Tips for first overnight brisket smoke?

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Hello,

I have some company coming over for BBQ tomorrow and I thought it would be a good time to attempt my first overnight brisket smoke.

I am just looking for some tips and have a couple questions...

is it feesible to smoke a 10lb brisket overnight?

We are planning on dinner at around 7:00. I was thinking that I should start smoking at 10:00 tonight or so. What temp should I aim for at the lid?

I am worried about the brisket drying out. I had the idea of puting the fat-cap side down and laying strips of bacon on the top... is this a bad idea?

Any tips are greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
 
Steve,

An overnight brisket smoke is a great idea and is very easy to do. If you are planning on eating at 7, you can also start it very early in the morning on monday (5am). I do it all the time for my wednesday poker night with my buddies. Get yourself a full packer, if you can find one closer to 12-13 lbs you will be a bit better off. Trim the fat on top a little bit, but leave the fat cap alone. It will keep it from drying out during a 14 hour cook, and when it is finished you can cut it off effortlessly before slicing the brisket. If you can, rub the brisket this morning and let it sit in the fridge all day covered with saran wrap.

Fire up your smoker (minion method of course) around 10, let it get up to temp. Put your brisket on the top rack, fat cap down. Get your water pan full all the way to the top so it doesnt run dry in the night. I keep my pit temp around 225-250. After you put it in, make sure your temps are stable, and just let it go. It will take 7 hours or so before you need to touch it. Just keep an eye on your temps.

Stick a thermometer into the meat about 6 or 7 hrs after it has been cooking. When it hits about 160 degrees internal temp, pull her off and wrap it tightly with foil. If you like you can put a little beer or apple juice, etc. in the packet with it.
Put it back on the smoker and stick the thermometer through the foil and into the meat again.

It will cook much faster now that it is wrapped in foil, although it will still probably plateau for a while around 170.

When she hits about 190 or 195, fork test it to make sure but it is probably ready to ccome off and go into a preheated cooler. (think hot knife sticking into butter) Make sure the foil is sealed around the meat and put it in a baking pan to catch drippings while the meat rests (you can add these to your sauce when you serve it).
Put it in the ccooler and it can rest for up to 6 hours. Just resisit the temptation to peek until you serve it.
When it is dinner time, Pull it out, unwrap it, cut the fat cap off the bottom, and slice it up!
Every time I have used this method, my brisket has come out moist and delicious. I have used hickory and apple for my smokewood.

Hunter
 
Steve,

It looks like you are new to the board, and I noticed you live in wheatridge. I wanted to offer a trick that I wish I had learned when I first got my WSM. I found when i first started that I had a difficult time getting my temps up to start cooking using the minion method. (The joys of living at 6000 feet!!) I found that instead of starting more briquettes in the chimney, I just start 20 or so, and after they are started, I place the chimney directly on top of the pile of charcoal in my ring. The heat from the chimney briquettes starts to ignite the ring just enough to get the temp right for cooking. You will be smoking in no time. If you have any other questions especially ones specific to cooking in our area, dont hesitate to ask!

Smoke on!

Hunter
 
Thanks for the tip! I will be sure to use that method for starting my charcoal.

I didn't even realize you lived in Colorado. Judging by the way it looks now outside I think it will be a perfect night to smoke!

You using your WSM this weekend?

Hey, quick question. I noticed in your first post that you said to go fat-cap down. Most people I see recommend fat-cap up, but a few people say to keep it down such a BBQ champion by the name of Ray Lampe (who you may have heard of, was featured here once and wrote a book called Big Time BBQ). What are the advantages of keeping it down VS keeping it up?

I appreciate all of your help!
 
Steve,

I think that there are a couple of ddifferent schools of thought when it comes to fat cap up vs. fat cap down. Some also say flip it to fat cap up halfway through.
I have followed the technique of Jim Minion ( a platinum member of this board and barbecue legend) and he recommends fat cap down to prevent heat radiating from the coals from drying the meat out. Some seem to think that you need to let that fat leak down into the meat from the cap, but this doenst really seem to happen, and there is lots of fat throughout the cut to keep it moist. As for flipping it halfway through the cook, I suppose you could but it makes a hell of a mess and is not really necessary. I have always done it cap down and just let it go til I foiled it and my brisket has been a favorite at poker night over and over. The brisket is always moist and tasty. It is the foiling that really helps keep the brisket juicy. You are welcome to experiment, but since I have had such great luck with jim minion's method, I have the philosophy that if it ain't broke, dont fix it.
I am getting ready to smoke some baby backs this afternoon for the nascar race tonight! Ribs have been my longtime nemesis, and I am still learning how to make them better.

Feel free to email me if you have any questions, I sometimes have runs where I dont post on this board for a week or 2. My email address is hunter@billstoolrental.com and I check that all the time.

I was thinking about it, and for your cook, since you are not going to eat til 7, you can probably start your brisket early tomorrow morning instead of tonight. As long as you keep your pit temps at 250 and foil like I was explaining, you will surely be ready to eat by 7, you can even raise your pit temp a bit after you wrap in foil.

SMOKE ON!!!

Hunter
 
I find that the best way to insure a good brisket is to put it under a pork butt! The thing about a brisket is that it is a balancing act. You must get it up to 190-200 degrees. If, in the heating process, you run out of moisture (fat and water) you are destined for a dry kind of unhappiness. The butt will drip fat on the brisket the for the entire cook. The butt should take longer than the brisket (always does for me) even though the brisket is on the lower rack. I know it's a lot of meat. A vacuum sealer can help with that. Pulled pork frozen in a vacuum pack can be heated in boiling water in 10 minutes, and you can't tell that it was ever frozen!

Cheers
 
(QUOTE)Hey, quick question. I noticed in your first post that you said to go fat-cap down. Most people I see recommend fat-cap up, but a few people say to keep it down such a BBQ champion by the name of Ray Lampe (who you may have heard of, was featured here once and wrote a book called Big Time BBQ). What are the advantages of keeping it down VS keeping it up?(QUOTE)



I used to do my briskets fat up, then tried a couple cooks fat down and haven't looked back.
I know everyone has there own opinion but the best and juiciest briskets I have done were fat side down. I think It actually helps to hold in the moisture and as said before the non fat side does not seem to dry out as it did cooking fat up.

Hey, quick question. I noticed in your first post that you said to go fat-cap down. Most people I see recommend fat-cap up, but a few people say to keep it down such a BBQ champion by the name of Ray Lampe (who you may have heard of, was featured here once and wrote a book called Big Time BBQ). What are the advantages of keeping it down VS keeping it up?

I appreciate all of your help![/QUOTE]
 
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