Smaller Brisket....

[midwest]

We have a cow butchered twice a year we split with a group of 4. Last year the briskets weighed about 16 pounds before trimming. We got one out to cook for next weekend and noticed it was noticeably smaller, weight was 10 lbs, before trimming. In the past all the briskets I have cooked have been done overnight at 185, which put it at about 155 in the AM, then wrapped and turned up, usually finishing in the afternoon. I am assuming the overnight method is probably not the best option given the weight. We are going to cook both of them so I actually have 2 each probably weighing 6-8 pounds once ready to put on the Traeger...

 

[CMTiger]

There are more seasoned cooks here but at 185 you’re still not going to overcook it overnight. Should still be fine I would think. Maybe start a little later

 

[midwest]

I always liked the overnight method, just because it kept me from having to get up real early. Back in my hog cooking days I was always getting going early. I figured with a couple 6-8 pounders we could start them without getting up too early in the morning. If I did them overnight at 185 I know they won't over cook but I assume in the AM once I wrap them they would be done before noon. We are planning to eat around 7PM

 

[MidwestSmoker]

I have not tried 10 pound whole packers, but I have cooked flats that were around 5-6 pounds. They cook much faster so it makes more sense to be begin early in the morning than to do it overnight, and that what I do. But there is nothing wrong with starting overnight and finishing by noon. If you have a decent cooler it will stay hot until 7 pm.

 

[RayClem]

Typically briskets and pork shoulders need to finish around 205F give or take. It will never reach that temperature even if you leave it in for a week if the cook temperature is only 185F, assuming you are measuring the cook temperature accurately and not relying on the RTD thermocouple. At a real cook temperature of 185F, the internal temperature of the meat will probably stall somewhere between 155F and 165F and stay there for hours. It won't finish cooking until you increase the temperature above 205F.

You can start early in the morning and cook all day, but do not count on the meat being ready for supper unless you eat late. I have never done a brisket, but I typically cook pork butts at 220F until they hit the stall and then wrap and finish at 275F. That takes around 12 hours total.

 

[midwest]

The overnight method which I have used calls for the 185 or so temp overnight and at around 8 am they are usually around 155, I then wrap them and crank the heat up to 250 or so and it takes another 4-6 hours to then get to around 205.
We might still put them on at around 11PM at 185 and play it by ear in the morning. If it's close to 160 or higher in the morning maybe just put the temp at around 230 or so, then around noon adjust again as needed.

 

[Shedd]

I was talking to a buddy of mine that has a food truck. He smokes on green eggs but he said it shouldn’t matter what smoker you have. He cooks his briskets in two stages. Day one he cooks to around 165, said after the stall. Then wraps in paper and lets it cool down to put in refrigerator overnight. Next day he lays it out for about an hour or so to get the chill off. Then cooks to completion. I’m not a big fan of brisket and I’ve never cooked one so I don’t know. I just asked him because he works a night job and runs his food truck in the afternoons. He’s been smoking them like this for about two years and everyone in his area place orders in advance. Hopefully someone else on here might know about this way.

 

[RayClem]

I was talking to a buddy of mine that has a food truck. He smokes on green eggs but he said it shouldn’t matter what smoker you have. He cooks his briskets in two stages. Day one he cooks to around 165, said after the stall. Then wraps in paper and lets it cool down to put in refrigerator overnight. Next day he lays it out for about an hour or so to get the chill off. Then cooks to completion. I’m not a big fan of brisket and I’ve never cooked one so I don’t know. I just asked him because he works a night job and runs his food truck in the afternoons. He’s been smoking them like this for about two years and everyone in his area place orders in advance. Hopefully someone else on here might know about this way.

Sounds like a good way to do it.

This method can be used with various proteins, although the cook times and temperatures might be different. For example, you can smoke a steak to your preferred doneness level. if you take it hot off the Traeger and then attempt to sear it, you might end up with an over cooked steak. However, if you remove the steak from the Traeger and allow it to cool down before searing it, you will still be at your desired doneness, but with a crust and added flavor.

 

[CMTiger]

The overnight method which I have used calls for the 185 or so temp overnight and at around 8 am they are usually around 155, I then wrap them and crank the heat up to 250 or so and it takes another 4-6 hours to then get to around 205.
We might still put them on at around 11PM at 185 and play it by ear in the morning. If it's close to 160 or higher in the morning maybe just put the temp at around 230 or so, then around noon adjust again as needed.

I’ve always heard to work your way up on temp if needed but never overshoot and have to come back down. Not sure how true that is but your plan sounds good

 

[midwest]

Final decision tonight, I trimmed on of the briskets and it was 6.75 pounds after trimming. We are going to put them both on tonight around midnight at 185 and see where they are in the morning. Worst case scenario they are already at 185 when we get up and we just have to slowly bring them to 205. Or they will be around 160 at sun up and we can raise the heat a little more. My hopes it to get them close to 205 anytime between noon and 4PM to rest until we eat at 7:00. Ill let you know tomorrow how it turns out. These are out of local cows we have butchered every year and so far the ones we have had in the past are better than what we can buy at Sam's or Krogers.

 

[CMTiger]

Good luck

 

[RayClem]

Final decision tonight, I trimmed on of the briskets and it was 6.75 pounds after trimming. We are going to put them both on tonight around midnight at 185 and see where they are in the morning. Worst case scenario they are already at 185 when we get up and we just have to slowly bring them to 205. Or they will be around 160 at sun up and we can raise the heat a little more. My hopes it to get them close to 205 anytime between noon and 4PM to rest until we eat at 7:00. Ill let you know tomorrow how it turns out. These are out of local cows we have butchered every year and so far the ones we have had in the past are better than what we can buy at Sam's or Krogers.

We used to have some friends on a farm who would butchers cows periodically. We would always buy some of the beef. Like local fruits and vegetables, local meat is good.

Let us know how the briskets turn out. I am cooking for just my wife and I and at our age, we have limited appetites. Cooking a full size packer brisket would provide enough meat to last us a year. Thus, I am interested in how your smaller briskets do on the Traeger. That would be a great option for us.

 

[drich]

We used to have some friends on a farm who would butchers cows periodically. We would always buy some of the beef. Like local fruits and vegetables, local meat is good.

Let us know how the briskets turn out. I am cooking for just my wife and I and at our age, we have limited appetites. Cooking a full size packer brisket would provide enough meat to last us a year. Thus, I am interested in how your smaller briskets do on the Traeger. That would be a great option for us.

Likewise a full brisket would last us several weeks if we ate it every day. Traeger has a recipe for a small brisket, possibly in the cookbook they gave us in our old Little Tex Elite, that you wrap the brisket in bacon (weave?) an cook at a low temperature for 4-6 hours. It was really good and now that I think about it I will try it again soon as the weather warms up a bit.

 

[Jimbo]

“….Ill let you know tomorrow how it turns out.“

midwest: We’re eagerly waiting to learn how it went!

 

[midwest]

Sorry for the delay. We ended up cooking both at my brother in laws. He has a rectec pellet grill. I trimmed and seasoned one an delivered it to their house and they trimmed and seasoned the other. They put them both on around midnight on the rectec low setting which is similar to super smoke setting and is around 180 degrees according to their manual. At 6:30 am they were between 150 and 160 and got wrapped in paper. Here is the weird part. At around they checked them with a thermopen as the rectec probes had stalled out around 180-190 degrees. one of them showed 215 degrees in the point and the other was 202. So the rectec probes were way off. They were pulled and put into a cooler. My SIL was worried all day that the one she seasoned (got to 215) was going to be ruined. When we sliced them around 6:00 pm the one she said she over cooked was better overall. The seasoning combo she used was better but as far as the quality of the meat itself it was juicer and more tender, had a perfect pull. The one she thought would be the good one (reached around 202) when pulled, was not quite as tender and was not as juicy. It was still good, just not near as good as the first one. Both had a very good smoke ring. And of course I didn't take any pictures, we had a lot of stuff going on and off of multiple grills while they were being sliced.