Urgent: Brisket flat cook time


 
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Ed Jones

TVWBB Pro
I'm cooking just a flat for a class party tomorrow night. It weighs in at 5.5 pounds and has the fat cap intacts. I've only cooked full briskets before and never bothered to track time much.

Can anyone give me a ballpark figure for how long this will take? I'm guessing 6-8 hours. I need to pull this off at 4pm and then leave for class. So, I'm thinking if I put it on at 8am it should be at 185 degrees between 2pm and 4pm if I cook at 225 degrees.

Am I on track? Thanks for the advice!
 
Ed,
6-8 hours for a 5.5lb flat..............sounds right. But remember it could take longer. Just give yourself extra time if you can. I always try to give myself extra time, you don't want to rush it. "It's done when it's done"! Good luck!
 
And then if it gets done early, you can wrap it in saran, then foil, then enough towels to fill the cooler, and put it in a dry cooler where it'll hold it's temp for up to 2-3 hours no problem.
 
not that ive done this many times before..but i think its better to over estimate cooking time than ending up witha raw butt....

id start a lil earlier to make sure this baby is done....you can always put it in a cooler and give yourself upto 4-5 hours of warm meat....if you underestimate..yuck...its underdone and hard annd what not....thats what i did one time... so i think start early finish early.....
 
Taking a flat to 190º internal, wrapping in foil and placing in a dry cooler for at least 2 hours, 4 is better, is a great way to tenderize and keep the flat as moist as possible.
Jim
 
Ok guys, thanks for all the help. I cooked it 8.5 hours, starting at 7:30am and pulling it at 4:00pm. It's tightly wrapped and sitting in a cooler. My hoity-toity MBA classmates won't know what hit 'em!

Thanks again.
 
Ed, this is a little late, and you're probably enjoying your brisket this very minute. But for comparison, I did a 6.3-pound flat at 225*F and it took 11 hours. I had to augment its fat cap with a few strips of salt pork.

Rita
 
I used a half pound of bulk bacon (very fatty) for the same reason. I pulled the brisket at 185 degrees rather than letting it go to 190 (due to time) but my classmates loved it anyway.

It's getting time when I should do a whole brisket. It's been a long time. I usually let it go until done and then portion it up to freeze.

Thanks for the help.
 
I pulled mine at 180-185*F as Jim M. suggested and it sliced like a dream. I'd say 185 was just about perfect and that's what I'll aim for next time.
 
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