Moving brisket from the smoker to the oven for overnight cooking.

[stevegee]

Having cooked brisket according to your awesome recipe three times, I’d like to try again without the Texas crutch.

This means an ~18 rather than ~12 hour cook, which puts me into the unchartered territory of running the smoker overnight. With my rookie temperature control skills I'm worried the smoker won't hold steady while I sleep.

It got me thinking: as brisket absorbs most of the smoke in the first few hours, would moving it to the oven for the overnight portion of the cook yield good results? It can keep a steady 225°F and I won't need to worry about the fire extinguishing or burning too hot. This might be a bit controversial but the idea seems interesting.

My hope is to nail temperature control on my 18.5” WSM so the oven isn’t necessary, but would appreciate any advice.

Hello from Australia, by the way! Low and slow BBQing isn’t as big of a thing here but I am doing my best to spread the good word

p.s. not sure if the water pan would be necessary in an oven? I suspect it might be something that the WSM uses to allow for indirect heating to occur?

[MattBilling]

Hey Steve

My opinion is yes, I've done this with good success on many occasions. I have taken it off the smoker late at night, texas crutch and in the oven until morning then into the faux-cambro until serving.

I'm not sure I'd advise putting it in without a crutch, particularly in a fan oven as I get the feeling that it may dry out horribly.

Let us know how you go....

[jrobertson50]

i have finished brisket and butts in the oven before. but that was before i upgraded to the UDS. now im comfortable with the longer time. What type of pit are you using for smoking? But may i ask why you don't want to crutch?

[Jerod Broussard]

Definitely need a water pan under the brisket in the oven. Add boiling water to the pan to start with.

[stevegee]

may i ask why you don't want to crutch?

Just for learning. The three briskets I've cooked were with the crutch so wanted to see what the results were like without it.

Thanks for all your advice! I'll post pictures when it's done so you know how it went.

[Huskee]

I've done similar. I've had a brisket on heat for 24hrs due to scheduling constraints. After smoking for 12-14 or so, crutching, getting meat to ~200, I put in 170 deg oven for couple hrs, then faux cambro few hours, then back in oven @ 170, etc until serving time. It's was memorably juicy and tender but still sliceable.

[Bill P]

Hi Stevegee, I do this routinely with brisket only I use a cheap electric roaster--one of those enamel jobs that cost around $30. I put some beef stock, low or no salt, in with the brisket and a temperature probe. I cover the roaster with aluminum foil to seal and then put on the lid. When the brisket is done I just turn off the heat and let it hang out until I am ready to serve. Cheers! Bill

[stevegee]

Really appreciate all your help. I’m still a rookie and learned a lot this cook, thought I'd post my results.

It turns out I had *a lot* of meat to cook with as the first brisket I purchased was cut in half! I couldn’t tell as it was in a vacuum sealed bag. Annoying, but I used those half briskets to experiment on. One went into the oven for a full cook, the other in the WSM.

I bought a second brisket, this time it was whole. It went on the WSM bottom rack and was smoked for ~23 hours @ ~225F (9pm Friday - 8pm Saturday).

Fortunately, temperature control went well so I went to bed at midnight and kept everything in the WSM cooking and didn't need to move it to the oven. It only went from 225 - 197 overnight which is a win in my book.

Results:
WSM whole-brisket: Good crust and delicious, somewhat moist meat. I say somewhat as the inside wasn’t as moist as previous cooks where I’d put it in the crutch. I learned that it’s worth having a soggy crust if that means a quicker cooking time and moister meat.

Oven half-brisket: Surprisingly moist. Crust went a little strange though. It was not as moist as the whole brisket but it was tasty. I intended on feeding this one to my dog so I didn’t season it. Ended up having quite a bit of it myself.

WSM half-brisket: This took 24hours to cook. It just wasn’t going any higher so after 24 hours I took it off around 200F. It was dry, tough and not good at all. Learned that you can’t just fold a brisket to make it thicker.

WSM pulled pork: delicious, juicy and my best one yet. Really happy with how that turned out. I put it on that morning around 8am so it was a ~12 hour cook.

I'd be keen to hear any feedback you guys have.

[Marauderer]

Sounds like you have it figured out. Sad about the one brisket but, it was a learning experience. Lots of different heat sources. I am developing a tendency to not use the crutch and haven't yet. Sooner or later I will when there becomes a time crunch so my next pork shoulder I will use it just to develop the skill.

[jlo]

How long can you keep a brisket that has hit 203F in the oven for? Assuming it is wrapped... And the oven at 170F with a water pan.