Brisket advise

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newbie craigs

Newbie
Original poster
Jul 26, 2016
11
13
Michigan
trimed and rubbed the whole brisket, wrapped in foil about two hours ago(7:30est), my plan is to wake sunday morning around 3am, thats 31.5 hrs with the rub,,,,,is this too long?? Next i will use a marinade injection while the smoker is heating up and hoping to have in smoker by 4am, Next step, back to sleep for 2 hours and then start mopping and turning every two hours, this was a 15lbs. brisket at the butcher shop, with out a scale im guessing ive trimed it to around a 12 lbs brisket,im hoping for IT to be around 155 at 4pm so i can wrap and rest for 2hrs and serve by 6pm with a barbecue sause for dipping or laying it on,,,,,

This is my first brisket, ive done spare ribs which were ok, the baby backs ive done i was very pleased with, ive only had smoker for about a month and im still trying to talk the girlfriend into somehow smoking spagetti lol

Anyways, i just wanna know if my plan for the brisket sounds good or if i need to change it up????
 
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Is there a particular reason for the extra long rub and rest? Just curious. 

I wouldn't recommend that long with rub. I don't think it will do grave harm to the meat but that much time with salt is kinda close to dry brining. It may pull some moisture out of the meat. But since I haven't done a lengthy rub and rest I will defer to others that may have experienced this before.

Cooking time is dependent on smoker temp and meat thickness. If you plan to eat at 6:00 am and open the smoker every 2 hours (not sure how fast your smoker recovers) you probably need to cook it around 275* or even higher just to make sure. Lots of folks spritz or mop but this will add cooking time not only because you are opening the smoker but because you are causing an evaporative cooling effect. Kinda like your body sweating to keep cool in the heat. Same for your brisket. Give yourself lots of time. You can rest it in the oven at 160-170* or wrapped up in a cooler for hours. Like 4 hours if need be. 

Thats just me. I don't like to be rushed. I have smoked brisket the day before and reheated. It was one of the best briskets I ever did. I cooked it and let it rest on the counter loosely covered until cool enough to refrigerate. I wrapped it in plastic wrap nice and tight and then in foil and put it in the fridge. I did this on a Saturday. It was for a Sunday night dinner. About an hour before dinner time I took it out and unwrapped it from the plastic wrap and wrapped nice and tight in foil. Put a probe in it and took it to about 150* or so (if I recall). It was awesome. Bark was a tad soft but it was still good bark. 

Good luck!. Post pics and give us a report. 
 
,im hoping for IT to be around 155 at 4pm so i can wrap and rest for 2hrs and serve by 6pm with a barbecue sause for dipping or laying it on,,,,,​

The only flaw I see is you are only cooking it to 155. You are going to have a very tough piece of meat.

You need to take it to around 195 or until probe tender.

Start checking it at 190 & when a probe or toothpick goes in with little to no resistance in multiple places it's done.

Then it only needs to rest for 1/2 hour before slicing.

I also agree with the above, if you want it cooked in that time frame I would run the smoker at 250-275, or start it the night before.

Al
 
Is there a particular reason for the extra long rub and rest? Just curious

Was planing on cooking saturday but something came up, so its being cooked sunday, only reason for the long rub

As far as the rest, i thought i read that a long rest is worth the wait

Thank you both for the advise, Looks like i might start cooking tonight
 
 
,im hoping for IT to be around 155 at 4pm so i can wrap and rest for 2hrs and serve by 6pm with a barbecue sause for dipping or laying it on,,,,,​

The only flaw I see is you are only cooking it to 155. You are going to have a very tough piece of meat.

You need to take it to around 195 or until probe tender.

Start checking it at 190 & when a probe or toothpick goes in with little to no resistance in multiple places it's done.

Then it only needs to rest for 1/2 hour before slicing.

I also agree with the above, if you want it cooked in that time frame I would run the smoker at 250-275, or start it the night before.

Al
Wow, thanks Al, I totally missed that. I was thinking he may employ the wrap stage at that temp and then cook the rest of the way, but now I see I must have glossed over that. Oops. 

Oh, yes. You must cook your brisket to an IT of ~190-205* if you want something edible. I find around 203* the magic starts to happen. But some like it lower. Also, that is the temp in the flat. Don't worry about the point. Lot more leeway for edibleness. 
 
 
Is there a particular reason for the extra long rub and rest? Just curious

Was planing on cooking saturday but something came up, so its being cooked sunday, only reason for the long rub

As far as the rest, i thought i read that a long rest is worth the wait

Thank you both for the advise, Looks like i might start cooking tonight
 
Is there a particular reason for the extra long rub and rest? Just curious

Was planing on cooking saturday but something came up, so its being cooked sunday, only reason for the long rub

As far as the rest, i thought i read that a long rest is worth the wait

Thank you both for the advise, Looks like i might start cooking tonight
No problem, you should be fine. I wouldn't make it a practice of that long a rub time. But hey, maybe you will discover the next BBQ craze. 
 
 
,im hoping for IT to be around 155 at 4pm so i can wrap and rest for 2hrs and serve by 6pm with a barbecue sause for dipping or laying it on,,,,,​

The only flaw I see is you are only cooking it to 155. You are going to have a very tough piece of meat.

You need to take it to around 195 or until probe tender.

Start checking it at 190 & when a probe or toothpick goes in with little to no resistance in multiple places it's done.

Then it only needs to rest for 1/2 hour before slicing.

I also agree with the above, if you want it cooked in that time frame I would run the smoker at 250-275, or start it the night before.

Al
Yup..

You will not even stall at 155. The stall happens between 160 and 170 on average. If you don't push through that temp range, it will be very tough.

-Pit
 
UPDATE:

Ok all, had the brisket on at 3:30am, i decided to somewhat stick to my plan, im cooking at 240, the IT is 144 now at 6:41am,,,,Im shooting for a temp of 160 before i wrap it up to help the stall out and continue to cook,,i will then look for IT temp of 190-200 before i wrap and rest,,,,

Thank you all for your advise, I will be sure to share a picture of my first brisket, good or bad lol

Craig
 
Last edited:
Didnt reach 195 untill about 530pm,,,,wraped it and rested it untill 630pm,,,,,carved it up and served with homemade bbq sause

<<<<<<<much to learn but will always take advise from the more experienced learners
 
Craigs, that looks like good Q dude. Nice work. Points for your maiden brisket smoke. You are now officially no longer a brisket virgin. And also officially hooked on brisket smoking (likely). 

I personally find brisket to be the ultimate in meat smoking taste wise. But that is just me. 

BTW, I ran across a vid of someone that does some catering and rubs his briskets for 18-24 hours. Maybe I should give that a try. 
 
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