My biggest brisket cook ever this weekend

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Thomas The Tank

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Mar 24, 2018
193
243
Valparaiso, IN
Hey all! Doing 100lbs of Costco prime brisket for my new pastors welcome dinner on Saturday. We expect around 200 people and some of that will will be kids. We decided around 1/4lb per person as there will be Mac n cheese, beans, corn casserole, and dessert too.

I wanted to see if anyone has any other advice to my plan for this cook. I have never done more than 1 brisket at a time and maybe have done 10 total, with only one I wasn’t please with. I understand most of the general techniques and difficulties that can come with brisket, but am no expert and have been smoking for about 2yrs.

Anyway here is my current gameplay. I’ll be using the Rec Tec BFG and the top two racks.

10-11pm put brisket on LO (180) for 2hrs with 2 - 12” smoke tubes one on left and one on right. Will be using Lumberjack Mesquite Blend Pellets. I’ll probably have it running 300 then drop to LO when I put them in.

After 2hrs bump the temp to 235, I only have 4 probes 2 with the rec tec and 2 Webber Igrill, I thought about using my trailblazer probes and having the meat probed and just turn it on when I want to get the IT then turn it off. I will spray periodically with apple juice, but won’t be any specific timeframe as I do want to get some shuteye.

Wrap with butcher paper at IT 175 let go to 195 then check for tenderness. My one question is for those that wrap do you still probe the meat after wrapping for the next few hours, or just know it’s going to take a few more hours to get to 195?

We plan on eating at 7pm Saturday night. So I would need to start slicing around 6:45pm to put in the chafing pan to serve. Ideally I need to have them done by 4pm Saturday so I can put them in the cooler and transport to our family center. We will also use a can or two of Campbell’s beef consommé in the serving pan.

That’s about as much info as I can think of other than I’ll season them with Jeff’s Texas rub! Any other input would be appreciated or assurance that the plan is pretty solid. Thanks for all your guys help over the past two years!
 
Sounds good. The only thing you may need to do is rotate the meat if the bottoms cook much faster than the tops. You also may want to start cooking earlier in the day, just to make sure they are done before serving time.

There is no problem warming cooled meat before dropping in a chafing dish. But having guests wait while you scramble to finish it is a bad catering move. You are not cooking to order. Make sure everything is ready before you load it in the truck. I would slice it at home and put it in the chafing pans so you pull up, set up and ring the bell.

And don't worry. You are going to be a hero regardless. You will be the most judgmental person in the crowd.
 
Unfortunately I won’t have any of the changing dishes with me, and just plan on slicing it in the family center kitchen as we go through it.
 
Not sure how big in avg your briskets will be , but I would also allow for more time. I just cooked a Costco prime yesterday. Cooked in a UDS which are notorious for fast cooking things. Mine was 19.42 lbs and it went on at 250 degrees, no wrap, and took 18 hours to cook. Count the 4 hours rest and it added up to 22 total hours. So, food for thought anyways.
 
Thanks, I’m not sure how big they are as they are getting them today so I should be able to find out. I guess I figured if I start at 10pm that would give me 18hrs to 4pm. For me as long as they rest at least 2hrs I’ll be happy. I’m also not afraid to crank it up to 275 if I need to, lol. I may reconsider the time to 8-9 depending in the size since I am starting at 180 for a few hours.
 
I've noticed people with pellet burners running on a very low temp for a while and then upping the temp after a few hours. Is this to prolong the time the meat is under 140 for smoke ring and under 170 to absorb smoke flavor?
 
Some do it that way. Personally, I just add the Amaze-N-Tube loaded with mesquite at the beginning and smoke the whole way at 275ºƒ.
 
I wouldn't hesitate to add in 2-3 pork butts with 200 people going to be there but not your problem since the church planned it! You are just the cook!

I always keep a probe in my briskets after I wrap them up that way you don't overshoot it. Good luck and post some pics of the cook!
 
I've noticed people with pellet burners running on a very low temp for a while and then upping the temp after a few hours. Is this to prolong the time the meat is under 140 for smoke ring and under 170 to absorb smoke flavor?
Yes, the low temp is to help with smoke flavor since pellets burn so clean and efficient.
 
I wouldn't hesitate to add in 2-3 pork butts with 200 people going to be there but not your problem since the church planned it! You are just the cook!

I always keep a probe in my briskets after I wrap them up that way you don't overshoot it. Good luck and post some pics of the cook!
Yeah, I suggested throwing in another brisket just in case, but they believe they will be ok since some of the count are kids and a good amount of elderly that won’t eat a lot. Using the catering calculator some use it showed we need 83lbs to feed 200 people. Or 111 if we went 1/3 lb per person.
 
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Thinking about using this to hold all of the brisket. My MIL gave it to me and was used at a school. I have yet to use it. Not cambro brand but similar. Walls are ~2” thick. I do not have any pans that fit it.

Would this be a better option than using a couple coolers with some towels. I had planned on resting for ~20 min and putting in cooler while still wrapped in the paper.

Will using this extend the time I can hold the brisket if it finishes earlier than expected?
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Sure that's a good option too. But if you don't have any plans to fit it, then just use the cooler. Cambros are fine, but don't work any better than a large igloo with towels. They're just more convenient for institutional sized portions. Coolers and towels aren't approved by your local health Dept :-P
 
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Everything was great! Last one finished at 5pm. I did the ol slice it a little thinner to start, then normal slices once I knew we were good. We actually had 1 brisket left over that all the workers divided up and took home

Decided to do a fatty for my pastor since I had the smoker rolling. Did it in the trailblazer.

Thanks for looking!
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