Brisket Cook For Small Party Last Night

Jonathan1970

I don’t post much and haven’t been on the forum much. I was tasked with smoking brisket for 25 people, so jumped on here this week for tips and advice. Wanted to share my experience and thank everyone who posts here. 

* 16 lb. Packer Brisket
* 10 lb. Flat
* Meat Church Holy Cow Rub
* Meat Church Gospel Rub
* Mustard


* 3:00 pm on Friday afternoon I trimmed, applied a mustard base, and rub to briskets. Ratio on rubs were probably 70% Holy Cow / 30% Gospel. Wrapped them in plastic wrap (hate that sh*t) and placed in the fridge.  Also prepped my Traeger for the Packer and Large Green Egg for the Flat. Used Fogo Premium charcoal and hickory wood chunks on the Egg. Mesquite pellets on the Traeger. 

* 3:00 am Saturday morning. Fired up both grills with target temp of 250 degrees for both. At 3:45am both were sitting where I wanted, so put them on and grabbed a cup of coffee. Start time was my biggest concern. I decided to start early because I had a deadline for the party. The briskets cooked surprisingly fast, so starting that early was unnecessary. 

* 7:30am the briskets were 168 on the egg and 165 on the Traeger. Decided to wrap both in butcher paper. Note: I didn’t spritz the briskets directly during the cook. I did spritz the butcher paper with Apple Cider vinegar when I wrapped them. 

* 2:15 pm the thermometer went into them like going into melted butter. They were 202 / 205 internal. Now I got 4 hours before the party starts. Placed each brisket in a cooler (still in the butcher paper) cover with towels. 

* Around 5 pm I was concerned they were cooling off too much, so placed them in the oven a 150 degrees. When we were ready for the party, I placed them back in the cooler and covered with towels. Not sure this helped or not, but I was kind of freaking out. 

* 6:30 pm Sliced the brisket as people came through the line. Don’t slice ahead of time because the brisket will die on the board. Brisket turned out great, but could’ve been a little more moist. 

* Thought I was going to have leftovers, but didn’t consider the majority of people came back for more! It was a big hit. 

Again, thanks to everyone who contributes to this forum. I took a little here and a little there to make it a successful cook. Hope this post helps someone as well. 

6baluts

Looks like you had a fantastic party with some great eats.

lousubcap

No leftovers says it all.  Great result.  Congrats.

Foghorn

Well executed and documented.  Thanks for posting.

As for wanting it to be a little more moist, I'm curious if you wrapped them in some foil over the butcher paper?  I usually do that and they'll last at least 6 hours in a cooler - staying moist and above 140 degrees.