The Texas BBQ Forum

Hi everyone,

I was looking for someone that would know a rough estimate on how many hours and at what temp is the Acorns sweet spot for cooking a brisket point. I've been told no foiling is necessary, and the acorn makes a moist brisket with great bark and smoke ring without foiling.

I'm thinking of doing it for about 9 hrs at about 225 degrees, using smoke the last 6 hrs.

Does this sound too far off ?

Any suggestions or constructive criticism is great appreciated.

Thanks all

I have no kamado cooker knowledge, but I do know after the meat reaches about 140 degrees it is very difficult if not impossible to get any smoke penetration, so for me, the smoke gets applied early on in the cook, just me and my observations, so if I wanted smoke in the bark or on the outside I would smoke later in the cook, but me, well I want it on the inside as much as I can...

spacetrucker wrote:I have no kamado cooker knowledge, but I do know after the meat reaches about 140 degrees it is very difficult if not impossible to get any smoke penetration, so for me, the smoke gets applied early on in the cook, just me and my observations, so if I wanted smoke in the bark or on the outside I would smoke later in the cook, but me, well I want it on the inside as much as I can...

Hi Spacetrucker,
That is good info and is much appreciated.
I'm new to charcoal smokers, unfortunately I've only been able to cook with electric tabletop smokers with pretty good luck.
I know I will have to learn by trial and error, but considering brisket point prices I was trying to eliminate ruining any lol.

Thanks again, and i will make sure to use smoke right from the get go

Smoke ring develops up to a temp of 140 but the meat still picks up a smoke flavor as long as it is in the smoke.

The below process references a brisket smoked in an egg. It will work in an Acorn as well. It's essentially Blu Dawg's process with a few differences.


Hot and fast brisket - you won't be disappointed.

1. Light egg. Stabilize at 250-30" dome. No platesetter - smoking direct. I like oak chunks of chips for smoke. Mesquite is preferred by some.
2. Inject with as much beef broth as brisket will hold. Usually 1 can but could be up to 2 cans.
3. Salt, black pepper for rub. Some folks like to add garlic powder as well. Or use your favorite rub, but just salt and coarse ground pepper is my preference.
4. Put brisket on fat cap down for four hours direct.
5. After four hours, place brisket in an aluminum pan fat cap up and cover pan with foil. Could also double wrap in HDAF instead of pan. Some folks swear by butcher paper and contend that brisket will continue to pick up smoke with the paper. I have tried paper twice and went back to foil pan.
6. Start probing brisket after 1 hour in pan. Pull the brisket when no resistance to a probe - probes "like butter". (brisket will be done in no more than 6-7 hours but forget time and temperature - the brisket is done when it probes like butter)
7. Place in a foil pan fat cap up and cover pan with foil.
8. Rest in a cooler double wrapped in foil and covered with towels or newspaper min 1 hour. Can go longer in cooler as long as temp is over 140 - likely up to 4 hours.
9. Place Au jus in container and into the fridge to defat au jus for any that want sauce on the side.
10. Cut across grain. Identify grain and score brisket before placing in egg to ensure cutting across grain.

Don't slice ahead of time - slice as you are serving. Warm au jus for those that want a little sauce.

I'm old school. 235°F to 245° F until the brisket passes the poke test (Somewhere usually in the 195°F to 205°F internal temperature). I have done one Hot & Fast by accident, the temp got away from me and it turned out OK.

egghead wrote:Smoke ring develops up to a temp of 140 but the meat still picks up a smoke flavor as long as it is in the smoke.

The below process references a brisket smoked in an egg. It will work in an Acorn as well. It's essentially Blu Dawg's process with a few differences.


Hot and fast brisket - you won't be disappointed.

1. Light egg. Stabilize at 250-30" dome. No platesetter - smoking direct. I like oak chunks of chips for smoke. Mesquite is preferred by some.
2. Inject with as much beef broth as brisket will hold. Usually 1 can but could be up to 2 cans.
3. Salt, black pepper for rub. Some folks like to add garlic powder as well. Or use your favorite rub, but just salt and coarse ground pepper is my preference.
4. Put brisket on fat cap down for four hours direct.
5. After four hours, place brisket in an aluminum pan fat cap up and cover pan with foil. Could also double wrap in HDAF instead of pan. Some folks swear by butcher paper and contend that brisket will continue to pick up smoke with the paper. I have tried paper twice and went back to foil pan.
6. Start probing brisket after 1 hour in pan. Pull the brisket when no resistance to a probe - probes "like butter". (brisket will be done in no more than 6-7 hours but forget time and temperature - the brisket is done when it probes like butter)
7. Place in a foil pan fat cap up and cover pan with foil.
8. Rest in a cooler double wrapped in foil and covered with towels or newspaper min 1 hour. Can go longer in cooler as long as temp is over 140 - likely up to 4 hours.
9. Place Au jus in container and into the fridge to defat au jus for any that want sauce on the side.
10. Cut across grain. Identify grain and score brisket before placing in egg to ensure cutting across grain.

Don't slice ahead of time - slice as you are serving. Warm au jus for those that want a little sauce.

Egghead,
Thanks a bunch for all of this info. I truly appreciate you taking the time to tell all of that to me in detail. I will definitely have to try this method as low and slow is what I'm used to. But again, the Acorn is completely new to me so I will probably try all kinds of techniques and see how they all work out.
I'll have to post some pics and the outcome when I try this. Trying to find weekend time seems to be a chore in itself lately lol.

Thanks a bunch again and have a great weekend.

DATsBBQ wrote:I'm old school. 235°F to 245° F until the brisket passes the poke test (Somewhere usually in the 195°F to 205°F internal temperature). I have done one Hot & Fast by accident, the temp got away from me and it turned out OK.

DATsBBQ...

Thanks for the info, the hardest thing for me to do is let the internal temp to get near 200.
In my head, in thinking it will be waaaaayyyyy overdone because I'm so used to cooking steaks/chicken etc etc and know there is a fine line between perfect and dry.
But...., after doing my very first brisket, I soon realized that the meat Needed to get to that temp in order to break down. And to my surprise, it was still moist as can be.

I'm gonna try two briskets, one hot and fast and the other low and slow.

As far as the temp getting away, I can completely understand how was it can be with these egg/acorn style grills/smokers.
But, from what everyone tells me, the reward of the finished product is beyond the learning curve so I'm gonna practice temp control as much as possible. I'm going to invest in a good dual probe thermometer because I have 3 different oven thermometers and all three seem to be off by a good 5 to 15 degrees...

Blu dawg teaches the hot & fast very effectively, I learned it from him and others on this forum, it is a great method to know and have in your arsenal, the low and slow is great also, as for the taste, well the jury at least at our house is still out, mainly because in the low & slow one can use copious amounts of sugar and create that sweet crunchy bark that so many are fond of, candy like with smoke flavoring, some like it some don't, but none the less another good tool to have under your control and at todays prices no one I know can afford to goof up a brisket

I have a Primo Oval XL ceramic cooker. It does a good job on a brisket using the hot and fast method. I get a tender, juicy brisket. That said, I prefer my stick burner to cook my briskets -- it likes to run around 240. I get better smoke flavor and a better bark for sure. I don't pay much attention to smoke rings, because you can fake those with Tender Quick.