Newby Needing Brisket Advice

[Tarus]

hi all
I am a newby to smoking. I currently have a dynaglo vertical wide smoker and am needing to smoke 12x 12lbs briskets.
I have 4 questions

1. how many briskets do you all think I can smoke at a time.
2. I have mesquite lump charcoal. how long should I smoke these briskets before I wrap them in Paper
3. once I have wrapped them can I finish them in a range oven?
4. what is the best way to warm all the finish product for service

 

[schlotz]

It comes down to simple grate measurement and the dimensions of the briskets to determine how many will fit. Whatever the number, that will be a large amount of meat for the smoker to recover but after that its smoking as usual. It's best to smoke until they reach the stall which can be anywhere from 150-170º depending on each brisket. Guess I would shoot for 165º. Once tightly wrapped the smoker isn't needed, only heat. Oven would work. Remember the test for doneness is NOT TEMP, but tenderness throughout the flat (not the point). Probing should feel like going into a jar of peanut butter.

Will these 12 briskets be served to a large crowd all at once? If so, and being new to smoking, I suggest you enlist the help of someone who has done this before and someone that has solid smoking experience. Awful big project to attempt for the first time, going it solo. I'm sure others will chime in.

 

[Tarus]

Thanks for the feedback/suggestion Schlotz. The plan is to serve for my friends wedding for 100 people. I should have clarified earlier that I am new to smoking brisket. I have smoked a lot of pork, Chicken and Turkey so have experience with the smoker, but have never done brisket. So wanted to ask a pro and see if there are variables that I have not considered. That being said my father in law will be around and he has smoked brisket and will, I am sure, have good advice. I am also in touch with the folks at Meat Church in Texas and they have given me some good pointers.
As you said it is a big project. will post some pictures this weekend to show how it came out.
my current plan is to do this in 3 rounds (4 briskets at a time). over Thursday and Friday, for main service on Saturday at noon. How would you suggest to warm the briskets for Service?

 

[TNJAKE]

Not here to be a jerk but you are taking on alot of responsibility for a day that alot of people will remember forever. I guess if I had one bit of advice it would be to do some practice briskets. You have never smoked one.....don't let the wedding be your first time!

 

[TNJAKE]

Also to hold 12 briskets for a serving job you are going to need quite a bit of equipment. Keep all that in mind. You don't want to make 100 folks sick because you under planned

 

[schlotz]

Let's do some math. 12# packer weight will most likely trim down to 10#. That will shrink maybe 30-40% when done, leaving maybe 7#. Assuming each person will eat 8ozs (liberal) that says a single brisket feeds 14 people. 100/14 = 7.1 briskets. So to be on the safe side, 10 briskets should be plenty. Shrinkage can vary and there could be last minute guest creep to consider but more likely a few no shows. Again knowing how many briskets your smoker can handle is important. Next question is at what temp are you planning to smoke at? Hot and fast can have a great advantage in this equation. Is the plan to pre-slice so everyone can be served relatively at the same time? Thinking there will be a number of people needed to pull this off successfully. As TNJAKE has eluded to, this is not a job for the faint of heart or for a first timer serving 100 guests. The worst thing would be to disappoint the entire wedding attendance and be remembered as such for the rest of their lives. IMO, you need professional help to ensure this is pulled off successfully.

 

[Tarus]

Thanks Guys for the Feedback... Appreciate it.
I am familiar with catering for 100. I cook for 100 people in buffet style every day. So, I get the concern over holding temps and for the quality. I have the equipment to hold all the meat safely. As an eternal student of the culinary arts I see it as my mission to make myself available to both feedback and instruction.
my current plan is for 4 days... will post it feel free to advise and see if i am missing something. I really appreciate your honesty.

• Day 1
  • In Morning, insure Briskets are Defrosted fully
  • In Evening, Trim and Apply mustard slather and Dry rub mix (1 part kosher salt, 1 part black pepper, 1 part seasoned salt (1 part garlic powder, 1part onion powder, 1 part paprika, and 1 part kosher salt)
  • allow to rest overnight
  • prep smoker for early morning start
• Day 2
  • Fire up smoker at 4am
    • charcoal source -mesquite lump Charcoal
    • Smoke source Apple wood, plan to make smoke bombs out of foil and apple planks.
  • put 1st round of 3 briskets in at 5am till around 1pm
    • plan to smoke at 225-250
    • plan for an 8 hour smoke
    • plan to stay with smoker for 3 hours to regulate temp, add wood and charcoal as needed
    • assess temps of point and flat at hour 6 to see how we are doing
    • prep paper and Apple cider for wrapping pre-heat oven to finish off cook
    • get briskets up to 165 before wrapping
    • wrap
    • Put into 250 degree commercial range oven to finish cooking. Make sure that point is 195
    • Cool at room temp for 1.5-2 hours, then put into walk in cooler wrapped in paper and Double layer of heavy duty Foil.
  • put 2nd round of 3 briskets in at 2pm till around 10pm
    • same steps as before
• Day 3 ( same details as day 2)
  • Fire up smoker at 4am
  • put 3st round of 3 briskets in at 5am till around 1pm
  • put 4nd round of 3 briskets in at 2pm till around 10pm
• Day 4
  • Preheat oven to 250 at 3 am
  • Gently re-warm Briskets at 4 am, till they reach 165 (approx. 4 hours)
  • Let rest for 1+ hour till reaches 145
  • Around 9:30am Slice and put in 2” chaffers tightly foiled and into hot holding. Done and cleaned up by 11am
  • Wedding at 12
  • Food Service at 1pm

 

[1MoreFord]

You don't make sure the point is 195°F. You make sure the flat probes tender. It should probe like going into peanut butter. You do not cook brisket by time or temp. Time and temp are merely indicators of when you should start probing for tenderness. This is not cooking a steak to medium kind of cooking.

 

[schlotz]

Ah, the additional info helps to fill in the cracks, thanks! Sound like you're pretty much on it. As 1MoreFord indicated, briskets are only done when they are probed tender in multiple places on the flat. Each brisket can probe tender at different internal temps. I've had them get tender anywhere from 196 to 215º. Shooting for a single IT temp for all 12 might be asking a lot. Obviously picking a spot allows for a plan to be better executed. It will be interesting to hear how you proceed. Good luck, and the fingers are crossed that it all works out for you.

 

[postmeister]

For that big a job in an important event, you'd better have a back up smoker.

 

[Ringer]

I recently did a cook of this magnitude. The meat was a bit different but it ended up being 8 butts and 4 brisket. The butts finished first. I allowed each to cool for 30 mins to 1 hr on the counter and then they were wrapped in butcher paper and foil and placed into my rtic cooler. I kept stacking it in as it finished and rested. I was done cooking the meat at 10am. The wedding dinner was at 6pm. I was told by the host that the meat would still burn your fingers if you tried to pick it up bare handed. That was after an 8 hr hold in the cooler despite the cooler being opened several times. The meat was all juicy and very tender. The brisket wasn't falling apart but the butts were easily pulled. It was smoked at 275-290 for the most part. I had a few temp dips due to napping too much between split replenishment.

 

[Tarus]

HI all
Thanks for all the support and suggestions.
So far I have had success. here is to the $349.00 Dyna-Glo Wide Body Vertical Offset Smoker I got off Amazon, definitely not a Traeger, nut it did the job
see the pictures from round three at the wrap stage. Bark came out pretty nice. a little pooling on the flat. Rounds 1 and 2 came out pretty good. I had choice briskets not prime so both size and fat was extremely variable in comparison to what I was expecting.

 

[Deezel13]

Damn man!!! Those look awesome, I know this is an old post but would love to know how the guests liked them.

 

[gmc2003]

Damn man!!! Those look awesome, I know this is an old post but would love to know how the guests liked them.

He hasn't logged onto the site since 12.13.21.

Chris

 

[Deezel13]

Let's hope it didn't have anything to do with his briskets....