Shootr's First Brisket Ramblings

[Shootr]

Picked up a Costco 13lb prime brisket flat for Christmas dinner. Never did one before. I don't think I've ever bought a $60 cut of meat before...

My OCD is kicking in with research on how long it will take. Currently I'm figuring after trimming it will be closer to 11-12 lbs - so now it's crossing fingers that I get the timing right for a 2:30 afternoon meal. My thought's so far is putting it on around midnight and getting to the stall by 7-8AM, wrapping in the butcher paper and continuing on to 205 degrees by noon-1PM. Rest for an hour or 2 in the cooler and slice it up with fingers crossed.

35 years ago or so, my Dad got me a proper brisket slicing knife - it has yet to have fulfilled its' destiny. Damn thing is perfect and a real razor, looking forward to breaking it in too.

Picked up a big metal seasoning shaker and pre-mixed up a "salt-pepper-garlic-onion" rub so it's easier to get things more equal when prepping the stuff going on the grill. 40lbs of Camp Chef Competition Blend pellets ($13/20lbs- I'm liking them the best so far) so that's stocked up.

I'm off work today so bored and hungry - and now you're bored too...

 

[hillbillyrkstr]

13 pound packer is going to end up being 9-10 pounds by the time you trim it.

Start it early as you can. Better to be done to early rather than too late. Your brisket will keep wrapped in the cooler for hours.

The pink butcher paper is great! I’m a big fan of it! Wrap your brisket at about 160-170 degrees.

I like to use an injection with briskets. It helps out a lot.

And I go HEAVY pepper on all my briskets. Salt and heavy pepper is all I use. Coat your brisket heavy with seasoning for a great bark!

Good luck,
Scott

 

[Shootr]

13 pound packer is going to end up being 9-10 pounds by the time you trim it.

Start it early as you can. Better to be done to early rather than too late. Your brisket will keep wrapped in the cooler for hours.

The pink butcher paper is great! I’m a big fan of it! Wrap your brisket at about 160-170 degrees.

I like to use an injection with briskets. It helps out a lot.

And I go HEAVY pepper on all my briskets. Salt and heavy pepper is all I use. Coat your brisket heavy with seasoning for a great bark!

Good luck,
Scott

The cut I got says it's just the flat - that's why I was thinking there might be less trimming than a packer might have.

At 160 degrees, it'll hold together fine for handling and wrapping, yeah?

I know timing is like you-know-what in the wind - so I'm throwing darts for start times - think maybe 10PM might be better? Am I'm realistic in thinking 7 hours +/- to get to 160?

 

[bregent]

40lbs of Camp Chef Competition Blend pellets

I'm guessing you're cooking on a pellet grill. In my experience, pellet grills cook faster than other smokers, and prime briskets seem to cook up faster than lower grades. For me, brisket flats of that size finish around 8 hours at 225F.

wrapping in the butcher paper and continuing on to 205 degrees

I wouldn't focus too much on final IT. It could be finished well before that temp is reached. Check for doneness by making sure it is probe tender.

 

[Shootr]

I'm guessing you're cooking on a pellet grill. In my experience, pellet grills cook faster than other smokers, and prime briskets seem to cook up faster than lower grades. For me, brisket flats of that size finish around 8 hours at 225F.



I wouldn't focus too much on final IT. It could be finished well before that temp is reached. Check for doneness by making sure it is probe tender.

Doh, that would have been helpful...

Camp Chef DLX24 Pellet Grill at 225 indeed. I take it I unwrap it to probe and wrap it back up if needed (not probe thru the paper)?

 

[hillbillyrkstr]

Just the flat? Sorry I must have misread. Yeah you won’t have much trimming to do then.

Yes at 160-170 you’ll be able to handle it. Be careful cause it’s hot!

Start probing your brisket with tooth picks at 195ish. When the tooth pick slides in all over with no resistance your done. Could be as high as 205 so don’t panic.

And especially if it’s just a flat look into injecting it.

Scott

 

[Shootr]

I like the logic of injecting the flat - will do. Looking at recipes now - debating on getting a Meat Church or Butcher Pro vs. just mixing up my own.

Figure I will do it thru the cryovac the afternoon before (6-8 hours before going on the grill). Then I would trim it, dry it, rub it, and onto the smoker.

I'm getting the vibe that 12-14 hours may be a bit long plan for this size/temp/cut. Maybe closer to 10 hours + a 2 hour rest? I understand every cook is different, just looking for past experiences and thoughts.

 

[hillbillyrkstr]

Butcher is phenomenal!

 

[hillbillyrkstr]

I’d give it extra time just to be safe. My experience is it’s never worked out like I thought it would. Guests don’t like to wait unless they are all beer drinking guys.

Good luck
Scott

 

[Shootr]

Pulled the 13lb prime flat out of the freezer and put it in the fridge to slowly thaw. Our fridge is 36-38 degrees, so shooting for Thursday night-ish so it will be ready for marinade injection Friday morning.

Current plan is to start it at midnight Friday/Saturday, for a 1PM Saturday afternoon finish and allow a 60-90 minute rest before slicing at 2:30ish for holiday dinner. First one I'm trying, so still waffling back and forth on when to start it...either 10PM Friday night or midnight...I am understanding correctly that finishing early (11AM-Noon let's say) and resting in cooler/towels isn't a bad thing at all, yeah?

Can you tell this noob is excited for this? :-)

 

[Shootr]

And we're off...

 

[Shootr]

On the grill at 11:30pm now back to bed... Not easy trimming when it's the first one, doesn't look like the YouTube videos I watched...

Salt, pepper, onion, and garlic after a pat down. Now it's 225 plus the smoke tube until morning/165.

 

[fuzzyfishin]

Looks good.
Will be doing my first briskets in the am(6). Won’t enjoy till tomorrow when family com3s over. My wife wants to make sure it’s done.

 

[Shootr]

6 hours in and I think it was starting to stall. So we went to the store and breakfast. Wrapped in paper when we got back, it read 164 in a couple places.

Not nearly as dark as most I see, but maybe they weren't half done like this one. Grill seems to hold 225 +/- pretty well in mid 40's ambient air temp.

As I write this, it's 10 hours and reading 185 and still resists probing pretty much.

The little cut off was where I marked the face to slice - it's a little peppery (and dry of course) but the dog was happy with it. Still, pleased with the progress.

 

[Shootr]

Do pellet grills like this (or any "lightweight" smoker i.e. not made out of 1/4" steel and 250 gallon propane tanks) benefit from some sort of added thermal mass in the cook chamber to reduce the temp swings? I wonder if a couple fire bricks in the bottom, or maybe the top rack, or both - would, once heated up, slow the rise and fall of the temperature.

On the other hand, maybe it would screw with the pellet grills programming and the swings would be more drastic...Eh, time to wash the dog before company comes...

 

[Shootr]

And at hour 13, I believe it's done! Probing all over is slick as silk, and I'm getting between 202-205 degrees all over. So it's about 12:30pm local time with dinner planned at 2:30ish, so into the cooler it goes.

I'm like a kid before Christmas

 

[illini40]

So how did it turn out? Seems like things went to plan.

 

[Shootr]

So how did it turn out? Seems like things went to plan.

For a first effort, I'm ecstatic. Wound up resting for 2 hours and was still piping hot and looked perfect.

Though it got unanimous rave reviews, one side was slightly less moist than the other. But I'm nitpicking - it was a great dinner and early Christmas celebration

Oh, and I tried my hand at some ABT's for an evening game-time snack. Also well recieved!

 

[gmc2003]

Good looking food you got going on shootr, I'd be more then happy to pull up a place at your table and chow down on some of that.

Point for sure.
Chris

 

[illini40]

For a first effort, I'm ecstatic. Wound up resting for 2 hours and was still piping hot and looked perfect.

Though it got unanimous rave reviews, one side was slightly less moist than the other. But I'm nitpicking - it was a great dinner and early Christmas celebration

Oh, and I tried my hand at some ABT's for an evening game-time snack. Also well recieved!
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Awesome! Great looking brisket!

It's nice to see your plan come to action.

So about 13 hours of cook time at 225* for 12-13 pounds? Sounds right on schedule.