Need help with first full brisket cook

[Switz]

Following the "Recipe" in the Traeger website. I am now coming up to taking it off the grill and put it on foil, wrap it and pour in beef broth. The first question is, fat side down or the slab side down in the broth?

Due to scheduling issues, I am cooking this early (today is Wednesday) and when the second tour on the grill ends, should I leave it in the foil and put it in the refrigerator until the coming Saturday? Then a reheat in a convection over at 225 degrees for an hour or so would work for warming? I will be cooking three racks of ribs on that Saturday for the same family together.

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[Timmmer]

I assume you have a recipe you are satisfied with or well researched? I see no one has replied to your post. I'm wondering if either/both the broth and convection oven are straying from standard recipes and people are hesitant to respond? Both of those are strays for me. In my mind warming in an oven before the first serve would be a no, no, but that is an opinion without experience. I keep my brisket in a cooler until serving time, and have done so for up to 5+ hours without losing heat. It has worked for me.

 

[Switz]

Issue is due to medical appointments Thursday and Friday, I had to cook brisket today for Saturday. Saturday morning I cook the ribs. Both meats are for a dinner Saturday evening

 

[John S.]

I use the "Meat Church Weekday Brisket" method, with either Matt Pittman or Arron Franklin Brisket prep, have always come out as expected.

 

[Twist]

Aaron Franklin's MasterClass on Central Texas cooks is worth the price of the MasterClass subscription. My full packer briskets have come out perfect every time since I started using his method of trimming, prepping, and slow smoking.

 

[traeger860]

Do you have a vacuum sealer? If so, seal it up once it cools down and then re-heat it sousvide style. That way you don't risk drying it out in an oven. You can do that in a pot of water on your stove or in a crockpot if you don't have a sousvide cooker.

Fat side up vs. down is a never ending debate and you won't go wrong either way. Fat side down is Traeger's recommendation. Meat Church recommends fat side up.

 

[XavierH]

I use the "Meat Church Weekday Brisket" method, with either Matt Pittman or Arron Franklin Brisket prep, have always come out as expected.

2 likes on this recommendation. my first brisket was done following the "traeger" recipe and i was not impressed. somebody recommended the weekday brisket from meat church and lo and behold...excellent results.

 

[Slimpicker]

following the "traeger" recipe

No one should FOLLOW a Traeger recipe for long cooks... use it as a guide but 'follow' no.
First off, Traeger grills are different and cook different, there is NO WAY everyone's grill cooks the same.
A Pro22 cooks the same as a Timberline 1300??? No freakin way

Not your fault Xavier but you just learned to use successful 3rd party recipes as we all have.

That "Total Time" Traeger puts on their recipes is pure crap if you ask me (BTW, you don't have to ask me, but I said it anyway)

 

[TheGrumpyGriller]

No one should FOLLOW a Traeger recipe for long cooks... use it as a guide but 'follow' no.
First off, Traeger grills are different and cook different, there is NO WAY everyone's grill cooks the same.
A Pro22 cooks the same as a Timberline 1300??? No freakin way

Not your fault Xavier but you just learned to use successful 3rd party recipes as we all have.

That "Total Time" Traeger puts on their recipes is pure crap if you ask me (BTW, you don't have to ask me, but I said it anyway)

1000% agree - the Traeger recipes are guidelines only. In fact, 1/2 the times listed in the recipes don't add up to what's on the summary. Welcome to the forum and enjoy!

 

[Twist]

Yeah, when I read their recommendation for putting it fat side down I discarded that nonsense. Who puts the presentation side of the brisket down on a smoker? My only second time cooking on my Silverton 810 I did a small 9 lb full packer prime brisket and used the ~12 hour Aaron Franklin method of trimming, and timing the cook. Judge for yourself:

It was juicy and delicious but even using hickory pellets lacked some of the smoky flavor I'm used to from the BGE. Still, can't beat the convenience. Next time I'm going to try using a smoke tube from the jump and see how that goes.

 

[Slimpicker]

GREAT JOB

But as I suggested before, the smoky you are missing with your BGE could be the Lump you use or the charcoal which even using a smoke tube in a Traeger won't reproduce.

But,

 

[Slimpicker]

I will add this, I think a Traeger preserves the RUB and RUB flavor in the end much better than a stick burner does.
I have RUBBED in smokers for years and years (wait, that didn't sound right) and I think the rub TASTE is better in a Traeger than coal/wood smokers.

 

[Twist]

I will add this, I think a Traeger preserves the RUB and RUB flavor in the end much better than a stick burner does.
I have RUBBED in smokers for years and years (wait, that didn't sound right) and I think the rub TASTE is better in a Traeger than coal/wood smokers.

With only a few cooks on my Traeger I'm starting to notice the same thing. The pork belly burnt ends I just made had considerably more resulting punch in taste than what I would have expected on the BGE. Using a smoke tube on the Traeger resulted in improved taste as well. Now I know that I can go a little lighter on the rub to get the taste I'm looking for.

 

[XavierH]

No one should FOLLOW a Traeger recipe for long cooks... use it as a guide but 'follow' no.
First off, Traeger grills are different and cook different, there is NO WAY everyone's grill cooks the same.
A Pro22 cooks the same as a Timberline 1300??? No freakin way

Not your fault Xavier but you just learned to use successful 3rd party recipes as we all have.

That "Total Time" Traeger puts on their recipes is pure crap if you ask me (BTW, you don't have to ask me, but I said it anyway)

agree took me trial and error to figure that out... and yes i do agree their cooking times gotta be in a lab or somewhere else

 

[Tommy]

Just recently posted this on "community feedback" for smoking Butts. For all you out there who get caught up in all the questions about what is what when smoking a port butt, always remember this: You cook to a temp of 160 to get the pork DONE. Then you cook it to a temp of 205 so that you can pull it apart. All the other stuff is personal preference! You can go to 50 websites and get 50 different opinions as to taste, fat up or down, etc. Long and slow smoke is the best for most meats. Unless you are doing Ahi Tuna or steaks, don't use a temp higher than 250 for a Butt.

Tommy