Flat cut brisket

Btbeam

I am going to try my first long cook tomorrow. I have a 4 1/2 lb flat cut brisket, full packer brisket is very difficult to find around here. Of course I made the mistake of inviting another couple over to try it. Any idea how long it will take? Also I need to account for the cooler time in foil correct? Any tips and suggestions would be great.

henapple

Depends on the temp. Usually at 275 grid I'm running 1 hr/lb. Make sure to pull when tender... Not time. Good luck, let us know how it goes?

Btbeam

Any ballpark on time I am just trying to coordinate with dinner tme?

Grillmagic

I will be following this post, I wimped out on doing one last week and did a 4/1/2 # pork loin instead, they always come out great. There is a interesting Brisket video from Dr BBQ on the start up page of this forum  plus there is the Travis method that gets great reviews.

Good Luck

Shiff

A flat is very difficult to cook especially such a small one.  You could try the Travis method which is documented here:

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1138233/brisket-how-i-do-it/p1

or you could cook it the conventional way but use foil (Texas Crutch) during the cook to make it more tender. 

Two great sources of brisket cooking information are:

http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/1996/03/brisket.html

and

http://bubbatim.com/Bubba_s_Brisket.php

Btbeam

Should I start it about 8am for dinner at 6:30? That would account for some cooler time?

Skiddymarker

@Shiff - great advice. 

Travis method is almost foolproof, bark is important to some, not so much to others. Keep the temp low, start early and remove when it feels like butter or buttah for the Texans. FTC time can easily be 2 -3 hours with no ill effect. Good Luck. 

Btbeam

FTC ?

Black_Badger

Foil, towel, cooler. AKA faux cambro. 

+1 for Travis method if you're doing a flat for the first time.

Cheers

B_B

BuckeyeBob

+2 for Travis Method. And if you do his way, you won't need to start that early. My last one was bigger and took 6 hours total.

Btbeam

So I did the brisket today. Got it on by 8am and the IT of the brisket went up pretty fast. At 1130 it was at 156 where it stayed until 4pm. At that point I did the foil and cooked it until IT of 192. Then I pulled it and FTC for 90 minutes. The flavor was great and it was very tender but it was dry. Any thoughts what to try next?