Hey I am smoking a brisket Friday for Memorial Day weekend on a pellet smoker at 225 degrees. Questions: 1. Is it ok to wrap in foil instead of butcher paper at the point of the stall? 2. Fat side up or down? 3. Do I need to spray with any type of water during the cook?
also, feel free to say my questions are all wrong I don’t know what I’m talking about. You would be correct in thinking that. I need help.
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
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To be truthful: yes or no! (How's that for an answer?)
There are no rules. I hate to sound so "ME" and "I" in this post, but I will share my personal thoughts since you asked. For the record I am not right, I am only right for me.
I personally do not wrap until after the stall, at about 180, since by then the bark is a bit thicker and hardier. Then the wrap will affect it less. I used to use foil and now I use paper but honestly they both produce a GREAT brisket- so you do what you want. Only in a side-by-side will you be able to tell the difference. Foil will be the quickest by maybe 1 hour, maybe 2. Paper will be quicker than not wrapping, but not by a whole lot. (In my experience).
Me, I usually place the fat cap in the direction the heat comes from, as a buffer or barrier. Many will tell you put it up regardless, so it can drip down or whatever their personal reason is. Go ahead and do whatever your heart tells you. You will love it either way.
Me, I also do not spray/mist/mop at all. Some will say you will get a bit more smoke adherence if you do it, it may or may not be noticeable on your plate in real life. Or if you do it with cider, or vinegar, or beer it will taste better than your neighbor's. It may or may not. You will love it either way. What it will do is cool your meat, prolonging the cook. So if you spray/baste/mop and it takes an hour or two longer than you hoped because you were constantly adding a cold rinse to a hunk of meat you want to rise in temp, well, there you go.
What I will suggest is make sure your brisket is COLD when you put it in your smoker. Heck, put it in your freezer 30-60 min prior to smoking it. And since you mention using a pellet cooker- put the brisket in your cold smoker BEFORE you start it up, THEN push the start button. That thick cloud of startup smoke is valuable- don't waste it!
This is really great advice. I recall my first few briskets, I stressed out over every minute detail. Now I approach my cooks (especially my brisket cooks) as a fun experiment. I'm so much more relaxed and enjoy the cooks rather than stressing out over them.
efincoop We're taught that brisket is the Mt Everest of BBQ, and it kinda is because it's a big hunk of meat, it's expensive, and it takes tons of time and some skill that the average steak or burger pro might not possess. The downside is that might cause many of us to stress out. I sure did on my first 2 or 3 cooks. I think our forum here helps add a layer of 'comfort and chill' to this otherwise intimidating cook by reminding folks of what's actually important and what's only preference.
1. I wrap in foil all the time, some prefer paper. Chefs choice.
2. I start fat down, about 3 hours in I have been known to flip my brisket. Chefs choice.
3. I wouldn't spray, you want the bark to set. You could cook over a water pan or with a can of water in the smoker if your worried about moisture.
No question is stupid around here, probably asked a few humdingers myself.
1. Ok to wrap in foil after the stall (160 or so), but that could create mushy bark while saving you cook time. You can skip this step if you want and get a crunchier bark, but it will take a bit longer to finish cooking.
2. I personally place it fat side down towards the heat source. However, I also flip the meat sometimes half way through to get the advantage of both sides.
3. Spritzing will cool the meat and extend the cook times for no to little benefit.
I have only done two briskets in my entire bbq life (that’s another story). But both have been on my pellet smoker. They both turned out excellent.
I did fat cap down towards the heat.
Wrapped at the end of the stall with paper.
No mop or spritz.
Started at 200 degrees to get more smoke. Upped to 250 when wrapped and until done. Took about 15 hours each time. They were big ones.
1) I think wrapping in butcher paper will do a better job of preserving the bark that you developed before the stall than aluminum foil. The foil will probably help you finish faster but it might sweat away your bark.
2) The fat should be closest to the heat source. In a pellet smoker, go fat side down.
3) I agree with what others have said about spritzing. It shouldn't be necessary unless for some reason the brisket looks like it's drying out. That shouldn't be a problem in your pellet smoker at 225.
I have tried it all and have since abandoned all. The key, IMHO, is to choose a nice piece of well-marbled meat, minimally trim, DB overnight, rub of choice, smoke at 250 until probe tender, rest at least 2 hours, and slice against the grain. Works every time and there's very little fuss.
This method works for me - I use kamados and offset smokers.
I use prime or wagyu brisket mostly but choice works great. I trim the fat to 1/4-3/8" thick on top, dry brine overnight (or two nights), then season liberally with black pepper. I fire up the smoker shooting for 250o and when the smoke is right I put the brisket on the smoker cold, the point (fat end) towards the heat, fat cap up. I do spritz every 30 minutes for the first two hours (based on Dr. Blonder's research about smoke sticking to cold wet surfaces) but not after that since the surface of the meat is pretty warm by then. Honestly I don't really spritz the wagyu briskets much as they seem to stay pretty wet. I also don't think vinegar or beer spritzes affect the flavor - you are not putting much on there, the smoke overpowers the flavor of the spritz, and a lot ends up dripping off during the stall.
I sometimes wrap, sometimes I don't based on whether I think the meat/bark is getting too dry. I tend to use foil since it is easy and collects all of the fat and juice which I save for other uses (beans and such). When probe tender (195o - 205o on average) I wrap in a beach towel and put in a cooler for at least an hour, I've gone 7 hours before and the meat was still hot.
As you can see from all the responses - roll your dice and experiment, everyone's got a different method and they all seem to work/not work/can't tell/haven't tried.
Great timing. I just picked up a smaller 9 pound prime brisket at Costco; $3.99/pound which is the same as a pound of ribs at my local Kroger this weekend. I did my one and only brisket on my Grilla pellet weeks ago. Turned out great. I am going to do this one this weekend but on my WSM.
The other thing I would add is figure out what time you want to eat it, and then count backwards to figure out what time to throw it on the smoker. It's never a bad thing if it finishes up early and I am a firm believer in the importance of the rest. Different story, though, if it's not done cooking and your starving at dinner time. Worse if you have kids who are also hangry.
I watch Pros on YouTube smoke brisket, meat selection, trimming, seasoning, smoking, wrapping, and slicing.
Hope this helps you make the cook your own.
Huskee Nailed it.
There are no hard and fast rules, but merely suggestions. A lot of depends on what kind of cooker you use, and your own personal preference. If this is your first brisket, I would suggest fat down, no spritz, paper wrap after the stall. However, I have made very good briskets doing the exact opposite of all three of those guidelines.
The most important thing is to not stress over any of it. It's just BBQ. Enjoy the process and you'll either end up with good eats, or a good story to tell about that time that it all went sideways.
Well said. All steps, whether used or ignored, make a great brisket because brisket is great. What matters most is proper prep, cooking temp range, doneness temp range, and hold time.
Good info above^ My recently departed friend, Stephen "No Cents" Smith, did a scientific experiment on brisket cooking many years ago. He passed this tidbit along to me many, many years ago. After 163, brisket loses moisture so wrap then to contain the moisture and melt the collagen. I prefer foil to paper, but I've used both. I find that paper adds about an hour to the cooking time. If you turn your brisket either when cooking or wrapping, your bark is lost.
I trimmed a beautiful Creekstone prime whole packer for this weekend's Bombers & BBQ contest. The point is almost the same size as the flat. Don't see that often. Cut about 6 pounds off a 12 pound brisket!
Wow, that's a lot for a 12lber. I bet what's left will be amazing though. I usually go for the 12-14lbers max, since beyond that my experience has been much greater % of waste, especially so on the big 19-21lbers. I can't imagine 50%!
There are a lot of ways to skin a cat when smoking a brisket. This recipe shows you a way to get a super juicy, smoky brisket with an amazing bark when using a pellet grill.
I have the Brisket thawing for this, assuming we can get our guests to come.
I push through the stall and wrap closer to 170s or 180s, or when the bark is where I want it. I usually wrap with butcher paper but recently have tried the foil boat method (look up Chuds BBQ on YouTube). I actually have a foil boat brisket on my kettle right now. As others have already said, it is all about doing what works for you. It is fun to experiment with different methods. Good luck!
I need help.
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