Cooking thru stall sans crutch

[jecucolo]

So I cooked my 4th brisket on the Pit Barrel Cooker.
I decided to cook thru stall without crutching..
Because I wasn't sure about how much time it would add
I put my brisket on at 4 am.
Temps
Bskt PBC Time
101. 243. +30
120. 293. +60
140 345. +90 I foiled rebar holes closed to control spike
144 258. +120 This was my stall temp
The stall lasted until 9:30 and crept slowly. I put some chicken on around 9:15. The temp was around 260.
I let it cook like that until 10:30. I cracked the lid to bring temp up to 300 for chicken pulled chicken at 10: 50.
Brisket reached 205 at 11:15.
I wrapped in butcher paper and let rest 3.5 hours.
Results
The bark was dark and firm.
The point end was moist and tender.
The flat was a little tight.
I was a little disappointed with the tightness of the flat.
Do you think spiking temp at end for chicken caused the tightness? During the stall the temps ranged 225 too 280.
I would crack lid to bring temp to 250 range.
Just wonder what y'all thought. The brisket on smoker took 7 hours.
What type of temps do you try too maintain?
Thanks

[Jerod Broussard]

I've done brisket from 225 to 330+ in the Pit Barrel with great results.

Once you wrapped in butcher paper what did you place it in?

Flats can be very finicky when it comes to resting. I've had two that were BLAH, and both involved butcher paper.

[jecucolo]

Thanks Jerod. So maybe butcher paper might have something to do with it. I put the wrapped brisket in an ice chest with towels and old blanket. I did not check temp before i sliced it.
Something else I noticed. Because the brisket was so long I cut about 4" off the flat end. I hooked the shorty also and cooked it. I pulled it off about 9 to give everyone a taste. It was not really tender but the flavor from the bark was outstanding. I used the meatheads big bad beef rub. I substituted ancho and chipolte. The finished brisket lost a lot of the punch. Just an observation. I'm thinking of sprinkling some rub on befo I wrap it.

[Jerod Broussard]

I've never needed any extra rub after cooking.

When I rest I always wrap in foil, even if I am going over butcher paper. I think it breathes too much to give the needed warm rest on some briskets.

[jecucolo]

Yes, my brother sort of convinced me to try the butcher paper. I went against my instincts. At least I know.

[Jerod Broussard]

I like the butcher paper due to the price. And if I can get one layer of that I only need one layer of foil at the end to rest.

[PaulstheRibList]

I cook all our briskets with butcher paper, in the WSM, stickburner and cabinet smoker.

It looks like you cooked it a total of 7 hours? Maybe that's the normal time in a PBC, but that is way short for me in any of my smokers, even when I run them hotter (275+).

I'm struggling to see how butcher paper could make the flat not tender.

I'm thinking the it's the cooking temp much moreso than the wrapping vehicle.

[Jerod Broussard]

I have had two briskets, Selects mind you that I would not pick to cook, cooked to probe tender, rested in butcher paper in a Cambro with plenty air space. Both tightened up big time and were pretty much not edible. Never had that happen with foil, not with Selects. Many of the briskets I cook, it is the rest that makes or breaks it.

[JeffJ]

Do the 3 grades of brisket really make THAT much of a difference? I've only done a small handful of briskets and they were always Choice and they always turned out really good. Currently I have a 17-pound Prime brisket that my wife picked up for me at Coscto for $3.59/pound. I was blown away by the price as I usually pay about twice that much per pound for Choice.

The problem I now have is coming up with a reason to cook that much meat all at once.

Should I expect a noticeable difference between this Prime brisket and the Choice briskets I've cooked with in the past?

[fzxdoc]

In my experience, prime flats turn out waaaay better than choice flats, so I assume the same would go for the whole packer.

That's an amazing price that your wife got on that Prime brisket. Have fun smoking it.

Kathryn

[CandySueQ]

I'd separate the point from the flat. Let the point go without wrapping, but wrap the flat. Flat just runs out of moisture, gets tight, dry and un-tasty. I cooked a Hereford choice flat at the contest in Monroe, LA this past Saturday. Cooked it hot n fast. Started at 5 am, wrapped at about 9:30, reached temp at 12:30, rested 1 hour. Should have put some broth in when it was wrapped. There was no juice! It was plenty juicy, but I like au jus in my sauce. 8th place finish.

[jecucolo]

That is beautiful.
Is that on PBC ?
Do you use point or flat to turn in?

[Jerod Broussard]

Pretty sure the flat gets the slices and any point would be in the form of burnt ends. Not sure if she uses anything other than a pellet cooker and maybe a WSM for comps.

[CandySueQ]

Pellet Jambo with charcoal/wood-cherry and pecan. I can pull the pellet fire pot out and use the fan for air. Cooked brisket & ribs on wood. Switched to pellets for chicken. Don't have a PBC! No burnt ends allowed with Texas rules.

[jecucolo]

This is great information.
Professor Jerod,
Do you think that having more than one brisket gives better results? More humidity and lower temps?

[Pit Barrel Cooker Co.]

If you ever need anything, feel free to give us a call!

[Jerod Broussard]

jecucolo I have cooked on the PBC from 225 to 330 and you couldn't tell any difference in taste and quality. One brisket to 5 briskets, 3 butts and a brisket point, 2 butts and 2 briskets, etc....all good.

I do not like to run over 250 when it is loaded down with 3-4 briskets. If you do run around 225 with 4 briskets it will be a loooooooooooooong cook, especially if you are not wrapping until they are barked up. But it sure turns out some awesome stuff when they go that long uncovered in a super humid environment.

I had a long cook and the smoke ring almost took up the entire point on one of the briskets.