Brisket is taking forever

simonsays

so when i normally smoke my brisket i cook it at about 225 and when the internal temp in the point hits 163ish i wrap it in foil to power through the "stall"process. i wanted to try to smoke this last brisket without having to wrap it. i put my brisket (9.6 lbs) on the smoker at 10:15 last night thinking by the morning it would be done. its now almost 2pm and the internal temp of the point is still at 163ish (the flat is 170). 16 hrs seems mighty long for that size piece of meat. i understand the "stall" takes a while but i feel like this is taking unusually long. any thoughts? if im not going to wrap is this normal?

Chris_Wang

2hrs/lb is not uncommon at 225

loveTheEgg

I have cooked several at 225 10lb packer and I remember on taking 21 hours, turned out great! I pulled it at 188IT. so I think you are on target!

Terrebandit

I had one go 18 hours that was about that same size. I always take them over 200 it.

bountifulranch

Do you get nervous running the egg overnight?  I want to do a brisket but can't imagine going to sleep and getting up with lump still burning and a keeping the temp that low for that long.  I am a newbie.

NPHuskerFL

Not at all unusual. Grab a cold one and relax. I have had 8#-15# take over 20hrs running at 225-250F. The extra time will help break down the connective tissue and fat will render. Be patient and remember if you are peekin' you ain't cookin'.

Terrebandit

bountifulranch said:

Do you get nervous running the egg overnight?  I want to do a brisket but can't imagine going to sleep and getting up with lump still burning and a keeping the temp that low for that long.  I am a newbie.

I've done it a couple times and I never get much sleep thinking about it. Best thing to do it to get is stabilized around 250 and hope for the best. If you have a Maverick, that helps because it will let you know when your pit temp rises or falls above or below your preset cooking temp range. It helps.

lousubcap

The key to running overnight w/o any controller assistance is to make sure the BGE is stable either before or after you load it up with whatever you are cooking. And by stable I mean a good hour or so with no tweaking of the vents.  Then you can get at least a solid four hours of sleep before peeking and four or more after that.  And there is no doubt that a controller will help eliminate the angst but they are not fool-proof.  FWIW.  YMMV-