1) Give yourself more than enough time. If you think you have alloted yourself enough time according to the caluclations, add a few more hours because worst thing that can happen is you finish 3-4 hours early and have it resting in a cooler (which is actually a good thing)
2) Pay attention to the air flow. Ensure top vents are open and on the opposite side of the charcoals to give it air movement and have the brisket under the vents
3) Kind of like point #1, but dont pull too early and if you need to, throw it in the oven.
Now for the seasoned vets, maybe you can help out a newbie
1) In crazy wind conditions, if the brisket was already wrapped, would you advise a beginner to throw it in the oven at that point? I literally felt like there was nothing I can do. Vents were fully closed but grate temp was still at 247 the entire time. If I crackd open the vent slightly, temp was spiking to 275 and perhaps more (I didnt want to risk and find out)
2) What is the largest recommended size to smoke on a kettle for a beginner?
3) Can the flat actually probe like butter the same as the point does? Is that within a realm of possibility?
4) Why did the flat still probe tough at various stages of probing when the brisket turned out overcooked?
All in all Brisket 3 was still a success. It was still tasty and the kids really liked it and asked for brisket again this week (which is a good sign) .
My goal is to replicate brisket 2 but with a full packer and using triple A instead of Wagyu
Is that possible?