Split Cook Brisket on the Kettle with TipTopTemp


 
Dave in DC

Dave in DC

New member
I've been lurking 13 years and finally making a first post! Currently have 2 performers, and I'm a former WSM owner but sold it b/c it just wasn't getting enough use. I love the kettle, especially now that I've discovered the snake method.

Well, our daughter requested brisket for her birthday dinner. Well, I recently bought a TipTopTemp controller for both performers, and it's been working great, but this is the first low and very slow cook that I attempted on the kettle.

I used a 180deg 3x2 snake covered with pecan chunks. I started at 4pm, hoping to go 16 hours at 225F for a 5lb brisket, but at 11pm, I lost confidence that it was going to make it through the night, so I foiled the brisket and put it in the refrigerator. The next morning at 10am, I popped the foiled brisket into a gallon ziploc, and put it in the pressure cooker on "slow cooker" for 30 minutes while I got the kettle stabilized. Although I used a pressure cooker, it never came up to pressure b/c of the slow cooker setting. The idea was to bring the whole brisket up to ~180F or so, and that's what I was seeing on the thermometer when it came out of the pressure cooker. The brisket went back in the smoker at 11am and came off with an internal of 197F in the point at 2pm and rested until 5pm.

It was OK, but not great. Everybody seemed to enjoy it, and the birthday girl was happy. My reference points are Franklin's and Terry Black's in Austin and Kreuz's in Lockhart (I thought Terry Black's was the best).

Overall, I'm very happy with the level of temperature control I've been able to achieve with the TipTopTemp, and I think I just need to start the overnight cook later in the evening, which I'll do next time, and rest in a preheated cooler for 4 hours until we're ready to eat.
 
overnight on a kettle is an impressive aim! I see folks cook briskets on their kettles using various methods. I think it's fun to barbecue on kettles.
 
Dave in DC said:
I've been lurking 13 years and finally making a first post! Currently have 2 performers, and I'm a former WSM owner but sold it b/c it just wasn't getting enough use. I love the kettle, especially now that I've discovered the snake method.

Well, our daughter requested brisket for her birthday dinner. Well, I recently bought a TipTopTemp controller for both performers, and it's been working great, but this is the first low and very slow cook that I attempted on the kettle.

I used a 180deg 3x2 snake covered with pecan chunks. I started at 4pm, hoping to go 16 hours at 225F for a 5lb brisket, but at 11pm, I lost confidence that it was going to make it through the night, so I foiled the brisket and put it in the refrigerator. The next morning at 10am, I popped the foiled brisket into a gallon ziploc, and put it in the pressure cooker on "slow cooker" for 30 minutes while I got the kettle stabilized. Although I used a pressure cooker, it never came up to pressure b/c of the slow cooker setting. The idea was to bring the whole brisket up to ~180F or so, and that's what I was seeing on the thermometer when it came out of the pressure cooker. The brisket went back in the smoker at 11am and came off with an internal of 197F in the point at 2pm and rested until 5pm.

It was OK, but not great. Everybody seemed to enjoy it, and the birthday girl was happy. My reference points are Franklin's and Terry Black's in Austin and Kreuz's in Lockhart (I thought Terry Black's was the best).

Overall, I'm very happy with the level of temperature control I've been able to achieve with the TipTopTemp, and I think I just need to start the overnight cook later in the evening, which I'll do next time, and rest in a preheated cooler for 4 hours until we're ready to eat.
Click to expand...
16 hours seems very long to me for that size brisket. My first 2 smokes were packer briskets over twice the size you are talking about. They were over 12lbs and I did them on my kettle with my "bro-n-sear" minion method. I kept the temp between 225-275 with no temp controller and started by 8:30am-ish and was done by dinner. I think I wrapped at around 2-3pm 155° and done to 200° by 5:00pm and put in a cooler until we eat around 6:30.
 
Dave in DC said:
I've been lurking 13 years and finally making a first post! Currently have 2 performers, and I'm a former WSM owner but sold it b/c it just wasn't getting enough use. I love the kettle, especially now that I've discovered the snake method.

Well, our daughter requested brisket for her birthday dinner. Well, I recently bought a TipTopTemp controller for both performers, and it's been working great, but this is the first low and very slow cook that I attempted on the kettle.

I used a 180deg 3x2 snake covered with pecan chunks. I started at 4pm, hoping to go 16 hours at 225F for a 5lb brisket, but at 11pm, I lost confidence that it was going to make it through the night, so I foiled the brisket and put it in the refrigerator. The next morning at 10am, I popped the foiled brisket into a gallon ziploc, and put it in the pressure cooker on "slow cooker" for 30 minutes while I got the kettle stabilized. Although I used a pressure cooker, it never came up to pressure b/c of the slow cooker setting. The idea was to bring the whole brisket up to ~180F or so, and that's what I was seeing on the thermometer when it came out of the pressure cooker. The brisket went back in the smoker at 11am and came off with an internal of 197F in the point at 2pm and rested until 5pm.

It was OK, but not great. Everybody seemed to enjoy it, and the birthday girl was happy. My reference points are Franklin's and Terry Black's in Austin and Kreuz's in Lockhart (I thought Terry Black's was the best).

Overall, I'm very happy with the level of temperature control I've been able to achieve with the TipTopTemp, and I think I just need to start the overnight cook later in the evening, which I'll do next time, and rest in a preheated cooler for 4 hours until we're ready to eat.
Click to expand...
I know that on my kettle I was able to have a single load of charcoal (banked) on an indirect cook last just shy of 10 hours, but that was with me occasionally cleaning the ash from the bottom of the bowl with the one touch. It was right up to the grate on the other side, so a larger brisket might not work as well on it the way I had it set up.

I have looked at the TipTop before, so I would like to ask how steady did it hold your temperature for you and did you notice a varation range that it ran at?
 
Great posts - yes, I cooked it too long. I'm still learning with this thing, as I had only done high-temp brisket on the WSM.

I was playing with the TipTopTemp (TTT) controller, trying to hold the temperature at 235. The TTT was very steady (+/- 10F) once I got it dialed in. There's more of a learning curve than an electronic controller, and I'm still learning.

So far, the method of setting the temperature on the TTT seems to be bringing the kettle to come up to the desired temperature, and then closing down the TTT flap to about 1/16" at its widest. Babysit the kettle for 15 minutes while watching the temperature until satisfied it's going to hold. Check occasionally (I use a wireless thermometer) and adjust as needed. I didn't find it needed much adjustment at all.

I'll check back in after our next cook!
 
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