How To Slow & Low BBQ Brisket in Two Stages

How To Slow & Low BBQ Brisket in Two Stages

After the successful 'slow & low' BBQ brisket cook over the weekend for 20 or so guests using my two stage cook method (6 hrs in offset smoker, followed by 10 hrs in ceramic egg BBQ), I am experimenting with a different type of approach to BBQ brisket, using the Snow's BBQ method with Tootsie Tomentz's BBQ mop rather than Aaron Franklin's spritzing method.

Firstly, the result over the weekend using the two stage oak wood followed by charcoal cook combined taste and convenience perfectly (for me at at least), with a fantastic bark on the beef brisket, properly rendered fat both on outside / inside the brisket and a very moist brisket itself.

Creating a good bark when you are not using an offset smoker / oak logs for the whole process can be a challenge, so I've tried to maximise the BBQ bark of the brisket in the first few hours of the slow and low cooking process.

The way I measure my success for bark creation & fat rendering in my BBQ brisket? I look for an empty pocket where the fat layer used to be between the point and the flat. You can see in the photo below where the fat has render out into the brisket itself around it:

The point is almost sliding off the flat of the brisket and the rest of the fat cap is fully caramelised / a deep golden colour.

'How To' BBQ Brisket in Two stages for 10lb to 15lb Brisket

Here is how my BBQ brisket over a weekend with a target of serving the BBQ brisket on Sunday afternoon broke down:

• Sat: 6pm > take brisket out of fridge / trim / season / temper
• Sat: 7pm > cook for 6 hrs in offset smoker at 250F > target internal brisket temp around 165F for the wrap at latter part of stall
• Sun: 1am > transition the wrapped brisket into ceramic BBQ for a further 10hrs (using one load of charcoal)
• Sun: 11am > temp target 208F for 1hr open rest
• Sun: 12pm > 3hr rest in insulated box
• Sun: 3pm > slice & eat with around 20 people coming over for BBQ brisket

Even though this method is officially "slow and low", you might notice that the first stage of the cook is targeting a temperature of 250F, which is hotter than the more usual 225F. This reduced the overall cooking time for the BBQ brisket without compromising the smoke / flavour build up. Why? Because once the the brisket is 'warm', it doesn't take on smoke as readily as when it's cold - in other words, the longer the initial time it takes for the brisket to come up to temperature, the deeper the flavour (and the deeper the smoke ring).

In addition, you will notice that the target completion / pull temperature for the brisket is now 208 rather than 203. In Franklin's most recent book, Franklin Smoke, he now suggests taking the brisket temperature a further 5 degrees hotter (or even 7 degrees!) without risk of overcooking. A key here it to ensure that you 'vent' your wrapped brisket when it's pulled so that when it goes into the insulated / cooler box, it's not holding it's 208 degrees but has already started the process of cooling off for the rest period.

The two stage method allows you to build the right flavour profile using an offset smoker for the initial stage using oak wood logs but go to sleep at a comfortable time with the knowledge that a charcoal driven ceramic BBQ will continue to cook the BBQ brisket through the night as you sleep without intervention.

So, if we are focusing on the creation of best bark with minimal effort, today's experience using Tootsie's BBQ mop sauce will yield some interesting results, even if I've done slightly off piste / back country by trying to create BBQ / caramelised onion bark on this brisket.