The Official Brisket Thread

[Jeff Lebowski]

He asked if someone liked your post, would that mean they liked big butts. I liked your post and then posted my reply. It's not my fault you're slow.

Fair enough. I forgive you.

[All-American]

He asked if someone liked your post, would that mean they liked big butts. I liked your post and then posted my reply. It's not my fault you're slow.

I cooked a pork butt this Saturday for a family gathering. Worst one I have ever done. I trusted a relative to get it in on time, which he didn’t, and when he did it was still half frozen such that I had to cook at high temp to get it done with less than an hour before serving time (so not enough for a full hold). It was still good. Reviews from nephews and nieces included comments such as “if you worked at Arby’s you could earn a thousand dollars a day” and “this is really good chicken.”

Pork is forgiving. I’d do that if I could.

[Pelado]

I cooked a pork butt this Saturday for a family gathering. Worst one I have ever done. I trusted a relative to get it in on time, which he didn’t, and when he did it was still half frozen such that I had to cook at high temp to get it done with less than an hour before serving time (so not enough for a full hold). It was still good. Reviews from nephews and nieces included comments such as “if you worked at Arby’s you could earn a thousand dollars a day” and “this is really good chicken.”

Pork is forgiving. I’d do that if I could.

Those comments are the best.

[CJF]

There is a lot of fat in a brisket that you either trim off or it cooks down. It seems crazy, but in my experience a brisket will only feed a dozen or so people. I would be shocked if you could feed 60-70 people with three briskets, but I could be wrong. CJF should chime in (or you could PM him).

My advice would be to forget about the brisket and do pulled pork instead. You could easily feed that big a crowd with 4 big butts. 1 butt = 15-20 people when you do it on sandwiches.

Things have been insanely busy lately but I just replied to Bo in PM. I agree with everything JL has said but the calculations on number of servings. After trimming and shrink in the cook I usually yield about 55% of original weight. So 4 18 pound briskets I’ll get about 40 pounds of brisket. I figure a serving roughly is about .3 of a pound. So 40 pounds would yield about 130 servings. I figure 25% will come back for seconds so if I’m serving 100 people I’ll need 125 servings. It’s close, but when you’re watching margins, it works well. Back yard church gatherings are kind of anyone’s guess. But 60-70 people should be more than well fed with 40 pounds of finished brisket.

That said, JL is 100% right on one very important suggestion. Go with pork.

[Bo Diddley]

Things have been insanely busy lately but I just replied to Bo in PM. I agree with everything JL has said but the calculations on number of servings. After trimming and shrink in the cook I usually yield about 55% of original weight. So 4 18 pound briskets I’ll get about 40 pounds of brisket. I figure a serving roughly is about .3 of a pound. So 40 pounds would yield about 130 servings. I figure 25% will come back for seconds so if I’m serving 100 people I’ll need 125 servings. It’s close, but when you’re watching margins, it works well. Back yard church gatherings are kind of anyone’s guess. But 60-70 people should be more than well fed with 40 pounds of finished brisket.

That said, JL is 100% right on one very important suggestion. Go with pork.

Yeah, I might go with pork just to show off my range of ability. (I can follow the Dude's recipes as good as anyone.) I cooked a brisket for a bishopric dinner last week, and he blabbed to the activities committee, so they changed from hamburgers to seeing if I'd do brisket.

Last year I cooked hamburgers for the ward in my smoker. Last time I do that as it was a pain to clean-up afterwards. I like to get the frozen angus patties from Costco, smoke them on low smoke for an hour, then finish on the sear box. I think with the volume I had to reduce the smoke time to 30 minutes, but they were still good. I use a strong smoke like mesquite.

[Bo Diddley]

I reviewed the last several pages of this thread, and ran across these posts after CJF's mishap with the bee poison. Got another good chuckle from them.

Bees are your friends. I can see eliminating wasps, because they suck, but bees are handy to have around the place.

That's mosquitos you're thinking of.

Reminds me of my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Williams. She didn't seem to understand why we were all laughing when she told us that babies suck.

[Bo Diddley]

Bump!

A friend picked up a smoker and for his maiden smoke he asked me to teach him my methods for brisket. I tried to direct him to the Dude's blog, but just wanted me to walk him through it.

It turned out fantastically, and I'm going to have some leftovers for an early lunch.

God bless the Dude, and God bless cowboy!

[Bo Diddley]

Not excited about the cost and selection of Costco brisket these days. All I'm finding is choice, and the cost is way up.

[old_gregg]

going to have to try a chuck roast

[smokymountainrain]

going to have to try a chuck roast

i haven't watched that video, but that guy knows his shit.

[Pelado]

i haven't watched that video, but that guy knows his shit.

Wow. Most people stop caring about the food after it's been eaten. He must be very dedicated to his craft to keep following it through to expulsion from the body.

[Uncle Ted]

I have been cooking brisket low and slow (220 degrees) on my Kamado Joe (egg) for at least the last five years but recently I have become a hot and fast (300 degrees+) convert after watching this video... and trying it. The double indirection cooking setup is the key, I think. The result was brisket that rivals Pecan Lodge's or Slap N' Good's or really anything this side of Austin. Now I don't plan on getting up early to put on the brisket again.

Anyone else around here cook in an egg? Or do y'all use pellets and cook with saw dust? I am planning to cook another brisket later this month and will try to remember to take some pictures this time.

[Bo Diddley]

I have been cooking brisket low and slow (220 degrees) on my Kamado Joe (egg) for at least the last five years but recently I have become a hot and fast (300 degrees+) convert after watching this video... and trying it. The double indirection cooking setup is the key, I think. The result was brisket that rivals Pecan Lodge's or Slap N' Good's or really anything this side of Austin. Now I don't plan on getting up early to put on the brisket again.

Anyone else around here cook in an egg? Or do y'all use pellets and cook with saw dust? I am planning to cook another brisket later this month and will try to remember to take some pictures this time.

You're gonna have to dumb it down for me like the Dude did. But hey, don't knock it till you try it!

[Jeff Lebowski]

I have been cooking brisket low and slow (220 degrees) on my Kamado Joe (egg) for at least the last five years but recently I have become a hot and fast (300 degrees+) convert after watching this video... and trying it. The double indirection cooking setup is the key, I think. The result was brisket that rivals Pecan Lodge's or Slap N' Good's or really anything this side of Austin. Now I don't plan on getting up early to put on the brisket again.

Anyone else around here cook in an egg? Or do y'all use pellets and cook with saw dust? I am planning to cook another brisket later this month and will try to remember to take some pictures this time.

Very cool. By all means, take some pics next time!

I have done 275 degrees a few times. Works great but you have to keep a close eye on it.

DDD has a Kamado Joe and swears by it. My wife might kill me, but I would like to get one some day.

[Uncle Ted]

Very cool. By all means, take some pics next time!

I have done 275 degrees a few times. Works great but you have to keep a close eye on it.

DDD has a Kamado Joe and swears by it. My wife might kill me, but I would like to get one some day.

I picked up an older "Big Joe" at Lowes years ago that they were getting rid of because they were getting the new one in (I think the "Big Joe II"?) It doesn't have the newer top vent or the fancy latch on it. I got it for like $600, IIRC. It works great, however. Because of all the ceramic or whatever you just get it up to the temperature you want to cook at and it stays pretty constant for like all day and doesn't use a lot of fuel (lump charcoal). You do have to be careful to not put too much smoking wood in because that will make the temperature vary quite of bit with flare ups, etc. I did score an iKamand smart temperature controller on eBay for $80 (new) the other day so my temp control should hopefully get a lot better. Then maybe I can worry less about putting in too much smoking wood and get better bark on the briskets.