Follow-up on internal brisket temp thread

Fairalbion

Thank you all who answered my novice question about the internal temperature of a beef brisket. I put your advice into practice yesterday, taking 8 hours, and getting fantastic results, I now understand why everybody raves about the wonders of a “low-n-slow” Egg-cooked brisket.[p]I bought a little 3 lb brisket from Publix yesterday morning and did not have time to marinate it overnight in anything fancy. So I just wiped it down, slathered it in extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkled it liberally with Maldon Sea Salt Crystals and coarsely-ground black pepper. Then I stuck in the freezer for ½ hour as suggested by Spring Chicken.[p]I perched an inverted V Rack on a 13 X 9 aluminium drip pan, brought the Egg up to around 250°F and stabilized it there. I dropped a couple of big chunks of apple wood onto the coals and then put in the place setter in the legs up position. The Brisket went on the rack, the thermometer probe went into the meat and I put about 20oz water into the drip pan. The whole lot went onto the place setter and cooking commenced.[p]It took a while to get the dome temperature into the low 200s – I think because it took time for the place setter to heat up. Once it had, though, I kept things at around 240° to 250°. The meat temperature plateau (thank you, KennyG, for the graph) came around 4½ hours into the cook. It stuck at 160° for about 2 hours and the temperature actually dropped to the upper 150s. I stuck though it; boosting the dome temp to around 260° during the plateau and then 275° in the final (8th) hour.[p]Now I want to try a decent-sized brisket which I guess will take a whole lot longer than the 8 hours needed for my 3lb job from the local grocery store. Thank you again.

Spring Chicken

Fairalbion,
I enjoyed your breakdown of the cook process. Glad it turned out okay for you. A good brisket can be a great confidence builder. Now on to bigger cooks with what you learned from this one. Don't you just love it?[p]Spring Chicken
Spring Texas USA

Unknown

Fairalbion,
Really glad things turned out. Just a couple of things I thought of. I usually use mesquite wood for smoking brisket. I also get my brisket from a butcher. The grocery stores usually remove the fat cap, which I think is important to have when doing a brisket. Especially for any great length of time.