Brisket first attempt

[jofish]

First shot at brisket 12lb. packer on pellet grill
been on @225 for 7 hours IT 178
Should I wrap or let it go?
Looking to serve around 5pm
Thanks
Joe

[tRidiot]

I dunno, I'm seeing your post at 1019AM Central time, so I think you've got plenty of time to leave it uncovered. This is my preference for most everything on my pellet smoker. I don't know what time zone you're in, so I'd say, you should be good by 3 or 4 to pull it and wrap it and let it rest at that point. 5-6 more hours if you're in Central, an hour less Eastern... that might be pushing it, but I'd personally try to tough it out a little longer, see how much it rises.

[jofish]

Present IT 184
I'm in the Eastern Time Zone 11:23AM started cook at 4PM
Plan to wrap and hold

[HorseDoctor]

I have no experience with a pellet grill and normally cook brisket at 260-270, but... I would wrap it in foil and maybe bump the temp up some. It'll help prevent drying and make sure you get it done in time to spend a few hours in the faux cambro before serving. That's an important step also. I've had way to many briskets with a mind of their own that took their own sweet time getting "done" from where you are at (178)... I hate making hungry guests wait! Good luck!

[jofish]

tRidiot
thanks for the reply

[tRidiot]

I think you'll be ok unwrapped, if you went from 178 to 184 in roughly 20-25 minutes. Just keep an eye on it, I think you're past the stall and into the finishing phase. Some people have noted a stall with a double peak, but, I think you're past that point. You should notice a fairly steady climb at this point until the end. As noted above, bumping to 275 or so isn't going to hurt anything, could actually help the bark. My preference is to not wrap, pellet smokers don't develop that thick hard crust for the most part, so there's little worry of turning it into a meteorite.

I think you'll love it.

[jofish]

Thanks for the advice,
It came out great !
Pulled from grill @ 2:30 PM wrapped and in Faux Cambro till 5 PM

[KevinG]

Sounds like you got the logistics just right! Always a fun part of it!

[DWCowles]

I always wrap a brisket when the IT temp reaches 175/180 and the bark looks good.