briskit to london broil

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

shellbellc

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Jun 7, 2006
1,757
19
Valley Forge, PA
Well I attempted a brisket on Sunday, but wound up with a great tasting londong broil...Everything I've read about the briskets commented on ones that were around the 9 - 10 # range. The only ones I could find were 1 1/2 and 1 3/4, so I got them both. I read to consider about 1 1/2 hours per # so thinking that with these small ones 3 hours tops. Well I didn't temp the meat and after 4 1/2 hours, everything else was ready so off it came. Actually it was pretty tender and had an excellent flavor, but it was just this side of med rare. I guess the timing is irrelevant of the weight...
 
Michelle, the smaller ones are the flats and are sometimes labeled as "Brisket Roast". The trick to any brisket smoke is to reach 190*. The formula of X lbs at 1.5 hours works out great IF you don't have the temp. plateau that is often found in large muscle mass cuts like briskets and pork shoulders (butts and picnics) to contend with. Smokers experience this plateau at around 150-160* and it seems that the temp sits there forever (3-5 hours or longer). That is why it is often suggested that you have a good probe thermometer (Digital is great). The plateau works to your advantage-it's during this time that the connective tissue is breaking down and releasing it's moisture into the surrounding meat. Unfortunately, there is no getting around this plateau-increasing the chamber temps doesn't speed up the break-down- all it does is dry out the meat. When you tackle your first packer brisket (contains the flat and point with a lot of fat) you'll understandy why we call these an "all nighter".
 
Hours/# is an ok tool to estimate when to start something to have it done by "dinner time" but is really useless beyond that. There are waaaayyyy too many variables that just don't allow it to be accurate.

In my experience smaller cuts take longer per # than bigger ones. As an example, how many days would it take to cook a whole hog? The truth is it doesn't take much longer to cook a whole hog than it does to cook a whole shoulder.

A "leave in" or digital probe type themometer is a cooks best friend.
 
shellbellc,

Brisket can be a pain in the A**. 190 doesn't insure tenderness. If you can put a fork or something under the brisket and lift if it starts to break in half it will be tender. If you get a Packer try cutting the point off the flat and doing them seperate.
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky