Expected Prime Brisket Cook Time

[mikerooooose]

Hey Everyone,

I'm helping my buddy do his first low and slow cook on his weber smokey mountain. He's having a house warming party later that night and I want to make sure it's ready on time AND I don't drag him out of bed too early if it's not needed.

He's buying a nice prime brisket (trusting I will help him not screw it up) — 16lbs untrimmed. How long can I expect the cook to take. Should I still count on 1 hour per pound at 250? I heard prime cooks a little fast, but I'm not sure if that's true.

I want to keep the pit temp at 250, and wrap in butcher paper (only if necessary), no foil.

Ideally we'll have it resting in the cooler at 5pm. I told him we should be up at 4am, with the meat on the grill by 5am. Thoughts?

Thanks!
Mike

 

[Jeffm827i]

I cooked a 14 lb Prime on Friday in 7.5 hrs @ 270. The prime does cook a bit faster than choice in my experience. Just give it time to rest. Good luck.

 

[mchar69]

My thoughts are follow oldbill and bludawg's advice -
even 1st timers are nailing it h-n-f.
About 8 hours including time in the cooler. Here it is -

BluDawgs Brisket

K.I S.S. some of the best brisket you will ever eat! Total cook time including the rest 8 hrs or less. I promise it will be as moist as mornin dew on the lilly, tender as a mothers love, pure beefy smoky goodness.

1 packer 12-15 lb
Trim off the hard fat on each side of the flat thin the fat cap to 1/4"

Mix your Rub
1 part kosher salt 4 parts Med grind Black peppa by volume( this is a true 50/50 BY weight)
apply a coat of rub you need to be able to see the meat through the rub clearly.

Pre heat the pit to 300 deg
place brisket on the pit Fat Cap Down and point to the firebox unless it is a RF cooker then point to away from FB

Maintain pit between 275-325 if cookin on a stick burner
cook Brisket 4 hrs
remove from pit wrap in a single layer of Butcher paper Return to pit Fat cap up.
after 1 hr probe the thicket part of the Flat only! If it isn't *probe tender it should be within 1 hr.
once it is probe tender remove from the pit keep it wrapped in the paper you cooked it in and allow it to rest on your counter until the Internal temp reaches 150 this will take about two hrs.
Don't ever slice more than you can eat big pieces retain moisture and won't dry up on you like slices will.
*PROBE TENDER>This is the feel that is mimicked by cutting room temperature butter with a hot knife, there should be no drag

 

[ButtBurner]

if you insist at going at it at 250 you may be there for a while. I would start earlier or better yet take the advice of kicking up the heat a bit

briskets can be stubborn. especially at lower temps

 

[mikerooooose]

A while being more than 12 hours? We do want to sit on his roof deck and drink beer all day. Haha. I just want to make sure it's ready to rest by 4-5pm and serve by 6-7pm.

 

[Blanton]

I would cook 250-275 and plan on 7-8 hours, then wrap until done. Would plan 4 hours there, then a 2 hour rest.

 

[mikerooooose]

Thanks! Next question. How far in advance does everyone buy their briskets. We're cooking next Friday. I've seen posts of people aging their beef.

 

[Blanton]

Those that age their briskest know the pack date from the case. With individual retail purchases, you won't know the pack fpdste, but the sell by date on a cryovacs is usually a way out. I would think that what ever you buy now, if cryo'd will easily make to your cook date. People will age for 30-49 days from the pack/kill date.

 

[pjtexas1]

No offense but don't try to get too crazy on your first one. Keep it simple. There are plenty of things that can go wrong without trying to complicate it. Just stick to blu's plan.

 

[mikerooooose]

Yeah, you're probably right.

It's not my first brisket, just the first time cooking a prime one from the butcher shop he got it at. Also I usually use an BGE and he has a WSM.

Any tips for the WSM. Do people fill the water pan? Also, does the WSM collect the drippings easily?

 

[frognot]

I didn't use water in the water pan but wrapped the pan in foil to make for any easier cleanup.

Another hot & fast fan here. Temps 275-325 range.

 

[mikerooooose]

Thanks! Do you cook on the top or bottom rack? Also, I should have asked this a while ago. Can I expect to fit a 16lb brisket on a 18.5" WSM?

 

[frognot]

Alkways used top rack (can place a pan on bottom rack for drippings).

I have used skewers to bend the narrow end over when the brisket was too long for the rack. Some folks will put something like a cast iron pan under the middle & drape the brisket to get it to fit.

 

[THoey1963]

That big of a brisket might be a tight fit on an 18.5 at first. You can use an upside down stainless steel bowl or a couple bricks double wrapped in foil, lay them on the middle of the grate, and then drape the brisket over the top of them. As it cooks, it will shrink, and you can remove the bowl / bricks when it gets small enough.

Remember, the heat from a WSM comes around the water pan and up the sides of the cooker. Any meat at the edge of the grate can get over cooked.

I don't use water in my pan, just wrapped in foil as others have mentioned. I have a ceramic pot base (also wrapped) in my water pan that works like a heat sink. I also throw a cheap aluminum turkey pan on top of that to catch most of the drippings. Makes for easier clean up.

Briskets, especially Prime briskets have a lot of grease. Watch for any flame ups during the cook. We already had a recent thread about a runaway fire. Don't let this happen to this nice chunk of meat. Do you have a Maverick or something like it to warn you of out of range temps? (Oh, and don't put your smoker in the garage.)

At the low temp you are talking about, I still think you need to start cooking earlier. You can always let it rest in a cooler wrapped in old towels for several hours if it gets done early. Better that then to have it not be ready until 9 pm. Better yet, go higher temp. My WSM loves to run around 280*. I'd still get up at 3 to light the fire, and put it on by 4.

 

[chashint]

I don't know if this will help you are not, but here is my cook log for my last brisket on my 22" WSM.

Brisket VI
Oct 17, wind calm, temperature ~80 dropping into high 60's in the night.
Full packer 12.4# choice grade
Brisket seasoned with SPOG and paprika, each ingredient sprinkled on separately by eye
Brisket placed in fridge unwrapped for 4 hours
Taken out and rested on counter about 1/2 hour
WSM loaded with full ring of charcoal. ~30-40 lit briquettes placed in middle of coal bed to burn outwards.
WSM running stable at 235
1830 lid removed, brisket loaded fat side down
1845 grate temp 225
1930 grate temp 226
2200 grate temp 237
2230 grate temp 235
2245 grate temp 232, meat temp 147
2315 grate temp 232
0315 grate temp 219 (Maverick alarm), meat temp 156
Intake vent adjusted
0400 grate temp 221, meat temp 156
Sometime between 0400 & 0600 the WSM temp >250 (Maverick alarm) but I rolled over and went back to sleep
0800 grate temp 244, meat temp 176
1000 grate temp 245, meat temp 183, not probe tender
1045 grate temp 250, meat temp 187, not probe tender
1110 grate temp 255, meat temp 190, pretty much probe tender
1115 grate temp 257, meat temp 190, probes real easy all over brisket, pulling the meat and putting in the cooler
The brisket was great, someday I will do a hot-n-fast but the low-n-slow is not a bad way to go, just make sure you allow the time.


Brisket 2 (WSM) by chashint1, on Flickr

 

[DetTigersFan]

I don't know if this will help you are not, but here is my cook log for my last brisket on my 22" WSM.

Brisket VI
Oct 17, wind calm, temperature ~80 dropping into high 60's in the night.
Full packer 12.4# choice grade
Brisket seasoned with SPOG and paprika, each ingredient sprinkled on separately by eye
Brisket placed in fridge unwrapped for 4 hours
Taken out and rested on counter about 1/2 hour
WSM loaded with full ring of charcoal. ~30-40 lit briquettes placed in middle of coal bed to burn outwards.
WSM running stable at 235
1830 lid removed, brisket loaded fat side down
1845 grate temp 225
1930 grate temp 226
2200 grate temp 237
2230 grate temp 235
2245 grate temp 232, meat temp 147
2315 grate temp 232
0315 grate temp 219 (Maverick alarm), meat temp 156
Intake vent adjusted
0400 grate temp 221, meat temp 156
Sometime between 0400 & 0600 the WSM temp >250 (Maverick alarm) but I rolled over and went back to sleep
0800 grate temp 244, meat temp 176
1000 grate temp 245, meat temp 183, not probe tender
1045 grate temp 250, meat temp 187, not probe tender
1110 grate temp 255, meat temp 190, pretty much probe tender
1115 grate temp 257, meat temp 190, probes real easy all over brisket, pulling the meat and putting in the cooler
The brisket was great, someday I will do a hot-n-fast but the low-n-slow is not a bad way to go, just make sure you allow the time.


Brisket 2 (WSM) by chashint1, on Flickr

I'm surprised your brisket was probe tender at 190*...

 

[mikemci]

^^^^Me too!^^^^

 

[mikerooooose]

Thanks guys!