Brisket Overnight Help

BethV

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Happy 4th of July!

I have a 20 pound brisket that I have trimmed and I separated the flat from the point. Probably took off 5 lbs of fat. I want to do an overnight cook tonight with this and I don't care when it gets done the next day. So serving time is not an issue.

My question is if I start the brisket around 11:00 pm, do I need to get up in the middle of the night to wrap? I do plan on wrapping as opposed to not wrapping. Probably in peach paper. And I plan on making burnt ends with the point (first time making burnt ends). Or, can I let it go until 6 am and wrap at that point?

I plan to cook it at 225F. I am not in a rush to get it done, I just want to get it right.

I've made a few of briskets, successfully but never overnight. I do have the Thermoworks Smoke X so I can monitor it overnight.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
 
Depending on the thickness and when you get up, it could be close to being done. As for wrapping its all a preference thing. For my liking i prefer nekked, sure that means longer to cook but thats just me. Just remember there is not right or wrong way, just the way you like best. If you really want to wrap, set it, let it run overnight then wrap it in the morning when you get up. Paper breaths better than foil and you get less of that steamed meat texture and falls a little past middle of nekked and foil. But again, if you get up at 8 say thats 9 hours for a point that probably 8 or 9 lbs, will probably be getting close to being done. Done for me is 203ish but it should be at least 200 and probe like room temp butter.
 
Depending on the thickness and when you get up, it could be close to being done. As for wrapping its all a preference thing. For my liking i prefer nekked, sure that means longer to cook but thats just me. Just remember there is not right or wrong way, just the way you like best. If you really want to wrap, set it, let it run overnight then wrap it in the morning when you get up. Paper breaths better than foil and you get less of that steamed meat texture and falls a little past middle of nekked and foil. But again, if you get up at 8 say thats 9 hours for a point that probably 8 or 9 lbs, will probably be getting close to being done. Done for me is 203ish but it should be at least 200 and probe like room temp butter.
Thank you for the info. First cook overnight. It always seems that my briskets go way longer then I anticipate. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
 
I would speculate a couple things, your temp may be lower than you think if its taking "to long" or your probe is off? I have done a few bigger ones and on the top side about 15 hours at 225, though honestly if you are getting up there in time there is no issue with cranking the heat up some to help. You can successfully do them up to about 350. Any hotter and they dont cook long enough to break down. But if you are wanting to get it done and its been a good 8-10 hours, you can safely crank the heat up to get it there a little faster without any worry. When time isnt an issue and you have started early or the night before, just leave it at 225 and let it do its thing :).
 
I would speculate a couple things, your temp may be lower than you think if its taking "to long" or your probe is off? I have done a few bigger ones and on the top side about 15 hours at 225, though honestly if you are getting up there in time there is no issue with cranking the heat up some to help. You can successfully do them up to about 350. Any hotter and they dont cook long enough to break down. But if you are wanting to get it done and its been a good 8-10 hours, you can safely crank the heat up to get it there a little faster without any worry. When time isnt an issue and you have started early or the night before, just leave it at 225 and let it do its thing :).
Thanks so much!
 
I always put my briskets (13-17 lb pre trim weight, Whole Packer) on around 11pm and let them cook through the night. I then wrap in butcher paper in the morning. I have done both 225 all night and lower at 200, cant say I noticed too much of a difference. I have never done a split brisket overnight, so I’m not sure how that would hold up, but my guess is it will be fine!
 
So far great! I put it on at 11pm. Decided to set the temp to 220F, based on varying responses. I normally cook at 240F when I start I'm the daytime. At 7:00 the flat was at 151F, the point was at 142F. Just spritzed and bumped the temp to 230F. Great bark.

One thing I noticed that's worth mentioning for RT 590 users is that I started with an extremely full pellet box. This morning after 8 hours into the cook, the pellets funneling into the auger were below the grate. And the pellets all around the edges were still very full and close to the top. I do wonder if those pellets moving down through the auger ran out would the other pellets around the edges drop down? Looking into the pellet box, it did not appear that was the case. If they don't drop down, I could possibly run out of pellets despite a full box.
Here's a photo from when I checked this morning.
IMG_20200705_070950.jpg
 
what brand pellets? I ask cause I noticed similar with bear mtn on my 340.
 
Lumber Jack, 50% mesquite 50% hickory. I did notice the pellets are not uniform with any LJ pellets. Not sure that had anything to do with it.
 
@BethV I’ve had that funneling with my traeger I had. I saw people are using to shake the pellets down on the traegers. It’s worth making for long cooks
 

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That's beautiful! You mentioned extreme heat all night. Did you mean extreme smoke? What temp was it at all night?
 
Sorry yes I meant extreme smoke. It was at 180 all night.

I started it around 6 and spritzed it a few times through the night. I put the temp up to 200 around 5 this morning, spritzed it some more, and wrapped around 8.
 
Sorry yes I meant extreme smoke. It was at 180 all night.

I started it around 6 and spritzed it a few times through the night. I put the temp up to 200 around 5 this morning, spritzed it some more, and wrapped around 8.

I put my first overnight brisket on extreme smoke until it got to 160° internal and then wrapped. It took about 8 hour to get to that point and it was great. It took about 4 more hours @ 225° to finish cooking.
 

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