Brisket on PBC - Point or flat up?

[dustbuster]

Quick question. My first brisket is dry brining in the fridge over night. It will be my second PBC cook. Do I hang my brisket point up or flat up?

Trying to think intuitively, I can see pros to both ways: With the point up, I imagine the fattier point would drip down into/over the flat. With the flat up, the thinner flat would be further away from the coals, and may less likely to dry out.

Thanks!

[Jerod Broussard]

Point up. I tried point down, not worth a crap to me for some reason.

[DWCowles]

You want the point end up also make sure you double hook it by connecting two hooks together.

https://youtu.be/sooslUQZIdQ

[Sacred Smoke BBQ]

One of my favorite briskets off the pbc was my last one. I hung it sideways. The flat is always overcooked for my taste when hanging point side up. I did not like point side down either. Here's a pic of it sideways. I cut out almost all the fat between the muscles nearly separating the two (personal preference). Hook it really good. I nearly lost it on the point side when I went to wrap it. The hook was tearing through the point with the internal temp around 170°. Should have double hooked both sides. This was my best and most evenly cooked brisket out of the pbc. And of course I finished it wrapped on the grate.
****and before trimming this was at least 12lbs...probably 14lbs. Can't remember exactly

[Nightrayne]

Haven't seen this before. My buddy has a PBC, we may have to try this next time we do a cookout.

[HawkerXP]

I also hung one sideways. It was 15 lbs before trimming and would of been in the coals if not hung that way, Delicious!

[hoovarmin]

Good luck on that first brisket, dustbuster.

[JCBBQ]

I just looked at the video DWCowles posted. Is it true that brisket is done in 6 hrs in a PBC? Jerod Broussard ? Sacred Smoke BBQ ?

[Sacred Smoke BBQ]

I'm usually in the 6 hour neighborhood. I would guess that my longest cook was 8 hours on the pbc. Before trimming, most of my briskets tend to be 12-15lbs. I'm curious about Jerod Broussard because he'll cook like 5 briskets at once

[phoccer]

I've only done a few briskets on the PBC but here are my times. My first PBC brisket was 15lb untrimmed and it was done in 5.5 hours. I did a 10lb untrimmed in just over 4. I run Kingsford Pro charcoal in my PBC and prefer to run the temp at 300+.

[flyv65]

I did a 15.5 lb full packer for July 4th: hung at 0800 hrs, wrapped about 1030 to 1045 hrs, off the smoker at 1230, 202 degrees F. Popped it into the oven for about 2.5 hrs on bread proof (80 degrees) to rest like its a faux cambro until ready to slice and eat. I've never had a brisket that I actually had in the smoker longer than 5 hours.

[dustbuster]

Thanks for the responses folks! Also thanks for mentioning those times Sacred Smoke BBQ and phoccer If I stuck with my initial game plan of putting my 10lb untrimmed on at 6:30AM, sounds like it would've been ready long before 6PM dinner time. Meat will go on at 9:30 instead, hopefully 8.5 hours will be sufficient for cook + holding time!

[PBCDad]

Always better to plan for more holding time, and the total time depends heavily on when you wrap. I would still plan on starting earlier than later, though maybe you could just wake up at 6:30 instead of putting the meat on by then.

[phoccer]

Agree with PBCDad, always better to plan for more holding time. I've held brisket up to 4 hours wrapped in foil in a faux cambro. Best hold, however, was placing two wrapped pork butts in the oven at 170 for 2 hours. OMG did that pork butt completely fall apart. Could have shredded it with toothpicks.

[Sacred Smoke BBQ]

Agree with PBCDad. Since it's your first brisket go early and faux cambro to be safe. No stress if you struggle with low temps and have a slightly longer cook time

[Baker Dan]

I hook sideways too

[TripleB]

Here's a question for the thread.... Is there a reason people prefer hanging a single brisket rather than placing it on the rack?

[PBCDad]

1. Hanging meat is cool
2. More basting of the meat with the fat as it melts
3. No bark being lost to the grate
4. Habit
5. Leaves options for sides if you decide later
6. More even airflow(?)
7. See #1

[Sacred Smoke BBQ]

All of the whole packers that I have cooked have been too big for the grate until time to wrap. And some of those were close calls

[Northside Brian]

I have done about a dozen briskets on my PBC and the last 3 I decided to place on the grate and not hang. For me, they were the 3 best briskets I have done on the PBC. Especially the tip of the flat which I have found tends to get a bit too dry and sometimes almost to the point of being burnt.

[dustbuster]

The PBC started to emit a bit of white smoke, but I figured new coals were getting lit and it wasn't anything unusual. The white smoke probably went on for an hour or two. I wanted to try keep the lid closed to keep temps steady. Then at 180, I opened it up to pull brisket for wrapping. Picture of smoke attached. I'm thinking the bark/outside of the brisket it going to be inedible

Any ideas what would've caused so much white smoke? The PBC seemed to start fine with regular blue smoke. Kingsford regular briquettes. After I pulled the brisket, I noticed 3 briquettes in particular were smoking a ton, so I pulled them out. Could it just be some bad briquettes?

[Sacred Smoke BBQ]

Just dripping on the coals. It creates moisture and flavor

[DWCowles]

I would think maybe the drippings from the brisket cause it.

[johnec00]

I'd agree with DWCowles most likely its drippings from the brisket into the coals. I've had something like this and when I leave the lid off the PBC for a while, I often have a roaring fat fire. In any event, I wouldn't assume the bark/outside of the meat will be bad until you sink some teeth into it to check it out.

[phoccer]

Remember, the PBC is a different beast, I'm still getting my head around it as well. You don't have meat dripping on the coals of a Weber kettle so white smoke from a kettle is completely different. As Sacred Smoke BBQ said, just the meat drippings on the charcoal, exactly what you expect from the PBC.

[fzxdoc]

How was the brisket dustbuster ?

[Thom Emery]

We separate the point from the flat,
Two different cook times
two different muscles