First brisket in my KBQ

[briancc]

I'll be smoking my first brisket in my KBQ Easter weekend and wanted some advice. I ordered a Snake River Farms Gold Grade Wagyu brisket in the smallest size, 9-12 lbs. and it's being delivered Tuesday so it will have time to thaw. I like to use OakRidge BBQ Black Ops rub on beef and probably run the KBQ around 250 degrees. This crowd does not like a heavy smoke flavor so I plan on using red oak and wrapping in butcher paper when it hits the stall around 160 degrees. I'll spritz it periodically. I always use a water pan in my KBQ because it makes cleanup much easier and maybe? helps with moisture. What cooking time should I ROUGHLY anticipate? I'd like to finish a few hours earlier than the serving time of 7 pm and keep it wrapped in a cooler
My observations with other KBQ cooks is that due to the convection effect the cook times are a little faster than a regular smoker. Any suggestions?

[Huskee]

I'd skip the spritz, if anything it will delay the cook somewhat and add a pinch more smokey flavor, potentially.

My ballpark suggestion would be to first of all make sure you trim it properly- leave 1/4" to 1/2" fat cap. Too much or too little will affect the cook time. Give it a solid 12hrs to be safe; 13-14 to be extra safe. That's counting a couple hrs of faux cambro hold time. I'm usually 12 hrs from start to plate (10 hrs on heat + 2hrs hold) when I wrap after the stall at ~180, so you could see 2 hrs less wrapping at the start of the stall...but paper will go slower than foil, so it may be a wash.

All that said, you could still get an outlier and have your brisket cook really quick or really slow, these kinda time suggestions are only suggestions.

[briancc]

Thanks Huskee for your response. I was figuring on getting the meat in the KBQ by about 6 am. But there's so many variables. The other question I have is does a Wagyu brisket probe like butter at a different finished temp than a choice or prime? I have read where some say a Wagyu brisket will be done at a lower final temp.

[Huskee]

I've read MANY cases where ppl say yes, they finish earlier, but the ones I've done seem to be on par with Prime. Truth be told, I've had many Prime and even a Choice be completely probe tender at 195-197. I would plan to start probing at 195. You won't ruin it by going up to 200 though, unless you hold it too long after reaching temp, then it might get crumbly.

[briancc]

That brings up something I've never quite understood. When you pull a brisket, whether is's 195 or 203 or whatever it takes to get it probe tender, and then wrap it and place in a cooler or Cambro, the meat temp must go up another 10 degrees at least from the residual heat. How does the brisket not get too overcooked when sitting in that insulated cooler?

[Huskee]

You might get another couple degrees rise from carryover, but it will begin dropping after 30 mins or 20 mis or 45mis or 12 mins, somewhere in there depending on what you have the meat holding in. The waning temp helps it to not "cook" further, but it sits there nicely and 'snuggles' in its heat and that is what helps further soften & delishify it, rendering more fats & collagens into a juicy mouthfeel. What I do is simply drop my smoker's temp once the brisket hits ~200. I don't' even probe it anymore feeling for probe tender. When it hits anywhere form 197-205 I drop the cooker temp to ~150-180 and let her go another 1-2hrs, depending on when we need to eat (might be tricky to do on a KBQ, but you get the idea). Does the same job, less stress for me and no cooler to clean. The brisket is still at a good ~180 by then, so I unwrap it for a few minutes just before slicing. Slice to order as your guests want it, don't slice it all at once. *This is just what I do, not saying you need to do it my way, there are fifty ways to do it and do it right.

[Mudkat]

Delishify. I "liked" delishify!

[Santamarina]

I do Prime briskets at ~250°F (with temps in my offset stickburner occasionally running up to 275+°) and a 14lb packer is usually done in ~9 hours. Based on others experience I’m gonna do my next one at 275° the whole time. Thinking I can knock an hour or two off that time and give it a longer rest. Last brisket I did an overnight rest at 170°F in my oven inside and it was perfect.

[Mr. Bones]

Yup, runnin hotter 275°~325° (300° ~avg.) is definitely a timesaver, gamechanger, an I cain't perceive any quantifiable detriment of quality in my end products.

[JGrana]

Here is a really good post made by our KBQ Brisket Master BBQ Bill

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/grills-and-smokers/logs/karubecue-kbq/377903-kbq-the-maiden-voyage?p=587815#post587815

It's a bit long (and growing ;-) but a wealth of information on cooking brisket on the KBQ.

[Spinaker]

I would figure 8 hours if you are wrapping. Then make sure to leave time for a 2-4 hour hold in a cambro. When I cook briskets in my KBQ, I like to let them roll to about 180 F internal so I can get the color I like on the outside.

If you are looking for a lighter smoke profile, run the bottom poppet only and keep the fire bed full and hot. And go easy on the Black Ops, it can be strong. You want that wonderful Wagyu flavor to really shine.

[Histrix]

If you are going to wrap it I suggest you think about going ahead and taking it out of the KBQ and just finish it in your oven. Once wrapped it is no longer gaining smoke and I find that just finishing in the oven saves me from tending a fire and saves firewood and frees up time so I can work on other parts of the meal.

[JGrana]

I have also found another side benefit to this method. I put the paper wrapped brisket on one shelf then a large baking pan on the rack right underneath. Catches the lovely juices and the baking pan stays pretty clean.

[hogdog6]

Ditto. This is how I do it

[briancc]

Thanks for all the input. Looking forward to the cook.

[briancc]

I'm looking at the weather forecast for Saturday here. It could be raining all morning. Has anyone ever cooked a brisket in the oven for the first few hours, and then brought it outside to finish in the smoker for the last 4 hours or so?

[Huskee]

Not I. Cold moist meat takes on the most smoke flavor, never tried the opposite.

[hogdog6]

That is backwards of how I'd do it. Smoke is attracted to cold and wet surfaces.

[Histrix]

Never done it that way but it should be fine. You won't get a smoke ring if you cook it so the internal temp is past 140ish but that's no biggie. A brisket will release plenty of moisture in the remainder of the cook that you should still get plenty of smoke but to add more smoke run with both poppets open for much/all of the remainder of the cook. If the brisket does look like it is running dry you could lightly spritz it with water a few times and that would help "stick" more smoke.

[briancc]

Rain and the KBQ don't work well together, unless you've got a sheltered space with a high ceiling and plenty of ventilation.
I've got a pop up tent but the wind is supposed to be 25 mph.

[lostclusters]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_MDietkKA5A