wilburpan Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Last time I did pulled pork and had friends over, the pork wound up taking longer than I expected, which was a great example of the first principle of timing a cook for a party: cooks take longer when you have guests waiting. Today, we’re having people over, and I decided to make a brisket. I started the cook last night in anticipation of finishing around lunch time. The cook itself was straightforward. The rub was a 50/50 mix of black pepper and kosher salt, I put the brisket in Smaug, who decided to settle in at 225ºF, and let it run overnight. My plan was an IT of 203ºF, because 5698k said so. Here are some pics. The strip on the side was a piece that I trimmed, put some rub on, and cooked as an experiment. Ultimately, it cooked way too long, and was dry as well cooked bacon. I tossed that part. So I woke up this morning, expecting that I would have been most of the way through the cook, and went to check the brisket to see whether I should bump the temperature up or not. This is what I was greeted with. It certainly looked done. It was probe tender all over, and the IT was 204ºF. Perfect, right? Except that our friends won’t be here until lunchtime, a good 5-6 hours from when I took the brisket off the grill. So this is the second principle of timing a cook for a party: cooks go way shorter when you plan ahead. I put the brisket on a platter, wrapped it in foil, and stuck it in the oven. I’ll see whether I need to reheat it when your friends get here. It sure smells good, though. The brisket was 12.5 lbs. I guessed it was going to take 15 hours or so to cook, especially since I started at 225ºF. This morning, the thermometer was reading 300ºF. After I got the brisket out and checked the basket, enough of the charcoal had burned so that the airflow through the basket would have had less resistance than the full basket I started with. In other words, as the charcoal burned away, the airflow through the grill increased even without touching the vents. This is the same phenomenon I saw with my last pulled pork cook. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5698k Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 It looks great Wilbur. You have certainly proven Murphy is alive and well. Think ya might consider a controller now? It looks like, in this case anyway, had your temp stayed at 225° as planned, it would have been perfect. Regardless, your brisket looks great, and I can't believe your restraint in not at least cutting off a test corner! Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Wilbur, great looking brisket. No doubt your guests are going to enjoy eating that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinyfish Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Looks Wilburpan I'm your guests will love it. Did you put a towel over the foil for some insulation. I am putting a brisket on tonight for dinner tomorrow. My trimmed weight is 12.3 lbs like your. I wonder what Murphy will do to me. I am planning on the same temp 225f and estimating like you 15 hours. I will be using butcher paper. This will be my first long cook. Do I have to overfill the charcoal basket to the top of the fire box? How about size of charcoal are very large piece's best or large or medium, my charcoal has pieces almost footballish size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Wilbur - congrats on a great looking brisket! Wrap that puppy in foil, then some beach towels and stick it in a cooler. It'll be perfect at dinner time! So, being the scientist you are, will the next cook cleave the difference and be done just as the guests are entering the driveway? Seems like a logical implication of the preceding two cooks! Oh, and as to the invocation of Mr. Murphy, y'all do know he was an optimist, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryan Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 I fill that much lump so I have no refill need. The over fill will just go out once the vents are closed. I do not keep up with how much to load per cook just fill to top of basket handles. I just load and go. (After basket ash removal) I do keep up with cooks how long they took, the temps etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstr8 Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Like you Wilbur, et al, when cooking for a party and trying to time the finish and exit of a chunk of meat...its nearly always late getting past the stall and to the cutting station on time. To piggyback on CC's post: An insulated cooler is your best friend when low and slow cooked blocks of meat decide to surprise you by getting to temp early. The meat, if properly packed in the cooler, will hold hot and juicy for hours and hours. Wrap the roast in your preferred method, foil typically; I then use plenty of clean old bath towels on the bottom of the insulated cooler then the wrapped roast atop; then loosely pack towels all around the roast to completely use up the free air space. Close the lid and DO NOT OPEN IT UNTIL you want to remove the roast for carving. I've had them stay piping hot for up to 6-hours! The great buffer! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgrant3406 Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 To piggyback on CC's post: An insulated cooler is your best friend when low and slow cooked blocks of meat decide to surprise you by getting to temp early. The meat, if properly packed in the cooler, will hold hot and juicy for hours and hours. Wrap the roast in your preferred method, foil typically; I then use plenty of clean old bath towels on the bottom of the insulated cooler then the wrapped roast atop; then loosely pack towels all around the roast to completely use up the free air space. Close the lid and DO NOT OPEN IT UNTIL you want to remove the roast for carving. I've had them stay piping hot for up to 6-hours! The great buffer! +1 Also, if you want, and have, you can leave a thermometer in the meat and monitor temps. After you've done it, and trust the method, no need for the thermometer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Nice looking brisket, Wilbur! Guessing when the food will be done for dinner has always been a struggle. But, the technique of wrapping in towels in a cooler is the best solution so far. Temps will hold for many hours, so always plan to finish early is my best advice! OK Ken, MacKenzie and I are going to take away your Up/Down comment privileges if you don't stop fat fingering and inadvertently giving everyone negative (down) reviews. Check your above rating of Wilbur! I cancelled yours out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Tony - ouch! Dadgummit, I'm gonna stop my fat fingering. Did I mention I'm blind in one eye and can't se out of the other? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryan Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 When in service I wraped in foil and then 2 sheets of newspaper then into a paper bag. Stayed hot forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Tony - ouch! Dadgummit, I'm gonna stop my fat fingering. Did I mention I'm blind in one eye and can't se out of the other? I see as I pick up the hammer and saw. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poochie Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 So what's the bottom line, Wilburpan? Did everyone enjoy it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 I see as I pick up the hammer and saw. MacKenzie - I didn't fat finger that one! I'm living proof even a blind pig finds an acorn every once in a while! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 Yes, after fat fingering me twice and me threating to contact Dennis and now with Tony's help I think you must be running scared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilburpan Posted August 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 So the brisket turned out pretty good. I thought it was a bit overcooked, but all our friends said it was great. I didn’t disagree with them. As the time grew closer to our friends arriving, I took the brisket out of the oven. It was warm, but not as warm as I would have liked. I noticed that Smaug was still sitting at 200ºF from residual heat, so I put the brisket back in to warm up a little. Looking back, that may have caused it to lose some moisture. The other thing I thought of that might have made this cook more problematic was that I started with a full basket of charcoal, but most of the charcoal was half-used charcoal from other cooks. If I had started with a full basket of fresh charcoal, I think the charcoal would have burned slower, and I would not have gotten the temperature rise phenomenon. The reason I didn’t store the used charcoal was that the basket was mainly full with partially used Dennis’ Cocochar, and I’ve found that partially used Cocochar is pretty fragile if you try to move it around. Maybe I should get a spare charcoal basket. The parts of the brisket towards the middle were amazing, and the fatty end was good throughout. The flat was a little dry on the inch at the end, but most of it was good, with a real good beefy flavor. I’m really looking forward to my next brisket cook. There are two things I want to try in the future, but I’m not sure what I want to try first: using a select brisket instead of the choice brisket that I used for this cook, or to try the wrapping thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilburpan Posted August 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 It looks great Wilbur. You have certainly proven Murphy is alive and well. Think ya might consider a controller now? It looks like, in this case anyway, had your temp stayed at 225° as planned, it would have been perfect. I may try a controller at some point, but for now I want to see how much I can do in manual mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryan Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 What say you? Which finishes cooking first the flat or the point? How much longer do you cook after seperation. Or is this not relevant? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinyfish Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 I may try a controller at some point, but for now I want to see how much I can do in manual mode. I tried to see if my bullet smoker fan fit in the Guru port and it did some what. So I put the brisket on at 11pm set fan to 225f awoke this morning at 5:45am KK temp perfect at 225f and I slept like a baby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5698k Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 Looks pretty good to me Wilbur, I think you're being your own worst critic! Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
