Brisket 225F or 250F

[Planner47]

Davidnorcross
Agree and keep the smoke clean.

[DavidNorcross]

Please do not take this as a smart remark. But just cook it. You may fall into 225, 250, 300 or above. Where ever it settles in and you are able to maintain is the place you need to be. As others have said temp is a small portion of this. My sincere advice is dont over think it. My best briskets were the ones where I thought they were going to be the worst.

[Mudkat]

Sounds long to me if you power through the stall after good bark formation and wrap it. Maybe You could plan 18 hours and faux cambro for a few hours if it comes in at 16 hours. I’ve never had a 21 hour cook. But I’m no Aaron Franklin. Once the bark is formed you could speed it up with higher temps if needed,

[ecowper]

To reinforce what Uncle Bob said ….. there are a bunch of things that go into cooking a good brisket. Pit temperature is just one of many elements that are important. In some ways, it is probably the least important. Consistency of method is probably the most important.

[Mudkat]

I shoot for ranges. I love a long slow cook between 225 and two 250 with the dialed in range at 235 - 245 with water bowl for both bark and moisture. Cold meat and low starting heat for smoke ring. Just a thought, not a sermon.

[MauleGuy]

Ok, sounds like 225 or 250 is the choice for pellet grills. I can do 225F until I wrap it in pink butcher paper then go 250F or so.

Anyone have a WAG on time per lb for each of those tmps. I heard Franklin say 1.5 hrs at his 250F which translates into 21 hrs on a 14 lb packer. Sound right to everyone?

[Attjack]

Hotter and faster imo.

[JeffJ]

I typically run in the 240-290 range. Over time my experience has been that cuts of meat like brisket are pretty forgiving when it comes to temperature fluctuation and they cook pretty consistently within the low/slow range.

[Uncle Bob]

Troutman, it's strictly for medicinal purposes.......really.

[Troutman]

Thanks professor !!!

Now put down that bottle of whiskey before you hurt yourself !!!

[glitchy]

Franklin runs stick burners that cook good between 250-275. With a pellet grill you’re going to get better smoke at 200-225. So, I’d run lower at least for the first 3-4 hours on brisket, then bump up to 250-275 so you’re not cooking forever. When I smoke things on my WSCG, I just run the whole cook at 250-275. Cooker sweet spot for good smoke is more important than the temp when talking 275 and below.

[Santamarina]

My stickburner likes to run ~250°F, so that’s where I cook everything. It’ll finish a full packer in less than 10 hours, and it’s moist with a beautiful bark.

[Oak Smoke]

I cook at 300F with the fat cap down to use as a bit of a heat shield. If I’m on my kamado I’ll go until its probe tender some where between 195 and 203 internal. If I’m using something with more airflow I’ll wrap it at 180 internal to keep it from drying the flat. I’ve used pink butcher paper and foil, the foil is a whole lot less messy. I do use a temp controller, a good one is worth the investment. If that’s TMI sorry.

[CaptainMike]

Nice.

[USMCCrashCrew89]

I cook between 220 and 280, wherever the cooker I’m using that day happens to settle in at. I’m no pitmaster and there’s certainly room for improvement but it’s much less stressful to keep it within a range as long as you’re not scorching sugar or drying out the meat.