Brisket help - please!

[tekobo]

Every other brisket that I have cooked has ended up with a long stall.  This MEATER graph from last week's (small) brisket cook illustrates it well.  The green line is the ambient temperature in the KK and the purple line is the internal temperature of the brisket, temperatures in Celsius.  

As you can see, i broke the stall by increasing the temperature at the end.

I am cooking lunch for the neighbours today and I had originally planned to get up at 4am to start the fire and put the brisket on but then decided that starting last night would be a better idea.  It was a chance to have the time to ride out the stall and find out how long that takes.  Well, what happened to the stall?  It all cooked super smoothly and was ready at 4:45 am with no intervention from me!

Double boo!  I had to get up early anyway AND I now have a brisket resting that won't be eaten until about 1pm.  I wrapped the brisket in pink paper and put it in a cooler.  Will it last until 1pm?  Should I put it back on the grill later in an attempt to re-set the bark?  Any advice welcome please.  Back to bed now!

 

 

 

[Drew]

I would wrap it in foil and keep in the oven at a temp of 70 C.  That would keep it warm and prevent any bacteria.  It will be fine although the bark will be gone   

I wonder why your briskets cook so quick.  Mine take about ten hours or so. I do cook mine at about 107c and take it off at 93c(a bit higher than you) or so.   It’s not unusual for the stall to last 4-5 hours.  

[tekobo]

Thanks for the really prompt response @Drew.  My guess is that your briskets are a lot larger.  This one came off a breed of cow called a Dexter - they are cute, relatively small cows that taste very good.  I will accept that I will lose the bark and report back on how it eats later.  

[tony b]

The pink butcher paper will help retain the bark better than bare foil, as it will absorb some moisture.

I do both - wrap in the pink paper after the stall is over and back on the grill until IT target; then the paper-wrapped meat goes into foil and a heavy bath towel and into the cooler to rest until dinner. You can hold a butt or brisket several hours using this method. 

[Tucker]

I used to do brisket low-n-slow until someone on this forum introduced the fast-n-hot method.

I only do brisket fast-n-hot now.

Very reliable timing, temp, etc.

Put brisket on cooker, indirect @ 350f, let it go until internal temp hits 160f. Put it into a foil pan, add 1/2 cup beef broth, cover and let it go another 2.5 hours.

If you want a bit of bark, at 2 hours into the foil phase, take it out and let it sit on grate to bark up.

This method is pretty much always at 4.5 hours of cook time and renders excellent results.

[tekobo]

Thank you all very much.  I used a modification of @Drew's method - kept the pink paper I had already wrapped the brisket in and put it in the oven to keep it warm.  It turned out very well.  In fact our neighbour's 15 year old daughter was so mesmerised by the meat as I sliced it that I had to repeat the question about how many slices she wanted. 

I like @tony b's method of wrapping the joint in a bath towel to keep the brisket warm and I definitely want to try @Tucker's more predictable method.  The funny thing about trying so hard to make sure that the meat was ready bang on time was that, of course, my guests were not.  Reminded me to chill...

[Tyrus]

I just recently did a 9lb beef shoulder clod. Put it on at three in the afternoon, what was I thinking? Duh. Anyway 9hrs later I pulled it and wrapped it foil and a heavy towel and put it to bed. That one was on offset, great bark. A few weeks back I did one at 275 on the KK 8lbs for 6 hrs and a fraction, cherry wood, great bark too. Tekobo, don't tell anyone but at midnite I was toast, so I layed down on the couch just for a minute, poof it was morning. The meat was still quite warm, didn't dry out...had it for breakfeast. Does this help?

[tekobo]

18 minutes ago, Tyrus said:

A few weeks back I did one at 275 on the KK 8lbs for 6 hrs and a fraction, cherry wood, great bark too. Tekobo, don't tell anyone but at midnite I was toast, so I layed down on the couch just for a minute, poof it was morning. The meat was still quite warm, didn't dry out...had it for breakfeast. Does this help?

Yes it does.  Like I said, I need to chill. 

[MacKenzie]

Another roaring success, tekobo.     

[Pequod]

Late to the party, but I do my briskets at 275-300F (that’s 135-150C for the civilized world). Never see a stall. Generally wrapping in pink butcher paper once the bark sets in 4-5 hours. Start probing 1 hour later and every 30 minutes thereafter. Generally done in 7 hours. Let it rest for at least one hour in the butcher paper. If holding longer, wrapped in towels in a cooler. 

[tony b]

4 hours ago, tekobo said:

Like I said, I need to chill. 

At least you've figured out the adult beverage solution to this problem! 

[Bruce Pearson]

What’s an adult beverage?

[tekobo]

1 hour ago, Bruce Pearson said:

What’s an adult beverage?

If you were old enough to have one @Bruce Pearson, you would know.  On that basis, not wanting to corrupt you, I won't explain about adult beverages.  Cherish your liver, I might need it one day. 

[tony b]

1 minute ago, tekobo said:

 Cherish your liver, I might need it one day. 

We might have to auction it off on this site, given the number of folks here that love to imbibe!