Brisket time!! Need advice!

[ShortRibStefan]

Okay guys I've used the RecTec now for a bunch of different meats, learned a few things, had some really great luck so far, and I'm going to try for a brisket next. First, one brisket as a test run this weekend (all for myself! )....then I'm doing FOUR briskets at once for a large party I'm hosting the next weekend. Here's where I need help.

This is Bill's way of doing brisket. I found this a ways back in these forums, and I'd like to try it his way. But I'm unsure of the total time I will be looking at for the smoke. Step 2 says 6-8 hours, but step 3 and 4....unsure. I'm looking for your best guesses on how long that will take! I just want to time it well, so the meat isn't done way too early or way too late for this big crowd I'm feeding!

Here's Bill's instructions:

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1. Put a rub on the brisket then inject it, and wrap in plastic wrap. Put in the fridge 8 to 10 hours before going on the smoke.

2. Place the meat on the top rack with a pan of water directly under it. Smoke at 180 for the first 6 to 8 hours.

3. After 6 to 8 hours, jack the temp up to 225 - and let it run that way till the bark looks nice... somewhere between 150-170 internal temp.

4. Once at 150-170 IT, place brisket in an aluminum pan and cover it with foil. Don't add any liquid to the pan. Continue smoking until 198 degrees IT.

5. Start probing it for tenderness at about 198 degrees. Once it probes tender, take the meat out of the pan, leave the temp probe in and don't wrap it up in foil till the internal temp starts to drop at least a few degrees. Once it's wrapped, place into a cooler for at least a couple hours to rest. (Wrapping in foil and beach towels)

6. Oh yea...don't forget bout all that juice that's in the pan. Separate the juice from the fat. Pour the juice in a jar, and set it in the cooler along with the resting brisket. After you slice the brisket, drizzle a wee bit of that there hot juice over them moist slices.
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Thanks in advance for your help! Any other tips/suggestions are welcome, as this is my first brisket attempt, and I have some big shoes to fill. I have some good rub, injection supplies, etc all ready to rumble.

[Rambo]

Paging Papa Tom

[GRailsback]

Stefan, I cook a little hotter than that, so my brisket doesn't take as much time as Bills process. But it also depends on how big the brisket is to start with, or what the start cook weight is. Depending on if you trim the brisket or not. But what ever you do, do not get discouraged if it doesn't turn out as you expect or expected. There is a learning curve to it, and lots of different ways to cook it with success.

[bobcat1]

I'm no pro and I use a Pellet Smoker... Camp Chef. I would figure about an hour a pound cooking at 225 throughout the cook. EACH brisket is different though. Some cook faster and some longer. I would cook it until it hit 165 and then wrap in Butcher paper until it hits 200-205 and it should probe like a hot knife going thru butter. Then I would wrap it in a towel and place in a ice chest to let rest at least an hour. (longer is better)

The next one I cook I am not wrapping until it goes in Ice Chest to rest. I want to improve my bark. If that don't get my bark where I want it... out with the pellet cooker in with a reverse flow stick burner.... my 2 cents

[Chasdev]

Have you tried the "low and/or high smoke" settings?
I get decent bark on mine, but I have to admit the amount of smoke flavor in the meat has not and will never equal cooking with seasoned oak.

[egghead]

Wild Bill’s process sounds real good and the comments are really minor variations and personal preferences on different but similar approaches - all good. There is the low and slow crowd, the Hot and Fast bunch, the foil wrappers. the paper wrappers, the pan and coverers, the injectorizers, overnight marinators, fat uppers, fat downers, etc. (I’m pretty sure I’ve tried all but the fat up :) ).

I personally think the most important point is that the brisket is done when it probes like butter. JMHO.

Good luck with it amigo.

[spacetrucker]

Stefan, I believe your question is how long does it take to cook the brisket? when the temperature changes so does the time it takes to cook it....
I have tried several methods as Egghead pointed out, and have resorted back to the method I like best, I cook at 250 straight through, once the meat hits the wrapping point say 2/3 of the cook through the brisket gets wrapped in foil or paper depends on my mood, then at the approximate finish line I start checking for doneness, with a probe (I use an icepick) so now to give the length of the cook.... I use a arbitrary time of 1:15 per pound of meat as my measure of total time to cook. So a 14 pound brisket would take about 17 hours to cook, I would wrap or whatever, at about the 12 hour mark and start checking doneness at the 15 hour mark and continue until done. Now to throw the multi briskets in the mix, the smallest brisket will be your indicator and will be done first so watch him for doneness first then the larger. Hopefully this will give you some help on your cook, do let us know how it goes.... Best of luck!!

[k.a.m.]

Unless your'e cooking flats four packers on a pellet cooker at once is going to be a challenge in my opinion. That amount of meat on the grate is going to change the way the cooker performs greatly and I would plan on getting done early and holding the briskets for slicing. You can easily hold the briskets in a cooler for over four hours. Cooking hot and fast would be a safer bet for me when cooking for the masses. It will be hard to figure times with that much cold meat on a pellet cooker with the method you want to use. If you go hot and fast and pan at 165° with a half cup beef broth your average cook time should be about 8 hours total cooking around 275° and 300°.

[ShortRibStefan]

This is all helpful, thank you guys. I will either be doing 4 flats or 2 full briskets, depending on what my local butcher has when I go in. Because yeah, 4 fulls at once would be a little crazy :) I'll be sure to post how they turn out! Thanks again!

[ShortRibStefan]

What I'm hoping to find is a few brisket points I can buy separate from the flats. Otherwise I'll probably do two full briskets. Now that I think about it, 4 flats is risky....since I have not perfected smoking flats and I know they're temperamental.
Do you guys think it matters if I separate the point from the flat FIRST and smoke them separately, or separate them part way through the cook? Maybe right before I wrap?

[spacetrucker]

you might see what the others say, I never separate the flats from the points, just me & my $.02

[GRailsback]

Stefan, I am also firmly in the camp of cooking whole packers and not separating.

[Txdragon]

^^^ me too!

[k.a.m.]

The only time I separate is for competition and I leave about 1.5" of point on the flat other than that I cook whole packers.
This is one I did a while back playing around with my trimming.

[ShortRibStefan]

k.a.m. that looks like perfection! And thanks everyone else for your input and advice!

So I attempted smoking a small flat last night...again, my first try on brisket.

It was just a little 3.5lb flat, which I don't think I'll try again. (Sounds like many of you are in that same camp.) I'll be picking up a full packer for next weekend's attempt. However, the flavor did turn out quite nice. Very enjoyable despite needing some BBQ sauce. It took almost 8 hours, which surprised me for how small it was.

I made a rookie mistake though... I put it in a pan with foil over top once it hit about 155. I should've waited longer though. I think I just got impatient Because then, once I was around 190, I checked on it and didn't like where the bark was at, so I unwrapped it in an attempt to build up the bark a bit further. Yup, that dried it right out. Oooooops. Lesson learned!

I'll hopefully post a more successful story next weekend! It all got eaten though, so not a total flop