Need help with an overnight brisket cook...

bearcatfan1976

I have done probably a half dozen or so briskets on my Egg.  Very please with the flavor, texture and smoke ring that I get.  My only issue is that when I do them overnight (no wrapping with foil or butcher paper because I'm too lazy to get up in the middle of the night) the bottom of the flat gets crispy.  It's usually the thinnest part of the flat to where I really have to apply pressure with my serrated bread knife to get through the bottom .  I smoke with legs up at 250 and I do not use a water pan.  I usually just cover a pizza pan with foil to catch the drippings.  Would a water pan help or are my crispy issues just a product of a non-covered brisket cooking for 12-14 hours?

lousubcap

Welcome aboard and enjoy the journey.  Above all, continue to have fun,

I foil protect the thin parts of the flat (even when over the platesetter) for a great majority of the cook.  Shrinkage will cause it get directly exposed for while but then I adjust the foil.   If this part of your brisket is outside your platesetter it is getting direct heat during the cook.  FWIW-

bearcatfan1976

By foil protect do you mean place foil over the grate itself to act as a shield between the brisket and the heat below?

GrateEggspectations

bearcatfan1976 said:

By foil protect do you mean place foil over the grate itself to act as a shield between the brisket and the heat below?

I believe that is what he meant. 

lousubcap

Actually I just foil protect the meat itself.  That way the foil can be easily removed to set up the bark as the cook progresses. 

Foghorn

As @lousubcap suggests, you are probably getting some of the rising heat onto the bottom of your brisket.  It could be as simple as it being radiant heat from your drip pan.  Do you have something (foil balls, spacers, whatever) to elevate it off the platesetter to get an air pocket beneath the drip pan?  That may be all you need.

I'm pretty compulsive about this and try to have multiple layers of protection from the rising heat.  Here is my setup.

Platesetter:




Foil (1 cm foil balls for spacing beneath the foil are not shown)




Standard grid:




More foil (sorry it's dirty - at the end of a cook):




Then another grid:





The heat comes up around the sides and (hopefully) is hotter on the top of the brisket than on the bottom.  For this reason I cook with the fat cap up.  (People can argue about fat up or down, but nobody argues about put the fat toward the heat).

I hope that helps.

CigarCityEgger

I think a drip/water pan underneath would alleviate any char on the bottom of your brisket, worked for me anyways. 

bearcatfan1976

Awesome.  Appreciate all the help everyone.  I picked up a 10lb packer from Costco last night and will toss it on Friday night.  I'll post pics if I have issues.