Brisket Cooking - with Q View

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max8950

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Mar 21, 2013
75
11
Arlington, TX
I am smoking a brisket for a out of town party this weekend. I dont want to stay up all night smoking (the party location may or may not have a smoker). My plan was to smoke the brisket at home on Wednesday with aged oak until I got up to around 140 or 150 degrees. Then I would cool it down, wrap it in plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge. On Friday I am going down to the party. We are eating at 1pm Saturday. I was thinking it would take a 14 pound brisket about 2 hours in the oven at 250 to get back up to 140 internal temp and another 6 hours to get to 200 ish. What are your thoughts? I thought this would taste better than an all oven brisket. The party location is at a ranch outside of Austin and there is no smoker. Your thoughts on the timing?
 
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I think you are underestimating the finish time by quite a bit. Never had a reheated or twice cooked brisket that was anywhere close to a freshly cooked one. Brisket should be eaten right out of the wrapper. Why not put that guy in the smoker around 6 to 7pm or so on friday nite, let it take on some good smoke and then transfer to the oven to finish overnight. Let her go slow in the oven and she should be ready sometime around 9 to 11. Wrap her tight with double foil, a heavy towel, and drop in a cooler. She'll stay for hours and a 14 pounder will hold heat a good long time. Unwrap it at feeding time and take a bow.
 
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I am leaving with the brisket at 3pm on Friday. The ranch where the party is does not have a smoker. I thought if I got 6 or 8 hours of smoke on it at home and then finished it in the over it would be better than nothing. 
 
Have to disagree with geerock here as I've precooked and reheated brisket many times and it does very well.    With the little information we have at this point, I'd cook the brisket completely on Wednesday/Thursday and put it in the fridge after it has rested.  On Saturday, I'd stick it in a 300degree oven until it reached a serving temp of 160.
 
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I can do that. New plan

Wednesday

Smoke from 4pm - 11pm

Cook in the oven from 11pm - 7am 

Pull, rest. wrap - refrigerate.

Go down to Austin Friday

Leave whole and wrapped in foil, heat at 300 until 160 degrees

Slice and Serve

how long do you think It will take to get the brisket back up to 160 degrees?

Should I slice it before I cool it down.

There might be a smoker at the ranch. If there is I was thinking about heating the brisket back up on the smoker. This should make a nice smell, firm up the bark, and still accomplish the mission.
 
 
I can do that. New plan

Wednesday

Smoke from 4pm - 11pm

Cook in the oven from 11pm - 7am

Pull, rest. wrap - refrigerate.

Go down to Austin Friday

Leave whole and wrapped in foil, heat at 300 until 160 degrees

Slice and Serve

how long do you think It will take to get the brisket back up to 160 degrees?

Should I slice it before I cool it down.

There might be a smoker at the ranch. If there is I was thinking about heating the brisket back up on the smoker. This should make a nice smell, firm up the bark, and still accomplish the mission.
Plan looks pretty good overall.    I'd change the "Cook in the oven from 11pm - 7am" to read "Cook in the oven from 11pm - ???am"

If you have a therm/probe with an alarm on it that will actually wake you, I'd use it.  If not, I'd get up a couple of times during the night and check on the brisket's progress. 

I'd also change "Pull, rest. wrap - refrigerate" to "Pull, wrap (if you didn't foil while cooking), rest - refrigerate".   You want that brisket to be wrapped up while it's resting.

On the reheat, between 1-2 hrs at 300.  The brisket should still be wrapped in the foil while it's reheating.   This creates a nice moist environment that helps prevent the brisket from drying out.   I guess you could unwrap it and throw it on the smoker once it's close to serving temp, to try and reform the bark.  Just be careful that it doesn't dry out.    Slice the brisket to order after it has come back up to temp. 
 
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Got the brisket trimmed up and rubbed down. It will chill out overnight in the fridge. Smoking starts at 4pm tomorrow. I have some really nice oak that I split into quarters and cut into chunks with the circular saw. I am about 3 or 4 chunks every 20 minutes. It keeps the fire hot and small. Really nice smoke flavor. I kept about a 1/4 fat in on the fat side. I get really good smoke absorption when I leave a little fat on.
 
7 hours on the smoke I am going to wrap it and put it in the oven at 225. The it in the flat is 118. How much longer do you think this 14 pounder has left. I think I am safe at 7 more hours (1 hour per pound)
 
 
7 hours on the smoke I am going to wrap it and put it in the oven at 225. The it in the flat is 118. How much longer do you think this 14 pounder has left. I think I am safe at 7 more hours (1 hour per pound)
Are you absolutely sure that the flat is only at 118 ?   Asking because your brisket looks like it's much further along than that.
 
I found out the cheap thermometer I got was not working at all. I made a 2 am run to the store and got a non digtial thermometer that I can leave in the meat while it is cooking. When I got home and put the thermometer in it was at 155. Right now I am at 190. I think I will take it to 198, rest, cool down in the fridge, transport to Austin tomorrow, and then reheat in the foil pan whole in the oven or smoker (if they have one) until the IT is back up to 160. Slice and serve. If there is a smoker on site I think I can firm up the bark by reheating in the smoker in a pan no cover.
 
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I found out the cheap thermometer I got was not working at all. I made a 2 am run to the store and got a non digtial thermometer that I can leave in the meat while it is cooking. When I got home and put the thermometer in it was at 155. Right now I am at 190. I think I will take it to 198, rest, cool down in the fridge, transport to Austin tomorrow, and then reheat in the foil pan whole in the oven or smoker (if they have one) until the IT is back up to 160. Slice and serve. If there is a smoker on site I think I can firm up the bark by reheating in the smoker in a pan no cover.
Sounds like a pretty good plan.   I'd make sure that the brisket was probe tender before pulling as sometimes, 198 internal temp just isn't enough.  Would be a shame to put 16 hrs into a brisket only to pull it an hour early and not be tender.
 
I took it to 195, toothpick test was smooth. I left the thermometer in and placed the wrapped brisket in the fridge after it cooled down to 160. Can I leave the thermometer in? I dont want to poke a bunch of holes in it if I dont need to. I was planning on sticking this thing in the oven on Saturday and heating it up to 160 (maybe 1 or 2 hours)
 
 
I took it to 195, toothpick test was smooth. I left the thermometer in and placed the wrapped brisket in the fridge after it cooled down to 160. Can I leave the thermometer in? I dont want to poke a bunch of holes in it if I dont need to. I was planning on sticking this thing in the oven on Saturday and heating it up to 160 (maybe 1 or 2 hours)
Honestly, don't know if it's ok to leave it in or not.   If it were me, I'd remove it and stick it again later.  That small a hole isn't going to make a big enough difference.  And anyways, as loose as that foil is, you should be able to pinch the hole closed.
 
The brisket turned out great!!!! I took about 90 minutes to heat it back up to 160 IT in the middle of the brisket. This thing was so tender it was hard to get slices. No one cared we got some bread and made some great sandwiches. next time I will not take it high on the IT when I am reheating it. 

 
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