Brisket on pellet grill

[Floated_down]

Save the fat trimmings and make tallow

 

[johnnycake]

This makes me cringe.

Cringe all you want, in the end it just plain works (and it's way easier to avoid ever having a dry flat end). Almost 20 years ago now, I was a classical French trained chef and worked as the head line chef running either saucier or grill station on a wood fired grill in a 2 Michelin Star restaurant at a 5 Diamond resort. The thing I learned that has stuck with me the best from the head chef there was to not get stuck in the trap of "but that's how [X] has always been done" so long as the end result is still good.

Separating the point and flat increases the amount of bark, speeds up the cooking time, reduces the length of the stall, and simply cooks the point and flat better as they are differently structured and composed cuts.

It's the same principles for why parting out a large turkey, separating the legs from the breast will always produce a superior cook in less time than roasting the whole bird. The only price you pay is the lost visual impact. I'll pay that happily every time.

 

[bruno747]

But my favorite thing about smoked meats is that the flavors develop better if you rest it overnight in the fridge after it completely cooks. Then you just reheat it wrapped in foil for ~30-45 minutes in the oven or in the pellet grill at 350 before meal time. It tastes smokier, texture is every bit as good as the first day, and it's extremely reliable and controllable.

I have found this is more for the pit master than others. I have come to realize after smoking, mopping, checking in for bark and color before wrapping, and just generally hanging around the smoker outside gets me nose blind to the smoke pretty quickly. Getting a shower and overnight rest allows my senses to reset and pickup the smoke smell and flavor much more. I'm sure the flavor spreads in the fridge or cooler but I find its mostly no longer being nose blind.

I also love slicing the brisket and vacuum sealing it in dinner sized packs. Then I just throw the whole vacuum sealed pack in hot water in an electric pot such as a presto kitchen kettle. 10-15 minutes later its hot from frozen and has lost zero juices to evaporation since its all sealed in the bag. Slice it open, dump it out next to the sides. Perfect every time.

 

[Sacrvrrat72]

I would cook it the day before. 13 lbs should take 8-10 hours at 275 with a smoke tube if you like smoke. Pull when point feels like butter and flat feels like peanut butter when probed.

Vacuum seal it and sous vide @ 165 for 10-14 hours. Serve immediately after pull from sous vide.

Easier and shorter if you separate, but you choice on how you want serve it.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Every brisket and every pellet smoker is different. Generalities do work, but you'll need to experiment with a few briskets and your smoker and get it down.

 

[Nicodez]

I’ve followed the meat church videos from Traeger and always works out great. A good WiFi thermometer will help control internal and cook temp without opening the smoker


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[bruno747]

I would cook it the day before. 13 lbs should take 8-10 hours at 275 with a smoke tube if you like smoke. Pull when point feels like butter and flat feels like peanut butter when probed.

Vacuum seal it and sous vide @ 165 for 10-14 hours. Serve immediately after pull from sous vide.

Smoke till its got the bark and color I want, then sous vide for hours to get it tender sounds like a solidly winning combination. Unfortunately I just don't have the space, equipment, or container to do this short of the bath tub lol.

 

[huntcookwrite]

You’ve gotten more than enough good advice, but I’ll just add that the Meat Church method has typically given me great results when I give it enough time to rest after.

Pellet Grill Brisket

There are a lot of ways to skin a cat when smoking a brisket. This recipe shows you a way to get a super juicy, smoky brisket with an amazing bark when using a pellet grill.

www.meatchurch.com

If you’ve never checked you’re grills temp sensor, just be aware you may be running hot or cold — so for a brisket, it’s really about that first internal temp check before wrapping and then the “wiggle” or “butter probe” test after that before resting.

 

[chizelhead]

I like to use the Franklin method. That being said, there are a lot of ways to smoke/cook a brisket as is demonstrated on this thread.

Difference makers IMO:

• Temp: I cook at 275. I still get a nice smoke ring and good flavor balanced with timing/moistness. You can start out lower in the beginning and try and get more smoke flavor, but the meat typically can only take so much smoke before it saturates. Lower temp and longer cook risks drying out the brisket. Others like low temp/long cooks so it depends on what you like.
• Timing: I target 13-15 lb briskets. The difficulty on cook time is the variability of the stall due to differences in collagen content. I've had briskets cook at that starting weight between 7-10 hrs. I usually serve brisket for dinner, so I just get up early and start. Your timing is lunch, which changes things. I would try and do it today if you can and then plan on warming tomorrow for lunch. If you don't have a sou vide then preslicing and warming in the oven can work. You can also get up early to cook and then rest it. I would start it at midnight or a little earlier if you want to hit lunch the next day.
• Trimming: Franklin has a good tutorial on trimming regardless of which cook approach you take.
• Use a water pan. I've done both and the pan in the smoker makes the difference on if the brisket turns out dry or moist. I prefer moist. The pan also catches drippings and keeps your grill from getting super greasy. I add the pan to the pellet grill, heat the water on the stove and then add it rather than it heating in the pellet grill. That way it doesn't act as a heat sink at the beginning.
• Spritz during the cook until you wrap. I use apple cider vinegar, but you can also just use water, water/vinegar mix, beer, etc. It helps to form the bark.
• Temp probes are your friend—remote ones with alarms are even better. Knowing exactly when you come out of the stall is huge because the stall is highly variable, and it’s often the key limiting constraint, in my opinion. Once you see it break, you can decide whether to wrap (ideally in butcher paper or less ideally foil) or just let it ride unwrapped which I discourage since it dries it out. It also helps you predict overall cook timing, since the pre- and post-stall phases are usually pretty consistent on their own.
• Wood: I like hickory. It strikes a nice balance. Mesquite burns too hot and gives an ashtray taste. Fruit woods and alder give a lighter smoke, which may be good on your maiden cook. Pecan gives a blend between fruit wood and hickory. I've never used oak, but post oak is supposed to be good. Just make sure the pellets are dry.
• Slicing the brisket -- always cut across grain. The point will cut 90 degrees off of the flat. I start with the flat and then when I get to the point, I turn it 90 degrees and then finish cutting.

Good luck!

 

[DuckDawg22]

Do you have the ability to close a grate and make your pellet grill a true smoker or will there always be some "flame" exposed? That's going to dramatically change the answers here. If you can't close a grate, you'll want to add foil pan with a bit of water in it to block the direct heat, otherwise you're going to have a brisket tri-tip. The Meater+ temp probe is worth its weight in gold for long smokes like brisket, especially if it's going to involve you getting out of bed to wrap at the stall. I'm with the others on 225 till the stall, wrap, pull at 205 and then rest in a cooler until you're ready to eat.

 

[snowymtnwolf]

Just pulled mine off pellet smoker and it’s resting in the cooler now.

Put it on before evening and you’ll be fine.

Remember - it’s about the final temp to pull it off IN COMBINATION with temp prob “tenderness” test. Took me many times to finally figure that part out.

Plus - avoid flare ups by keeping it under 250 or closely monitoring if you need to run that high of a temp in final stages

Good luck. Merry Christmas


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[TandKHunting]

I have cooked probably 30 briskets on my Pitboss.

203 is a general guideline..not a rule. Brisket is done when it decides to be done. I have pulled brisket at 198 and also didn't pull until 206. Using your probe to test tenderness is the only test to verify that it is done. Check the thickest portion of the brisket. Insert the probe and pull it back. There should be little to no pull from the meat. If you have to wrestle the probe out...it's not done.

The two biggest things to remember..

1. Pull when it's probe tender...not what the temp says. Every piece of meat is different.
2. REST IT. I always wrap and place it in a cooler for a MINIMUM of 2 hours. The longer the rest...the better. I like resting it for 3-4 hours and will carve at 150 F.

The biggest mistakes people make are pulling it from the grill too soon and rushing to carve it up.

 

[Shupe88]

Appreciate all the tips! I've got it on the smoker now. I will let yall know how it turns out!


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[mxgsfmdpx]

Another note.

If your oven has a warming setting of 140-160 degrees, cooking them all day and then a full nights rest in the warming oven is game changer.

That 8-12 hour rest in the warming oven makes a huge difference.

 

[roadrunner]

Put one on at 7:30 this morning with a planned "cook" time of 12 hrs and then I'll place on foil and add tallow then wrap.

Once it reaches an internal temp of around 160, it will be placed either back on the pellet smoker or house oven at 155-ish for a 12 hour hold.

If it goes back on for the hold at 10 pm, it will be pulled at 10 am tomorrow morning and then let rest for a couple more hours before slicing.

 

[Whisky]

The previous two posts got it right. Active holds for a 12pm eating time. Cook the day before and let it come down to 150ish and then put it in an oven until slicing time. (I had to buy a roaster as my oven doesn't go that low). I actually have done an overnight active hold and then wrapped the brisket in towels in a cooler and traveled to the inlaws the next morning for a noon lunch and it was one of the best brisket I've cooked.

Learn probe tender as well.

 

[Shupe88]

Well the flavor of the brisket was amazing. But it shredded when I tried slicing it. Was still very tender and juicy but not what I was shooting for. It was more like pulled bbq. I had three different thermometers and they all was reading different so I took an average when I pulled it off. I'm gonna get a better probe thermometer and try again later on. Thanks again for all of the tips.


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[TandKHunting]

Well the flavor of the brisket was amazing. But it shredded when I tried slicing it. Was still very tender and juicy but not what I was shooting for. It was more like pulled bbq. I had three different thermometers and they all was reading different so I took an average when I pulled it off. I'm gonna get a better probe thermometer and try again later on. Thanks again for all of the tips.


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Sounds like you sliced with the grain. You have to slice against the grain with a high quality knife.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Sounds like you sliced with the grain. You have to slice against the grain with a high quality knife.

Yep. Not sure if OP did a whole brisket or not but it’s two diffence muscles as well so you slice the flat, and then turn the point 90 degrees to slice.

It could also be that it was over or under cooked. I’ve had cheaper briskets come out a little “pot roasty” on pellet smokers before and it’s hard to avoid 100% of the time.

 

[Mike D Texas]

Sounds like you sliced with the grain. You have to slice against the grain with a high quality knife.

Yep a high quality brisket knife or a very thin knife with a very sharp blade is needed. The less surface area touching the brisket the less likely it is to pull.


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