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Rained all day, so moved the weber kettle up onto the front porch where I could cook without getting wet. Six or so pound boneless turkey breast. Tied it up with some butchers twine and seasoned with just salt and pepper. Used the snake method with some Kingsford charcoal infused with apple wood to have the temps hang around 275-300*F. Rotated a time or two and had to wrap and put in a 170*F oven to wait for the accouterments to get finished. At least I got to hear the Phillies win from my dry garage as I "monitored" the cooking session (with a beer or three).

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Never cooked a brisket, not a big piece for this newbie?

Almost 11lbs prime from Costco.
Need to get me a good thermometer too, feedback on that is welcome as well.

Need to start watching some YouTube for this brisket [emoji51]

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Watch all the PBS videos from Franklin (both prep and cook).

https://www.pbs.org/video/bbq-franklin-brisket-part-1/

You will nee a dedicated temp probe that stays in the meat the entire cook.

Look for pink butcher paper now. Order on Amazon if you have to. Wrap it in when it hits ~165F

Realize now that the piece of meat will take 1-1.25 hours per pound to cook so your looking at a 10-13 hour cook PLUS a one hour rest for the meat.

I can't say enough about how important the rest is. It is a critical step and simply can not be omitted or rushed.

The meat is done when the meat is done. Sometimes its at 203F (quite often) sometimes 190F. When you probe it and it feels like melted butter (no resistance) it's done if its at least 180F internal.

Start your fire early enough in the morning to give yourself the time to cook it properly. That may mean getting the fire going at 5:00AM in this case.

Prepare the brisket the night before. It will take 45 mins to trim it properly and season/apply the rub. Place the meat in a tub or pan and cover with cling wrap and store in the fridge overnight. Take it out the first thing in the morning before starting your fire so it begins to warm up.

225F is the best temp for low and slow but 250F won't hurt it and will speed up the cook a bit. Try not to go higher.

Realize you will have to add charcoal more than likely during the cook so have a chimney on hand to get some more going before you lose your heat. Pick up some pecan and or apple chunks to give it the best smoke flavor possible. Mesquite is too strong IMHO.

If your using your Weber make sure to build the fire on one side and put the brisket on the other side. You may need to rotate the meat during the cook as it will cook faster on the heat side more than likely. If you have a heat deflector (ceramic) use it!

I spritz. About every hour or so. I use apple juice and apple cider vinegar mix 50/50. Helps keep moisture in if you don't have a pan for water. If you can squeeze a water pan in it will help keep humidity up and meat not to dry out.

Have plenty of beer on hand. You can't cook a good brisket without a lot of beer!

Don't worry if it doesn't turn out perfect. Chances are it will not. This is probably the hardest cut of meat to master and it takes lots of failures sometimes before you figure out what works the best for your BBQ setup.

Good luck!
 
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Only thing I'll add, is that if you don't have to use pink butcher paper, you can also use and aluminum foil pan and cover it tightly with aluminum foil instead of the PBP, I personally like the foil pan because it holds on to all of the juices that come out. Once you remove the liquid fat from the juice and strain it with a little cheesecloth, it makes a killer au jus.
 
Realize now that the piece of meat will take 1-1.25 hours per pound to cook so your looking at a 10-13 hour cook PLUS a one hour rest for the meat.

Holy macaronis, I should then look elsewhere for a small piece. Well, I can maybe take up on the challenge....lol

I have a bunch of folks coming over next month and I'd like to be ready and try something different. Maybe the pork butt should be an option for now as it is easier..

Ordering that thermometer today.

Thanks for all that info, really helps.
 
Pork butt is definitely easier and more forgiving. Like can't really mess it up easier. You can also take a pork butt and after 4 hours or so transfer it to a dutch oven and finish it off in the oven (inside) which allows you to free the grill to start on some baby back ribs. After 4 hours your pork butt will have plenty of smoke flavor and a nice bark. You also wrap a pork butt like a brisket to help it push through "the stall" phase. Aluminum or paper will work. No won't need to wrap if you transfer it to the dutch oven. You will also need to rest the pork butt as well.
 
If you want to speed it along, you can wrap or foil pan the meat at 140 F instead of 165, that will push it through the stall even quicker. I do it this way a lot, having read that meat can't absorb any more smoky flavor once it passes 140F. If you're so inclined, you can even take it off the grill at 140 (or 165), put it in the tightly sealed foil pan, and put it in your oven set at 225 - 250, the meat won't know the difference..............
 
Super set of instructions from ibglowin. The only tip i'd give, from experience, is that you can throw the brisket into the BBQ at around midnight with extra charcoal and head to bed (we live in a warm climate). I don't think the drop off is as critical during the first 6 hours. You can get up at 6 and start watching the temps and misting or basting or whatever other secret tricks you have up your sleeve. By 3 or 4 when it's time to show off your masterpiece you should be done! I also sometimes cut a brisket in half for smaller get togethers, 6 to 8 people, still takes a long time to cook right.

Mike
 
Costco run on Saturday. Picked up a couple packs of baby cukes (among other things LOL). Have always wanted to try my hand at making a quick dill pickle. After just 5 hours they have a nice crunch and a nice amount of dill/garlic flavor. Should get better over the next few days. You can easily eat a half dozen in no time!

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Dinner tonight was simple fare, but turned out well IMHO. A chicken leg/thigh quarter, smeared with a Dijon mustard/butter, then coated with a mixture of bread crumbs, garlich powder, and parmesan (actually Grana Padano, but who's counting?). French lentils seasoned with fresh rosemary and some fresh thyme. Green beans, parboiled, then heated with shallots and garlic fried in lots of butter. And a roasted portobello mushroom cap (just a little soy and EVOO). And a simple baby arugula salad with some of the leftover parm/crumb mixture, and some ho-made vinaigrette dressing.


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Super set of instructions from ibglowin. The only tip i'd give, from experience, is that you can throw the brisket into the BBQ at around midnight with extra charcoal and head to bed (we live in a warm climate). I don't think the drop off is as critical during the first 6 hours. You can get up at 6 and start watching the temps and misting or basting or whatever other secret tricks you have up your sleeve. By 3 or 4 when it's time to show off your masterpiece you should be done! I also sometimes cut a brisket in half for smaller get togethers, 6 to 8 people, still takes a long time to cook right.

Mike

Wife asked me about that, cooking overnight. Leaving the meat for 6 or more hours without watching it makes me nervous though....but at the same time if the temp is kept within good range then I think that should be doable, and add a pan with water on the bottom to keep some moist on the meat.
 
What are you talking about not watching it?

You will have your new fancy wireless thermometer. One probe for the meat, another for the grill temp. You just roll over in bed once or twice during the night and pick up your phone on the nightstand to check the temps and then go back to sleep.........zzzzzzzzzzzz......

You could also separate the point from the flat. They do that in grocery stores sometimes then you essentially have meat for two cooks that only take (approx) half the time. Wrap up the other half and toss it back in the freezer for another day.


Wife asked me about that, cooking overnight. Leaving the meat for 6 or more hours without watching it makes me nervous though....but at the same time if the temp is kept within good range then I think that should be doable, and add a pan with water on the bottom to keep some moist on the meat.
 
What are you talking about not watching it?

You will have your new fancy wireless thermometer. One probe for the meat, another for the grill temp. You just roll over in bed once or twice during the night and pick up your phone on the nightstand to check the temps and then go back to sleep.........zzzzzzzzzzzz......

You could also separate the point from the flat. They do that in grocery stores sometimes then you essentially have meat for two cooks that only take (approx) half the time. Wrap up the other half and toss it back in the freezer for another day.

Yep, the InkBird has been ordered yesterday.
It looks like the app has options to setup alerts for temp range and such, which is very nice.
 
What are you talking about not watching it?

You will have your new fancy wireless thermometer. One probe for the meat, another for the grill temp. You just roll over in bed once or twice during the night and pick up your phone on the nightstand to check the temps and then go back to sleep.........zzzzzzzzzzzz......

You could also separate the point from the flat. They do that in grocery stores sometimes then you essentially have meat for two cooks that only take (approx) half the time. Wrap up the other half and toss it back in the freezer for another day.

You said? [emoji4]

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Plenty of time to knock that guy out if you put him on early tomorrow morning. Should take 8 hours. Shoot for internal temp of 195F and pull and let it rest wrapped in either foil or paper for an hour in a cheap styrofoam cooler or similar.

Got a 8lbs pork butt and added a good amount of rub.

Waking up early to start the fire in the AM, but also thinking about maybe starting it late tonight at a very low “speed”
 

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