Time-constrained brisket for Saturday. Suggestions?


 
PeterD

PeterD

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Hi all,
I've got a few hungry Q-a-holics coming by on Saturday afternoon around 4 and a full packer briskie is on the menu. The original plan was to do a low-n-slow overnighter, starting around midnight, finishing hopefully around 4 or 5 with chow-time expected around 5:30 or 6. As it turns out, I won't be home from an event on Friday late-night until at least 1am.

I'm not a fan of the HH method, but my hoped-for 225* cook I think is out of the question as well. I hope to have a cut no bigger than 12# for this cook since it's a small crowd and a small WSM.

Is there a cooking method that would git'er'done by 4pm if I got it started by about 2am? I'm using a Stoker and Comp-K so I'm not too worried about fuel/temp issues in the overnight.

My plan is to go fat-cap down, trimmed to 1/4", no injection or paste, but a mustard-slather and a simple dalmation rub with a bit of ancho and cayenne for a little kick. Any thoughts on what kinds of temps I should be cooking at? I desperately want a nice flavourful bark so foiling isn't part of the plan unless there's no other way.

Last question: Since there will be a lot of meat left over, what's the best suggestion for saving? Should I slice it all, portion it out to foodsaver bags and re-heat? Or foodsaver large chunks unsliced and only thaw/re-heat when enough people want some to warrant thawing a slab?

Thanks in advance!
 
Bump your cooking temperature up to 275 and it will speed things up for you. Watch it carefully near the end since your window of done will be shorter. If you do have to foil it take it out of the foil for the last hour and it will help firm your bark back up.

If I have lots of extras I usually slice some and package in individual portions and then save 1 chunk. This gives me more options when I decide to use it.
 
Using 275 what do you think I should be shooting for in terms of time per pound as a guideline? I've used 1.5 hrs/lb at 225 and it's kinda-sorta worked out (still dry and chewy but good reheated the next day).

They only had one packer under 16 pounds and its flat was kinda thin towards the end, but it was either that or nothing that would fit on my WSM, so I have a feeling this will be a bit of a challenge. Its point isn't very big either.

What I'm really shooting for is fork/probe tender on the grate (preferably without the use of foil), so as to get some primo bark, and have it out of the cooker and resting by 3:30-4pm, with dinner between 5:00 and 5:30. With those guidelines, and given that I can't fire up the pit until about 1:00am give or take, what guidelines should I follow. If foil is a must, at what point should it go into foil and for how long?

One other question that comes to mind, does anybody know of a video or tutorial that shows the proper way to separate the point from the flat after cooking? I've only seen it done once and it looked as if they were cutting the entire packer on the diagonal. It happened so fast I wasn't even sure how he did it.
 
...careful where you read the temp... 275F on MY custom lid thermometer (18" wsm) = HH brisket (~4.5 hours).

Maybe you should monitor the temp @ the grate.
 
Well first let me say there are a lot of guys that know way more about brisket than I do. I've always cooked by intuition and flying by the seat of my pants, I never even checked the internal temps of meat until I read about the stall a couple years ago and was curious about it so I bought a Maverick just so I could see it for myself.

If you have a 12lb packer that's thin and long it's going to cook much faster than a 12lb packer that's thick and short. Hope that makes sense to you.

I'd start it at the normal time, think you were talking about 2am, at 275. In the morning check your internal and if it's well on it's way you can drop your temp to slow it down a bit. Keep an eye on your internal temps and if your not close 2 hours before you want to pull it then foil and bump your temps.Foiling is like steaming your meat so it greatly shortens your cooking time. I don't do it unless I have to. You really only need to let it rest for about 30-40 minutes before slicing.

To separate the point from the flat all I've ever done is grab both and pull.

Ok and this is the best advice I can give you. If you invite people over and they tell you that they have to eat by 5 because they have to leave at 8 for something else then tell them not to bother coming, you can be more polite but that's how I would say it. Appetizers are a great way of keeping peoples minds off how long it's taking for dinner to be ready. It's why they were invented.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Clint:
...careful where you read the temp... 275F on MY custom lid thermometer (18" wsm) = HH brisket (~4.5 hours).

Maybe you should monitor the temp @ the grate. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Clint's right. When I talk temps it is always the temp in the area I'm cooking in never at the top of the lid or in the vent. You get higher readings there. I also take into consideration fluctuations so maybe I should be saying 250-275. 275 would be the max.
 
As to temps, I mentioned up-thread that I'm using a Stoker for temp control and its pit probe rests about an inch above the grate, basically about the lever of the middle of the meat. The food probe goes in the thickest part of the relatively-thin flat.

Good to know about long/thin taking less time than a short/fat cut would take and that does make complete sense of course. I've still never done a perfect brisket before so this is just a test-run for a few friends before our big Q party in about 6 weeks and I'm trying to get the mechanics and timing ironed out as best I can.

Last time I did a full brisket I started at 5am and sliced at 8pm using 250 grate-temp and needed numerous refuelings. I had to resort to throwing it in the oven at 275 to finish, and even then it wasn't tender. I think I'll do a bit better this time since I'll have more time to play with and less meat. For the big party I'm probably going to get some FAB-lite injection going and do the whole paste thing, too, but for this, I want to keep it simple.
 
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