A brisket and its timing.

[OliverB]

I have a 6+lb brisket I need to cook in my big green egg for Sat evening 6pm dinner. Problem is, dinner is not at my house, we have to leave by 2:30 for preparty and waterplay for the kids.

It'll need 8-10 hours, so my options are:

Put it in at midnight, go to bed, take it out 8-10am, wrap in foil and towels, put in cooler.

Put it in around 4am, take it out before leaving, same wrapping etc.

Put it in around 6-8am (when ever I wake up or set alarm), cook until we have to leave, wrap, take with, finish in oven.

What's the best? I prefer option one, but am not sure if it's safe to keep it for up to 10 hrs sitting in it's juices?
Option two is brutal, I probably won't be able to go back to sleep
Option three, I just don't know if that even would work.

Ideas? Experiences? Suggestions?

Thanks!

Oliver

[ePressureCooker]

Wow. That's not an enviable choice. Is there some reason you can't split it in two to create two smaller, but quicker cooking pieces? (Too bad you don't have a thermal cooker, it could continue to cook while you transported it)

[OliverB]

ah, making me add things to my to buy list again! :-)

I don't think smaller would help, it's not super thick. I might actually start the fire before I go to bed, get it to temp, then get up at 4 or 5 to just put the meat in quickly, throw a wood chunk or two in and go back to bed.

Got sidelined by my nieces soccer playoff or something like that, a game they didn't know about back when we made plans.

I'll live :-)

[Syzygies]

I have a Komodo Kamado, and make brisket regularly. Tough choice, but I'd go with door number three.

Smoke absorption is only significant up to some cutoff temperature you'll already have reached. At that point an oven is less romantic, but will still work.

[Keith_W]

Option 4: do it the day before, keep it in the fridge, ask the host if you could borrow the oven for 30 minutes.

[OliverB]

:-)
I waited until 1am to put it in, if it's done too early to feel comfortable storing it in the cooler for x hours I'll cool it down and warm it a bit in the oven once there. And now it's 2am and I'm going to bed, can always stop at a bbq place if it doesn't work out this time. :-)

[OliverB]

about 11am, going along nicely. At about 160 degree I wrapped it in foil (it's relatively thin) and once I hit a bit over 200 it'll get wrapped some more and off into the cooler. Then we'll just wee what happens :-)

Only my 3rd time to make a brisket, kind of hard to practice with huge chunks of meat w/o having constant parties, LOL

[MelissaH]

I like the constant party idea. Invite the neighbors, or the co-workers, or the kids who are helping to move seven academic departments (over 100 people) into a brand-new building, or the friends, or all of the above, and feed the masses.

(All kidding aside, I don't have an egg but I do have a Weber bullet, and if I want to smoke something that I know is going to take forever-and-a-day, I try to cook it the day before, so I know it will be done, and I won't keep my guests all starving. Reheating for a target time is easier for me to control.)

/hyperbole

[OliverB]

Melissa, I probably should have done that, kind of a mix of lack of planning on my side and unexpected soccer game for the girl. It's 12:30pm now, been in the egg for over 11 hours, close to the 203 degree when I'll take it off and wrap it. Only my 3rd brisket and they are temperamental, some cook faster than others, some seem to never be done, LOL

An other 30 min or so, then it'll come off, get an extra wrap of foil, a blanket, and into the cooler it goes. Almost 100 degree outside here, it sure won't cool off too quick today. And around 6pm I'll know if it's any good or if we need to order pizza :-D

thanks for the input, I'll post with the outcome later tonight or tomorrow.

[OliverB]

Took it off the 'cue at 1pm, 12 hour cook at 210-280 degree, outside temp fluctuated between 66 and 104 or so today, makes a constant temp a bit challenging.

And well, while I can't compare it to any award winning brisket, never ordered it anywhere, this one turned out quite nice. Super tender, falling apart and juicy, full of flavor, very tiny left overs. I'll have to find a bbq place here and try a "professional" version, so I have a better idea, but I'd pay for this one happily, and everybody seemed to like it.

Dizzy Pig Dizzy rub, 12 hours on the BGE at 210-280 degree. About 4-5 hours wrapped in foil and a blanket in the cooler, came out almost too hot to touch w/o gloves to my surprise. All juices ( a bit of beef broth and some of the drippings) soaked up while resting, moist and tender, a winner in my book.

Thanks for the input I got here on rather short notice!