Wow, I came here before lamenting how much trouble I was having getting a restaurant-quality brisket done on my kamado (Grill Dome) smoker.
Then i came across Henry Soo's "Hot and Fast Brisket" videos.
I tried one yesterday and I'm kicking myself in the azz for ever getting up at 2am and staying up all night monitoring a temp! (To be honest, I'd get up at 2 and get the meat on, and since the smoker is pretty good at holding a temp - if I do everything right - I'd sleep on the couch with an alarm set every half hour or so to check my remote temp display... still, that's WAY too much work, anymore!)
16 pound Choice brisket. Got up at 9:15, prepped the grill and started the fire, trimmed and seasoned the brisket, and had it on the pit by 10:15. (Sorry, this is the only pic I took.)
The yellowish tint is yellow mustard I used to hold the rub. (More rub was applied before the cook started for real.) The rub was 1/2c Kosher salt, 1/2c coarse black pepper, and 1/4c Celery Salt. I thought that didn't cover it quite enough, so I finished the job with Bolner's Fiesta brand Brisket Rub.
I didn't have as much lump charcoal as I thought I did when I started the fire, so I worried a bit about the amount of fuel. I think I wrapped it around 2:30. Around 3:00, I started having a hard time keeping at 400*. But that's okay, since Henry drops the temp to about 275* after wrapping. Once the temps dropped to 300*, I moved it inside to the oven at 290*. By 5 the brisket was in a cooler (these are approximate times, since I didn't keep a log) and I sliced it a little after 6.
It was moist and flavorful and tender. It had a decent (not great) bark and as much of a smoke ring as I've ever gotten on a kamado smoker.
I can certainly improve, but there's NO noticeable downside to the hot/fast method that I can detect. The compressed timeline, with the full night of uninterrupted sleep, is awesome!
edit - the Coors light is a several-year-old something I found in the bottom of my kegerator freezer. It's been open for a week, and is being used to fill a coffee can lid slug trap to keep slugs off my little herb garden (cilantro and basil).
Then i came across Henry Soo's "Hot and Fast Brisket" videos.
I tried one yesterday and I'm kicking myself in the azz for ever getting up at 2am and staying up all night monitoring a temp! (To be honest, I'd get up at 2 and get the meat on, and since the smoker is pretty good at holding a temp - if I do everything right - I'd sleep on the couch with an alarm set every half hour or so to check my remote temp display... still, that's WAY too much work, anymore!)
16 pound Choice brisket. Got up at 9:15, prepped the grill and started the fire, trimmed and seasoned the brisket, and had it on the pit by 10:15. (Sorry, this is the only pic I took.)
The yellowish tint is yellow mustard I used to hold the rub. (More rub was applied before the cook started for real.) The rub was 1/2c Kosher salt, 1/2c coarse black pepper, and 1/4c Celery Salt. I thought that didn't cover it quite enough, so I finished the job with Bolner's Fiesta brand Brisket Rub.
I didn't have as much lump charcoal as I thought I did when I started the fire, so I worried a bit about the amount of fuel. I think I wrapped it around 2:30. Around 3:00, I started having a hard time keeping at 400*. But that's okay, since Henry drops the temp to about 275* after wrapping. Once the temps dropped to 300*, I moved it inside to the oven at 290*. By 5 the brisket was in a cooler (these are approximate times, since I didn't keep a log) and I sliced it a little after 6.
It was moist and flavorful and tender. It had a decent (not great) bark and as much of a smoke ring as I've ever gotten on a kamado smoker.
I can certainly improve, but there's NO noticeable downside to the hot/fast method that I can detect. The compressed timeline, with the full night of uninterrupted sleep, is awesome!
edit - the Coors light is a several-year-old something I found in the bottom of my kegerator freezer. It's been open for a week, and is being used to fill a coffee can lid slug trap to keep slugs off my little herb garden (cilantro and basil).