Smoked on my Pit Barrel Cooker.

6 racks of baby backs. Seasoned with course salt, course pepper, and pappy's choice seasoning. Cooked at ~225 for 3.5 hours, pulled and put a thin layer of Stubs original sauce. Finished at ~225 for another 30 minutes. Tented with foil for an hour before cutting.

17lb full brisket. Seasoned with course salt and course pepper only. Cooked at ~225 for 2.5 hours to 160. Pulled and wrapped in butcher paper. Finished at ~225 for another 2.5 hours at 208. Wrapped in towels for about 1.5 hours.

This was my first cook using course salt and pepper and these ribs were the best I've ever made. The brisket was slightly over done, first time using butcher paper, but tasted amazing.

Looks great, but I’m having a hard time believing you cooked a 17lb packer brisket in basically 5 hours at a cooking temperature of 225...

I don’t see your ‘protection’ in the picture? How are you going to keep miscreants away?

quote:

Originally posted by HuskySig:
Looks great, but I’m having a hard time believing you cooked a 17lb packer brisket in basically 5 hours at a cooking temperature of 225...

Yeah, the time sounds way off on the brisket. Around 160 is when the usually stall begins. Even with wrapping I've never had one push through it that fast especially at 225*. If you put your probe into the point of the brisket instead of the flat it will reach 208* quicker than it would in the flat. He says it was overcooked but I'm guessing the flat was under cooked and tough. Just my two cents worth. Briskets usually take a lot of trial and error, I know I've messed up several and ended up using it for chili meat.

They look great. I didn't see a sigforum invite? hehehehe

I'm guessing it was 12.5 hours to 160 and it's just a typo. No way it was cooked in the time given. If it was done in 5 hours it was way undercooked, not overcooked.

Finish temp should be in the 200-205 range, but probing is a better indicator. Probe should go in like it's butter.

Typo no doubt. I've smoked many a brisket and I shoot for a average temp of 250. That's the sweet spot for my stick burner. I've always done full packers in the 17 to 22lb range and have never had one finish in less than 10 hours. Prime or Wagyu briskets generally cook faster but not that much.

Good call on just salt and pepper that's all I've used the last few years. I've never wrapped anything in foil or paper I've just never seen the benefit to it. I will however pan briskets and pork butts once they reach a temp of 165 or so to catch all the juices when the fat really starts to render but I never cover the pan.

Looks like a great cook and some tasty Q to be eaten!

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
I've never wrapped anything in foil or paper I've just never seen the benefit to it.

Wrapping briskets isn't about improving the finished product, it's about making it cook faster.

Wrapping eliminates the "stall," where the brisket hits about 160 and then sits there for hours before the temperature starts going up again. The stall happens because of evaporative cooling from the juices that start coming out of the brisket. Wrapping doesn't keep the juices from coming out, but it limits the evaporative cooling.

I haven't done a ton of briskets but my experience so far is that it saves around 4-6 hours if you're cooking to an internal temp of 200-205.

quote:

Originally posted by maladat:

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
I've never wrapped anything in foil or paper I've just never seen the benefit to it.

Wrapping briskets isn't about improving the finished product, it's about making it cook faster.

Wrapping eliminates the "stall," where the brisket hits about 160 and then sits there for hours before the temperature starts going up again. The stall happens because of evaporative cooling from the juices that start coming out of the brisket. Wrapping doesn't keep the juices from coming out, but it limits the evaporative cooling.

I haven't done a ton of briskets but my experience so far is that it saves around 4-6 hours if you're cooking to an internal temp of 200-205.

I know about the evaporative process etc. I've never had a brisket or pork butt stall. The reason people get all worked up over the stall is because they constantly monitor the temperature and watch it on their remote units or phones for every single digit change in temp.
I've never felt the need to know when a brisket is at a 100 degrees or 150 or 175. I know I'm in for 10 to 12 hours of cooking when I do BBQ and I enjoy the process and don't rush it. I don't probe for temp until nearly the 10 hour mark. By then the stall for however long it is or isn't has come and gone.

If you want things to get done faster cook at a higher temp. A lot of people cook briskets at 350 and are done in 5 hours or so. Claim it's just as good as low and slow which could be true I don't know never cooked one that hot before.

My experience tells me a brisket benefits from long hours of smoke. Everyone has what works for them when it comes to BBQ and there are nearly as many ways to cook a brisket as there are briskets!

Some of it may be that I cook at a lower temperature than you - I use a pellet grill, and at 250 there isn't much smoke, so I usually leave it around 225.

Wrapped, briskets have taken me around 10-12 hours. No wrap, more like 16+. If I wrap, I can get up and put it on first thing in the morning for dinner and not have to cook overnight.

I don't care about the minute-by-minute temperature as such.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: maladat,

Looks good...

How did you cook a 17lb packer to the point it was "over done" in 5 hours? If it cooked in 5 hours your temp was MUCH hotter. Was it tough?

That size packer would go 10 hours or more on my pellet smoker.

Either way, looks good and glad it turned out good for you.

I smoke a lot of meat, and have for years. For me to cook a 17# brisket @ 225F, it will take 10-12 hours. I don't wrap them, but I sure do enjoy eating them. Low and slow!!

Gents - he posted pics of sliced brisket. They verify your concerns. That things tighter than my MIL at a Shoney’s. Hopefully OP will be open to some ideas on ways to get some really good brisket as part of his BBQ pursuit.

Looks like he’s cooking over direct heat, which will never work for the brisket.

The ribs look and sound great!

Aaron Franklin Master Class

He is on Youtube as well. Really has no secrets.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: C L Wilkins,

xantom how could it take 2.5 hours to cook your brisket when it takes the entire brisket eating world 10-12 hours? Did you say you're a fast cook? Are we to believe that smoke aborbs into meat faster in your backyard than in any other backyard on the face of the Earth? Perhaps the laws of physics cease to exist in your backyard? We're these magic briskets? Did you buy it from the same guy that sold Jack his beans?

Are you sure about that 2.5 hrs?

Are you sure about that 2.5 hrs??

Are you sure about that 2.5 hrs?!?!?!?

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
xantom how could it take 2.5 hours to cook your brisket when it takes the entire brisket eating world 10-12 hours? Did you say you're a fast cook? Are we to believe that smoke aborbs into meat faster than in any other backyard on the face of the Earth? Perhaps the laws of physics cease to exist in your backyard? We're these magic briskets? Did you buy it from the same guy that sold Jack his beans?

Are you sure about that 2.5 hrs?

Are you sure about that 2.5 hrs??

Are you sure about that 2.5 hrs?!?!?!?

I hope he gets the reference or he may think you’re an asshole.

This is was all done on a Pit Barrel Cooker. The brisket was 16.??lbs before I trimmed it, and I am guessing there was 3 lbs of waste I trimmed off pre cook. It had a massive fat pocket in it. I smoked the 6 racks of ribs in about 4 - 4.5 hours. I reloaded the charcoal basket and dumped the remaining hot coals from the first cook on top of that. You can see the smoke rolling out of the barrel it was quite hot at that point. If I remember right the heat had spiked to 350 shortly after the brisket was hung. I closed the damper and the heat had dropped to about 200 with in about 25 minutes of hanging the brisket. The temps where 200 - 250 consistently for the remainder of the cook. I pulled the brisket when it was at 208 degrees. I doubled checked the temps with 2 thermometers to confirm the temps. Even I thought it was quick. This is the 5th brisket I have done on this cooker and it was by far the quickest cook. Previous cooks were 6.5 - 8 hours and were similar sized briskets. This was the first time I used butcher paper, and tried 2 consecutive cooks in the barrel smoker.


I am learning every cook. I am not saying that I am champion pit master by any means. But I can say that we fed about 40 people that were very happy with the end product. The brisket was good but not the best I have made so far. The ribs were the star of the show. I will be moving on to a step up smoker in the near future and plan to learn more and make some more tasty treats. This was just another step forward.

Sorry for no protection pictures

It looks all good to me, xantom, wish I was there to eat it . Thanks for the pics

What were you using to measure cooking temperature?

The thermometers built in to grills and smokers are notoriously inaccurate, I wonder if you were using that and it was reading low, or maybe if the brisket was in a warmer area than where the thermometer is.

I pull my brisket and pork butts at 195 measured both by the probe that is wired into the mother board and a thero pen. Once off the smoker I wrap them in at least two layers of heavy foil then in towels and into the dry cooler for 2 hours~.

Fall apart good, try taking it off at a lower temp and see if that helps.