Brisket taking hours to go up 1 degree

[CMTiger]

Towel..as in bathroom towel?

Yeah…..just any old towel. I have a few old ones that are used primarily just for this.

 

[Capt Marvel]

Some observations I've made.
1) My briskets take way longer than the time advertised in the Trager recipes, each time I have to bump up the temp so we're not eating at 21:00
2) My controller displayed temp, and the internal smoker temp are pretty much the same after 30 minutes. (as per Thermoworks Smoke)
3) Double wrapping if using butcher paper is mandatory. A single layer will tear through after getting saturated (see #4).
4) My last brisket had to be bumped up to 350 degrees for the final hour. There was at least a cup of juice still in the butcher paper after resting 1 hr. and the brisket was as tender as butter, so no harm done.
5) Slice the whole brisket while hot or you'll need a chain saw later.

 

[RayClem]

Some observations I've made.
1) My briskets take way longer than the time advertised in the Trager recipes, each time I have to bump up the temp so we're not eating at 21:00
2) My controller displayed temp, and the internal smoker temp are pretty much the same after 30 minutes. (as per Thermoworks Smoke)
3) Double wrapping if using butcher paper is mandatory. A single layer will tear through after getting saturated (see #4).
4) My last brisket had to be bumped up to 350 degrees for the final hour. There was at least a cup of juice still in the butcher paper after resting 1 hr. and the brisket was as tender as butter, so no harm done.
5) Slice the whole brisket while hot or you'll need a chain saw later.

Once wrapped, the brisket can no longer absorb smoke. Thus, you can increase the cook temp to speed up the final stage of the cook. You could even transfer the brisket to your kitchen oven for that part of the cook.

 

[wyzgy]

Once wrapped, the brisket can no longer absorb smoke. Thus, you can increase the cook temp to speed up the final stage of the cook. You could even transfer the brisket to your kitchen oven for that part of the cook.

i realized i'm really late to this topic but ya'll know lazy sunday mornings... i was going to essentially repost what you did here so i will essentially concur with all of this. i figure, why waste good pellets to do exactly what an oven can do. i'll put the brisket in a foil pan with some beef broth, cover tightly with foil, into oven at 250 and finish her off. probably an hour or 2. confirm the temp then wrap in some heavy towels and let it rest in a cooler, sometimes overnight if i finish late. ..

 

[Hogan]

Informative discussion. One thing remains ambiguous: if one of the objectives is a nice bark, then wrapping to seal in moisture will negatively impact the bark. Or am I just picking nits?

 

[RayClem]

Informative discussion. One thing remains ambiguous: if one of the objectives is a nice bark, then wrapping to seal in moisture will negatively impact the bark. Or am I just picking nits?

Absolutely. You have to decide which is more important to you: a great bark or a shorter cooking time. You can have either, but not both. If you try to increase the cooking temperature to speed up the cook. without wrapping in either foil or butcher paper, you will preserve the bark, but you are likely to dry out your meat. You are the pitmaster. You get to decide which way to do the cook, but you are responsible for the outcome.