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First Brisket Tomorrow

cortguitarman
cortguitarman Posts: 2,061
edited March 2012 in EggHead Forum
Doing my first brisket tomorrow. Brisket is 8 lbs. I have a brisket rub - Tasty Licks Black Barts Brisket Rub. Any advice?
Mark Annville, PA

Comments

  • MaskedMarvel
    MaskedMarvel Posts: 3,136
    Hey CGM-

    I'm firing a brisket tonight.  Shooting for ~300 degrees.  HOPING for a 14 hour cook so I can make it to the Duke game on time..  I'll be up, if you need any specific help...

    Good luck!

    Don't rush it!
    Don't peek!
    Don't panic at the stall!
    Don't pull before ~195 (like butter with the probe)!

    8-Damien

    Large BGE and Medium BGE
    36" Blackstone - Greensboro!


  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot Posts: 6,959
    What MM said.  Plus, FTC (foil, towels, cooler) to rest and redistribute. An hour or two should do.
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • cortguitarman
    cortguitarman Posts: 2,061
    Thanks guys. I'll post pics tomorrow. I think I'll put it on at around 3:00 am Sunday morning. Hopefully it will be ready by 5 or 6 Sunday evening.
    Mark Annville, PA
  • cortguitarman
    cortguitarman Posts: 2,061
    VI, why do I need to wrap it in towels and let it rest for an hour? Can't I just let it rest for a few minutes like I would a steak or chicken? I've seen this method posted before, just don't understand why. Perhaps I'm the Village Idiot. :-o
    Mark Annville, PA
  • cortguitarman
    cortguitarman Posts: 2,061
    What is the setup that everybody uses? I was thinking platesetter, legs up with a drip pan underneath.
    Mark Annville, PA
  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot Posts: 6,959
    edited March 2012
    @cortguitarman,FTC allows the meat to rest after cooking and lets the juices to evenly redistribute throughout the brisket while continuing to breakdown the connective tissue to gelatin.  It takes longer on a large cut, like a brisket, than it does on a steak or chicken.Also, it gives you some flexibility in the timing of your cook.  It will keep warm this way for hours.  As you know, briskets will cook differently than an exact looking same brisket.  One may take an hour or two longer than the other.  So, if you start early enough to ensure that it will be done by dinnertime, then you are flexible if you FTC.


    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • cortguitarman
    cortguitarman Posts: 2,061
    Thanks for the info.
    Mark Annville, PA
  • njl
    njl Posts: 1,123
    If you FTC at 195F, how many hours could you hold the brisket in the cooler before you either have to eat it or refrigerate it?  Or I guess better asked, at what temp do you have to call it quits for the FTC and put it in the fridge? 
  • JMSetzler
    JMSetzler Posts: 75
    I like to preheat my cooler with a couple quarts of boiling water.  I do this about 20 minutes before I take a brisket or butt off the cooker.  When the meat comes off, I double foil it, drain the hot water from the cooler, put the meat in the cooler, and fold up several towels to occupy the cooler dead space, and then close the cooler up for at least an hour or keep it in there as long as 3 hours.  The meat will still be hot enough to serve after three hours if you follow this system. 
  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot Posts: 6,959
    I've never tested the limits, but have always heard that about 4 hours is the max.  I wouldn't disagree with that.
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • DevDave
    DevDave Posts: 40

    I've FTC'd for 2-3 hours with NO issues and still tons of heat...  I did what JMSetzler did, as well as cocoon the meat / foil in beach towels inside the cooler.

  • njl
    njl Posts: 1,123
    So, doing that before setting out on a 5 hour drive would be pushing it, and even then, you'd want to be serving it as soon as you arrived.  If I do this, it may make more sense to make it in advance, and transport it cold on ice, and plan to have to warm it up.
  • MaskedMarvel
    MaskedMarvel Posts: 3,136
    Pics, baby!!
    Large BGE and Medium BGE
    36" Blackstone - Greensboro!


  • cortguitarman
    cortguitarman Posts: 2,061
    Thought I did. Must have been in a different thread.
    Mark Annville, PA
  • cortguitarman
    cortguitarman Posts: 2,061
    I posted the pics on the thread, brisket uh, oh. I planned on a 14 hour cook, but it took 4. Still delicious! Temp climbed to 300. I have to adjust my dome because there is a gap allowing air to get in and smoke to escape.
    Mark Annville, PA
  • MaskedMarvel
    MaskedMarvel Posts: 3,136
    Looks great! Now I'm hungry!
    Large BGE and Medium BGE
    36" Blackstone - Greensboro!


  • Greygoose
    Greygoose Posts: 103
    good luck, i gave up completely on brisket after doing about 5 of them and trying ever recommendation made on the forum (low and slow, rubbed, mopped, injected, finished in oven, etc....etc....). It wanst that they came out bad, but they just didnt come out great. there are just too many other great things to make on this device that consistently come out great everytime without the fuss.  Could be that i'm just using flats, but not sure. brisket is about the only meat i now crockpot vs. egg. 

    HOpefully youll find the magic formula. this "Gooses goose is cooked" when it comes to brisket.

    GreyGoose
  • njl
    njl Posts: 1,123
    I bought a 6lb flat today...and will be trying my first Egg brisket this weekend.

    I haven't quite decided what do for a rub other than kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, and paprika.  Maybe some brown sugar, maybe some chili powder? 

    Not being the patient type, I'm planning to try indirect at about 300F, then around 145F foil it, and maybe add some garlic, then let it cook until it gets to around 195F, then rest it wrapped up in a cooler for an hour or two.  I figure the whole thing could be over in 8hr or less.

    When you wrap a brisket, but want a leave-in probe for temperature monitoring, do you wrap and then just poke the probe through the foil into the meat?
  • cortguitarman
    cortguitarman Posts: 2,061
    I did not foil mine until I pulled it off @ 195. Wrapped it in foil, then towels and placed in a cooler. My 8 lb brisket took 4 hours @ 300
    Mark Annville, PA
  • njl
    njl Posts: 1,123
    What I read last night is that foiling earlier is supposed to mostly avoid the stall and produce moister meat, since you're not letting the juices evaporate off.  Cooking at 300F, did you see much of a stall, or did the "high" temperature just power right through it?  How tender did yours turn out?  When we cook brisket in the oven in a wine/water mix, the end result is so tender, the slices have to be handled carefully or they fall apart, and you barely even need a dinner knife.
  • cortguitarman
    cortguitarman Posts: 2,061
    High temp powered through. Like I said earlier, I had planned on the cook taking 14 hours and it took 4. The only reason I put it in the cooler for so long is that it was finished at 8:00 in the morning. I had planned on 6 pm. However, the meat was very moist and tender. When I put a meat fork in after sitting in the cooler, the amount of juice that came out was amazing!
    Mark Annville, PA