High Heat Brisket Smoke Question...

[darita]

I'm planning a brisket flat smoke at about 325*, unless there are better suggestions at the exact cook temp. Question is, at that temp, about how long would you expect for the brisket to come to probe tender? Now I know that there are no exact times here, but having never done a high heat brisket, I need to try my best to time it out, knowing that I can cooler the meat for up to 4 hours, if necessary. Thanks for the help!

 

[Plata-O-Plomo]

That is going to depend on how big your meat is :-D. Also, are you going to wrap. I see your in Roseville, so I would imagine your outside temp is in the 70's. What kind of cooker are you using?



POP

 

[Westx]

My guess would be about 4 1/2 hours at that temp maybe less. I would wrap in butcher paper as soon as you get the bark you want say 2 to 2 1/2 hours and start checking for probe tenderness at 3 1/2 hours.

 

[thirdeye]

I separated the point and flat of the last 5 briskets I've cooked, and the pit temps were 275° to 300°. The flats took 2.5 to 3 hours to get the color I wanted, then I wrapped them and went another 3.5 to 4 hours to get the tenderness I wanted. Then I vented, resealed and held in a hotbox for 3 hours. I'm at 5400' elevation so water boils at 203°, at a lower elevation your wrapped time might be shorter.

 

[pharp]

My guess would be about 4 1/2 hours at that temp maybe less. I would wrap in butcher paper as soon as you get the bark you want say 2 to 2 1/2 hours and start checking for probe tenderness at 3 1/2 hours.

Agree.

 

[darita]

I'm using my MAK and yes, I'll be wrapping, in foil. It's a pretty thick flat, with some point still on it. What they do is, just cut straight down, where they think the flat ends and that's it. The end that is all flat is nice and thick...about 2 1/2" of meat, with about 1/4" of fat cap. I can't really afford to be cooking full packers, but this flat looked so good, I couldn't pass it up at $19. The point, sold separately, looked good as well, but since the wife doesn't like the point anyways, I was glad not to have to pay for it. Hope it's worth it! Of course, that will be up to me, won't it? Ya...
4 to 6 hours would be ideal, as I'll be starting around 6 to 7am to leave myself lots of room for error. With any luck, I hope to be eating between 3 and 5pm or maybe even earlier is possible.

 

[Plata-O-Plomo]

I think you got it nailed!

 

[Jason TQ]

~325 is just about all I do on brisket. Briskets in the ~14-20lb range are all almost 5-6hrs with little variance.

Wrap when I like the color around 3hrs

 

[big irv]

Probably around 3 Hours give or take before wrapping. Using foil vs paper will shorten your wrap time. Good Luck

 

[darita]

Ok...I put it on at 6am. It hit 160* by 9am and had a decent bark, so I foiled it. That sucker took till 2pm to get probe tender, at 210* on the Thermapen...my Maverick read 216*, but the probe had the final say.
What I realized was that this was likely half of the flat, but for the 2 of us, it was perfect. I took a lousy pic, but I think you can see how juicy it was and tenderness was right there too.
Having used the MAK for the 325* cook, smoke flavor was nicely subtle. I'll definitely do high temp brisket again, for sure. During dinner, the wife said, "...maybe you could do a brisket for Christmas." For her to say that, means a lot.
Thanks for all you help.

 

[Westx]

Looks great. Strange it to that long at those temps but you killed it and I would take some anytime.

 

[darita]

Ya...I'm no brisket expert, but maybe it took so long cuz the flat was so thick.?. Sure wish they had not cut that flat in half. I would like to have had the whole thing, however maybe it would have cost $40 for the flat only. Also, there was point also and the little that was there was wonderful. Ok...wish I had the full packer on this one,

 

[Texan79423]

I only do brisket HF now on hickory. One thing I have noticed is running hotter I seem not to get the smoke profile as with low and slow. I have always warmed sticks on my fire box as they ignite faster. Stopped doing that and flavor returned.

 

[JVM59]

Looks great! Sounds like brisket for Christmas at your house!

 

[rwalters]

You killed it... nice work! Man, the brisket smoke was definitely rising up in the the Roseville/Lincoln area yesterday... lol.

 

[darita]

You killed it... nice work! Man, the brisket smoke was definitely rising up in the the Roseville/Lincoln area yesterday... lol.

Ya...so funny. Houses are so close together around here, I always know when someone in the neighborhood is doing an overnighter. I smells so good.