First brisket cook on the PBC for the Super Bowl

[doctorak]

This is my first year having the PBC for my annual super bowl party, and I'm going to take the plunge and do a whole packer brisket for the first time for my guests. I'm wondering about timing, and have laid out the following (approximate) timetable based on what I've seen on this forum and the many, many helpful posts about people's cooks, especially fzxdoc's amazing Sticky. I'm going to have it trimmed and over-24 hour dry brined Friday afternoon, and rubbed the night before so I can just wake up, light, and hang 'er up early in the AM. Please let me know if this sounds like a good, relatively-conservative-but-not-waking-up-at-the-total-butt-crack-of-dawn plan. We want to be serving by 5. I have not yet bought the brisket, but we have 12-14 people coming so I'm thinking around a 12-14lb pre-trimmed brisket that I'll get at Costco (I hear they even occasionally have prime for ridiculously cheap, hoping to luck out):

7:15am: light the PBC
8 am-ish: Hang the brisket
Noon-ish: anticipate wrapping when it hits 160/170ish, will go by the quality of the bark
3pm: Hopefully done by then, get the meat into the cambro
4:30pm: Carve
5pm: Bask in the glory.
6:30pm: Watch the Pats get their cheating butts handed to them.

Does that sound about right? I'd be more than happy to be done early and have it hang out in the cambro for a few hours

[PappyBBQ]

Just bought a 14 pound prime packer at Costco for the same purpose as yours @2.99/lb. First time I had seen this there. Usually I have to go to the Costco Business Center for them. I was talking to one of the "meat guys" there who told me that they always have them but sometimes don't put them out so ask if you don't see it. YMMV as some of the "meat guys" I've talked to there didn't have a clue what a packer brisket was. I've done flats before, but never a whole packer. Been dying to try. My plan is to start at 4:30am for PBC light and 5:00 - 5:15 hang. Might push this back to 4 am. Then maybe back to bed for a bit. Like you I plan to wrap in butcher paper when I get a good bark. I'm not set on a serving time, but SB start time in LA is 3:30. Planning on serving food during game. I like at least two hours in the cambro, hence my early start. Best of luck to us!!!

[doctorak]

Thanks! Similar timing actually, since I'm on the east coast. Except my wife wants it served BEFORE the game around 5 since the young kids at our SB party usually turn it into a SB pregame since the kiddos get tired and need to head home early.

[doctorak]

And who knows, since my daughter is 1.5 years old, she may be waking me up earlier than that anyway, in which case I'm looking at an even earlier start time and more time in the cambro.

[RonB]

PLEASE check to make sure your Costco carries whole briskets - not all do, and as far as I can tell, maybe no one on the East Coast carries them with the possible exception of a Costco Business Center. There have been some reports from East Coast members that their Costco doesn't carry them, and as far as I can tell, no reports of any that do carry them.

[doctorak]

PLEASE check to make sure your Costco carries whole briskets - not all do, and as far as I can tell, maybe no one on the East Coast carries them with the possible exception of a Costco Business Center. There have been some reports from East Coast members that their Costco doesn't carry them, and as far as I can tell, no reports of any that do carry them.

Oh OK, thanks for the heads up. I'll try and call Costco to see if they do since it would save me the trip down there. The backup options aren't that great; whole foods, who isn't guaranteed to have it in (and whose meat quality is sub-par for the price, IMHO) or a very expensive ($10/lb) craft butcher in the area that carries grass-fed. I've gotten other cuts from them, and it is fantastic, but didn't really want to spend $140 on this. I may have to call around for some other butchers in the area.

[EdF]

Good luck!

[JPGators17]

The Costcos in Orlando do NOT have anything but the flat. I asked if they could order a packer and they said no. They didn't even know what it was. lol

[RonB]

Check Walmart if Costco doesn't have them. WM carries full packers, (in my area), but they are mostly select, with some choice mixed in.

Edit to add:

​​​​​​​Please don't slice until serving time. Brisket starts to dry within minutes. The last one I cooked, I asked people to bring their plates to me and I sliced as they stood there.

[doctorak]

Check Walmart if Costco doesn't have them. WM carries full packers, (in my area), but they are mostly select, with some choice mixed in.

Ended up finding a local Italian butcher shop that ordered me a prime 12-14 lb packer for $6.99/lb, they will clean it up and trim it for me. Costco basically wouldn't confirm or even check with the butcher over the phone, and I didn't feel like driving all the way down there through traffic to find out they didn't have any.

Anyway, I've also heard that prime cooks a tad quicker than choice or select, is that correct?

[EdF]

Have never had the pleasure, but someday ...

[RonB]

I'm glad you found what you want - I'm sure it will turn out great. I've never been able to get my hands on a prime brisket, so I can't answer your question from personal experience although I've heard the same thing you have heard.

[kill2grill]

If you are trying to shoot for 5pm, you might want to consider having it on the grill by 5am. Nothing worse than having that tight of a deadline and dealing with both yourself and ill-tempered hungry guests. It's the kind of thing, mixed with beer, that bad decisions are made of.

Starting by 5am should let you be done and in the cooler resting by 2:30pm depending on conditions like coals burning out due to fat igniting, etc. Also, heed RonB and don't slice earlier than you have to. I've seen quite a few briskets cut gorgeous, taste great, but by the time guests eat its drying up. Consider covering it with plastic if you have to.

[Jerod Broussard]

Ended up finding a local Italian butcher shop that ordered me a prime 12-14 lb packer for $6.99/lb, they will clean it up and trim it for me. Costco basically wouldn't confirm or even check with the butcher over the phone, and I didn't feel like driving all the way down there through traffic to find out they didn't have any.

Anyway, I've also heard that prime cooks a tad quicker than choice or select, is that correct?

It's quite possible a Prime would be probe tender around 195 as opposed to the "normal" 203-205 for run-of-the-mill stuff you get at the local wolly world.

In my limited experience with Prime they appear to be tender as crap right out the bag. I had a flat that you could see all the muscle striations and could bend that dude sideways like an Accordion That Wayne Toups used to play.

[SMOG MAN]

I have cooked a 1/2 dozen "Prime" packers and for me they are ready at lower temps than the select or choice I have done, Jerod has it right I think

[Jerod Broussard]

SMOG MAN it's funny, the risk with Prime or higher is overcooking, the risk with Select and some Choice is undercooking....go figure....

[PappyBBQ]

Thanks for the tip on Prime temp! Would truly hate to overcook a prime brisket!! Will definitely start probing at 195!

[doctorak]

It's quite possible a Prime would be probe tender around 195 as opposed to the "normal" 203-205 for run-of-the-mill stuff you get at the local wolly world.

In my limited experience with Prime they appear to be tender as crap right out the bag. I had a flat that you could see all the muscle striations and could bend that dude sideways like an Accordion That Wayne Toups used to play.

Jerod Broussard and SMOG MAN Thanks so much for the info. So I guess when I hit 195 I'll start poking and prodding and seeing if it's done.

kill2grill Thanks for the advice. I'd like to avoid getting up that early since we're hosting the party and I'd prefer not to be a zombie by halftime, and I'm not sure I've seen any evidence on this board that says a whole packer took that long start to finish. I guess I'll push start time back til 6 am to be super safe.

(side note: a few years ago we had a July 4 party and due to a few too many adult beverages, I passed out upstairs at around 8pm with 20 people downstairs. My wife wasn't too happy. She woke me up with a nice splash of cold water in the face.)

Will ambient temps here in southern CT (expected around 25 degrees F in the AM up to 37 degrees midday, sea level) affect this at all?

[kill2grill]

Good luck with everything -- maybe a 5 hour energy drink is in your near future?

[Jeff_Carley]

to pitch in with this. I agree with everything said. the only part I would add as a seasoned PBC brisket cooking fool....wake up earlier than you think and add the brisket on. this is so important as it gives you the freedom and piece of mind to enjoy your day. when this meat becomes probe tender, cambro the suckka. I have held my cooks in the cambro for 7 hours and never needed to pull it as it was above 140 even at the end.

a word on cambro. I always take my cooler, I have a big 4 cases of tall boy Guinness beers cooler, into the bathroom and fill her up with the hottest water I can get. close the lid and give it 10-15 min to warm up. I then dump the h2o then place my meat wrapped in foil and a towel into the cooler and relax until the "party" starts.

im sure you will have a successful smoke. just remember, at 6.99 a pound, you don't want to leave anything to chance. Go big, be bold, and have fun.

[PappyBBQ]

Interesting. I've done the same thing to my cooler prior to dropping the meat into it. Seems to keep the food above 140 forever.

[hogdog6]

Very good point I found preheating the cooler to be very important. Have a great cook. Looking forward to the pics.

[tomk62]

Check Walmart if Costco doesn't have them.

I've found that it seems nearly impossible to get a whole packer brisket in any general supermarket type store here in the northeast.

Doctorak - get than thing on as early as you possibly can, absolutely no harm it letting it sit in the cambro until serving time as others have said.

[RonB]

tomk62 - I got the tip on Walmart here. I was skeptical, but when I checked, they did have whole briskets, and there was a choice mixed in with the selects. So it would be worth it just to check with Walmart if the need arises.

[doctorak]

Picked up the brisket today. The butcher had cut it in two, which slightly complicates things (but hey, a little more surface area for the bark) since I only have two probes and may now have to ditch the internal oven probe and leave one in each half, or leave it in the thinner of the two and then try to transfer it to the thicker one when the thinner one comes off. Or just check one of them every hour or so with the thermapen I guess. But anyway....

They look maaaahhhhvelous. The butcher did a lot of the heavy lifting already with the trimming, just had to take a bit more of the fat cap to get it down near 1/4". Salted them now since I'm working tonight and wanted to get at least 24 hours, so they'll be sitting there for 36+ in the fridge.

[EdF]

They do indeed look Maaahvelous!

[RonB]

It looks like you got some goood meat.

[fzxdoc]

Looks great! They should both be done about the same time, I'm guessing, since they are of similar thickness.

Kathryn