Biggest Brisket I’ve smoked, any tips - besides it takes longer ..

[Bimmernerd]

Getting ready to start a brisket on my pellet grill / smoker this morning. I’ve done several in the 10-14lb range. But tomorrow I’m having a lot of people over so got a big full brisket, with as much flexibility as I could find - just shy of 20lbs. Good marbling - decent fat cap without being too much.
Plan on pulling and wrapping at 195 for slicing. Eating at around 14:00 Easter time - (see what I did there?) - ok a stand up comic I will never be.

Any tips before I get this thing going?

Thanks!

 

[SmokinAl]

If your smoking it at 225, I think your timing is right on.
But you never know how long it will take.
Sounds like you have plenty of experience with brisket & this one should be no different.
Al

 

[gmc2003]

I don't think I've seen one that big around here. Keep us posted.

Chris

 

[Bimmernerd]

Awesome - thanks guys. Just made me nervous because it was so big. I will definitely keep you posted, it’s rubbed and resting right now. Not sure what your options are there for buying meat, we have a few good options in this area. This one came from Costco, they usually have a good selection of quality meats. They aren’t the cheapest, but you can count on consistency. We have a quality butcher here as well as a restaurant supply chain called cash-n-carry. Their meat is good quality, but the cuts are usually pretty fatty so you have to trim them.

Stacy...

 

[Bimmernerd]

Here it is - All 19.8lbs of it resting - waiting for the smoker.

 

[sammartin]

That looks massive! Biggest one I’ve done was 17.5 and it cooked just the same as the smaller ones. Might take a little bit longer to get that center to temp but other than that you should be good.

 

[Bimmernerd]

Ok - question - Smoker is sitting at 225 pretty consistently. But it’s been 4hrs and the brisket is only at 114 - should I up the temp til it reaches the magical 140? I stuck the probe in at 3hrs and it was only 102. Any thoughts?

 

[sammartin]

Since you're serving it at 1400 (2pm) i would just sit tight and grab a brew! Did you take it straight from the fridge to the smoker or let it get up to room temp? As big as it is it will take a little bit longer to get up to temp your average brisket, just stay patient you got alot of time on your side.

 

[tallbm]

I normally do about 12 pounders but last weekend I did a 16 pounder and one thing I learned with it is that I needed to apply more smoke/smoke for longer than what I apply on the 12 pounders. Other than that it was the same.
I do about 7-9 hours of smoke on my 12 pounders and did the same for the 16 pounder. I think it could have used another 3-4 hours on top of the 8 hours where I applied smoke.
Maybe some others will chime in on this if they have had the same experience :)

 

[Bimmernerd]

Thanks guys, Sammartin, I let it get up to room temp - it was out for 1-1/2 to 2hrs with the rub on it prior to putting it on, so was a little concerned about food safety. But I’ve heeded your advice, three Corona’s later and I’m less stressed lol. The temp shot up the last few hours - it’s already up to 173, but my smoker is running a little warm. It’s set at 225 but hovering at 238 now. Hopefully it won’t be ready at breakfast. Thanks for your input I’ll keep y’all updated.

Stacy...

 

[Bimmernerd]

Update -

First off happy Easter everyone! Second, guess it goes to show a brisket is done when it’s done. My Tappecue app started dinging at me at 03:40 this morning. Brisket was done.. :eek:

So, wrapped it in several layers of heavy duty foil and threw it in our oven on the “keep warm” setting which hovers around 170 / 180.

I think one of the issues is my Camp Chef smoker creeps. I noticed last night before bed it was at 238. I tried to adjust down but it would only drop to low smoke (160-170) or back to high smoke which is supposed to be 225 but ultimately read 238 on my chamber probe. The internal thermometer probe for the smoker controls is clean, wonder if there is a way to Calibrate these things?

Oh well - back to making jerky now that the brisket is done. Hopefully it won’t dry out too much sitting in the oven for 8+ hrs.

Hope everyone has a great Easter! Looking forward to your feedback.

Stacy...

 

[tallbm]

Update -

First off happy Easter everyone! Second, guess it goes to show a brisket is done when it’s done. My Tappecue app started dinging at me at 03:40 this morning. Brisket was done.. :eek:

So, wrapped it in several layers of heavy duty foil and threw it in our oven on the “keep warm” setting which hovers around 170 / 180.

I think one of the issues is my Camp Chef smoker creeps. I noticed last night before bed it was at 238. I tried to adjust down but it would only drop to low smoke (160-170) or back to high smoke which is supposed to be 225 but ultimately read 238 on my chamber probe. The internal thermometer probe for the smoker controls is clean, wonder if there is a way to Calibrate these things?

Oh well - back to making jerky now that the brisket is done. Hopefully it won’t dry out too much sitting in the oven for 8+ hrs.

Hope everyone has a great Easter! Looking forward to your feedback.

Stacy...

Howd it turn out?

 

[Bimmernerd]

Hey there, so dang mad at myself, I forgot to take a pic. I was astounded, it turned out great! I was really worried about it drying out. Several people came up to me and said it was amazing, best brisket they’d had. I used a Kansas City Rub on it - I put down a thick layer of spicy brown mustard first. I’m hanging on to that recipe and won’t hesitate to keep it warm in the oven again right out of the smoker.

Thanks for all your support!

Stacy..

 

[tallbm]

Glad to hear it was a success! :)

 

[wanna-be-smoker]

Update -

First off happy Easter everyone! Second, guess it goes to show a brisket is done when it’s done. My Tappecue app started dinging at me at 03:40 this morning. Brisket was done.. :eek:

So, wrapped it in several layers of heavy duty foil and threw it in our oven on the “keep warm” setting which hovers around 170 / 180.

I think one of the issues is my Camp Chef smoker creeps. I noticed last night before bed it was at 238. I tried to adjust down but it would only drop to low smoke (160-170) or back to high smoke which is supposed to be 225 but ultimately read 238 on my chamber probe. The internal thermometer probe for the smoker controls is clean, wonder if there is a way to Calibrate these things?

Oh well - back to making jerky now that the brisket is done. Hopefully it won’t dry out too much sitting in the oven for 8+ hrs.

Hope everyone has a great Easter! Looking forward to your feedback.

Stacy...

your cooker will have temp swings up and down from your dial setting. High smoke will average 220 overt the cook but will fluctuate as high as 240 and as low as 195 and those are just rough numbers.

If you are on facebook come join or camp chef group ( camp chef misfits). Just answer the questions along with your request to join

 

[Bimmernerd]

Gotcha - makes sense, it just seemed my chamber probe consistently read closer to the 240 mark. The brisket came out fine, just cooked way faster than I thought it would for it's size.

Thanks wanna-be!

Stacy...