Help With a Brisket- Long Cook Tips

[TimTheEnchanter]

Hello everyone,

I'm getting ready to smoke my first brisket this weekend. My main concern is keeping the temp up overnight without burning through a massive amount of wood.

I cooked an 8 lb pork butt for about 12 hours, and my brisket is 16 lbs, although it may drop to 15 after I trim some fat. I'm looking at 18-20 hours of cooking time, and would like to be more efficient with my wood. I have an Oklahoma Joe Highlander (I think- it's their standard one, not the more expensive one). When I cooked the pork butt I went through nearly two full bags of wood chunks (the Cowboy 600 cubic inch bags are the best option at my local grocery store). Home Depot does have bundles of mesquite logs, so I'm wondering if logs would last longer, or if they would just burn too hot? I do have the metal fire box container, and also have a gasket seal that I need to add if someone can recommend an appropriate heat resistant sealant?

Thanks, and any other long cook tips are welcome.

 

[oldsmokerdude]

Welcome to the forum!!! Forgive me if I misunderstand, but are you using the wood chunks exclusively? Most folks use charcoal for the heat source and put "flavor" logs or chunks on top of the charcoal. This would greatly reduce the amount of wood you need. Of course you'll still need to get make sure your charcoal "fire" doesn't go out.

 

[tag0401]

I start with a lump base. Usually 3/4 of a chimney. I buy the logs and split those to about 1.5 inch diameter splits and add around every 45mins or so. I try to I keep a small fire and hold temps around 250. This method allows me to keep vents wide open to allow for clean smoke. It takes more attention but I feel I use less wood doing it this way.

 

[TimTheEnchanter]

Thanks for the replies! I always start with a lump charcoal base from a chimney starter and add the wood chunks on top of that. Once the fire is going, do you ever add more charcoal? Or just the wood?

Also, any tips on what type of glue to use on the gasket? If I put it on tomorrow morning I'm thinking that will give it time to set before I cook on Friday.

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

As for a gasket adhesive, LavaLock RTV 650 is good high temp one. It needs a 24 hour cure.

 

[tag0401]

Thanks for the replies! I always start with a lump charcoal base from a chimney starter and add the wood chunks on top of that. Once the fire is going, do you ever add more charcoal? Or just the wood?

Also, any tips on what type of glue to use on the gasket? If I put it on tomorrow morning I'm thinking that will give it time to set before I cook on Friday.

I will add an extra split every so often to help keep a coal bed. You could probably add some more lump instead of doing this. I bought the OK joe gasket that already had adhesive but a lot of people use RTV.

 

[civilsmoker]

I like to start with a regular charcoal base for heat and use wood for flavor and air flow. I have also gone away from lump cause it burns hotter and faster than regular coals. Also prefer to use royal oak (any of their cheap stuff works too) coals cause they last longer and create more heat. noboundaries did a very good post about royal oak a while back and he was spot on in my opinion. https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t...n-temperature-time-and-ash-comparison.262989/


for longer cooks I add a few coals (5-7) with each split this way they light without flavor impacts but they keep the coal bed in good shape. This has reduced my wood consumption considerably. It has also improved the quality of smoke and in the end increase flavor....

 

[Chasdev]

If you are looking to cook 18+ hours then your cook grate level temps should be around 225.
You may find your cooker wants to run hotter unless you sit up all night and nurse the fire and temps every 30 minutes.
There's NO WAY you are going to stuff a large load of fuel in the burn box and go to bed and not have either a run away temp situation running out of fuel long before you wake or with sour tasting dirty smoke from low airflow settings starving the fire.
Much better plan is cook it "hot and fast".
Total cook time under 6 hours and a better tasting/more moist meat as a result.
Google it and give it a try.
I'm hot and fast all the way now, but I did used to cook briskets 10/14 hours and not only is it much easier, the meat comes out way better.

 

[agaffer]

3 suggestions. You don't need to keep adding wood chunks. It would be different if you were using a smoker with a large fuel box that cooks with fireplace sized pieces of wood that burn for a long, long time. But with most backyard smokers that rely on charcoal and chunks, after a couple of hours the meat has absorbed all the smoke flavor it is going to have so, switch to charcoal for refuels. Two, if you are planning to wrap, your kitchen oven can take over. Three, a neighbor I had in CA always cooks his briskets in two cooks. He starts them in the afternoon, cooks them until he feels like going to bed, wraps it, and just goes in and lets the fire go out on its own. In the morning he starts it back up and continues cooking until it is tender. I have never had the courage to try this myself but, his briskets always turned out fine.
Fourth suggestion, I have cooked some great briskets and have had some epic failures that were all dried out. So, my fourth suggestion is to ignore my first three suggestions.

 

[TimTheEnchanter]

OK, one more follow up question, because the weather forecast has changed and I have to beat the rain or punt. The brisket I'm going to cook is still vacuum sealed and has a sell by date of November 2. It's already been in my fridge for a week. Based on what else I'm reading, it sounds like the sell by date isn't accurate for an expiration date and it would be a bad idea to leave it for another week?

 

[noboundaries]

Others have you covered on the heat issue. One point missed is that you can't compare pork butts and brisket pound for pound for finishing time in the smoker. Briskets finish faster than butts. Don't be surprised if your 15 lb brisket finishes in the same 12 hours (or close to it) as your 8 lb butt at 250F.