Why are my briskets so much better with hot and fast method?

[Mcc1972]

They are night and day. Here are the 2 methods

Hot and fast I smoke for 3 hours at 300. I then wrap in foil and cook for another 3 hours at 350. It’s almost foolproof how well this works for me. The briskets are jiggly like jello and the fat cap has that nice pillow top bounce. The only thing lacking is the bark. It’s ok, but I’m sure we’ve all seen bark from foil. It’s just ok.

Method 2 is just traditional 250-275 till tender. Usually takes 10-12 hours. Sometimes I wrap in butcher paper and sometimes I just let it go. It never has that jiggle jello shake and the fat cap is pretty hard/crusty.

What am I doing wrong on the traditional method or how can I get a better bark using the hot and fast method?

 

[West River BBQ]

Good question and I don't have an answer but I will point out that in method one you are basically braising for half of the cook time. Not nearly the same ratio with method two.

 

[sudsandswine]

Well the obvious difference, aside from the cook temp, is the fact that your brisket is spending half it's cook time - 3 hours - wrapped in foil. There is surely a braising effect in play here. Not saying that's right or wrong, just that it is. That's probably why you're noticing a texture difference between high heat half cook wrapped in foil and lower temp longer cook with no wrap.

 

[Cat797]

On the HnF method, unwrap and leave on the smoker for a while to firm up the bark.

For the traditional method, I'm a firm believer that you need to wrap in something.

 

[Mcc1972]

On the HnF method, unwrap and leave on the smoker for a while to firm up the bark.

For the traditional method, I'm a firm believer that you need to wrap in something.

Yeah I think I need to wrap on the traditional method.

I will say that there’s a big difference in feel when I probe the 2 briskets.

 

[Itsdone]

I would guess with your 2nd method you are essentially turning your bark into jerky, and most likely overcooking all the fat out of it.


As im sure was said, I would start off hot till your bark sets, then wrap and finish around 250 - 275F.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

Yeah I think I need to wrap on the traditional method.

I will say that there’s a big difference in feel when I probe the 2 briskets.

That's your problem right there....I do both hot/fast as well as low/slow and with both methods the probe feel of the brisket is the same.

 

[morningwoodbbq]

It's the opposite for me. I do 225° the whole way and it comes out brilliant. Tho having a cooker which I can set & forget for 12+ hours makes that easy.

 

[Swine Spectator]

Slow and Low is a myth

 

[Fooball]

Since I like sleep during sleep time, I may have to try this hot and fast thingy with my next brisket.

As long as there is decent smoke flavor and the meat's not tough, I'm good with anything I don't have to wake up for 3 or 4 times a night to add splits.

I'm up at 4 a.m. most mornings, so that may be a good time to start a fire. :wink:

 

[Itsdone]

Slow and Low is a myth

 

[Mike Twangzer]

Might want to throw the foil boat method in there as a combination of the two ?

 

[16Adams]

I cook hot and fast brisket. To me this is 300°+
Not every time, and my Brisket cooks have diminished in frequency exponentially. Maybe 3-5 per year now where I was cooking couple or three per month. Just my advanced beginner observation and this works well for me. Though you can easily cook H&F in half the time with excellent results, go ahead and double the time you hold. I don't know any time limit, suppose you could carve on exit, however I've found a 3-5 hour hold, sometimes longer really helps. As the saying goes, the longer it rests the better it gets.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

Since I like sleep during sleep time, I may have to try this hot and fast thingy with my next brisket.

As long as there is decent smoke flavor and the meat's not tough, I'm good with anything I don't have to wake up for 3 or 4 times a night to add splits.

I'm up at 4 a.m. most mornings, so that may be a good time to start a fire. :wink:

Hot and Fast is really a simple cook and it works well. I started cooking BBQ because of the show BBQ Pitmasters. I'm a technical kind of person so I spent months researching BBQ, and trying to figure out the science of smoking meat. My wife bought me Myron Mixon's book, Smokin' with Myron Mixon. In that book he explains his brisket cook method ; 350° for 2.5 hours, then wrap in foil for another 2 hours or until the brisket is probe tender. He uses a grate inside the foil pan and then a foil cover. I love this method because even with an offset you're looking at about 6-7 hours at the smoker.

Plenty of great videos and recipes out there as well as it relates to hot and fast brisket. Harry Soo has quite a few great ones where he starts at 425° for the first hour or so, and then slowly bumps it down to 300° to finish the cook.

 

[Swine Spectator]

My earliest barbecue book, The Great American Barbecue & Grilling Manual by Smoky Hale ((C)1985), is actually a great book with lots of good recipes and advice - except when it comes to temps.

Smoky says that barbecue is cooked between 170° and 225°, with the "ideal" temp being 210°. Anything above 250° is "roasting". He says that a brisket cooked a 300° would be inedible.

I think a lot of the "slow and low" stuff was spread by food journalists that understood grilling, but not barbecuing. You need 700°+ to cook a steak, but that will ruin a brisket. You have to go low and the lower the better, right?

 

[Nuco59]

I go 275 for butts, brisket and ribs...for me it's in between "warming it to death" and "hot(ter) and fast(er)" I used to go 300 or bust- but the bottom of the meat tended to get a bit "overdone" since I don't use a deflector or water pan on my drum. (I could utilize either of those and cook hotter, but it's just a mess that I can avoid by dropping temp by 25*)

That said...225* is for the birds. I can drive to Mobile to see my dad in 10 hours...or I can drive 55 and get there in about 20 hours. But why in tarnation would I? If you maintain that a 225 brisket is better than a hot(ter) and fast(er) that would be be an interesting conversation- but would have "anecdotal" all over it.

 

[Nuco59]

275 for me- for everything but chicken. if your best brisket was at 225, you might tend to do that every time. if you cook hot(ter) and fast(er), and you like the product, you might tend to do that.

People are funny. If it works 2 times in a row, it becomes "the way *I* have always done it" - and that's ok.

 

[Itsdone]

I cook hot and fast brisket. To me this is 300°+
Not every time, and my Brisket cooks have diminished in frequency exponentially. Maybe 3-5 per year now where I was cooking couple or three per month. Just my advanced beginner observation and this works well for me. Though you can easily cook H&F in half the time with excellent results, go ahead and double the time you hold. I don't know any time limit, suppose you could carve on exit, however I've found a 3-5 hour hold, sometimes longer really helps. As the saying goes, the longer it rests the better it gets.

That's a nice looking brisket you got there Adams. I like to cook HNF but I only do it with Prime grade. HNF choice or even worse select doesnt turn out good results unless you really use some crutch's.

 

[Fooball]

Hot and Fast is really a simple cook and it works well. I started cooking BBQ because of the show BBQ Pitmasters. I'm a technical kind of person so I spent months researching BBQ, and trying to figure out the science of smoking meat. My wife bought me Myron Mixon's book, Smokin' with Myron Mixon. In that book he explains his brisket cook method ; 350° for 2.5 hours, then wrap in foil for another 2 hours or until the brisket is probe tender. He uses a grate inside the foil pan and then a foil cover. I love this method because even with an offset you're looking at about 6-7 hours at the smoker.

Plenty of great videos and recipes out there as well as it relates to hot and fast brisket. Harry Soo has quite a few great ones where he starts at 425° for the first hour or so, and then slowly bumps it down to 300° to finish the cook.

I've never had my stick burner up to 350. That would take quite a large pile of splits.

Myron's method sounds pretty wild compared to what we've been used to hearing. If it works for you, keep on truckin'! That's nice and short in the smoker.

You could even shut down the smoker at the wrap and use your oven for the rest of the cook time.

 

[Dweverett]

A lot of it is what works for you but what smoker you’re using makes a difference.

300+ for a few hours isn’t a good choice on my Rectec. There is too little smoke produced and the bottom gets too much much heat as there isn’t much of a gap between the drip pan and the meat. Using the slow and sear on my 26” kettle, I can go that high and still get good results.

My approach most times is to use both. 4-5 hours on the kettle to get the right amount of smoke and finish on the rectec because it’s so easy.