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Brisket Advice


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Planning on doing a Brisket on the Egg for Memorial Day. So my questions to you guys are for an 8 pound brisket:

 

What temperature do you smoke it at?

What is your target finishing temp?

About how long should it take?

 

I have some ideas but there is a wide variety of opinion across the interwebs and I want to see what you guys say.

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I wish I could help you, but brisket is definitely not my strong suit. My neighbor is a competition smoker, and I know he does his brisket low - 200-225.

 

That would be my inclination as well so I have to figure out when to start it in order to get it done in time but not too early. I have a digital controller now so I can set it and forget it overnight but don't want it ready for breakfast when it's supposed to be for dinner!

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Virtually every time I've done brisket and was happy with the results, it was a braise. It's a really effing tricky cut of meat to cook dry. I think it's because the fat is all in one spot as opposed to marbled through the meat. You expect a piece of meat with all that fat to be easy to get moist, but you can dry it out way too easily.

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Actually smoking a 9lb choice whole briskett right now. I use a dry rub (no salt) and do not marinade (honestly, it's easier) with the briskett setting out for 30+ minutes before I put it on.. Started it at 8:45 and it will be ready around 6 pm. 225 degrees, one hour per pound. I put foil on the bottom until the last hour or so. I don't like the bottom to get a hard layer underneath, so the foil keeps the briskett swimming in juices. I use only mesquite wood in the side fire box for indirect heat only. I am sure there are other methods, this is just what I do.

 

Plus, Scooby has a pot of pintos going all day.

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Actually smoking a 9lb choice whole briskett right now. I use a dry rub (no salt) and do not marinade (honestly, it's easier) with the briskett setting out for 30+ minutes before I put it on.. Started it at 8:45 and it will be ready around 6 pm. 225 degrees, one hour per pound. I put foil on the bottom until the last hour or so. I don't like the bottom to get a hard layer underneath, so the foil keeps the briskett swimming in juices. I use only mesquite wood in the side fire box for indirect heat only. I am sure there are other methods, this is just what I do.

 

Plus, Scooby has a pot of pintos going all day.

 

 

You ever put the beans under the meat so they can catch the juices all day?

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You ever put the beans under the meat so they can catch the juices all day?

 

 

that is a dammed good idea :thinking: ... so do you do the overnight soak on the beans and then put them underneath? what is the procedure? I am used to pressure cooking, crock potting or stove-topping dry pintos after an overnight soak (unless it is summer and I can get fresh pintos from the farmer's market)

Edited by Scooby's Hubby
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I am by no means an expert, but when I have done brisket, I have a pretty easy time maintaining 250 on the egg. 1 to 1 1/2 hours per pound, simple rub that I mix up out of the spice cabinet. Build your fire right and you just let the egg do the work. Make sure you cook long enough. My failures have been that I pull before reaching the tenderness I desire. I start testing around 190, if a fork goes in easy and yeilds to a slight twist ready to roll.

Edited by Rebellab
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that is a dammed good idea :thinking: ... so do you do the overnight soak on the beans and then put them underneath? what is the procedure? I am used to pressure cooking, crock potting or stove-topping dry pintos after an overnight soak (unless it is summer and I can get fresh pintos from the farmer's market)

 

 

I usually cheat on the beans. I buy the big cans of Bushs beans (the original), and then I add BBQ sauce, onions, some of my dry rub, and whatever else I decide to put in.

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that is a dammed good idea :thinking: ... so do you do the overnight soak on the beans and then put them underneath? what is the procedure? I am used to pressure cooking, crock potting or stove-topping dry pintos after an overnight soak (unless it is summer and I can get fresh pintos from the farmer's market)

 

Canned or homemade, the beans would have to be cooked, not just soaked. We discovered making cassoulet that beans just don't cook in the oven. It's odd, really, because we'd cook our cassoulet for hours and hours and there was certainly some liquid in there. But if the beans were too firm going in, they stay that way regardless of how long you cook them.

 

You cook beans in a pressure cooker? Man, I tried that a few times and ended up with some painful gas.

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Sonny Bryan's recipe, hes pretty much the gold standard of Texas brisket.

 

Wash with vinegar and don't rinse.

 

Cook over a 25% hickory 75% charcoal bed.

 

Put brisket in fat side up.

 

Mist with water every 30 minutes or so.

 

Cook at 225 til done.

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I would plan on about 12 to 14 hours of cook time but build in an extra 2 to 3 hours to wrap it in newspaper and towel and put it in a cooler, this will help with your serve time. You also need it to rest for 30 mins before cutting. I always cut a wedge against the grain before i cook it so i know what direction to cut once it is done. I mist with apple juice during most of the cook and then wrap in foil the last 3 hours or so.

 

The wrap will allow you additional time to get the internal temp to 190 or so.

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So, I'll pass along some brisket knowledge from first hand experience.

 

Using the DigiQ on the Egg I maintained a grate temp of 225 throughout the cook. After 12 hours the meat was about 180 and I checked for tenderness with a fork every hour until it twisted easily which ended up being 4 hours later at exactly 200. I read some people saying it took til 205 for them. I then wrapped in foil and put it in a cooler for a couple of hours til we were ready to eat. Before that I sliced off the point and continued cooking that for burnt ends.

 

The end result was a solid A. Everyone loved it and it was very tender but to my taste it had started to dry out just a little and the burnt ends could have used 3 more hours low N slow before cutting up and putting into sauce.

 

For my next one I'll take it off at 190 even if it doesn't pass the fork twist tenderness test (which would have been at 14 hours) so that the continued cooking when wrapped won't dry it out. That will leave time to do the burnt ends perfect as well. Thanks for all the input. Overall a total success with me being the only one thinking of ways to make it better next time!

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Well, your first brisket was a success. Good luck repeating it. It seems like you do it well the first time then spend the next ten briskets trying to repeat. Sound pretty standard tho, good for you. Brisket is a challenging and fun cook. It is also especially nice to have the Egg do what it does and cook for so long.

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