Two Briskets on a WSM 18


 
J

JohnShepherd

TVWBB Member
After several successes smoking spare ribs, chickens, and just one brisket flat in my new (last summer) WSM 18, I (foolishly?) volunteered to serve smoked brisket for a birthday party this Saturday. The guest list has expanded from the initial expected dozen people to about 2 dozen. I already had roughly 10lb Costco flat in the fridge, so went and got a 15 lb whole brisket. I've been lurking around these boards on and off for a few months, and I know some people have done two on the 18, but I'm wondering how much I should expect the cook time to increase compared to the single flat I cooked. 1.5 times as long? Twice as long? Roughly the same?
 
So your smoking a 10 pound flat and 15 pound whole packer? If that's the case, flat will be done before the packer.

Are you smoking hot & fast or low & slow?
 
That’s a heavy cook and you can’t get it wrong. I’d personally got hot and fast, no water in the water pan, put the whole brisket below and that flat on the top rack. Cook for 90 mins+ (till the bark is set is your gauge and you should be at around 155°) hot and fast with a good amount of smoke and then wrap (paper is better than foil IMO). I’ve done a single 18# packer in 6 hours or so using hot and fast. The wrap protects the meat from drying out. Your flat will be done way sooner as it has little to no body. And dry flat is horrible to eat.

If you’re low and slow, you’re in for a long cook here, maybe 11-12 hours on the packer. Again, the flat will be done way before the whole brisket.

You can always cheat by using your oven after you’ve smoked the meat. Heat is heat and an oven keeps a very constant temp too.
 
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That’s a lot to pull off but, you can do it. I agree the flat will be done some time before the packer, but, as long as you can get that off first and into a cooler to rest for the remaining time, you should not have any serious problems.
Use the temp probe in the flat, when it’s done transfer that to the packer and have a cocktail and simply wait.
START EARLIER THAN YOU THINK!!! Time at the end is relaxing, if you are fighting to get it done, it will not have time to rest and be the glorious, succulent feast that you want. Starting early is really important to me, experience has taught me that.
It will be fine!
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
That’s a lot to pull off but, you can do it. I agree the flat will be done some time before the packer, but, as long as you can get that off first and into a cooler to rest for the remaining time, you should not have any serious problems.
Use the temp probe in the flat, when it’s done transfer that to the packer and have a cocktail and simply wait.
START EARLIER THAN YOU THINK!!! Time at the end is relaxing, if you are fighting to get it done, it will not have time to rest and be the glorious, succulent feast that you want. Starting early is really important to me, experience has taught me that.
It will be fine!
Click to expand...
Like 0400 early 😂
 
Think that if it was me I would put the whole packer on the bottom grate, and give it about a 2 hour head start, than put your flat on the top. No guarantee that they will be done at the same time. But they should finish up close enough that the first one done can wait it out wrapped in a cooler to rest.
 
I would do the smoking the day before and reheat the day of. If you must do it the day of, I'd start the night before and plan for being done six to eight hours before the event. Big pieces of meat like that will easily hold for many hours in a faux cambro (insulated cooler). This way you know you won't have hungry guests waiting for the cook to finish.

If you go the faux cambro route, I'd let the brisket sit on the counter until the internal temp has dropped below 180F and then stick it in the cooler. You want it to stop cooking before you start holding.
 
Brett-EDH said:
curious, do you vent your wrap to encourage cooling but still in a controlled environment (in the cooler)?
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No, don’t vent, let the temperature stop and begin it’s downward travel, like Jay says, about 180 or so, dbl foil, towels cooler. Set the dining area up and wait for the fun, I try to slice to order, it stays more moist that way.
It will be fine!
 
John, I think you've gotten some very good advice. The guys are right. If I had to do it, I'd put the big brisket on top at midnight and let it run for 3 hours before putting the flat on the bottom. Hopefully the packer has lost most of its liquid by then and stopped dripping on top of the flat, on the bottom. If it is still dripping, then I'd put the packer on the bottom and the flat on top and hopefully the packer has enough of a crust that the dripping from the flat won't mar the surface of the packer.

Then wait for them to finish out. It should be done before 8 or 9am, unless you are doing hot/fast (in which case, I'd wait until 5 or 6am). When you wrap, if you wrap, you can use up the coals that are left, or move to the oven to finish in the foiled stage. It is cheaper and easier.

In terms of what to do after it is cooked, I've seen two methods, both used by folks who are very successful at what they do.

Method 1: Cook til it is done (tender) and cut foil open a bit in the middle (venting) until center meat temp goes down to 170 and hold in cambro until you are ready to slice and eat.
Method 2: Cook til it is almost done (tender) and put foiled brisket into cambro or cooler with towel on top. The idea here is that it will continue cooking in the cambro, as opposed to cooking it all the way and then cooling. Hold until you are ready to slice and eat.

Method 1 is easier and Method 2 takes some practice but is cleaner (less messy with au jus, etc). Both methods work.

You're gonna knock it out of the park.
 
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Donna, thanks for making the point about “early start” more clear! Heaven knows you have done far more briskets than I have and you speak from great experience. I generally allow the product to “break the temperature” before I foil, I wasn’t really clear when I said “don’t vent”. Totally see where you are headed with method 2, very wise.
If you are ever in Michigan around Kalamazoo, you’ve got a place to spend the night! I have no idea what we will eat but, I’m pretty sure we will eat well!
 
Tim, if you live in Michigan, then I would be interested in catching, cooking and eating fish!!! That would be super fun as a fisher...person.

Jon, in theory, you could put the brisket in the cooler, cut the foil open a bit and shut the lid. You could shut it early if you think it still needs some time to cook, or shut it 20-30min later, if you think the brisket is overcooked or at the perfect texture. When I say 20-30min, of course what I am saying it when it gets down to 170F. Outside temps will vary that wait time. The main point is if you shut it too early and the brisket is screaming hot (200F or more), then it will continue to cook. Then you have fall apart brisket. Many a cook has destroyed a perfectly fine brisket by cooling it down improperly.
 
Donna, I just stopped at a fish monger in Mackinaw City and picked up a pair of unbelievable whitefish fillets, came back to the cottage and made up a compound butter with some things on hand at the cottage. I was lucky to have a tangerine for a little zest. The mosquitoes were evil that evening, only night in ten days so, no pix but, there is a silly long litany of overfun eating.
The cottage is on Lake Huron, about 6 hours from home but, with some warning, it might be arranged. I’m told Lake Michigan (45 minutes) is good but, it’s not as “clean” as Huron.
I’ve never done any big lake fishing, we can make that happen from here!
It would be a blast! I know a few that would love to be part of that fishing/feasting party!
 
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Wow, lot's of great advice here. Thanks all!

So, the weights I mentioned before were very rough, and after weighing the trimmings and subtracting from the package label, I've got an ~8lb flat and a ~10lb whole. I used kosher salt at about a half tsp/pound, then applied a generous amount of Meatheads Big Bad Beef Rub.

One complication: the party is a 1.5 hour drive from where I'm cooking (home), and I need to leave at 10am. So, I'm thinking I'll need to start around 6pm for a low temp cook. I like the idea of starting the whole brisket a couple hours before the flat.

I've got a Thermoworks Smoke 4 probe temperature alarm so I can monitor both hunks plus the smoker temps at both grates. I haven't been very good at recording my previous cooks, as I'm usually doing them while telecommuting, running back and forth between the computer and smoker. I believe the flat I cooked previously was maybe 10 lbs(?) untrimmed. I'm going to try to be more methodical this time.

I generally do low temps, and have been trying to keep it around 250. I seem to spend a fair amount of time trying to dial in the temps. I may be over concerned about minor fluctuations. I'm using Kingston Original charcoal, and have always used the minion method.

I'll be wrapping with pink butcher paper at some point. I've read some people like to wait out the stall before wrapping so as to get a better bark, but I'm concerned about drying out the flat. I'll stick it in the oven after it's wrapped.

It's gonna be an adventure....
 
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