Finally smoking a large brisket- Question on cook time.

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Warrior68

New member
I did a test run on a 6 lb brisket last weekend, I loosely followed Big pappa's brisket advise from this site, the brisket was amazing! I am going to be smoking a much larger piece of brisket and need to make sure I get similar results. I have watched countless YouTube videos, read all the threads on here, and done my time on Google. Last week I cooked the 6 pound brisket for about 9 hours, 1.5 hours per LB, I think I want to cut that back just a little this time as it was little to loose, very moist and tasty, just a little to loose.

My question is about cook time, I have a 15.5 pound brisket, thinking I am going to cook around 1:15 or 1:10 per lb, but the thought of cooking this brisket for 18 hours scares me a little. I see all kinds of cook times on the internet, everyone seems to do it a bit different, I saw one gut cook a 20lb brisket for just 10 hours, other seem to go about an hour a lb, and some went as much as 1:45 per lb. Being that this piece of meat cost me almost 80.00 I want it to be perfect! I am keeping in mind that, its done when its done, however I don't want it to loose, and I don't want it chewy.

Is there a rule of thumb on cooking time?

I may plan for a 18 hour smoke, if it finished early can I just leave it in the towel wrap longer? How long will it keep warm in the towel wrap?
 
scooter

scooter

Moderator
the rule of thumb on cooking time is....it's done when it probes tender to your liking. What is your liking? It's what you've determined to be the correct doneness for you after cooking MANY briskets.
You can use mins per pound to get you in the ballpark but understand the temp you cook at will play into your plan as much as time and weight and you haven't mentioned anything on what your pit temp is/was. The information you've gleaned off this site will get you close but the final step will be you knowing the feel of how the brisket probes when it's done the way you like it and that only comes after cooking more than a few briskets. Lots of them really. It's a journey of learning, enjoy the journey.
 
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Warrior68

New member
I kept the tempo between 150 and 180 for the first three and half hours (smoke setting on the Traeger), then bumped it up to 250-260 to finish it out. Here is a pic of my 4:30am curiosity was killing me peek at it.

I had to call Traeger customer service twice during my opening smoke on the brisket... I upgraded a few weeks ago from the 3 position switch to the digital dial temp controller. For some reason on the smoke setting although it started out at 180 which is fine, it then dropped to 148 and would not go back up. I called customer service, changed the "P" setting from P-3 to P-2 and it would still barely hit 155, called back, bumped it to P-1 and wham, holding between 160 and 180 like a champ. This seams to have also solved the problem I was having where I had to set the temp 25 degrees hotter than I actually wanted. Kudos to Traeger for having reps on duty until 7pm Pacific time 7 days a week.
 
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Warrior68

New member
6:20am I had a strong feeling I should check the temp.... I was right! the internal temp is just over 200 degrees, the probe slides easy once its past the bark. I am not serving this until game time today (1pm on the east coast), do you think it will stay warm wrapped in foil and towels until then? Is it okay to through it on the Weber to re heat the whole thing? It looks like it would be perfect for a towel wrap and then serve it in hour at this point and I don't want it ruined.
 
scooter

scooter

Moderator
Keep it wrapped and insulated until game time and you should be fine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Warrior68

New member
The brisket sat wrapped in foil and two towels from 6:30am until about 2pm when the rest of the food came off the smoker, it was still warm, tender and juicy! Final pics, Brisket, chicken, chuck roast, bacon bombs, cheesy jalapeno scalloped potatoes, pasta salad, and tossed salad. Everything was great!
 
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