Brisket surprise

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pthfndr13

Newbie
Original poster
Apr 8, 2014
8
10
San Diego
I've only done a few briskets so I'm far from an expert so I thought I would ask those that are - last night I started a 14.5 lb choice brisket. I was anticipating 15 to 18 hrs for cooking time so I started around 9 last night with my Masterbuilt smoker. I trimmed the fat cap, covered it in olive oil and my dry rub then put it in the smoker that was humming along nicely at 225 with a nice amount of smoke coming out the back. Around 230 in the morning, I took it out and placed it in a roaster to finish off the final cooking time. When I woke up this morning I could smell the brisket and it smelled like it was coming along perfectly. When I inserted the probe to test the temperature it was already at 190°. So, I reach my optimal temperature in 12 hours for a 14 pound brisket! So now I have it wrapped up in a bunch of towels and in the cooler waiting for lunch. I am hoping that it will sit there and be okay for the six hours that I have to wait until our late lunch. But six hours in a cooler, I'm worried that I might have to reheat. Does anyone have any experience with this? How do you think the time will affect it? Also, is it common for the brisket to cook that quickly? For now, The taste is perfect, the smoke is perfect and I'm happy with everything, I'm just surprised...

Any thoughts or comments are appreciated!


Pthfndr
 
Must be something in the air, my 14.5 brisket was at 195 within 12 hours. I too have mine wrapped in a towel in the cooler for 5 hours. Another member mentioned it should be fine as long at the IT doesn't drop under 140. It's been two hours and my IT is 167, so I think I should be okay.
 
Last edited:
Brisket might not be tender until 210. Did you probe test it before storing it? It might be fine or it could be a little tough. Hope for the best. Most folks start poking it after 190 in the flat for tenderness every so often. They are all different and you can't cook to temp like you can on other meats.
 

So it turned out really well! The tenderness was perfect, the taste was ideal and overall I couldn't be happier. In the end, it spent 5.5 hrs in the smoker, 6.5 hrs in a roaster, 5 hrs wrapped up in a cooler and 2 hrs back in the roaster because the IT dropped to 156. Though in retrospect it probably would have been fine without the last two hrs in the roaster but it would have been close! (I had put it back in the roaster, split the top of the foil and poured some of the au jou back in)

Lessons learned:

In retrospect I braised the brisket by putting it in the roaster which resulted in the shortened cooking time. Nice and tender but no bark.

My thermometer probably is off a little but I also went by feel and appearance and I trust that a lot more now. The probe slid in with very little resistance and the slab jiggled like jello... [emoji]128536[/emoji]

Next time, use larger chunks of wood. The small chips burn too quickly which results in me having to open the smoker about every 45 min.

More smoke!!!
 
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