First Brisket this weekend

[dkbkk]

Hi All,

 

We have a 4 day weekend coming up so I am going top do my first Brisket on my Kamado Joe Classic II. Have read lots of your advice here and researched a bunch on YouTube and elsewhere. Plan is for Low and Slow about 225F and will monitor temp and time.

 

Any words of wisdom or advice for a Rookie?

[Brandon Store]

I’ll tell you my mistake. I was nervous with how fast it cooks from raw to 160 I thought it was going to be done way ahead of schedule. 160 to past 200 degrees takes a long time. Plan alot of time. The brisket needs a minimum 1 hour rest after its done. Please make sure you rest it, itll be so much better that way. 

[Chasdev]

225 is going to take a LONG time, in fact unless your actual cook grate temps exceed that number (and you are going off the dome temp gauge which shows lower than the cook level temp) you can expect it to take from 12/14 hours up to 20 hours.

My sincere advice is to monitor internal temp at 8 hours and if it's not reaching stall then raise the temp to 275.

[dkbkk]

Thanks for the advice, So do you think 225 is to low? 

[Brandon Store]

Yeah go for 250. Also another newbie mistake to avoid is being obsessed with the temperature staying at the exact temp. If it gets to 270 its not the end of the world close the top vent a little and itll work its way back down. If it gets to 230 open it up a little more. If its at 240 or 260 leave it alone. I used to be the guy that would be playing with the vents if it was 5 degrees off. Temp will fluctuate a little. 

[Chasdev]

14 hours ago, dkbkk said:

Thanks for the advice, So do you think 225 is to low? 

 

I did one on a pellet burner that took 20 hours at 225 and that cooker holds exact temps hour after hour after hour....

Brisket came out great and I got a full nights sleep, but that was still too long.

I cook brisket at 350/375 these days and like the results and shorter cook time a lot.

[McKellBBQ]

I did my first (full packer) about a month ago. I overshot 250 and couldn't get it below 300... whoops. I would say be very patient in bringing it up to temp. Lower temp to me is better than higher temp. I just plan for a longer rest time now so 3-4 hours rest time, in case I am too low on temp and it takes longer to cook.

 

The brisket still turned out okay, but it finished way quicker this time.

[Misguided]

On 9/2/2020 at 12:31 AM, dkbkk said:

Thanks for the advice, So do you think 225 is to low? 

No, but it does take a while (I do long cooks on a pellet smoker, not a kamado). And ideally, you are letting it rest in a cooler stuffed with towels for a couple hours after it comes off the heat.

 

 One thing I do these days is to wrap the brisket in foil at some point after it hits 160. This will both decrease the cook time and help soften up the crust, which can be difficult to cut through in my experience.

I strongly recommend picking up a copy of Meathead for some basic techniques.

[CentralTexBBQ]

In my experience the greatest advantage of cooking at 225° is being able to say you cooked a brisket for some outrageously long period of time. Can you produce essentially the same or better product @ 250°, 275° or 285° in far less time? Absolutely.

 

On 9/2/2020 at 6:55 AM, Brandon Store said:

Also another newbie mistake to avoid is being obsessed with the temperature staying at the exact temp. If it gets to 270 its not the end of the world...

 

Or, you could just let it cook @ 270°or whatever temp it rises to. I'm not going to plan cooks @ 350° or 375°. Then again, when I've needed to push a brisket along to get 'er done in time, I'm not shy about opening those vents for a sluggish cow or two.

[JeffieBoy]

I have found my Akorn has a sweet spot at around 240-250 degrees.  I toss the meat in, aim for 250ish on the grate and enjoy a beer or three.  If it moves to 270 or so, I choke it down a wee bit,  if it drops too far, I nudger ‘er open a bit.  I agree whole heartedly with @Brandon Store

 

Don’t overthink it.