help me plan my cook... time estimates.

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jerseydrew

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Dec 7, 2012
336
12
i have a 10.5lb brisket and a 7.6lb butt. we will be having guests at 4 pm sunday and i would like to pull both at around 11 am so i have some leeway if i need more cook time. the butt will be cooked to 195* for pulling and the brisket will be cooked to 180* for slicing. i will be cooking at 225*

i'm thinking about 15 hours for the butt and about 20 hours for the brisket. are my estimates off? what time would you start each for the desired results?
 
If no-foil, straight open grates throughout the cooking, you're pretty close, but I'd figure 18 hours for the brisket, as it has less cross-sectional density than the butt, overall. I've had 8.5-9.0lb butts and 16-18lb briskets run over 25 hours...depends on the smoker, stability of chamber temps, chamber humidity, etc...and every piece of meat seems to have it's own personality...some are faster than others. Also, bumping temps up to around 240* after 4-6 hours won't hurt, either...picks up the pace a bit, but it's still slow enough to get decent tenderness...well with a smaller brisket like you have, 240* might be a bit too fast...I was thinking more about monster butts and briskets there.

Before you yank 'em out to rest, poke around inside a bit to determine the actual tenderness...don't worry about loosing juices from pokin' it a bit towards the end of cooking, just don't stick it 50 times...LOL!!! The brisket flat will cook faster than the point, so probe both ends of the brisket for internals...you can always separate the point/flat when the flat reaches a tender state and continue cooking the point as needed while the flat is wrapped and resting. A bone twist with the butt should indicate the state of tenderness...if it feels like it's ready to pop out, it's done.

Most importantly, have a GREAT smoke, and enjoy the day with your friends and family!!!

Eric
 
Excellent advice from Eric!

I would say you are pretty close on your estimates -- I always plan for about 2 hours per pound for both briskets and butts at 225*.

Recently I have been thinking about going with a higher temperature smoke to shorten the amount of time it takes, but so far I've just been thinking about it.  

Lady Kat did about a 10 pound butt in about 8 hours smoking at 300 recently and it turned out great!  Something to think about!!!

Good luck Drew,

Bill
 
thanks guys. i opened up to rub the brisket today and trimmed off what i think is about a lb of fat so i am going to cut back my cooking time by 2 hours. so i am going to start the brisket tonight at 6pm and then the butt at 9pm and hopefully pull both at similar time around noon tomorrow. 
 
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