18" brisket, inverted "U" or cut it

[kaskiles]

Hi,

I have a 18" long (9.9 lbs) Brisket from WallyWorld in the frige waiting for smoking this Friday.  My OBS trays are 13" wide.  In the great Pachanga Brisket posting:

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?532-Brisket-Pachanga

it states to just wrinkle or fold up the center and fit it on the tray without cutting.  I obviously haven't tried this yet, but will this work without the brisket ends touching the walls of the OBS?

Thanks!

[FLBentRider]

If you can wrinkle it up without touching the sides, go for it.

If not, I'd cut it in half.

[GusRobin]

it should. I have done this numerous times. I don't remember what the overall starting dimensions were but the brisket shrunk quite a bit

[Pachanga]

Kaskiles,

Here is something I wrote up on the subject with photos,

So your brisket doesn't fit - solution here
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=13080.0

Most briskets will wrinkle and compact.  I don't cut one unless the tongue of the flat is very thin.  In that case, I will cut it and match it up with the flat to keep it from drying.  (see above instructions)

Good luck and slow smoking,

Pachanga

[kaskiles]

Wow, this pictorial is exactly what I needed:

So your brisket doesn't fit - solution here
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=13080.0

I also noticed this concept that seems interesting:

Re the brisket being too large. I have also leaned a second rack up against the side of the smoker with the base on the rack the brisket is on so the tail end of the flat goes up the sloped rack--works great.
T2

since I'll only be doing the single briskets and could use a couple of the spare racks to build some bracing on the sides...

Thanks!