Packer cut brisket

Unknown

Nature Boy & New Bob - per our conversation yesterday I'm fixing to put on that 11.5 lb packer cut brisket tonite at 10:00pm - hopefully that will give me a finished product sometime late afternoon early evening. Pretty damp here today - gonna go with 250-260 dome for overnite. Brisket is rubbed up with Wild Willy's, garlic, & French's mustard, & resting comfortably in Fridge as we speak. Will post results - any last minute advice? ERIC

Bordello

E.B.,
Here's wishing you the best of luck with your cook. I was just supporting NB observation on the difference between dome and grill temps. Follow his advise. If you have an extra polder I think you would find it interesting to also measure the temp at the grill. I hope to here good results after the cook.
Cheers,
New Bob

Unknown

New Bob, - Only thing I'm wonderin' is where to put the polder - the flat is thinner than the point - reckon I'll just stick it somewhere in in the middle - & do the old fork test - here we go...ERIC

DavidR

E.B.,[p]To repeat what New Bob said. When doing a brisket, you should definately cook using grid temp rather than dome temp. Depending on your indirect setup, there will be quite a difference between dome temp and grid temp. Until I started doing this, I had dry briskets.[p]Take a Polder and run it throught a potato or something, or run it into your brisket until the probe tip is exposed to the air, BUT over the drip pan. That will give you an accurate temp that the meat is cooking at. Maintain a grid temp of between 210 - 220*.

Nature Boy

E.B., Sounds like you gotcha plan, and it sounds like a good un. One suggestion is to take your polder (you won't need to read the meat temp until the morning) and stick it through the upper outer edge of the brisket, so the tip of the probe hangs out an inch or 2. Make sure the polder tip is also over the drip pan, and monitor your cooking level that way. I have had setups where the cooking level was 225, and the dome only 230. But with other setups the difference has been as great as 70-80 degrees. The closer you can keep your cooking level to 225, the better your results should be. Over time, as the ceramic heats through, the dome and grid temps should get closer to each other....but this is not always true...especially if you use liquid in the drip pan. [p]Also, I try and get up a couple times during the night to check cooking temps.[p]You are in for a great meal.
Beers to you!
Chris

Nature Boy

DavidR,
Dang! We almost ran into each other![p]And you said it in fewer words.
Beers
Chris

Nature Boy

Eric,
I always measure temps in the flat.
Enjoy.
Chris

DavidR

Nature Boy,[p]LOL! Yeah, that was close one! I don't want him to go through what I went through

Unknown

Nature Boy, 10:00pm & brisket is in the Egg - fist size chunk of red oak & a small handful of hickory chips. Been drizzly here off & on - but it's 'sposed to clear out soon. Will wait 'till a.m. when things have stabilized & then maybe do the dome vs grid thing. In the meantime will get her going at 260 dome & then turn in, with a couple of spot checks during the nite. I know from past experience that the 260 dome temp has been pretty good to me for overniters, so will go with it tonite - but after hearing for some time now the grid vs dome talk I do intend to see what's goin' on with my particular egg & set-up. Packer cut's pretty long - had to wrestle a little bit to keep the ends from touching the dome wall. Not too worried; have seen in briskets past a pretty good "shrink coefficient". Smell of red oak & hickory coming thru the screen door - mmmm...ERIC