Franklin style BBQ beef brisket made in offset smoker + ceramic egg BBQ combination for best BBQ brisket with full night sleep

Using offset smoker + ceramic egg BBQ in a hybrid BBQing method for the best BBQ beef brisket and a good night sleep without hours of fire management

I love cooking a good brisket but the commitment can interfere with 'life', especially when using a labour intensive offset smoker fuelled by oak log splits. Over past few months, I've been using my Big Green Egg / ceramic Kamado style BBQ fuelled by charcoal & oak chunks / splits to give myself a good night sleep but have been finding it necessary to still set an alarm clock for some ungodly hour to start the BBQ and beef brisket cook before returning to bed.

So, the theory I wanted to test was could I combine use of the offset smoker the evening before serving BBQ brisket with the automation of the ceramic BBQ to maximise the convenience, taste & texture profile. With that in mind, I set myself a rough guide for my hybrid offset smoker + ceramic BBQ brisket cook as follows:

• 4 hrs SPG dry brine of the brisket in fridge
• 4 hrs in offset smoker BBQ at 250f using oak logs
• 12 hrs in ceramic egg BBQ at 225f using charcoal
• 3 hrs beef brisket resting period

The understanding was the the four hours in the offset smoker fuelled by oak splits was going to maximise the initial smoke penetration with good quality blue smoke. Active management of the fire was required with a fresh log split going into the offset smoker every 15-20 minutes but it was a lovely warm evening, so this wasn't a "hard" job.

The next twelve hours in the ceramic BBQ would continue to be use fire but in the form of charcoal to continue the blue smoke build of flavour (without the addition of oak chunks or splits onto the charcoal, which can produce a less clean smoke when the air to choked off at the in-flow point to keep the temperature inside the ceramic BBQ at 225). Using the Inkbird airflow control unit, after the brisket was transferred out of the offset smoker into the ceramic BBQ, I was able to go to sleep at around 12.30am and not have to worry about waking up till 9am (because the ceramic BBQ with airflow control will burn a single load of charcoal for up to 16 hrs without involvement / interaction).

A concern for me was spritzing however, as I would be asleep during the key time of the cook when I'd normally be spritzing to stop edges / corners of the brisket drying out & getting too crunchy. To resolve this, I created a "hybrid-boat" the combines butcher paper & foil to semi-wrap the brisket, where the more delicate points of the brisket are protected by the butcher paper / foil combo but the main surface of the brisket is still exposed to smoke for a purer 'smoke' based cook.

I have done some briskets where I've done the initial smoke in the offset smoker and then transferred into the oven wrapped for a finish but I have two issues with this, the main one being that electric ovens ARE NOT STABLE TEMPERATURE WISE! One evening, I ran my wifi temperature probes in my electric oven set to 225f to see how stable things would be - bearing in mind that my ceramic BBQ will keep a consistent 220-225f. The electric oven however, was fluctuating wildly, ranging between 190f and 240f in a continual cycle of heating / cooling / heating / cooling. Not cool at all and in-spite of being wrapped to provide some thermal balance in the process, I was not willing to accept that level of fluctuation when I know the ceramic egg BBQ will do a much better job.

And secondly, as Aaron Franklin indicates, cooking by fire throughout the process is more authentic and should deliver a better taste profile, even if it's by a small margin. But if you ware looking to achieve the best possible BBQ brisket (and you can always dial thinks back when you are achieving your personal best BBQ brisket possible by starting to cut corners), you need to have the reference of what to expect so you know what you give up by simplifying the process to make it more convenient for you.

So, the results / challenges in the process:

LONGER THAN USUAL STALL

Whilst I can not be sure that this wasn't driven by this specific beef brisket (which wasn't particularly large at 6-7lb / 3kg), the stall was both longer (lasting 6hrs) and more significant (the temperature dropped by 10f across 3 hrs).

COOKING TO FEEL WAS MORE IMPORTANT

After the brisket went through its lengthy stall, the internal temperature of the brisket didn't rise as quickly as normal when the brisket is wrapped. This meant that the brisket spent longer in the temperature range where the collagen & connective tissues were being broken down, so I started testing / probing for tenderness earlier. I was testing from 180f onwards, with things feeling slightly tight up to 190f - which is very early to pull a brisket. However, it seems that the long cooking time at lower temperature meant that it was fully tender at 190f already and I pulled for 3 hrs rest at this stage. Feel is your friend with the hybrid offset smoker + ceramic egg BBQ method. Check out the tenderness & moisture - it works!