Can you turbo smoke briskets?

Powak

After doing a couple turbo butts this weekend I was wondering if you can turbo briskets as well? And would it be roughly the same process, 350° till done. 

lousubcap

I know it has been done (inaugural brisket camp I believe, at a minimum) but I have not done it.  Paging @SGH and @nolaegghead as they  should be able to provide the process.  I seem to recall a narrow finish-line window but beyond that I will defer.  FWIW-

smokeyw

Absolutely.

buzd504

I've done it.  It works.  You just have a smaller window to catch it when it's done.

Since it's hotter, you will also have more carry over cook, so I would take it off a little early and FTC - it will get happy in the cooler.

fishlessman

this one was turbo at 350 for somewhere between 5 and 6 hours. it went direct mor maybe 3 hours then wrapped in foil with a couple ounces broth. i do this with flats. texture and tase wise its good, but its definately not the caliber of a low and slow, its more steak like. you need alot of smoke wood and with the fat dripping, the yard gets foggy

Scottborasjr

Like @fishlessman said it's not a bad process for flats. I've never done it with a full packer. With packers I start slow and continually bump temp up as it gets closer to the finish if it needs to be rushed.

fishlessman

heres the method where i learned how. old dave was a poster here way back when

http://olddavespo-farm.blogspot.com/2009/03/high-temp-brisket-direct-cooked.html

Focker

A chef on the Virtual Weber Bullet forum, Kevin Kreuger, swore by the high heater method when I first started out in the late nineties.

smokeyw

Myron Mixon turbos all his briskets in competition.

Phatchris

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

SGH

Powak said:

After doing a couple turbo butts this weekend I was wondering if you can turbo briskets as well? And would it be roughly the same process, 350° till done. 

Brother, turbo is becoming quite popular across the board. Several big timers are now turboing brisket. John Mueller says he cooks brisket at 350 degrees. I'm sure that there is some truth in this as his pits sit where they can be seen by guests and customers. Myron Mixon has been cooking hot and fast for over a decade. He actually teaches this method in his class. Look around on other forums and you will see a plethora of people now cooking above 300 degrees. 
There is a couple of snip it clips on Youtube where you can here Franklin say that depending on the weather conditions that he runs as high as 300 degrees himself. 
So in a nutshell, you certainly can turbo brisket. There are a couple of things that you need to be mindful of when turboing brisket though. Carry over and tightning being two of them. Things happen much faster and don't slow down near as fast at the higher temps. It is for this reason that I feel that the higher grades of brisket hold up better to the high heat cooks than the lower grades. If you notice, Mixon and Mueller use at a minimum prime grade. As does Franklin. 

@fishlessman
Old Dave use to post regularly on the Backwoods forum as well. He seemed to fade away into oblivion though. I really enjoyed most of his posts. 

clemsontyger97

Question regarding method from Old Dave in the link above.   It mentions more of a steak-like end product.   For those of you who turbo, is that your experience?   Not that I don't enjoy steak, but if I'm dropping the $ for a brisket I'd prefer it come out closer to brisket than steak

CTMike

Do some searching over on BBQ-brethren.com for Bludawgs turbo brisket method - he will set you straight. 

SGH

clemsontyger97 said:

Question regarding method from Old Dave in the link above.   It mentions more of a steak-like end product.   For those of you who turbo, is that your experience?   

No sir, it's not. If you read the text carefully you will notice that he is cooking raised direct (basically grilling). This is where the steak like taste is coming from. Tons of fat hitting on the coals and producing tons of smoke. 
For the record, I have ran brisket as high as 440 degrees (indirect) and it does not taste like steak. It's not the high heat giving it the steak like taste. It's the drippings hitting the hot coals. 

fishlessman

clemsontyger97 said:

Question regarding method from Old Dave in the link above.   It mentions more of a steak-like end product.   For those of you who turbo, is that your experience?   Not that I don't enjoy steak, but if I'm dropping the $ for a brisket I'd prefer it come out closer to brisket than steak

old daves method is for a cheap store bought flat, it goes better with mustard and onions on a sandwich and really is not good with bbq sauce. it comes out extremely tender and juicy but either you get a steak type flavor as mentioned if you follow directions, or you added too much liquid and it tastes like pot roast. this method needs heavy smoke, i dont use chunks or chips, i go out to the fire wood pile and use a whole split. texture wise its brisket

Cookinbob

My last 2 briskets were 12 - 13 lbs., cooked at 275 grate per maverick, 310 dome. Finished in 8 hours, no stall, no foil. Both were choice grade, and excellent. 

SkinnyV

Yep, prime 10lb trimmed. A bit over 6 hours @275.

GrateEggspectations

I've never done a turbo brisket, so I'm no authority, but I'm guessing you'll have a harder time generating good smoke on account of the higher temps.

Hub

It sounds as if it certainly can be done, but I just don't want to do it.  Call me old school ... I'm cooking brisket low n slow or I'm not cooking it at all.  To each his own though ... no problem with others doing a turbo brisket, but not me.

Smoker317

Just stumbled across this thread, not sure what happened last weekend, but I had an 8 pounder smoking over a couple cherry chunks, I was probably four hours into the smoke or so and the temp was stabilized around 235 grate and I was just starting the stall around 160.  I got busy and came back 2 hours later and hear my maverick high temp alarm going off.  My grate temp was just shy of 300 and my poor brisket was 195.  I pulled immediately, wrapped and let it rest for 45 minutes.  My ten year old told me the "steak" had good flavor but prefers medium rare.  LOL.   We marinated and used in fajitas and other dishes, but what a waste.  So I don't know if that qualifies as a turbo cook, but it went horribly wrong.  Still don't know why the temp climbed.  I used royal oak and previously have never had any issues.  Maybe time to check out one of those electronic gizmos some of you guys are using to maintain perfect temp?

Toxarch

I've never tried a turbo brisket. My question is, would it be a good idea to turbo (350°) the brisket through the stall and then drop the temp down to 225-250° soon after? It will of course take time to lower the egg temp but wouldn't this help the meat temp even out so you can catch the end of the cook a little better? Then you wouldn't be too hot in the FTC and wouldn't need to FTC at a lower temp.

buzd504

Toxarch said:

I've never tried a turbo brisket. My question is, would it be a good idea to turbo (350°) the brisket through the stall and then drop the temp down to 225-250° soon after? It will of course take time to lower the egg temp but wouldn't this help the meat temp even out so you can catch the end of the cook a little better? Then you wouldn't be too hot in the FTC and wouldn't need to FTC at a lower temp.

So reverse sear the brisket?

I think you are better off starting low and ramping up.  Also,  you risk a smolder and bad smoke if you significantly cut down the fire during the cook.