Doing a brisket or two soon

FanOfFanboys

So I have down two briskets since I got my egg. One i mostly followed the Travis method. Came out ok. The 2nd I got the egg as low temp as I could hold and did until it was done. Came out amazing, one of the best briskets I have ever had. Now there are a lot of other variables as well. They were done like a year apart so when i did the 2nd I was much better with the egg for one. Also, I think I had a much higher quality piece of meat when I did the second which would probably be the biggest factor. 

I am doing a big cookout with couple neighbors in two weeks from Saturday. There will be around 50 people, adults and kids. Live band, bouncy house, corn hole boards, etc. Neighbor is doing wings, another is doing pulled pork, another is doing something else (forget) and i am doing brisket. 

My questions are: 1) how do I get a high quality piece of meat for the brisket? I want marbling and such to be as good as possible. 2) should I do 1 or 2 briskets? can two easily be done on egg? I think the times I have done in past the one took up most of the area 3) I was thinking jack daniels wood chips. what other wood chips would be best for a brisket? I will use a homemade rub that has a bit of heat to it. 

Any and all other tips will be appreciated. 

DMW

I'll answer your first question.

http://www.snakeriverfarms.com/competitive-bbq-collection/

lousubcap

While @DMW pointed you to eggstremely high quality brisket, I would suggest you save quite a few $$ (unless you know this crowd quite well) and find a local butcher and order a CAB or prime packer in the 14-16# range. Don't know your BGE size but you can get that size brisket on a LBGE (may have to initially lay it over a brick until it shrinks).  If you have the ability to go two-high then you could do two at once, although with everything else on the menu you could probably get by with one.

Oak is the preferred wood around here but since I can't find it, I just the Jack Daniels chips and it turns out well.  All the above is opinion and we all know what those are worth. Enjoy the cook!

FanOfFanboys

Thanks to both of you

My Egg is a large. I think one 14-16# would be sufficient. 

What is CAB?

I do not currently have the setup for tiered cooking and won't before this particular cook either. 

I live in Columbia, SC and unfortunately not many high quality butchers around. I will call and see what they can order though. 

FanOfFanboys

And I just looked at that link. That looks amazing and I have no doubt is amazing but I am going to pass on $110 brisket ha. I could see myself doing that one day but it would be for me and a small group of people I like a lot ha. This will be comprised mostly of casual friends and about 20 of the people there I won;t even know as they'll be invited by neighbors. 

DMW

As an FYI, that $110 doesn't include shipping. Add approx $85 to that. You did say you wanted marbling to be as good as possible.

FanOfFanboys

Just googled and saw CAB means certified angus beef, upper third of choice. I think that would be perfect level for me. 

FanOfFanboys

DMW said:

As an FYI, that $110 doesn't include shipping. Add approx $85 to that. You did say you wanted marbling to be as good as possible.

Ha very true. I did not realize brisket went that high in price. That is around $7-8/lb before shipping and $12-13/lb with shipping. Crazy. I can buy a solid steak at that price ha. 

DMW

FanOfFanboys said:

DMW said:

As an FYI, that $110 doesn't include shipping. Add approx $85 to that. You did say you wanted marbling to be as good as possible.

Ha very true. I did not realize brisket went that high in price. That is around $7-8/lb before shipping and $12-13/lb with shipping. Crazy. I can buy a solid steak at that price ha. 

I'll bet good money that brisket prepared properly you would enjoy just as much, if not more than steak.

FanOfFanboys

Doing a google search I found this link. Pretty interesting

http://www.tmbbq.com/what-i-learned-at-brisket-camp/

lousubcap

You may find a butcher that can get you  prime for around the same prices as CAB, but with beef prices going up, who knows.  Don't know if there's a Costco near you but infrequently they will get prime packers in stock. 

And give the Aaron Franklin brisket videos a look-some good info along with all the other reference materials out there.

FanOfFanboys

DMW said:

DMW said:

As an FYI, that $110 doesn't include shipping. Add approx $85 to that. You did say you wanted marbling to be as good as possible.

Ha very true. I did not realize brisket went that high in price. That is around $7-8/lb before shipping and $12-13/lb with shipping. Crazy. I can buy a solid steak at that price ha. 

I'll bet good money that brisket prepared properly you would enjoy just as much, if not more than steak.

Oh I do not doubt. I have only had brisket twice where I was absolutely enthralled with it, rest of times i found a bit dry, but those two times would both be in my top 4 meat eating experiences in my life. 

FanOfFanboys

lousubcap said:

You may find a butcher that can get you  prime for around the same prices as CAB, but with beef prices going up, who knows.  Don't know if there's a Costco near you but infrequently they will get prime packers in stock. 

And give the Aaron Franklin brisket videos a look-some good info along with all the other reference materials out there.

I have heard of Aaron Franklin, I will check out some videos. 

No costco around here. 

Eggcelsior

I did a CAB brisket 2 weeks ago, it was fantastic. I still want to do the SRF one.

TexanOfTheNorth

FanOfFanboys said:

So I have down two briskets since I got my egg. One i mostly followed the Travis method. Came out ok. The 2nd I got the egg as low temp as I could hold and did until it was done. Came out amazing, one of the best briskets I have ever had. Now there are a lot of other variables as well. They were done like a year apart so when i did the 2nd I was much better with the egg for one. Also, I think I had a much higher quality piece of meat when I did the second which would probably be the biggest factor. 

I stopped reading right here. How does anyone manage to get just "ok" results with the Travis method???  :-O

FanOfFanboys

TexanOfTheNorth said:

FanOfFanboys said:

So I have down two briskets since I got my egg. One i mostly followed the Travis method. Came out ok. The 2nd I got the egg as low temp as I could hold and did until it was done. Came out amazing, one of the best briskets I have ever had. Now there are a lot of other variables as well. They were done like a year apart so when i did the 2nd I was much better with the egg for one. Also, I think I had a much higher quality piece of meat when I did the second which would probably be the biggest factor. 

I stopped reading right here. How does anyone manage to get just "ok" results with the Travis method???  :-O

keep reading and you'll see :-)

nolaegghead

FanOfFanboys said:

Doing a google search I found this link. Pretty interesting

http://www.tmbbq.com/what-i-learned-at-brisket-camp/

That's pretty informative, about the meat grades.  I think they missed something about the wagyu - the wagyu fat is mostly soft fat and it renders like crazy.  Tastes better.

sumoconnell

I got 2 briskets on my large with an AR, fed 31 people with leftovers.  About 1/2 of the folks were hungry teenagers.

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1154680/double-trouble

Setup with a spider with a stone, and one brisket on bottom of AR, and the other on top.

FanOfFanboys

With a Google search I found a butcher I think will have what I need. He is in the next town over. Closed today but will call Thursday once he opens. Here is his site. Claims to only sell CAB and prime beef. http://www.thehappybutcher.com/home.html

Once I hear from him will roll from there. I think a 14-16# will be perfect with how much other food will be there. The other meats I listed do not include all the side dishes we will have. 

With pork butt I have my timing down pretty good. I am thinking with a 14lb brisket that i want to eat at 5:30 I need to put on around 2am if I plan to do around 225? Or should I put on earlier than that?

DMW

nolaegghead said:

FanOfFanboys said:

Doing a google search I found this link. Pretty interesting

http://www.tmbbq.com/what-i-learned-at-brisket-camp/

That's pretty informative, about the meat grades.  I think they missed something about the wagyu - the wagyu fat is mostly soft fat and it renders like crazy.  Tastes better.

I had no idea there was a Camp Brisket. If they run this next January, might need to take a vacation and get away from the cold.

TexanOfTheNorth

I did a 12lber this past weekend (USDA prime) and it took about 15hrs. at 250*.

If 14lbs. is your trimmed weight then you might need more time than what you've indicated. Keep in mind that you can FTC for serveral hours if necessary. If I were you, I'd shoot for being finished 2-3 hours before 5:30. You can never tell exactly how long a brisket is going to take and, imo, better to be done a little early than to be pushing it at the end.

SmokeyPitt

What about just going back to the place where you got your last brisket? 

FanOfFanboys

SmokeyPitt said:

What about just going back to the place where you got your last brisket? 

Got in NC from a butcher there my bro in law knows. Couple hours away.

FanOfFanboys

TexanOfTheNorth said:

I did a 12lber this past weekend (USDA prime) and it took about 15hrs. at 250*.

If 14lbs. is your trimmed weight then you might need more time than what you've indicated. Keep in mind that you can FTC for serveral hours if necessary. If I were you, I'd shoot for being finished 2-3 hours before 5:30. You can never tell exactly how long a brisket is going to take and, imo, better to be done a little early than to be pushing it at the end.

so maybe put on around midnight?

TexanOfTheNorth

I'd do whatever you're comfortable with; estimating your cook time on the weight of your brisket after trimming. You can also bump your temp up along the way if you see that you're running close on time and even wrap, if necessary.

If it were me, I'd probably put it on at midnight and go to bed rather than stay up to get it on at 2:00am

BYS1981

DMW said:

As an FYI, that $110 doesn't include shipping. Add approx $85 to that. You did say you wanted marbling to be as good as possible.

You can also do 2 day shipping and it's about $40 instead of $85. Don't get be wrong, I think it's still expensive, but you can save $40 if you plan it.

DMW

BYS1981 said:

As an FYI, that $110 doesn't include shipping. Add approx $85 to that. You did say you wanted marbling to be as good as possible.

You can also do 2 day shipping and it's about $40 instead of $85. Don't get be wrong, I think it's still expensive, but you can save $40 if you plan it.

Good to know, I thought overnight was required. Thanks!

nolaegghead

Options are next day and 2nd day.  My buddy Drew said the next day was only $16 more, so he did that.