I've had my PBC for about a year, and brisket has become my wife's and my favorite thing to smoke. Up until now, I've always smoked up to 160 degrees internal in the PBC and then wrapped the meat in foil with hearty beer and finished in the oven. That method makes delicious brisket, but without much in the way of crust.
Today I had a lot of time and a smallish brisket, so I decided to try to do the whole cook hanging in the PBC. I'm glad I did. I dry brined for about two hours and let the meat come up to room temp. Rubbed liberally with a fresh batch of Big Bad Beef Rub (adjusted down a little on the chipotle...we're wimpy). I slightly over-filled the PBC's basket and did my usual light with 40 bricks of Kingsford Blue in the chimney, dumped it in, then 10 minutes with the lid off and 10 more with the lid on and the rebar out. Then I hung the brisket.
In the past, I've had trouble keep the fire going long enough for a full brisket cook, so this time, I closed the air vent a little more than usual at the beginning. Open just a quarter of an inch. The whole cook took about 6 hours to get the meat to 206 degrees. I had to crack the lid at the end to keep the PBC temp above 225.
The product of all of this might be my best brisket so far. I'm amazed how thick and crunchy the crust is. The wife was singing songs about it. I'm going to do this again.
Today I had a lot of time and a smallish brisket, so I decided to try to do the whole cook hanging in the PBC. I'm glad I did. I dry brined for about two hours and let the meat come up to room temp. Rubbed liberally with a fresh batch of Big Bad Beef Rub (adjusted down a little on the chipotle...we're wimpy). I slightly over-filled the PBC's basket and did my usual light with 40 bricks of Kingsford Blue in the chimney, dumped it in, then 10 minutes with the lid off and 10 more with the lid on and the rebar out. Then I hung the brisket.
In the past, I've had trouble keep the fire going long enough for a full brisket cook, so this time, I closed the air vent a little more than usual at the beginning. Open just a quarter of an inch. The whole cook took about 6 hours to get the meat to 206 degrees. I had to crack the lid at the end to keep the PBC temp above 225.
The product of all of this might be my best brisket so far. I'm amazed how thick and crunchy the crust is. The wife was singing songs about it. I'm going to do this again.
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