Brisket questions

Hello Bretheren!

I have a brisket that I am going to cook soon and I have some problems. :sad:

My goal is to have it ready for lunch tomorrow. Bludawg's method dictates that I should start the smoker at about 3:00am tomorrow and put the brisket on at about 4:00am. The problem is that I need my beauty loco sleep and that may not be possible.

Would it be possible to start today with a four hour stretch of smoke and then finish it tomorrow in the oven at 200? Or is this just a bad idea and I should just get up at two and do it right?

The smoker is going to have fatties and meatloaf tomorrow for lunch. Yes, I am planning a party.

I await your wisdom, o masters of the hokey smoke. ray: :hail:

More details:

I have a CG Super Pro w/ side firebox. The grate temperature will be about 250F during the smoking phase (otherwise the fire will not burn cleanly). I also have to check the fuel every two hours otherwise it will burn out. The brisket had its point removed. It is about 9.5 - 10lbs.

Current plan: Start cooking it at about noon today and put it in the 170F oven wrapped overnight then toweled/cooler in the morning.

I am leaning to the 2AM thingy also. I can cat nap on the couch for a couple of hours at a time. If I get four hours of sleep and then cat nap through the rest of the night I should be ok.

Thank you to all for your advice!

The morning of the party

Thank you Bludawg!

I see that you added a couple of feet to the chimney, I wil try that. I added a bit of vent on the inside to the chimney to bring it down to the grate but I didn't see much of a difference. I ran the smoke with the ash tray open about an inch or two and the temperature was about 250-275F throughout the smoking portion of the cook. Maybe I need to find some hard oak to try. This winter will probably give me time to rebuild my CG (the hardware stores in the area have had sales on the firebox - $49!)

I went with the option of smoking it yesterday for six hours using mesquite as the primary fuel and smoke source. For secondary fuel I used some cowboy lump that I had around the house (it was REALLY cheap at the hardware store). When I pulled the brisket off the smoker it was getting probe tender. I put it in an oven roasting pan and into the 170F oven with half a cup of water. This morning the brisket was tender (like a hot samuri sword through a warm tub of cheap margerine) and very juicy. It also had a very nice (but still subtle) taste of mesquite - something that I as praying for because the first half of the bag of mesquite produced some very heavy mesquite taste....not what I wanted. :wacko:

And to all that want pictures, they are coming. I first want to feed the crowd.

Any ideas for a bigger controllable air intake on the firebox?