Higher temps

Brisket hot and fast vs low and slow has long been debated. I usually smoke 'em in the 240-250 range so I can't give you a definative answer. If 275 provided a satisfactory result, I'd say try it again...and keep notes.

Not sure what the Lockhart-Luling establishiments are cooking at temp wise but my guess is 275 +/-. Given what I've read, they're turning 12 lb packers around in 8 or so hrs.

Several recipes I've seen on the net call for temps at 325* or so. Never tried it, just satisfied with the low and slow.

Reference cooking temps,many folks feel that it is not a stand alone item,but one step of many in a particular technique.

Also,when we see a "stated" cooking temp-it could be a large variable.


The temp at the exact spot the meat is setting while cooking could vary 100* from the set temp of the cooker.

A horizontal offset may have a variation of 100* in different spots from the thermometer in the top/middle of the offset.

A pure stickburner could be opening every 20-30 mins to spray meats,so there could be 100* variation and a half hr temp recovery time each time it is opened.

Thus ,only the cook knows the calibration of his cooker's therm,the temp at the spot of meat placement,how his cooker is being operated .

You could be the only accurate info in the equation.

I've had great luck with cooking brisket at 275 in my SM025. All of mine seem to retain more moisture at 275 than 225. I don't foil anymore, since I didnt' like the results I was getting with it.

quote:

Originally posted by Big Dan:
Have any of you tried smoking with higher temps,that is, higher temps than you usually use?

You'd not believe me if I had told you of all the things I've tried on a "stupid" brisket...yes higher temps have been one. Less room for error if you are cooking at 275*, might even be a different mouth feel.

As our brisket expert(Tom) was pointing out.There can be so many variables when cooking a brisket that what may seem perfect for one smoker/cook may lead to headaches for another.

I guess this is why Smokin' has told so many of us that it is essential for a cook to take good notes. Sometimes I think some briskets just have a mean streak in them.

Could be some cooks don't have patience enough to let a brisket smoke low and slow, which may be why they have a little more moisture at high heat?...heck it might just be the grade of brisket also....yep, LOTS of variables.

Here is a good read from a forum member,a top comp cook,vendor,and caterer.
He cooks on a CS 160,as well as his stickburner.

Now,not everything here applies to all our cookers,or how we cook,but he does cook at the requested temp.
Seems like Smokin' or I pull this post out every couple of years.

Darcy's Indirect Cooker Packer

I may try it again, as the results were very good.

I've had a lot of success experimenting with hot and fast in the FEC100. Some horrible failures as well. You have to watch it like a hawk once you get over 185 as the window for success is rather small.

Sometimes I'll start at 325 and gradually drop the temperature down as low as 250. Nothing beats cooking a packer cut in 6 hours.

Here's the thing (my two cents from the smokin' soap box).

There IS no perfect temp. Like 225. Where did that come from?

In the 80's when briskets were more fatty/like prime, I cooked them at 180 for 24 hours and they were perfect.

The KEY is whatever temps work for your taste/flavor profiles. Some people like a lot of smoke, so they cook at lower temps to get more smoke. Some stick burners put out SO much smoke, you wouldn't dare smoke them at lower temps.

That's the fun of BBQ. Try new things. For me, for example, I've explained that 275 is the butter zone for ribs in my smokers. But at the restaurant, with a different smoker I don't cook that high.

Experiment...

Experiment...

Experiment...

I do, all the time. Some good, some great and some... well they work good in leftovers.

Once I achieve perfection, then I just keep cooking. I see that as a baseline, knowing how to get ribs they way I want. But I always like to change it up.