Hanging meat?

[patinlouisiana]

My better half bought us a Prime Brisket from Costco and I'm afraid it might be to large for my MES 30.
Have any of you ever tried hanging a brisket vertically in a smoker before or is that a dumb idea?

 

[smokerjim]

not sure about hanging it but could you separate the point from the flat, would it fit that way, i'm sure some of the pro's will be along to help you though.

 

[patinlouisiana]

not sure about hanging it but could you separate the point from the flat, would it fit that way, i'm sure some of the pro's will be along to help you though.

Yes, I could separate it but that kind of defeats the whole idea of smoking a brisket IMHO.
I have smoked flats before and they were quite good. Never smoked a point.

 

[thirdeye]

I do it all the time, this brisket was 17 pounds so I split in half lengthwise. What was your concern with hanging? And how much longer is it than your cooking grate?

 

[patinlouisiana]

I can make it fit assuming it will shrink as it cooks.
It is about 2 inches oversize. See grate on top of brisket in pan.

 

[BigW.]

Some will use an empty beer can underneath the middle to get some extra room. Should be easy to find.

 

[chopsaw]

It is about 2 inches oversize. See grate on top of brisket in pan.

I"ve never done this , but have seen post where they prop up the middle with something to make it shorter .

 

[chopsaw]

This is a discussion we had last year .

Packer in MES

Has anyone tried to put a packer in their mes 30 with one rack vertical on the side and the brisket in an L shape? Just curious how this would work out without having to cut more of the flat off than needed, or use a brick/can. The only thing I can think of is it potentially having a lot of...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[GaryHibbert]

When I do a brisket in my MES 30, I separate the point from the flat and put the point on the grate right above the flat. Works great.
Gary

 

[thirdeye]

I can make it fit assuming it will shrink as it cooks.
It is about 2 inches oversize. See grate on top of brisket in pan.

Then I'd go with something underneath like a small stainless mixing bowl and in a few hours it will have shrunk enough you can remove the prop and it will lay flat. Years ago a guy was going to start a brisket at midnight, and at the last second realized it was too long. I posted this little sketch and said, "shove a beer can under it".

The next morning he posted saying this worked great, but.... "next time I'm going to use an empty one".

 

[EdP]

I do it all the time, this brisket was 17 pounds so I split in half lengthwise. What was your concern with hanging? And how much longer is it than your cooking grate?
View attachment 455460
View attachment 455461

I’m curious how this affects cooking time

 

[bacon_crazy510]

You know, there is no "right answer" .... try it! If I were you, I'd tie a simple net, and hang that hunk of meat and let'er rip. It'll be fine! Take pictures to document how you did it (or it didn't happen!) and post your glorious results! I guarantee you you'll start a new trend!!

 

[patinlouisiana]

Well a little butcher's twine and some macrame knots and my brisket shrunk enough to easily fit on the grate.

 

[patinlouisiana]

I intend to wrap around 165. Do you think I should remove the string prior to wrapping?

 

[thirdeye]

I’m curious how this affects cooking time

It does shorten the time, but not by 1/2 or anything. the biggest advantage is you get flat and point on each half. We eat a half, and I triple wrap the other half with beefy broth. Now I have a reheatable pouch that takes about 1.5 hours at 250° in the oven.

 

[SmokinAl]

I think I would just cut off enough of the thin end of the flat to make it fit.
Then grind the cut off section for burgers. I just did some & used brisket & pork belly ground together for some awesome burgers.
Al

 

[chopsaw]

I think I would just cut off enough of the thin end of the flat to make it fit.

I wanted to comment on this . Maybe off topic a bit . I did that exact thing for other reasons . Intent was to grind , but forgot about it , and had already cleaned up . Since it was thawed , ( and it was 92 on my patio ) I used the instant pot to cook it for taco meat . My gosh it was good . I don't get that good of a pull test when I smoke it .
Have a plan for the trim and get a different meal or two out of the one packer .

 

[patinlouisiana]

Well the tying it up worked fine!
14 hours later!

 

[smokerjim]

looks good from here, nice job

 

[chopsaw]

Yup looks great .