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Timing to smoke a 1.5lb Flat Brisket on a weekday?

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    Timing to smoke a 1.5lb Flat Brisket on a weekday?

    I'm looking for options from experienced Brisket Smokers.

    I bought a small flat brisket this weekend with the plan to smoke it Sunday. Well Sunday morning came and a family emergency popped up, and I was unable to smoke the brisket.
    I had salted the meat Saturday night.
    It is still in the fridge.
    I work during the day on weekdays.

    I am trying to figure out how to smoke this either overnight (while I'm sleeping), maybe during the day (I can come home at noon and start it, but my wife would have to monitor, and she is unfamiliar with the equipment), or use my Seal-a-meal to vacuum pack it and freeze it until next weekend (not sure if I need to freeze it since the Texas Brisket recipe says some people let the meat wet age in a vacuum package for a month?)

    Do any of you experienced Brisket Smokers have suggestions to help me save this meat and get it smoked? From what I read I need to keep an eye on it and crutch it to prevent stalling, so I am concerned that I could ruin it unless I am watching it closely.

    Yes I have a dual wireless digital thermometer I can use, and my smoker is electric, so no worries adding fuel, except maybe smoke chips.

    Any help is appreciated!
    Jibberish

    #2
    here is what i would do

    i would smoke it for a few hours when you get home from work until it gets to about 140. bring it in, put it in the fridge, cool it down, vacuum seal it, freeze it, save it for another day when you want brisket but the weather outside is frightful (winter) and cook it in your oven then. that is assuming you don't care about making it this coming weekend.

    as far as leaving it in the fridge: it's possible it will end up being ok being in the fridge, salted, for 7 days. you would have to watch it and if it starts to brown you might as well smoke it now and finish it later. the logic that people wet brine is similar to you leaving it in the fridge is faulty, as a wet brine is done in the original cryo-vac bag that the meat was put in, with no or very little contaminants on the meat. when the meat is out of that original bag, things go south, and sometimes fast.

    Comment


      #3
      Thanks DeusDingo! Sounds like a plan!

      Comment


        #4
        Keep a close watch on the smoker and internal meat temperatures. It sounds like what you have is basically a thick steak. Would you be amenable to corning it?

        Comment


          #5
          How long would it take at 225 to get a 1-1/2 lb. flat cooked? I'd think a couple hours at most, something you could do after work?

          Comment


          • HawkerXP
            HawkerXP commented
            Editing a comment
            I would agree. We kind of guesstimate one hour per pound.

          #6
          Never done a piece that small so only speculating. As the melting of the collagen is as much a factor of the amount of time above 170F +/- as it is the end temp, you may not get the tenderness you want with a 2 hour cook even if you do reach a 203-205F final temp? Would pushing a small piece of meat to over 200F in a couple hours cause it to seize up rather than break down? Let us know how it goes...

          Comment


          • gcdmd
            gcdmd commented
            Editing a comment
            Agreed. Much of the basis for low and slow cooking to tenderize meat is maintaining a moist internal environment but with a high enough temperature and enough time to break down the collagen into smaller molecules, notably gelatin.

            In BBQ joints the flat often gets chopped up and used for sandwiches.
            Last edited by gcdmd; May 24, 2017, 10:41 AM.

          • billg71
            billg71 commented
            Editing a comment
            Good thought, thanks.

          #7
          I've put dry brined brisket and chuck roasts in the freezer for use at a later date with no problems. I always vacuum seal.

          Kathryn

          Comment


            #8
            OK the Deed is Done! I got home from work, started up the smoker @ 285 degrees. The meat had been dry brined, so I made a cup of beef broth and injected about half a cup into the brisket (squirted out the sides, top and bottom). Coated it with the Big Bad Beef Rub & set the brisket in the smoker fat side up (mostly trimmed away). Set up my 2 probe remote digital thermometer. One in the grill and one in the meat, and set the meat alarm for 203 degrees. Added Cherry chips for smoke, closed it up and went about my evening. Before I went to bed around 11PM and the brisket was about 170 degrees, and I was worried about stall and losing moisture so I cruched it in Heavy Duty Foil and reinserted the thermometer in the top. The alarm went off around 2AM, so I got up and put the brisket in a small warmed beer cooler and covered it with a towel. Set an alarm on my phone for an hour and went back to bed. Got up around 3AM, removed the brisket from the cooler and put it in the fridge on a plate covered with the towel. I cut a slice after work the next day and it is fantastic! Moist, tender and delicious! We had dinner already planned so we are eating it tonight, after I warm it up again.

            Thanks to all of you and AmazingRibs for your help. As usual, you helped a novice become a pro overnight (well, over several nights, and I'm still not a pro, but darn it is tasty)!

            THANK YOU!
            Jibberish

            PS: I work at a big company that has several cafeterias. One serves brisket and pulled pork. They have a big smoker outside to cook the meat. I talked to the chef as he was preparing the meat. They use Flat, set the temp for 124 degrees and smoke their meat for 18 hours. Every Day! Tastes pretty good too. I'll take a photo of their smoker to share. It is really cool!
            J

            Comment


            • HorseDoctor
              HorseDoctor commented
              Editing a comment
              Well done! I was pretty sure it was still gonna take some time to turn out how you wanted. Congrats!

            • kmhfive
              kmhfive commented
              Editing a comment
              Congratulations! Glad it worked well!

            #9
            Here's the smoker I was talking about. Just Beautiful! It takes big chunks of wood and uses LP and electricity (I don't know how it works other than that).
            Click image for larger version

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            Comment


            • kmhfive
              kmhfive commented
              Editing a comment
              Looks like a rotisserie cooker. Best guess is that propane is the primary heat source for the 255F control and that the wood fire provides primarily smoke.

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