Going to smoke my 4th brisket since coming to you all for advice.

The first brisket sucked, and the second was phenomenal. But towards the end of the second cooking, I had a small emergency to attend to....took two hours to take care of said emergency.

In the meantime, the brisket had just reached 190. I wrapped it in foil and left in the oven to take care of the situation. When I came home, it was still warm, so I threw it in the smoker for about 30 min just to heat it up and it was GREAT. Perfect.

Third one, not so much. Cooked the same way I did the second, but we went into it about 20 min after taking it out.

Anyway, went to see a friend cook at a BBQ competition on FRI and he told me to let it sit for 2 hours. That seems a little long to let the juices settle...but I know it will retain enough heat to be good eating...so?

at least an hour

One hour.

Its been my experience that longer is better. One of the best briskets I've personally cooked I had to pull several hours before I'd have liked to for a similar "emergency." I wrapped it in foil, covered it with a few towels, and it sat that way for about 5 hours. It was great and so still so hot you couldn't handle it.

At least one hour, up to two if you can. Double wrapped in foil and in a cooler.

__________________________________
"Guns don't kill people, I kill people."

I wrap mine up in a towel in a cooler for several hours.

And a little off the subject, steaks should settle for 10 minutes or so after being pulled off the grill.

I cook my brisket to internal temp 200, low and slow. Remove, wrap with foil several layers, and rest in cooler. At least 2 hrs, but I have done much longer.

PS resting brisket then putting it back in smoker seems no bueno to me.
PS

It was only for 30 min. And it got my 'crust' just perfect. Judging how it tasted, I must say it wasn't a negative factor.

We did that last weekend at a cookoff and won 3rd place brisket, so....

Resting a brisket is the worst idea ever. You'll just overcook it and make it all chewy.


[This message has been edited by Vandevelde (edited 4/26/2010 10:49a).]

What is the normal cooking procedure for a brisket here on TexAgs?

Everyone does it different. Some fat side up, some down. Some 'brine' or marinade...some believe that is devil talk.

Basically, all low and slow.

I just add a rub (vs just S&P). Smoke at 225 under hickory wood and charcoal for 1-1.5 hrs per pound. I DO wrap in aluminum for a few hours, but been told not to do that either. So, I'm just experimenting till I find out how I like to do it.

Pretty much the same as Fly Army but no more than five or six hours on smoke. Rest in foil.

Ive rested briskets from 30 mins (in a hurry to eat) up to two hours (brisket finished early) and not been able to tell a lick of a difference. I think the important thing is that you don't pull it off the fire and cut into it immediately.

I also tend to cook mine to 200. I have found that 190 usually isn't quite tender enough and 205 is mush.

Well, I wrapped it in foil and let it sit in my own for 1.5 hours. Turned out GREAT. Most of it got to 190. The smaller portion of it got to just under before I pulled it.

Very nice tasting brisket.

Where is a good place to get a brisket? I have gotten a couple on sale at Kroger, but they haven't run any specials lately.

1-2 hours, wrapped in foil on the cold side of pit.

drivinwest, why would you let a steak sit out? I don't like cold steaks.

TSU - I believe he means resting wrapped in foil. Every piece of meat that I grill gets rested in foil before eating. Steaks/chicken breasts for 5-10 min up to briskets for up to 2 hours.

__________________________________
"Guns don't kill people, I kill people."

Here is something I am curios about. During the last hour, I just put it in the oven since I had to go get my daughter and it was already in foil.

When I got back, I just turned off the oven and let it sit.

Does SLOWLY decreasing temp allow the juices to set back even better? Yea, I'm splitting hairs but I want to keep improving with each brisket.

@Sewell - I got mine at Sams. It was about 7.2 lbs flat cut...think about 25 bucks. I actually prefer the brisket cuts from the post commissary.





[This message has been edited by Fly Army 97 (edited 4/28/2010 8:10a).]

quote:

---

What is the normal cooking procedure for a brisket here on TexAgs?

---

This thread is about to get epic. There are more ways to cook a brisket than there are routes from DFW to College Station.

Here's what works well for me.


-Rub and let sit in fridge overnight.

-Cook unfoiled until done. I use lump coal for fuel, and add logs for smoke as I need them. Two or three logs at first, then just lump for the last few hours. They don't get too smokey this way and the bark doesn't get soggy from steaming in the foil.

-When cooking without wrapping I have to spray it down with some type of mop every hour or so to keep the bark from getting too crispy. Apple juice, grape juice, beer/oil/cayenne, anything will work.

-I think they're done cooking when the temp probe starts going in with less resistnace. If it penetrates with no effort, I think it's overcooked. I've found the temp where this happens can be anywhere between 190 and 205 depending on the brisket.

quote:

---

I think the important thing is that you don't pull it off the fire and cut into it immediately.

---

.

Couldn't say it any better. Wrap it in foil and let it cool before cutting.


That's how I do it. I'm no expert, but this works for me.

Edit - Grammar

[This message has been edited by OleRock02 (edited 4/28/2010 12:18p).]

is that a trimmed brisket!

cclearman - you've always got 5 or 6 posts on each brisket thread, so I get the impression you probably know what you're doing. What are your thoughts on foil during the cook?

dude, i can only fit so much in my beginner/stack smoker...give a rookie a break you snob! hell, i'm pretty sure you advised me to get a flat cut while i learned.

[This message has been edited by Fly Army 97 (edited 4/29/2010 8:12a).]

doing some google research on 'time to rest a brisket' - this was the first result. TexAgs wins..... again!

[This message has been edited by edwardsk2003 (edited 6/1/2013 6:45p).]

2-3 hours, if you can put it back on smoker unwrapped for 30 minutes to let the bark dry out a little. Mmmmmm

+1 to the one hour in foil and towels in a cooler. Longer if possible.

I put this 14lb brisket on last night at 10 and set the egg at 250. Here we are at 8am and it's 195 internal temp. I'm thinking it's almost done.

Is there a max time I can let it rest if I wrap and put in cooler?

I was planning on this taking longer and eating this for dinner

I've done 6 hrs before in a similar scenario and was fine...double wrapped with foil and 3 towels around it. But dinner might be stretching it

Heat the cooler up (pour a bunch of hot water in it first & then drain, stick a small electric space heater in there with the lid cracked, or whatever other method you might have) and stick the brisket in when it finishes. Stick some warm towels and foil in there too for good measure.

Don't open the lid and you should be able to go 6-8 hours fairly easily. Some people have said they've gone farther but I've personally never done it.

Leave the cooler outside in the heat, maybe even the bed of a truck in full sunlight to really help it stay warm and probably eat an early dinner if you're dead set on having it for dinner.

The key is to keep it above 140.

From what I've read, if you wrap it well, even a cheap cooler will get you 5 hours before the temp drops below that. That does not get you to dinner though.

If you have a good cooler, eg 5 day ice, then I'd expect longer.

I'd probably go no more than 6 hours even in a good cooler.

agfan2013 said:

---

Heat the cooler up (pour a bunch of hot water in it first & then drain, stick a small electric space heater in there with the lid cracked, or whatever other method you might have) and stick the brisket in when it finishes. Stick some warm towels and foil in there too for good measure.

Don't open the lid and you should be able to go 6-8 hours fairly easily. Some people have said they've gone farther but I've personally never done it.

Leave the cooler outside in the heat, maybe even the bed of a truck in full sunlight to really help it stay warm and probably eat an early dinner if you're dead set on having it for dinner.

---

Heating up cooler is good advice.

One more thing....

I'd wrap in butcher or parchment paper and not aluminum before wrapping in towels, if you have some. Aluminum conducts heat; paper is an insulator and will help retain heat.

I'm smoking a Brisket for the bowl game watch party I'm attending and I was a little concerned about how long the stall lasted.

This thread was on the first page of the Google search results. TexAgs FTW!

HollywoodBQ said:

---

I'm smoking a Brisket for the bowl game watch party I'm attending and I was a little concerned about how long the stall lasted.

This thread was on the first page of the Google search results. TexAgs FTW!

---

Pretty sure that is just our overlords at Google keeping an eye on our browsing habits...