Going to put a brisket on my old Japanese charcoal smoker soon. The hams, tri tips and turkey i have done turned out awesome.

Planning to smoke for 2-1/2 hours or so at 265.
Take off. Wrap in foil, return to heat until meat 200 degees. After smoked and before returning to heat going to add a sauce to it.

Sound reasonable? Thanks guys.

Do you have a leave-in meat thermometer?

You always smoke to temp, not time.

Smoke until you see it has hit the "stall" around 160ish, not just for 2.5 hours.

Then perhaps wrap in butcher paper (or foil) and smoke through the stall until 200ish when it's done. You can also omit the wrap, and just deal with the longer stall time in exchange for a thicker/crispier bark and arguably better fat distribution, if you prefer and if you have several additional hours to spare.

Don't forget to rest it for a minimum of 1 hour after taking it off the smoker. I use an old cooler lined with towels. If you wrapped it, leave it in the wrap for this rest.

And real brisket doesn't need sauce... The meat (and the salt/pepper or whatever other rub recipe you applied) should speak for itself.


I also generally smoke lower than 265. 225-235 is what I usually shoot for at the start (since higher temps = less smoke), though I often bump it to 250 towards the end. But some guys swear by 275 or even 300 the whole time.

There's a lot of debate in brisket circles over stuff like 225 vs 275, wrap vs. no wrap, salt/pepper only vs. a more complex rub, spritz vs. no spritz, trim vs. light trim vs. no trim, etc. It mostly comes down to personal preference and experimenting until you find what you like, along with time constraints (with cooking at a higher temp plus wrapping it being the fastest method though not necessarily the best).

Trim and rub night before put in fridge. Be care with foiling, the salt can burn through it
Take out of fridge for a couple hours to start coming up internal temp

I smoke at 250 until I get a bark I like then wrap

finish cooking at 325-350. Commonly referred to as “turbo cooking” pushes through the stall. I don’t baby sit briskets any longer and can’t taste a difference

About 195 I start to probe. When it probes like soft butter everywhere. It’s finished

Wrap in towels and put in cooler for a min of 1-1.5 hrs. This is important

You ready to eat

I cooked a 21# on my BGE the other week this way. Start to finish was 6hr ish

Lots of variables to consider there and I don't have your cooker, but 2.5 hours seems low even at 265. Sticking to any rigid timeline probably won't work if your favor. It will be ready to wrap when it's ready. I generally try to make sure the fat is rendering good. When you temp check with your meat thermometer it should go in like butter, very little resistance. Then it's ready to wrap. Good luck!

Thank you guys. Some good tidbits

ORC:
How many pounds is the brisket - 2-1/2 hrs seems waaayy too low for smoke time

It is small, under 3lbs guessing. It is in full smoke right now. But only at about 210 degrees and slowly rising. Well coated with a rub. Should serve 4 nicely.

I don't know, but my mouth is watering. Please post pics!

You're going to need more than 2.5 hours.
Smoke until it hits the stall around 165 degrees then wrap. It may only take 2.5 hours to get there , maybe not.
Overall time will be probably be double that or more.
The best brisket is pulled at 195-ish the rested in 140 degree oven for a few hours or more.

Am I the only one that finds brisket overrated?

I’ll take a rack of ribs or pulled pork any day.

I’ve had several TX based BBQ joint’s offering and I just can’t come to accept it as the pinnacle of BBQ.

3 pounds? Is it the point or flat?

Fat side down.

Almost looks like a tri tip.

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
Am I the only one that finds brisket overrated?

I’ll take a rack of ribs or pulled pork any day.

I’ve had several TX based BBQ joint’s offering and I just can’t come to accept it as the pinnacle of BBQ.

I love it in combo with the others. But I'll take any of them anytime!

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
Am I the only one that finds brisket overrated?

I like brisket, but I rarely smoke brisket any more due to their cost, size, and the time involved.

If I want smoked beef I usually do tri-tips now. (You used to be able to get them really cheap, but word has gotten out about them and prices have gone up in the past few years.)

You prep, cook, and serve them just like a brisket, and it's nearly as good as a brisket, but because the cut is smaller it only takes a few hours to smoke. Easily done in an afternoon, rather than all day or overnight.

90% as good as a brisket for only a quarter of the effort.

In my limited smoking I have done three of four tri tips and all came out awesome. I am 2-1/2 hours in and this brisket looks a long way from being done. Like several of you have said. So we'll see. My smoker is temperamental in trying to control temp. I am trying to get the temp up now.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
Am I the only one that finds brisket overrated?

I like brisket, but I rarely smoke brisket any more due to their cost, size, and the time involved.

If I want smoked beef I usually do tri-tips now. (You used to be able to get them really cheap, but word has gotten out about them and prices have gone up in the past few years.)

You prep, cook, and serve them just like a brisket, and it's nearly as good as a brisket, but because the cut is smaller it only takes a few hours to smoke. Easily done in an afternoon, rather than all day or overnight.

90% as good as a brisket for only a quarter of the effort.

+1 except I smoke chuck roasts about 70% of the time and tri-tip about 30% of the time. I lean more towards the chuck roast as it's adjacent to the brisket on the steer and similar taste, texture, fat, and collagen to the brisket. They're usually 2.5 to 3.0 lbs, I can buy prime grade for $22 to $27 instead of $85 to $90, it'll be done in 6 hours not 14 hours, and I won't have 10+ lbs of leftovers.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
Am I the only one that finds brisket overrated?

I like brisket, but I rarely smoke brisket any more due to their cost, size, and the time involved.

If I want smoked beef I usually do tri-tips now. (You used to be able to get them really cheap, but word has gotten out about them and prices have gone up in the past few years.)

You prep, cook, and serve them just like a brisket, and it's nearly as good as a brisket, but because the cut is smaller it only takes a few hours to smoke. Easily done in an afternoon, rather than all day or overnight.

90% as good as a brisket for only a quarter of the effort.

Tell me about it. Grew up on beef tongue, tripe, and the like. Last I checked tongue was more expensive than filet.

I blame a bunch of dudes in man buns and flannel. Maybe misplaced blame but it is what it is.

Even grasa de cerdo, (how they call pork belly in Honduras where my wife is from. Which means fat with a little meat in her hometown) commonly called lechon in most latin countries and Philippines. It’s ridiculous in cost.

Absolutely smoke to the 195 - 204 range if want great brisket. I prefer the higher temp but some like it a bit lower. At 2 1/2 hours you will likely be in the stall which will not be best for brisket. This piece of meat can literally sit around 165 for hours on end as the fat, collagen and tough muscle fiber break down. You will think something is wrong during that time until it breaks through the temperature. It would probably taste decent but will not have the tender texture that is what makes for great brisket.
I also cook at 350 Turbo and cannot tell the difference in texture or flavor. My Big Green Egg is also hard to control at lower temps due to wind currents that come around the edge of my house to the deck where it sets, which makes the higher more easily maintained temperature desirable.

About three and half hours and temp was 150. went on the bbq for 5 mins on one side. Wanted to do five on the other side. Wife was worried about it over cooked so only did about one minute on the second side. Just under 160 temp. In the oven at 275 wrapped in foil for maybe 20 mins. we'll see.

Wait, are you hoping to get it from 160 to 200 in just 20 minutes? Not going to happen.

Unfortunately, if you're wanting to eat that brisket for dinner tonight, you waited way too late to start it.

A typical brisket will take 8-12 hours to smoke. Some can go even longer than that.

Even a small ~3 pound brisket like yours can easily be a 5-6 hour smoke. (Plus a 1 hour rest.) But it seems like you only allowed yourself around 3...


Unlike something like a steak or chicken, you're not just trying to cook it all the way through to make it safe to eat. A brisket is a very tough piece of meat, so you have to cook it slow in order to completely break down all the connective tissue and render the fat.

If you start running out of time and throw it on the grill and try to sear it like a steak to speed it along or stick it in the oven and crank up the temp like a turkey to speed it along, then you may get it to hit 200 internally but it's going to be tough and dry.

A brisket has to be cooked low and slow to turn out right.


Next time, overcompensate with your timing and allow yourself way more time than you think you might need.

Start it in the morning, and smoke it until it's done at its own pace. Even if it gets done many hours before dinner, you can rest it in an insulated cooler packed with towels or keep it in a low oven until you're ready to serve it.

And having it done hours early sure beats the alternative of waiting until 9:00 pm or midnight to eat dinner.