Brisket in a pan. How to?

For one thing, you won't get all that "fat in the fire" flavor, which flies like, but I think overpowers better flavors, so yep, it's a good idea for the drum.

Lot's of folks cook 'em in pans in kettles because it's so close to the fire, and you'll be able to cook hotter if you like. I like the texture and bark of low-n-slow, so I'd suggest 275 with no foil on til the bark looks really good, hopefully around 165-170 IT. You could put something in the pan with it, but a lot of grease should collect, so really no need. If you decide to foil sooner, you can take the foil off at the end and crisp up your bark a bit.

One other thing: it seems that you will have a little higher meat temp before it gets tender if cooking in a pan covered in foil, so probe for tenderness, and don't fret if you don't pull until 205 or so. In fact, it might just sit right over 200 a bit before getting like "buttuh".

I haven't tried a brisket in a pan.
You might consider sitting the brisket up on something (rack) to keep it suspended and not sitting in the grease.
Let us know how things turn out.
jon

jonboy said:

You might consider sitting the brisket up on something (rack) to keep it suspended and not sitting in the grease.

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Actually, having it sit in its own liquefied fat isn't a bad thing -- it adds flavor and juiciness and stays behind in the pan when you pull the brisket. Though you might want to trim a little bit more fat than usual if this is a concern. The larger issue with the pan is that it blocks the smoke from getting to the underside of the brisket which is sitting in the pan. Not the end of the world flavor-wise, but it'll probably hurt your smoke ring aesthetics.

I have not done one in the pan yet but have thought about it to capture more of the drippings.

Several on here have used pans before and will chime in.

jlondon said:

Actually, having it sit in its own liquefied fat isn't a bad thing -- it adds flavor and juiciness and stays behind in the pan when you pull the brisket. Though you might want to trim a little bit more fat than usual if this is a concern. The larger issue with the pan is that it blocks the smoke from getting to the underside of the brisket which is sitting in the pan. Not the end of the world flavor-wise, but it'll probably hurt your smoke ring aesthetics.

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How much smoke would penetrate the fat cap side anyhow?

2 reasons to cook in a pan. 1) fat doesn't drip in the cooker. Some people like the idea of a cleaner pit....why? I don't know. :roll: 2) you can "wrap" simply by covering the pan with foil. :-D

I have done it by putting a baking cooling rack (ala Kick Ass) in a disposable aluminum pan. It works. There is less clean up, and you get all the smoke flavor/smike ring.

IMO, there is no real advantage. BUt Kick Ass cooks pretty much exclusively in pans, and his results are very good from what I've seen. You can PM him for his take on things.

I have done them in a pan before, when they are smal and have very little fat left on them. I also put a layer of bacon on top to give it some fat.

Bigger briskets with good fat layer no need to IMHO