I got an XL back in April. Since, I've smoked lots of pork ribs, and 7 briskets. Out of these 7, 2 were like my shoe sole, 2 were not bad, and 3 were really awesome (number 4, 6, an 7).
I brought the left overs from the last one to work, and next thing I know I'm getting hugs and comments like "phenomenal", etc.
It was then decided that I'll smoking briskets for 30 something people at the company wide annual picnic.
What did I get myself into...I told them about my statistics, they still want me to do it...
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Depending on how the brisket turns out you may wish for the donkey show.
It's company money, buy the best product you can find.
Green Man Group
@haroldopsf Welcome, congrats on the XL, and on the compliments.
Your honesty in terms of your results is refreshing. Don't worry, it'll be fine. And even if the cook doesn't meet your standards, it still the best BBQ most will have ever eaten.
The first 6 briskets I cooked were unwrapped at 250, and took anywhere from 12 to 18 hours, and in some occasions I had to wrap it to speed it up. Out of the unwrapped ones which turned out good, parts of the flat were sort of dry, but starting half way through the flat and all the way to the end of the point was very good, crispy bark and moist meat.
The one I wrapped this last time, was cooked at 285. The cook was done in 6 hours total. I sprayed with mix of vinegar and water every 30 minutes in the last 3 hours. The whole piece was super moist, but the bark was not as crispy. As far as cook time goes, I think this last one is the most predictable one. Maybe this, added to the fact that it was the most moist, is the best bet?
Do you guys achieve moist flats without wrapping? That is my dream...
I hear the SRF ones arrive frozen in the mail. If so, should I plan to get them at least a week early to let them defrost in the fridge?
My strategy for that kind of timing is I start the cook at night at 225 and take advantage of the stall. The meat will get up to 160 or 170 and hang out there forever. Then I wake up early and crank the temp up to 300-325, dry off any accumulated liquid, and finish. In a jam, wrap it with butcher paper, or foil if needed. Heck I’ll finish stuff in the oven when necessary.
I really like finishing a few hours early and letting the meat rest in a cooler. I also cheat and use a flameboss. And I mostly avoid cooking overnight!!
good luck and post pix
Coach Finstock Teen Wolf
Regarding the cook, fire up the BGE a good 3 hours before loading the protein-make sure the temp is stable ( no vent movement for at least an hour) and then go.
I plan for around 1 hr/lb at a dome temp (calibrated) of around 260-280*F. However, as the saying goes the "friggin cow drives the cook."
The PM I will send along contains several brisket cook insights from Aaron Franklin-just remember he uses of-sets not a BGE.
Depending on sides, you will need to start with around 2 15 lb packers, figuring around 50% yield and 1/2 lb /person which given sides is a healthy estimate.
You will be "walking on water" after this performance.
Edit: Upon further review I sent you all I know about briskets this past May. No new insights.
@Theophan - I use the three hour guideline as I run w/o a controller and figure I am dialed in within around 60-90 minutes but no rush here. The BGE can run the cook for the duration and yes I could cut the time- but if an overnight, what's the difference in firing it up around 8 or 9 PM?
Personal preference-stable for the night is of more value to me than a later start. FWIW-
Large, Mini, Stoker, Smobot
I'm too paranoid to go to bed with a fire burning, even though both Eggs are in a cinderblock table. So for me it's the opposite: if I ever do cook a whole packer, I'll be getting up early and trying to squeeze a really long cook into a daytime cook, so I really don't want to waste an hour or even two just to be sure I don't have to nudge the temp a bit. I'll probably be nudging the temp up after several hours at 250° anyway, so I can eat before dark...
Thanks!
1) I intend to purchase the the second level raised grid to put the ribs on (https://biggreenegg.com/product/2-level-cooking-grid/ ). Towards the last 5 hours or so of the brisket, I would throw some baby backs on the second level. Does this sound like a good plan? Is there enough room on the second level to place one of those rib holder things?
2) What would cook better, one 18-20 lbs brisket or two 10 lbs ones?
Thanks all for the help
Do whatever @lousubcap offers and you will deliver a delicious brisket.
Dude has got it going on.
Good luck. You got this.
XL and MM
Louisville, Kentucky
Ok, so my plan is to cook 1 or 2 SRF briskets and some ribs. I want to cook the ribs towards the end of the brisket cook. A few questions:
1) I intend to purchase the the second level raised grid to put the ribs on (https://biggreenegg.com/product/2-level-cooking-grid/ ). Towards the last 5 hours or so of the brisket, I would throw some baby backs on the second level. Does this sound like a good plan? Is there enough room on the second level to place one of those rib holder things?
2) What would cook better, one 18-20 lbs brisket or two 10 lbs ones?
Thanks all for the help
Call Tom at the store and he'll tell you what you need - and no more.
https://ceramicgrillstore.com/
XL BGE, Klose BYC, ProQ Excel, Weber Kettle, Firepit, Grand Turbo gasser, and a portable Outdoor Gourmet gasser for tailgating
San Antonio, TX
If I were doing this cook, I would avoid having raw pork juices dripping on my brisket bark. If your brisket is wrapped by the time the ribs go on there’s no problem. Or I would put the brisket up top and ribs on the bottom (but you may need to cook your ribs flat without a rack).
The second grid works ok but as Foghorn pointed out it doesn’t give you as many configurations as an Adjustable Rig from the ceramic grill store would give you. I recently upgraded to the AR and wish I had bought it sooner.
As for space, I would think a rib rack would fit on top as long as it isn’t a really tall one (say over 5-6”).
As for your 1 vs 2 briskets question, hard to answer based just on weight. Two briskets would cook faster but not necessarily better as there are many factors like thickness and uniformity of the flat. Personally I would prefer to cook one bigger brisket but could cook 2.
Where are you located? Any chance the “sf” in your name is for San Francisco?
Bay Area, CA
Moncure N.C.
So,where do I start...It's almost midnight, the egg is coming up to temp, briskets are seasoned, all is ready to go.
Before this cook I did my best to think of anything that could go wrong, like my flame boss probes for instance. I made sure I had extra pit and meat probes, as I ruined them before.
So, as I'm about to hook up the flame boss, bring it up to 250, put meat on and go to bed, I realize I can't find the f$%^ing stupid fan bracket. Of course, now, the one time I have 50 lbs of meat to cook for 35 people, the one thing that was never on my radar, suddenly is. Freaking fan bracket.
Well, it was going to be a long night. I then was about to fire up my espresso machine to stay awake, when I decided to do this instead:
It worked great. See the quality, the craftsmanship. I might sell these as a kit.
Well, then, with flame boss now up and running, I put on the two 16 pounders SNF black briskets. What an amazing piece of meat.
They smoked at 250 from midnight until 7am, when I wrapped them in butcher paper. At this time. I put 7 slabs of baby backs on:
Now, you are looking at 50 lbs of meat on the XL. Holy crap
The briskets, which I rubbed with salt and pepper, and smoked with a crap load of hickory and oak chunks, were incredible. The best I've made, or had. Both pieces were gone in a short time. Lots of left over ribs
One detail is that as I was starting to slice the first brisket, in the beggining of the event, I was hasty and accidentally grabbed my knife, and sliced my finger pretty bad. One second I'm slicing themost amazing looking brisket, the next there is blood every where.
So, after a napkin bandage and a trip to urgent care, and some glue, all is good. In summary, pretty successful cook, all considered.
kidding.
Great job!
Dennis - Austin,TX