12lb brisket. 250 degrees. Put it on 13 hours ago. I was expecting 18 hours at 1.5 hrs per pound. I just took temp in the flat and point. It's at over 195 degrees. WTF?

In an offset or..?

Not unheard of.

On my egg. Constant temp of 250.

I was going to wrap the last few hours, but when I went to wrap I checked the internal temp and it was around 195. I pulled it.

Ag_07 said:

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18 hours seems really long. 13 actually seems more reasonable.

And I don't see the issue here.

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We will see in about an hour

I probed it and it felt right

I smoke around 250 and my smaller briskets cook right at 1 hr per pound.

Now you just have more time to rest it.

Cooking a brisket is like.......... well I better not use that illustration.

It how it feels not how hot it is or how long it has been cooking.

Brush Country said:

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queso1 said:

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I probed it and it felt right

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That's what he said.

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Wait, that's not how...it's 2017 I guess

I didn't figure "she" would be probing anything.

Brush Country said:

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I didn't figure "she" would be probing anything.

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Back to it being 2017

Well???

If it makes you feel any better I put a 10lb on and was trying to rush it through after 15hrs. Stalled at 160 and 185.

It was really tasty. Probably a tad overcooked.

03_Aggie said:

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If it makes you feel any better I put a 10lb on and was trying to rush it through after 15hrs. Stalled at 160 and 185.

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I don't get it.

His went quicker than he thought and mine took much longer than I anticipated. Nothing more than that.

Just seasoned my 13lb prime brisket. Tried something different this time and used an injector to get the Montreal steak seasoning in.

Plan on putting it on around 5:00ish am and go from there.

Well that escalated quickly.

03_Aggie said:

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His went quicker than he thought and mine took much longer than I anticipated. Nothing more than that.

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Gotcha. I've found that length of time needed (when using consistent temp) is due to quality of meat. Better the quality, less time it takes because there's a lot of fat that breaks down more easily. Select briskets (I personally don't use them any more) are so lean that they need more time to get tender, and are very easy to over cook.

Cooked 24 last Wednesday for a banquet avg. 13.5 pounds and finished 9 hours. All were fork Tender and Great. Used two stick burners. Many people tend to complicate brisket. It needs to hit over 190 internal for the cell walls to break down and start to get tender. Probe is the best method to tell.

1.) Not sure i have ever made a brisket that was done at 195. 200 has been my minimum, normally taking them out more around 205

2.) You can wrap it and keep it in a cooler for 5 extra hours with no issue at all. It will be too hot to hold still when you take it out if you insulate it properly

I'm with blue smoke, I use a stick burner in a vertical smoker configuration that's made out of a 250 gallon propane tank. Two different thermometers measuring the chamber heat and have two different probes for internal on the brisket. I also wrap with butcher paper.

I say all that because cooking 200-300 degrees and I finish 12-15 pound briskets in 7-10 hours. But all I ever read on here is guys saying it takes 1 to 1.5 hrs per pound but that's never been the case for my pit. I'm not complaining, I may not be Louie Meuller or Aaron Franklin, but I think I make a pretty decent brisket. It's just something I do wonder about what the deal is on everyone's cooktimes.

I usually plan my cook when they hit about 195 I pull depending on how many briskets I am stacking. If I am filling a 150 qt Chest I will pull over 190 as they will continue to rise in the chest. You pull over 200 with this many and I usually have a 3-4 hour rest they are harder to get a good slice. If I do a single I aim for about 202 or feeling by my probe plus you can feel them bend when you pick them up. Remember when you pull them they continue to rise in temp.

Blue Smoke said:

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I usually plan my cook when they hit about 195 I pull depending on how many briskets I am stacking. If I am filling a 150 qt Chest I will pull over 190 as they will continue to rise in the chest. You pull over 200 with this many and I usually have a 3-4 hour rest they are harder to get a good slice. If I do a single I aim for about 202 or feeling by my probe plus you can feel them bend when you pick them up. Remember when you pull them they continue to rise in temp.

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Curious how long you let rest when you do one or two, and also what you rest them in? I usually rest about 2 hours and I recently bought one of those cambro boxes from Ace mart because I was tired of cleaning out ice chests and it seems to do well without having to wrap in towels.

What were you cooking 24 briskets for? Catering business? That would be quite a chore!

Blue -

what smoker temp do you shoot for? 275?

Every year for at least 10 or 11 years I cook for a small school Spring Athletic Banquet.Up at 330 am but I prepped all the meat the night before and 24 Briskets and 400 links of sausage and 40 pounds of beans. We served 385 plates. I will do just basic meats and beans for close friends and families or fundraisers. The most ever was 65 briskets in one day on 4 pits several were huge. I have had one wrapped in foil and panned in a cambro for 9 hours before I got to it to cut. Went in at 200 and when I pulled it was 160 and great!. Have a friend that caters and cooks his briskets and loads his cambros with them whole and will travel 250 miles and they are still smoking hot.

I shoot for 275 avg. but don't mind throwing them on at 325 when starting.Trust me it is not a Badge of Honor bragging it took 15-18 hours to cook a chunk of meat. When you do events you would be dog tired as well.

Remember a brisket does not care how long it takes to get to 195-200 degrees or so just that it gets there. Plus after 3 hours I wet mop my briskets with a Central Texas German Classic mop sauce. Usually wrap at 6-7 hours by color then finish mainly to probe.

It is lots of work but Clean plates and compliments are the best payoff!