Brisket on the grill instead of hanging?

[Thomassen]

Anyone smoke their briskets on the grill instead of hanging them? What's your procedure? Inquiring minds want to know. ;-)

[Wrongway]

I followed the brisket recipe on the PBC website, except I put it on the grill. I cooked a 12 lb. brisket (labeled Prime), purchased from a local grocery store (HEB). I put a digital probe in the thickest part of the meat and one on the grill. The PBC temp hovered around 230-240.. It took about 4 hours for the meat temp to reach 170. I wrapped it in foil and put it back on the grill. However, after about 2 hours the meat hadn't reached 200 and the PBC started cooling down. Cracking the lid, etc. didn't help. I had to finish it in the oven (about 1 1/2 hrs.). I wrapped it in a towel and put it in an empty ice chest for 2 hrs. before carving. It came out great.
I am a novice with the PBC so you are probably better at controlling the temp than I. I've had good luck with chicken and pork, but was hesitant about cooking a $70-80 piece of meat. I think the brisket I bought was mislabeled, as it was only $2.99/lb.
Happy cooking!

[Panhead John]

Wrongway Howdy neighbor! It’s quite possible your brisket from HEB was prime. Right now their Prime briskets are only $3.59 per lb. BTW, where are you from, south of Houston?

[HawkerXP]

Most times the brisket is too large for the grate. I prefer to hang as this gives a more consistent bark on top and bottom. Just need to make sure it is not touching the coals when first hung.

[fzxdoc]

I agree with HawkerXP ; I get the best results with a brisket packer on the PBC by hanging it. Great flavor (the "self basting" vertical hang may help) and a wonderful bark. That said, I like to put pastrami flats on the grate because I usually load them down with the pastrami rub for tons of flavor and want that rub to get well set during the cook.

Kathryn

[MarkN]

I smoked a brisket on my Weber 22" charcoal grill using the method described in Cook's Country magazine, Aug/Sep 2018. I was very pleased with the results. I used the charcoal snake, monitored the temperature of the meat and the temperature of the grill. The down side is that I had to start at 2AM to serve by 5PM. I had no leftovers.

[Panhead John]

Mark...👍 Great looking brisket!

[Thomassen]

That looks great.

[Soonerpop]

Yum!

[Soonerpop]

I don’t hang since I have a PBJ, and it gets real close to the coals. Grate works fine, though. I’d like to hang one if I can get a small enough brisket. And I use pink butcher paper to wrap, and I maximize the number of briquettes by loading the basket precisely so it stays hot longer.

[Panhead John]

Soonerpop Dang man, Martha Stuart couldn’t load those briquettes any neater. You must have a lot of spare time. 🥸

[Soonerpop]

Naw, it really doesn’t take that much longer, and I about have to for long cooks. I also use Weber charcoal because I think it burns longer.

[au4stree]

I’ve done both, hanging (like a hammock) and laying on the grates, draped over a block of wood. Both turned out terrific. I do like to rotate my brisket when cooking on the grate, usually a 1/4 turn every 30-45 mins.

[TripleB]

I've done a few on the PBC grill. Fat cap down, laying across a small block of wood to tent the brisket so that liquid does not pool on the meat surface (thus no crust), spritz or mop only after a crust has formed (finger nail scrap method) and follow any recipe that floats your boat.