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Super low and slow brisket question

smoke ninja said:
4 days? I only cure my pastrami for 6
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I feel the salt changes the meat and makes it more gel like and it takes a while for salt to go through bigger pieces of meat. I salted this one Monday evening and put it on the smoker Friday afternoon.

guero_gordo said:
Pretty masochistic going with such a big brisket at that cook temp. 4# less would have saved you some hours.
Cool experiment, though.
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I agree.smaller briskets would cook quicker but I had to buy this one. No other brisket they had came close in marbling.

I did trim 5lbs 5 oz of fat from it though before cooking, and I cooked the flat and point separately. Still took almost 30 hours. Maybe I'll just start figuring in 30 hours for brisket lol.

Throw it on Saturday morning, ready for Sunday dinner
 
Where’s the picture of the bark? Just curious what 4 days does to the texture of the rub.
 
I apply salt days in advance. Everything else can go on later.
A buddy of mine applies his full rub 4 days in advance and has not had any problems either.

Just try it and see if you like it
 
Damn, that’s an old ass video. And I used to buy Sadler for my brisket nachos. Easy to cut.

Did you see the Ted Allen video about the best brisket he ever ate? The guy scraping away the fat as he slices the brisket swimming in sauce? I remember that episode. That’s old school bbq. Hubert died a few months ago but his joint was sold a few years back. It sucks now.
 
BRTLATJGT said:
Didn't have time to read all the posts here, but Sadler cooks all their briskets at 167 for around 18 hours. Saw a video on this last night and thought it was interesting.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/sadlers-smoked-beef-brisket-0158134
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thanks for posting this.

I personally cant believe that 167 for 18 hours will cook a brisket but -who knows - they may be cooking in a humid environment or something.

167 for 18 hours youre looking at an internal temp of probably 145°
 
So I learned that super low and slow may not be perfect for point.

I cook the point and flat separate. My last cook where I cooked for 30 hours at 210, the point was tender at
22 hours so I pulled it.

It was the most tender point I've ever had but the fat didn't render out fully which leads me to come that point can handle more heat than flat
 
Have you checked your temp gauges? That sounds like a ludicrous amount of time to have to cook something.

Edit: Didn't realize you were cooking a nearly 20 lb brisket, so the time is slightly more believable. I dont have that much free time to spend 30 hours on something that can be done in 10-12. I dont mean to be criticial, but those numbers dont make any sense to me.
 
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Steve S said:
Have you checked your temp gauges? That sounds like a ludicrous amount of time to have to cook something.

Edit: Didn't realize you were cooking a nearly 20 lb brisket, so the time is slightly more believable. I dont have that much free time to spend 30 hours on something that can be done in 10-12. I dont mean to be criticial, but those numbers dont make any sense to me.
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My gauges are dead on accurate. I posted the graph you can have a look at it if you don't believe the cook time.

My uds is no work at all. I put the meat on,set my desired temp on the heatermeter and go live my life.

Are you using a stick burner?
 
Steve S said:
No, I cook with charcoal primarily,usually around 300 degrees for brisket.
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Ok. I think I read that smittyjonz cooks at 325-340 and finishes it in 5.5 hours?

I guess there are different ways to do it but low and slow has been my best result so far
 
el luchador said:
So I learned that super low and slow may not be perfect for point.

I cook the point and flat separate. My last cook where I cooked for 30 hours at 210, the point was tender at
22 hours so I pulled it.

It was the most tender point I've ever had but the fat didn't render out fully which leads me to come that point can handle more heat than flat
Click to expand...


It is my experience that brisket can use some time at a higher temp. This will help render and even carmelize some fat, especially on higher grade, fattier cuts. A lower temp can be used for finishing, as you have noticed, to coast home and hit that sweet spot.

Its this dual temp cook that can make superior brisket. I believe Franklin found this out accidentally when he started out. He would pack the firebox and go home for a few hours of sleep. Temps would spike mid cook and coast slowly to a finish where be could return and hold them to finish. So yup tbe most desired brisket in America came about as a by product of a tired pitmaster
 
smoke ninja said:
It is my experience that brisket can use some time at a higher temp. This will help render and even carmelize some fat, especially on higher grade, fattier cuts. A lower temp can be used for finishing, as you have noticed, to coast home and hit that sweet spot.

Its this dual temp cook that can make superior brisket. I believe Franklin found this out accidentally when he started out. He would pack the firebox and go home for a few hours of sleep. Temps would spike mid cook and coast slowly to a finish where be could return and hold them to finish. So yup tbe most desired brisket in America came about as a by product of a tired pitmaster
Click to expand...

cool story. I didnt know that about Franklin bbq.

Ive been thinking about trying that method - start higher finish lower. my reasoning is that collagen starts to break down around 160 so if you can get it to 160 quicker, and then hold it above that range longer then it might lead to even more tender brisket.

more fun experimenting ahead.

I also want to try to recreate Czarbecue's test where he cooked it then held it in an oven at 170 for some hours(6?)( which is right in the collagen breakdown zone but not so hot as to be losing too much moisture.
 
el luchador said:
cool story. I didnt know that about Franklin bbq.

Ive been thinking about trying that method - start higher finish lower. my reasoning is that collagen starts to break down around 160 so if you can get it to 160 quicker, and then hold it above that range longer then it might lead to even more tender brisket.

more fun experimenting ahead.

I also want to try to recreate Czarbecue's test where he cooked it then held it in an oven at 170 for some hours(6?)( which is right in the collagen breakdown zone but not so hot as to be losing too much moisture.
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It was 16 at 250-260F and 8 at 170F. Similar to what Aaron Franklin was doing but I wanted to see what those people were doing with the 24 hour brisket gimmick.
 
el luchador said:
cool story. I didnt know that about Franklin bbq.

Ive been thinking about trying that method - start higher finish lower. my reasoning is that collagen starts to break down around 160 so if you can get it to 160 quicker, and then hold it above that range longer then it might lead to even more tender brisket.

more fun experimenting ahead.

I also want to try to recreate Czarbecue's test where he cooked it then held it in an oven at 170 for some hours(6?)( which is right in the collagen breakdown zone but not so hot as to be losing too much moisture.
Click to expand...


Well dont think i have first hand information. Ive read and studied for literally hundreds of hours on the nuances of bbq brisket. This is just my deduction from this near stalker level study. I have devoloped my own long hold brisket technique, the hot and slow method.

For those interested

https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=219158

https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=247399

If anything finishing at lower temps offers a larger perfect timing window. It takes a while to get used to briskets finishing at 190
 
smoke ninja said:
Well dont think i have first hand information. Ive read and studied for literally hundreds of hours on the nuances of bbq brisket. This is just my deduction from this near stalker level study. I have devoloped my own long hold brisket technique, the hot and slow method.

For those interested

https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=219158

https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=247399

If anything finishing at lower temps offers a larger perfect timing window. It takes a while to get used to briskets finishing at 190
Click to expand...


thanks for posting. it just goes to show there is no reason to be afraid of low temps. low and slow was the mantra for a while, then hot and fast came about and it seemed people forgot that low and slow still turned out great meat, not jerky like a few posts suggested. low and slow increases the margin of error by a lot.
 
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