Overnite Brisket

ShaggyC6593 · Newbie Joined: 14 Aug 2005 Posts: 65

Well I decided to do an overnight brisket for a family gather today. I got a nice 10lb brisket from the local butcher here and put it on last night at 12. I have been keeping the smoker temp between 225-240. At the 8 hour mark I decided to check the internal temp of it. Much to my surprise it was already at 180 deg. Does this sound right to y'all. I was figuring 12 hours for this thing to get to 195 deg. My guest won't be showing up until one. My first thought was I have done something wrong and cooked it too quick. If this normal and it finishes before the guests get here how should I heat it back up. I usually wrap it in foil and put it in a cooler for an hour but I have never done that for 4 hours. Some ideas here would be appreciated.

(SIC) BBQ · Posted: Sep 25 2005 Post subject:

You could lower your cooking temp and slow the cook down. Just a thought

Jason
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ShaggyC6593 · Newbie Joined: 14 Aug 2005 Posts: 65

I just did that Sic. She seems to have leveled off at 181 deg. I probably over reacted. I just didn't expect to see the temp that high after only 8 hours. This is my first big brisket. I have done a couple of 6-8 pounders but never any this big. Thanks for the advice Sic. I will keep y'all posted.

Steve-O · Posted: Sep 25 2005 Post subject:

Was this a whole brisket? Or was it a flat or point? 10 lbs seems small for a whole brisket.

Either way, if the temp get's close to done and the company is several hours away, you can lower the cooking temp or wrap and put in a cooler. If you wrap in a cooler, take it out 30 minutes before company comes and put it back in the cooker (keep the fire going there). Company does not have to know you wrapped it. Wink

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ShaggyC6593 · Newbie Joined: 14 Aug 2005 Posts: 65

It is a whole Brisket Steve. Your suggestion was my plan too. I am at 190 deg right now. She is looking good too. I figure she will be ready to pull off around 11am. One question though. I see some folks separate the point from the flat and leave the point on longer for BBQ sandwiches. What is a good temp range to cook the point to?

Roy · BBQ Pro Joined: 13 Aug 2005 Posts: 654 Location: Toronto

I'm no expert Shaggy but I did a very successful brisket on Saturday. I kept it at 190 from 7am till about 3pm. I cranked it to 240 when I thought it wasn't going to be ready by 6 but it came up fairly quick when I did that and I ended up turning it back down. It really was awesome and if I was doing it again I'd leave it at 190 all the way and only crank it with 1.5 hours to go if necessary. That was my fourth attempt and boy it was good!

bigabyte · Posted: Sep 27 2005 Post subject:

Shaggy, I make burnt ends from the point every time I make brisket, no exceptions. In fact, the burnt ends are the primary reason I make brisket to begin with! Laughing

I can buy flats, or whole packers, but I can't find jsut a point or else I'd probably give it a go! Laughing

I don't cook the point to a temp, but to a visible look. After seperating it, I like to chop the point into 1 inch cubes, sprinkle on some more rub, and put in an aluminum pan. I then put it back in the smoker and let it go about 2-3 hours until there's a good pool of fat in the bottom and the corners are starting to blacken a bit. I then add some sauce, give a bit of a stir to spread the sauce on the meat, but not shred the meat, and let it go for another 30 minutes to an hour longer. I pull them off when they have a good dark exterior. Take a corner off one and taste it. If it makes you dance a jig and slap your mama then its ready. If not then they need to go a bit more, or you used the wrong sauce.
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Steve-O · Posted: Sep 27 2005 Post subject:

You cut the whole point in cubes?? Then smoke it again for a batch of "burnt ends"?
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ShaggyC6593 · Newbie Joined: 14 Aug 2005 Posts: 65

Thanks for all the info guys. The brisket was a success in all of my company's eyes. Before yesterday I always pulled the brisket off the cooker when the flat was fork tender or the internal temp was 188-190 deg. Yesterday I decided to let the brisket go until the internal temp hit 195deg. I did this for something different and saw that many of you pull your brisket at that temp. Well the brisket was at 195 at 11am. This was 3 hours before anyone was suppose to show up so I wrapped it in foil and put it in the cooler. At 2pm the brisket was still 160deg so when it was time to eat I unwrapped it and started to prepare it to serve. Now the brisket was very tender and very moist but this time I couldn't slice it. When I tried to slice it just fell apart. I have never had this happen before. I have about it happen to others when they cooked it too long and it was dry. My brisket yesterday was very moist. Everyone here loved it this way and put the pulled brisket on a bun and chowed down. I think next time though I will pull it off at the fork tender like I was before because I do like to slice the brisket better then just pulling it apart.
WooDoggy I will try your way to make burnt ends the next time i cook a brisket. They sound delicious. I also smoked a butt, ABT's, and pig candy. There was plenty of butt left over for the family to have some good Q tonight for dinner. No brisket left though. The brisket was definitely the preferred meat yesterday.

Alien BBQ · Posted: Sep 27 2005 Post subject:

Shaggy,
You might want to check the thermometer or gauge you are using. I have seen misreadings of up to 100 degrees between gauges. Additionally, if you want to slow the flat down so the point can catch up you can wrap the flat and leave the point exposed while it cooks.
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smokin Jim · Posted: Sep 27 2005 Post subject:

Alien BBQ- have you made the trip to Carlsbad yet? If not, what's keeping you back?
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Alien BBQ · Posted: Sep 27 2005 Post subject:

Thomas P. · BBQ Pro Joined: 27 Jul 2005 Posts: 596 Location: Texas

When you put your meat in the cooler, try wrapping it in several layers of foil, then wrapping that in an old blanket. Then put it in the cooler. Better than that, if you can find one of those hot carry bags, cost about $2.00 at the grocery store, put the foil in that and then wrap in the blanket. I use this method all the time, and four hours later, it's just as warm and juicy as when it came off the pit Very Happy

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bigabyte · Posted: Sep 28 2005 Post subject:

Alien BBQ · Posted: Oct 01 2005 Post subject:

Give these a try for keeping your meat at temp. I personally use a colaspable thermos cooler from Sam's, but it is fairly big and these are half the cost.
http://www.deliverybags.com/
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mding38926 · Posted: Oct 01 2005 Post subject: