Multiple Briskets flats on large egg

Feeley01

Hello, new egghead here. I have the large green egg and I want to smoke something for a BBQ in a couple weeks for 40+ people. I've only smoked a 5 lb brisket flat.  Flats are all I can find at my local groceries. Has anyone ever smoked more than one flat at the same time in a large egg? Do they sell rack extenders? How much brisket would be enough for let's say 30 people, since I plan on making burgers and dogs too. Appreciate any advice from the eggxperts

gonepostal

There are quite a few accessories out there but i only have a raised grid that occasionally gets some use if i'm doing a large cook. I'm far from an expert...but if i found myself in your shoes...i seriously would consider loading up the Large with Pork butts. They are hard to ruin and would go really well with what you have planned.

I haven't tried more than 1 brisket at a time...so i'll defer to someone else to offer help with those questions. Good luck with the party...and post pics!

gmac

I did 5 whole packers on 2 larges a couple years ago. To be honest it was a pretty stressful day and I ended up reaching to SGH and CenTex during the cook to talk me off the ledge. Problem was that all of them cooked at different rates. They got done and were good but some rode longer than others and that’s pretty normal for brisket. 

I used a home made raised grill on one and had to put  2 briskets on the lower rack for each and so they were leaned together rather than overlapped. It worked but again, stressful. For 40 I’d be doing about 20 lbs total. Flats may fit together better than packers on the grill. 

I agree that pulled pork would make your life a lot easier and is a lot more forgiving but you can do multiple briskets. I’d be ordering an extender from Ceramic Grill Store. I made my own with a 2nd smaller grill and a few bolts but the purchased ones would likely work better so you’re not working around the bolts. 

Best of luck. It’s these sort of things that have me looking at making a small stick burner because that’s gonna do a better job in my opinion. But if you don’t do this often, you can make it work. 

GrillSgt

Do da butts. 

unoriginalusername

I got the cast iron and raised grid set for the keg which fits the large egg and that would allow an 8 pound up top and a 14 on the lower level if you had to pack it in 

lousubcap

Another vote for the butts-much wider margin to nail the finish.  Much less stress during the cook.  Brisket flats are a bit of a challenge and with multiple you are asking for multiple challenges to get right.  FWIW-
BTW-welcome aboard and enjoy the journey.  Above all, have fun!

logchief

Hey, first off Welcome to the jungle.  Hang on to your wallet everybody's got a favorite toy you need to have.

I've got the same as @gmac 17" Weber grid with bolt risers, cheap.


Go with the butts, much less of a headache for a crowd.

gmac

logchief said:

Hey, first off Welcome to the jungle.  Hang on to your wallet everybody's got a favorite toy you need to have.

I've got the same as @gmac 17" Weber grid with bolt risers, cheap.


Go with the butts, much less of a headache for a crowd.

Exactly. Works great but I find the bolts a pain to work around with tongs, especially with things like ribs that you just wanna grab and flip. 

Feeley01

Thanks everyone for all the input. Sounds like the butt is the way to go and I'll be sure to post pics. Any tips on wood for smoke? Last time I soaked hickory chunks in water for about an hour prior and all the chunks caught fire raising the smoker temperature. I ended up taking them out.

pab

I would guess if your wood chunks actually caught fire your temps were already too high. You only need a softball size area going when you put in your indirect piece. When running my large at 250/275* the bottom vent is only open about the thickness of a credit card and the petals on the daisy wheel maybe open a quarter to half an inch max. And I never soak my wood chunks as it isn't necessary. 

lousubcap

Good call with the butts.  Pecan, apple, hickory or cherry work well but almost any hardwood will do the job.  Mix your smoke wood in with the lump load so as the fire travels thru the lump it will encounter your wood. And no need to soak as it doesn't do anything.  
Make sure you have a good sized air-gapped drip pan for the renderings.  FWIW-

Feeley01

Found a 16.75 lb pork Shoulder at a local Costco. I'm assuming there are 2 in there. Getting ready for dry rub and then seeing up the egg. More pictures to follow. Please share any tips. I'm following Dr. BBQ's recipe in the green egg recipe book. I'm expecting at this weight at least a 12 hour smoke. More pictures to follow

Feeley01

Mixed hickory wood in with my lump coal ( all green egg brand) and wood chunks still caught on fire raising the temp to 500 degrees. Trying to smother it out now and start over. I don't think these butts will get done in time

SmokeOnTheMountain

You’ll be fine, and if it’s served a little late it’s served a little late. If you find yourself in a pinch you can do a turbo butt. I myself haven’t tried one yet, but a lot of guys on here have said good things about them on multiple different posts.

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1194236/turbo-butt

This post has some good info on how to do it. Hopefully some of the other guys who have done one before can chime in and give some more tips/tricks.

Feeley01

Butts are on

Drummerboy

Not to be a Debbie Downer... but that does not look like enough lump for 2 large butts. I made that mistake along time ago when the lump ran out and had to take off the butts, grid and platesetter - while hot!

The butts I get at Sam's Club are that size. It generally takes me about 20-24 hours at 235 deg. I'm not familiar with the turbo method, so can't really comment.

Good luck!! I hope it all works out!

Now I'm hungry... I need to go buy meat... 

SmokeOnTheMountain

@Feeley01 how’d they turn out this morning? Still going strong?

bikesAndBBQ

Please post your process for getting to temperature. Something is off causing your wood chunks to combust like that. 

Feeley01

Sorry for the late update. The BBQ went on all day and I'm just getting to my phone now.

So the night before I'm not sure what my issue was the first time. I put a charcoal starter in the middle with the wood placed around like in the previous photo and walked away for 10 minutes; lid open, vents quarter open top and bottom. Came back to flames and all the coals were basically red. So I put the cap on, closed the vent and waited for it to cool down to about 250F and then added more lump coal, and less wood on the next try. I was able to maintain temperaturte between 270F and 280F for the next next 8-10 hours. I'm going to work and practice on getting the temps right with just coal and wood. Might be a waste but it shouldn't be this hard.

The butts were pretty good. They went on around 12:45 am. The smaller butt reached a internal temp of 180F by 6:30am and I immediately took it off and wrapped in foil adding more Apple juice in case it was dry. The larger butt reached 165F at 7:20am and then wrapped in foil. I rotated the butts and put back on. By 10:30 am both butts were at internal 198F/202F. The ends of each butt were a little dry probably because they were closer to the edge of the indirect heat. I didn't trim anything off either butt and placed fat side up and let the smoker do the rest. I was amazed that almost 17 lbs took less than 10 hours to smoke. I kept reading about an hour per pound but this wasn't the case (not really all that low and slow I guess). 

When butts were done I kept in foil and wrapped in towel and put in cooler. Also poured boiling hot water over the towel. BBQ started at 3pm so I didn't want butts going bad. Saw a catering video that said this method adds more time and if wrapped correctly and  won't penetrate the meat. 

The end! Butts are definitely much easier than brisket so thanks for that tip. Any other advice is greatly appreciated and if I can I'll try to post a video

 

FrostyEgg

Glad they finished for you!

A few pointers/thoughts.

Fill the lump up the top of the fire ring before you start it. No point in starting it and then adding more lump. Also, I typically add smoke wood right before meat goes on so I can ensure I have clean smoke prior to putting meat on. Try to start the Egg early and get your temp stable before adding meat. Catch the temp on the way up. It's easier to catch it than to overshoot and try to get the Egg to cool down.

With butts, I never wrap and I refuse to do overnight cooks I like my sleep). Sounds like these finished well ahead of time. Wrapping will help push through the stall, but if you have the time, let em ride. Pork butt is the most forgiving meat you can smoke on the BGE.