Overnight Brisket Cook - My Game Plan

[Daba's BBQ]

I'm doing an overnight brisket cook at 225 starting around 11 pm.

Here's my gameplan:

- cook at 225 degrees with the flat towards the chimney
- check temp in the morning; looking at 165 internal (approx. 7-8 hours)
- pull and wrap in butcher paper; spritz paper with beef tarrow before wrapping
- place back on smoker, fat side up & keep temp at 225 degrees
- cook for several more hours and check temp; pull at 203 degrees
- blanket wrap and let rest in cooler until ready to serve by 6:30 pm


Thanks,

Daba's BBQ

 

[Gonna Smoke]

I would have a temperature alarm set if you're planning to go to sleep. Way too many threads lately where folks have awakened to find that their smokers have shut down for one reason or another. Also, don't worry about internal temp too much, it's only an indicator. It should be probe tender and that may or may not be 203℉. Good luck and let us know how it goes...

 

[Daba's BBQ]

I would have a temperature alarm set if you're planning to go to sleep. Way too many threads lately where folks have awaken to find that their smokers have shut down for one reason or another. Good luck and let us know how it goes...

Yepper. I have my ThermoPro ready to go

 

[Winterrider]

Solid plan, let us know how it goes for you. Good luck !

 

[Chasdev]

I'm thinking it may not hit wrap temp at that amount of time at that cook temp.
Last time I cooked one at 225 it took 16 hours and I turned up the temp for the last few hours.
Also, if you pull it at 203 and hold in an insulated container it will continue to cook and could become over cooked.
If the cook time works out for you and you do pull at 203 I suggest letting it cool down before you hold in the cooler to prevent overcooking.

 

[FFchampMT]

Standard advice - brisket is done when it's probe tender all around. That could be at 199, 201, or 203.

"Knife thru butter is when you cut 'er"

 

[MJB05615]

I'm doing one tonight also. Similar game plan as you, but I'm starting at 9pm. If it is done earlier than needed, I'll wrap and rest for up to 5-6 hours. The idea of letting it cool a little before wrapping in blankets is good.
I expect it to be ready to come off the smoker around 2pm ideally. I also cook it at 235'.

 

[Daba's BBQ]

I'm doing one tonight also. Similar game plan as you, but I'm starting at 9pm. If it is done earlier than needed, I'll wrap and rest for up to 5-6 hours. The idea of letting it cool a little before wrapping in blankets is good.
I expect it to be ready to come off the smoker around 2pm ideally. I also cook it at 235'.

LMK how u make out. Also, what time r u serving on Saturday? What kind of rig do u have?

 

[Daba's BBQ]

I'm thinking it may not hit wrap temp at that amount of time at that cook temp.
Last time I cooked one at 225 it took 16 hours and I turned up the temp for the last few hours.
Also, if you pull it at 203 and hold in an insulated container it will continue to cook and could become over cooked.
If the cook time works out for you and you do pull at 203 I suggest letting it cool down before you hold in the cooler to prevent overcooking.

After the stall, I'll temp it and might crank up to 250 at that point.

 

[MJB05615]

LMK how u make out. Also, what time r u serving on Saturday? What kind of rig do u have?

I will let you know. I'm using my MES 40 Gen 1. Using the AMZNT pellet tube with Hickory pellets.
It was a 15.5 lb Prime Packer I had in the Freezer. You let us know how yours does too.

 

[Daba's BBQ]

I will let you know. I'm using my MES 40 Gen 1. Using the AMZNT pellet tube with Hickory pellets.
It was a 15.5 lb Prime Packer I had in the Freezer. You let us know how yours does too.

Will do. We can compare notes and pics. Best of luck. Enjoy, have fun, a few cocktails, a cigar and Happy 4thj!

 

[MJB05615]

Will do. We can compare notes and pics. Best of luck. Enjoy, have fun, a few cocktails, a cigar and Happy 4thj!

Same to you and yours. A few cocktails and a cigar may be in order tomorrow. Happy 4th !

 

[lovethemeats]

Looks like we all had the same thought about doing overnight. I'm also doing a 15lb brisket in my MES40/ Auber-WS PID unit. Set at 220°F but I started at 6:30pm Friday. Happy smoking everyone. Gonna be a mighty tasty day for all of us.

 

[Daba's BBQ]

Looks like we all had the same thought about doing overnight. I'm also doing a 15lb brisket in my MES40/ Auber-WS PID unit. Set at 220°F but I started at 6:30pm Friday. Happy smoking everyone. Gonna be a mighty tasty day for all of us.

Great minds think alike :) I love it. Def post pics and let's compare notes. Enjoy and Happy 4th!

 

[Daba's BBQ]

Great minds think alike :) I love it. Def post pics and let's compare notes. Enjoy and Happy 4th!

Good morning and Happy 4th everyone. Well, I got through my very first brisket cook, and here are the results. I placed the meat on my smoker at 11 pm last night. My goal was 225 degrees but the Traeger was not being very helpful. I was having a hard time maintaining that 225. It was always around 210. So I decided to bump it up to 250. Doing so got the temp to about 237, which was fine by me.

I used my new ThermaPro IT48 to monitor both the meat and the smoker. I was up about 3-4 times during the night, mainly out of anxiety :). I did some temp checks and removed the brisket at around 5 am. I wrapped in butcher paper, but just a little bit of beef tallow on the paper, not much at all, then put in back in the smoker at 250.

My alarm notified me that it had hit 203, my target temp., I did a temp check across the meat and the probe felt as if it was going into peanut butter. The ends though were a bit tougher than the rest of the meat. I removed the brisket, unwrapped and rewrapped it in butcher paper. I took a small piece of the burnt end and it tasted amazing! I then wrapped the entire thing in my Elvis blanket, I a HUGE Elvis fan, and put in my cooler, which is sitting in my dining room.

Now, here is my question - how long can I keep it in the cooler as is? I wanted to serve dinner around 6 pm and thought it would take longer to cook, so having it in the cooler at this hour was a bit earlier than expected.

I'll send some pics later on after I cut into it and let you know how it tasted and what my family thought of my first attempt.

I want to thank everyone for all of your help, ideas, suggestions, and tips. I could not have done this without your input.

Peace,

Dabba's BBQ

 

[MJB05615]

That looks real good Daba. I think you can rest it up to 6 hours. I am not sure what you would have to do to rest it longer. I am sure someone here will add comments as to what to do for longer rest times.
Can't wait to see the sliced shots later. Mine came out to be the best one I've ever made. I'll be posting tonight since we had it yesterday. Great work.

 

[Daba's BBQ]

That looks real good Daba. I think you can rest it up to 6 hours. I am not sure what you would have to do to rest it longer. I am sure someone here will add comments as to what to do for longer rest times.
Can't wait to see the sliced shots later. Mine came out to be the best one I've ever made. I'll be posting tonight since we had it yesterday. Great work.

Thank you so much. I am glad yours came out great. Hopefully, some of your mojo rubbed off on mine as well. More pics to follow later. Happy 4th!

 

[eaglewing]

I'll send some pics later on after I cut into it and let you know how it tasted and what my family thought of my first attempt.

And???

 

[SmokinEdge]

Guessing you have already answered your question by this time, but I have a question for you.
Why the 225* cook? This is the toughest cook temp to master. There are better options.

 

[schlotz]

Well done Daba's BBQ