Brisket Flat

[rdavidson]

I am smoking a 8.5 lb brisket flat this weekend. I know it is important to to do the probe test to determine if it is done, however, we are eating at 3 pm so I am trying to figure out what time I should put the brisket flat on the smoker. Roughly how long will it take to smoke a 8.5 lb brisket flat? Should I smoke it at 225 or 250? Thank you

 

[Chasdev]

The size or weight of the meat has no effect on how long it takes to break down the toughness.
A one lb chunk takes the same time as a 20 lb packer.
At 225 it could take close to 20 hours, at 250 14 hours.
I cook all brisket hot and fast, which is 350 for three hours and 325 for another three hours.
The second stint is done with the meat wrapped in foil with some liquid added .
Last one I did, a 14 lb packer, was over cooked at a total of 6 hours, I wish I had pulled it at 5.5.
I let it rest too long and carry over cooking took it too far.
I should have let it cool off unwrapped and sliced after an hour.

 

[tallbm]

I am smoking a 8.5 lb brisket flat this weekend. I know it is important to to do the probe test to determine if it is done, however, we are eating at 3 pm so I am trying to figure out what time I should put the brisket flat on the smoker. Roughly how long will it take to smoke a 8.5 lb brisket flat? Should I smoke it at 225 or 250? Thank you

Hi there and welcome!

At a smoker temp of 275F, smoking naked, and not opening the smoker until thermometer says Internal Temp (IT) of the meat is about 198-200F degrees, it takes my smoker a little over an hour a pound.

With a brisket or a pork butt the best thing to do is plan to finish 4 HOURS EARLIER than serving/eating time.

So at 275F the way my setup and approach works and eating at 3pm, I would plan for the brisket to take about 9.5hrs. Then add 4 hours to that, which means I must have a hot smoker and brisket in at 13.5hrs before 3pm.

This means hot smoker, brisket in, at 1:30am the night before.

If the meat finishes 4 hours before 3pm then awesome! You just tightly double wrap on foil, then wrap tightly in 3 bath towels and set on the counter/table until time to serve and eat.

If the meat does NOT finish 4 hours before 3pm.... well you have 4 more hours for it to finish before people attack you with forks and knives, so you have some buffer to get it done :)

From what I see the number one issue with people failing on brisket is that they dont cook it long enough, usually because they are rushed for time. Don't fail that way :)

Now, Briskets are done when tender so you already have a key idea in your head.
Just know that Flat's are the problem child of the brisket and that temp probing brisket is not a simple tasks to get correct. Let the tenderness probing guide you for doneness.

If I were smoking a brisket Flat (I do whole packers) I would go naked and not fool with it until the IT was about 180F. This way it got great smoke and maybe some acceptable bark.
THEN, I would place in foil, douse with a little liquid, and wrap and return to the smoker.

If you wrap brisket too early you don't end up with "smoked brisket" flavor, you end up with roast beef flavor like an oven roast... why go through all the trouble in the smoker if you just get oven roast beef. Waiting until later in the smoker like 180F IT in the meat should solve that problem while also not drying it out. The liquid you add assists with not having a dry brisket but you should be ok because collagen doesn't melt out until a period of time of 190F IT and up.

I hope this info helps :)

 

[Bytor]

I think tallbm hit the nail on the head there. I had an 18# packer that I split up and ended up with a flat that was just at 8lbs. I recently saw a Malcom Reed video where he focused on burnt ends, but also smoked the flat. In that video, he wrapped the flat at the 4 hour mark and went from there. I usually wait for the stall, before I wrap, but tried doing it this way, which was before it began to stall.

The flat and point were separated two days before and dry brined for almost two whole days. At 7:30am @225, I began the cook. At 11:30, I wrapped the flat with an IT of 146-149. I added about two ounces of apple juice and two tbl spoons of butter on it and double wrapped with butchers paper. I upped the pit temp to 250 and left things alone until 4:45 (9.25hrs) with an IT of 202-205 throughout, very probe tender and wrapped until 6pm. This was the best flat that I have cooked to date. It was super moist, had a decent smoke flavor to it and had a nice ring and bark. I will be trying this routine out again to see if I can replicate it. However, I will begin an hour or so sooner, as I would have liked to have a little longer rest period.

 

[SmokinAl]

A brisket flat may be the hardest piece of meat to smoke & have it turn out tender & juicy. I have a method that has worked for me a number of times. Here is a link to the thread explaining it.

BRISKET FLAT, MY WAY

It's no secret that a lot of folks have a problem smoking a small well trimmed brisket flat. I to had my struggles for a while, but a couple of years ago I found this method and have been using it ever since. So I would like to share my method with all of you. If you already are successful...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Hope this helps!
Al

 

[rdavidson]

Thank you everyone for all the tips and tricks. I'm excited to give them a shot this weekend.