Cook time for 2 ea. 15 pound briskets

[Midway]

I picked up two briskets at Costco for a large family Christmas party I am hosting tomorrow, Saturday. Each was near 15 pounds before trimming. I had hoped for prime but grabbed the last two they had which were choice grade. MAK Two Star smoker.

I plan on putting them on before I go to bed Friday night at 225 and bump up to 250 Saturday morning. I would like to pull by 4:30 if needed and carve at 5:30 PM.

Is it better to try and fit both on the same rack, if they fit, or each on their own rack? I will wrap in butcher paper when they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.

Thank you.

How do I get post time correct? Mine shows an hour later the PST.

[Midway]

Single rack was not an option, too big. Brisket is on.

[barelfly]

Oh I think those will be done by then. Hopefully a little before so you get a few hours or rest. I just put on an 11lb brisket - 11:30 at 230…normally cook at 275* but didn’t want to stay up until 2:00am to put it on, so on it went at 230*…will wake up at 6:00am or so and bump the temp a bit based on the status.

hope you enjoy those briskets!

[RickyBobby]

Caution on my advice……. I am SUPER novice on brisket cooks on pellet rigs….. that said, I’d consider rotating top to bottom about half way through as your pictures seem to indicate that you couldn’t get them on the same rack. Are you planning to wrap? If you wrap after you wake up, I’m sure that you will have plenty of time for a good rest before you plan to serve. Let us know how they turn out!!! I’m sure they will be excellent!

[Sweaty Paul]

I would rotate the briskets from top to bottom and depending on hot spots on your rig you might need to turn them 180 degrees too. For instance on the bottom rack it's a bit hotter towards the fire box, however, the top rack is hotter near the smoke stack. Therefore, I always turn the point to the hottest parts of the grill since the flat is thinner.

[Midway]

Caution on my advice……. I am SUPER novice on brisket cooks on pellet rigs….. that said, I’d consider rotating top to bottom about half way through as your pictures seem to indicate that you couldn’t get them on the same rack. Are you planning to wrap? If you wrap after you wake up, I’m sure that you will have plenty of time for a good rest before you plan to serve. Let us know how they turn out!!! I’m sure they will be excellent!

I'm a novice as well. This is my 2nd attempt. I plan on wrapping when the internal temperature reaches 165. Last cook the stall lasted a LONG time.

[realdocBBQ]

Great idea to bump the temp in the morning and make sure you get some good sleep.

I'd think about doing a foil boat rather than butcher paper. It's become my go to method. Once they've shrunk up a bit, you might be able to fit them both on the same rack, as well.

What's with the pic? That briskie on top looks like you laid a big chunk of the trimming or something on top? Or is that the mohawk you didn't trim off of it? If so, that's a... strange looking mohawk. I dunno. Just stood out to me, kinda different looking.


Anyways, I'm sure it'll go well, but that is a lot of meat packed into that cooker. I'd definitely bump the temp, for sure. Keep us in the loop, let's see how these babies come out!

[GolfGeezer]

I definitely recommend rotating the two between the racks. My experience with the MAK 2 Star is that there is a significant difference in the upper and lower rack ambient temps, between 20*-30* F. Switching them would help mitigate that, as well as wrapping or boating them.

[Alan Brice]

A longer rest is the most important. Also that will give you a better target to serve. Enjoy! Briskie is my fav.

[RonB]

My only suggestion would be to bump the temp to 275° instead of 250°. That will hopefully give you a bit more cushion on the finish time, and a longer hold won't hurt, and may improve the product.

[captainlee]

I have learned the longer the rest the better. Hopefully you'll get done in time for a good rest. Good luck with the cook.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

Since you've already got 'em going it's kinda too late but...

1. I've found foil pans and such often drastically increase the cooking time on the MAK and I would assume many other pellet grills.

2. If you had trimmed the briskets more you could have got 2 on 1 rack and then used the trimmings for soups, chili or chef snacks, and tallow

3. When you do use multiple racks, the MAK is fairly even temp wise compared to many other pellet grills but that's at each grate so yes rotating long cooked proteins is always a great idea, but even more so when 1 is directly above a foil pan.

4. You can also bump up the temp to 275 now that you're awake, especially since you're wrapping. And once you wrap bump the temp up to 300+. There's no issue finishing early, they can hold wrapped in their butcher paper AND then in foil the oven or a cooler for a long time before slicing.

Good luck!

[Midway]

Thanks for all the advice . Brisket is done, wrapped in butcher paper and towels and resting in a cooler.

It could be a 4 hour rest which I understand shouldn't be a problem. It had a nice bark before I wrapped it but I'm sure it has softened since.

I thought the Texas Brisket Made Easy book mentioned searing just before carving. It may have been general advice not specific to brisket. I have a propane grill I could use for a short sear over the infrared burner. What are opinions on searing or is it not necessary?

Thanks again for all the help.

[J-Melt]

I say not necessary! If it had good bark, then searing would be overkill.

[Alan Brice]

Yer done, Serve before it goes below 140 n Enjoy! Yumm!

[itsnotmyfault]

Totally agree with J-Melt. Brisket is not like a steak. Gentle, Gentle with Brisket.

[Midway]

I turned out great. I can't believe how much was eaten. Thanks again.

[realdocBBQ]

What no pics? Come on Midway, you're leavin' us hangin' here???

[J-Melt]

I guess it never happened

[Midway]

Yes, I know I should have taken pictures. Something about having 33 people arriving while attempting to coordinate everything I never found a chance or didn't rthink about it. A 4 hour rest was no problem, may have helped. Moist, flavorful, easy to slice, can't wait for leftovers. That's if it really happened .

[J-Melt]

I do that too often myself!