1st Brisket - advice?

[GusRobin]

Have done briskets on a UDS, doing the 1st one on my OBS other than a few flats I used to make pastrami. I have a 12.5 lb packer all slathered and rubbed and in the friidge.
Plan on putting it in around 8:00 tonight. Looking for some advice as to any estimates as to how long it will take cooking it 220 (or is other temp recommended?) I know it will vary on the particular brisket and they are done when they want to be, I am just looking for an estimated time for planning purposes. It will be the only thing in the smoker and I have dual elements so the initial ramp up should be relatively quick.

thanks

[Tenpoint5]

Figuring an Hour and a half per pound you should be done in 18 hours (18.75) but I would start checking at 14 just to be safe.

[FLBentRider]

I concur and would add that I had one that was not done to my liking after 20 hours, and it was smaller than yours.

[GusRobin]

thanks --

[SnellySmokesEm]

It's all up to the meat.  I did a 14.5lb packer and it took 17.5hrs.  http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=14242.15
Good Luck!  It better to be too early than too late.

[classicrockgriller]

Pull that bad boy out of the fridge for a cpl hours before it goes on the smoker.

Looking forward to some food porn pics.

[GusRobin]

Put it in at 6 last night, now almost 10 am. At 1 am it was at 165 IT. Now at 177. I think it is on its second stall. One part seems very tender, probe goes in like butter. It is the point end and may be going thru fat. The flat still seems tough. Not sure if I am drying it out or if it is still "tenderizing". Advice??

[Pachanga]

I answered a similar question recently With the following:

A brisket is ready when it is ready. 

So, what language does a brisket speak to tell you it is ready?  Does it speak through a thermometer reading?  No, but a thermometer will give you some clues as to what it is thinking and can be relied upon to get close to optimum temperature.  How about color?  Again, color is a clue but not an answer.  Should time be your guide?   There are many variables to time.  Size and shape of the meat, internal temperature (IT) of the meat when started, temperature of the Bradley, total meat load if more than one piece of meat, water source, initial temperature of Bradley along with components such as water, bricks or other meat, vent opening, rack location, number of door openings and duration, temperature of water refills, ambient temperature, and of course oven temperature setting and adjustments during the smoke. These are just a few variables off the top of my feeble brain; there are many more.  Time can vary greatly and is most unreliable.

While the brisket will give you clues as to its condition, it remains silent.  A brisket is ready when the collagen and connective tissues dissolve, liquefy and loosen their grip, allowing the individual strands of meat fiber to be lubricated and easily separated.  This starts to take place as low as 140 degrees F, really gets active around 160 to 170 (as Tubbs states, this is when a stall is likely to occur), and finally gives up the ghost between 185 and 200 IT in the middle of the flat.  The IT is a great clue but it is not definitive.  There can be as much as a 15 degree window between briskets.

Again, a brisket is ready when it is ready.  But how do we know when that is?  The answer is through interrogation and torture.  This is the only way to discern the perfect temperature to break down each brisket's unique connective tissue and collagen makeup and content.

We must be diligent and proactive to get the information we need from the brisket.  We must interrogate the brisket.  At 185 IT in the middle of the flat, it is time to torture the brisket into talking.  Slide a meat fork with two tines into the skinny end of the flat parallel to the meat fibers.  Twist the fork.  If the fork twists easily and the meat breaks away with the fibers easily separated, the brisket has confessed that it is ready.  If the fibers stay together and the fork doesn't easily twist, give the brisket 5 more degrees to think about it and try again at 190.  Continue every five degrees until the brisket spills it guts by breaking apart.  At this point you can be sure the brisket is giving accurate information by inserting a temperature probe into the flat (about 1/3 of the total brisket length form the skinny end) starting from the edge and poking it deep into the middle.  It should slide in like going into butter, with very little resistance.  You have gotten all the information you need.  The interrogation is over.  Pull the brisket and let it rest.

At this point, I generally cut a little burnt end off of the deckle; a diabolical smile on my lips, as I enjoy the first taste of my labors.  It is time to hoist a cold one, toast the worthy opponent and exclaim "It just don't get any better than this".  Yes, this is the way life ought-ta be.

Some final points to ponder:

You have tested the thin tip of the flat for fork tender.  Since it is the thinnest part of the brisket, this is the first part of the flat to reach that brisket's temperature where its unique combination and makeup of collagen and connective tissue has dissolved and released its grip.   During the rest period, hangover temperature will continue to rise and cook the thicker part of the flat, thus achieving the exact same fork tender meat in the middle that you tested in the thin tip.  The thick flat will finish without overcooking because you judged the rest time (using the thin end) just as the middle was beginning to enter its final optimum phase.  The probe slipped in easily but the final loosening of the fibers was not over.  This hangover heat rise will bring the thick part of the flat up to the perfect finishing temperature which was confessed by the brisket during interrogation and torture.  Even though not absolutely necessary, the Foil, Towel, Cooler (FTC) method will equalize this optimum temperature throughout the brisket and prolong this temperature for a more forgiving product.

Most briskets will confess and give it up between 190 and 195 in the middle 1/3 of the flat.   If your oven temperature is at 180 to 190, the brisket will never give up because optimum confession temperature is never reached.  The Bradley should be between 205 and 225 according to most experienced Bradley users on this board.  This up to a 40 degree temperature difference from your stated temperature will cause a cumulative time collection of several hours to add to your overall smoke time.

There is a caveat to the above.  The information is predicated on cooking low and slow, adequate moisture the entire cooking time which includes a full water pan and may include mop and slather.  It also includes protection from direct high heat.  Without a moist environment, the fibers can dry out, tighten and never release any information (even under the most intense interrogation) which will produce a dry tough brisket.  Indications that your brisket is ok and everything is going according to plan is a little plump spring (like pushing on a full belly) when pushed on with tongs or some bend and limberness when lifted in the middle or ends.  If the brisket starts to handle like a stiff board, be much afraid. 

Maybe this will help.

Good luck and slow smoking,

Pachanga

[GusRobin]

yeah it helps a lot -thanks much