20lb Prime Brisket

[jrapps]

There was an AMAZING sale at Costco...$2.99/lb for Prime Brisket and at 20lbs it's the biggest brisket I've ever seen, much less tried to cook. Like many, brisket is my nemesis although I have had success in the past cooking whole packers such as this. But due to the sheer size, I figured I'd come here and get some advice.

My plan is to smoke at 250 to 155-165IT (or wherever it stalls), then wrap in butcher paper, take to around 195-200ish. I usually end up closer to the 1.5 hr/lb mark on my smokes but not sure if this beast will REALLY take 30hrs? I have my doubts. The flat at the thinnest end is 1.5 inches thick. How long would YOU plan to smoke it? Dinner is at 6pm Friday. Since every brisket has a mind of it's own, my gut tells me to start around 1-2pm Thursday, hoping I hit closer to the 24hr mark but giving a little wiggle room to cook longer or hold in cooler a few extra hours if needed.

Also still on the fence about burnt ends. We love burnt ends and my original plan was to separate flat and point once it its done, let the flat rest in a cooler for 2-3 hours while I cut up and smoke the point into ends. I've read some posts where people separate them earlier to get bark on the separation point. My biggest fear is drying out the flat. How many of you do burnt ends on your whole smokes vs just slicing it all up and serving as-is?

Also wondering since this will take so long, do I start mid-day in smoker, get as much smoke on it as I can and then move it to the oven for the stall. Either way I'm going to have to be up every few hours at night to check on it. If I wrap in butcher paper and then decide to move to the oven, do I leave it in the paper? I assume the paper does nothing in an oven and I should just transfer to an aluminum pan covered in foil?

Any advice is appreciated...looking forward to cooking this beast tomorrow.

 

[BB-que]

I’d plan on the 1.5 hrs assuming you’re cooking 225-250 range, and assuming you’re wrapping. Like you said, ideally you separate around 180 so you can get some bark on the flat that was being covered by the point. Having said that for some back yard Q, I don’t worry about that. I seperate about half way in the initial trim, and then once the brisket is done, fully separate. I let the flat sit for 20 minutes to stop the cooking process and then wrap and cooler for an hour or 2 rest. Then I cube my point, season, sauce and pan and back on while the flat rests. For me it’s a matter of timing. Timing usually easier for me to make the BE nice it’s completely done, just did it this weekend. Nobody missed the bark on the back 1/4 of the flat. And year oven works good to power thru the stall. Leave the paper on.

 

[chilerelleno]

My preferred method is Extreme Hot-n-Fast.
You can cook that Packer in less than 10 hours.
See my recipes index link for a couple of my big briskets done in this manner.

Give it 2.5-3 hours of smoke at 275°-300°.
Then crank the heat to 375°-400°.
Once it reaches 165°IT double wrap it in butcher paper.
Take it to 195° and probe for tenderness in the thickest part of the flat every 2° till ready.
Pay attention when wrapping and mark your paper where to probe.

Once done, wrap in an old towel and rest for at least an hour on the counter, no cooler needed.
You can rest it for 2-3 hours this way and it'll still be piping hot.

 

[noboundaries]

Your trimmed weight will probaby be 16-18 lbs. Aaron Franklin smokes similar sized trimmed Prime briskets at 275F and finishes in 12-13 hours. Then he puts them in a temp controlled hold for several hours.

I've done a lot of packers, but putting my last one wrapped to rest in a 170F oven for 3.5 hours when the flat was almost probe tender gave me the best brisket I've ever eaten, no exaggeration. Use temp as a guide. Probe the flat for tenderness. And rest it for 3-5 hours in a 170F oven.

Just a suggestion, but my last brisket rocked my brisket world and changed how I'll smoke briskets from now on.

 

[Fueling Around]

I separate the point and flat before smoking.

 

[Chasdev]

I'm a hot and fast guy too but I do it backwards.
First three hours at 350 which should take it to the stall, then wrapped in foil with apple cider vinegar and apple juice sprayed in the foil, then down to 300 for another 3 hours or so.
Last one I cooked was over cooked at 6 hours, so at 5 start to pay close attention.
I have also cooked one for 24 hours at low temps and it came out good too but life is too short to sit on a fire that long, for me anyway and hot/fast produces better bark.

 

[jrapps]

Well I've never done hot n fast before, I'll admit I'm scared to try it. I have the time so I will probably stick to low & slow.

I'm going to stick with putting it in at 225-250 around 2pm today then at 165°IT double wrap it in butcher paper. Depending on when that is, I may leave it in the smoker overnight or move to my oven inside. I changed my mind on the burnt ends, mostly because we have company coming and I'd prefer to have the point sliced in case the flat dries out too much. I like the idea of holding it in a 170 oven for 3-4 hours so in the morning if we are still stuck in the stall, I will crank it up to 275/300 then, aiming to hit 200-205 IT by 2pm tomorrow. Remove from smoker, let it rest for 30 min to come down to around 180, then double wrap foil, back in 170 oven until dinner.

Fingers crossed!

 

[chilerelleno]

Nothing to be scared of, it is a proven method.
For big briskets it is the only way I'll cook them now.
But for sure, no matter how you cook it, give that brisket a rest before slicing.

 

[thirdeye]

Once wrapped, heat is heat. If you like pink paper just move it to a rimmed baking sheet before going in the oven, the paper will be grease soaked so you get some transfer, but it won't leak juices. You are correct about letting the internal drop before holding at 170°. You have unlimited time here, some BBQ joints hold for 12 hours and longer. I like the convection setting, it seems to be more even, but I also spin the tray 180° once or twice.

 

[noboundaries]

Fingers crossed!

You're fine. If anything, you'll finish early, which is always better than late.

 

[jrapps]

Once wrapped, heat is heat. If you like pink paper just move it to a rimmed baking sheet before going in the oven, the paper will be grease soaked so you get some transfer, but it won't leak juices. You are correct about letting the internal drop before holding at 170°. You have unlimited time here, some BBQ joints hold for 12 hours and longer. I like the convection setting, it seems to be more even, but I also spin the tray 180° once or twice.

OK, so if I am wrapping in paper and finishing in the oven @225-250, and then once I hit 205 IT if I want to hold it, do I even need to bother re-wrapping? Or do I remove from the oven, open the paper a little to drop the temp a bit, and then put right back in the oven at 170? Is wrapping tightly in foil essential to the 170° hold?

 

[thirdeye]

OK, so if I am wrapping in paper and finishing in the oven @225-250, and then once I hit 205 IT if I want to hold it, do I even need to bother re-wrapping? Or do I remove from the oven, open the paper a little to drop the temp a bit, and then put right back in the oven at 170? Is wrapping tightly in foil essential to the 170° hold?

Don't plan on the 205* being perfect..... cook it tender by feel. But yes, vent whatever wrap you are using, then close it up before going in the oven. Ovens cycle, so you might put a cable probe in there to see what the hi/lo temps are. If you live at low elevation, pink paper or foil will work fine. Paper will breath.. I'm at 5400' so foil works better.

 

[noboundaries]

Sooooo....how's the smoke progressing?

 

[jrapps]

Success!

Everything turned out pretty much perfectly. The brisket went in at 1:00 in the afternoon on Thursday @225. I had originally planned on wrapping it before I went to bed but we weren't quite at 165 and I felt like the bark could use a little more development so I left it in the smoker through the night. Wrapped in paper at 7am and threw it in the oven. Once it hit 195 I started checking for tenderness. Total cook time 22 hours it hit 203°, and a temperature probe slid in and out like butter.

Super moist, probably the best brisket I've ever made. I intended to get more pictures along the way but of course we devoured it too quickly. Here's what I could manage to get.

 

[jrapps]

Just a couple pieces of leftovers. Here's a shot of two pieces of the flat left so you can see bark.

And a cross section of the point left. Might cube it up and make some day after burnt ends out of this.

 

[thirdeye]

That looks good, especially the bark. There is a saying among Briskateers.... "Wrap on color, pull on tenderness", which is somewhat accurate.

So, did you take advantage of any holding time at 170° or did the cook time fit right into the schedule? What became of the foil drippings?

 

[tag0401]

Brisket looks good. Man that was a hunk of meat!!

 

[noboundaries]

Super moist, probably the best brisket I've ever made.

We are often our worst critics, so that summary above is a grand slam! Congrats.

 

[jrapps]

That looks good, especially the bark. There is a saying among Briskateers.... "Wrap on color, pull on tenderness", which is somewhat accurate.

So, did you take advantage of any holding time at 170° or did the cook time fit right into the schedule? What became of the foil drippings?

Yes, once it was done I let the temp drop slightly and held it in the oven at 170° for close to 6 hours! So much easier than transferring to a cooler with towels. When I first transferred it to the paper I put the entire paper wrapped brisket into a foil pan so the drippings just collected at the bottom. There actually wasn't as much drippings as I've seen on previous briskets. I use a little bit of it on the thinner parts of the flat as I was cutting it but it didn't really need any.

It was a huge hunk of meat and I am so glad it turned out as well as it did. The bark was the best part. I wonder if the water pan had something to do with timing of my bark. I have a vertical pellet smoker, when I started I had a huge lasagna sized foil pan filled to the top with water as a heat sink. 11 hours later when I went to bed the water had mostly evaporated. The bark really darkened up during those overnight hours when the smoker was running dry.

From now on I will "Wrap on color, pull on tenderness".

 

[thirdeye]

Yes, once it was done I let the temp drop slightly and held it in the oven at 170° for close to 6 hours! So much easier than transferring to a cooler with towels. When I first transferred it to the paper I put the entire paper wrapped brisket into a foil pan so the drippings just collected at the bottom. There actually wasn't as much drippings as I've seen on previous briskets. I use a little bit of it on the thinner parts of the flat as I was cutting it but it didn't really need any.

It was a huge hunk of meat and I am so glad it turned out as well as it did. The bark was the best part. I wonder if the water pan had something to do with timing of my bark. I have a vertical pellet smoker, when I started I had a huge lasagna sized foil pan filled to the top with water as a heat sink. 11 hours later when I went to bed the water had mostly evaporated. The bark really darkened up during those overnight hours when the smoker was running dry.

From now on I will "Wrap on color, pull on tenderness".

Glad the 170° hold worked out.

I add some beefy broth or auJus when I wrap and I usually inject briskets, so some of that liquid will weep out when wrapped.

Humidity in a smoker is a factor. If you like results, stick with them. Since you are using a large water pan, be sure and add HOT water to it, otherwise you use a lot of BTU's heating cold water. I don't use a container of water in my kamados but I do mist my meats a couple of times. In my drum I'll add a water can or pan on the grate, and I use a water pan in my box smoker when I'm hot finishing ham or Buckboard.