15 hour smoked brisket on the Traeger

Ingredients

3 Kg UK Grass fed brisket point

BBQ Rubs for beef

Preparation

Set the Traeger wood fired pellet grill for 225°f/110°c in the super smoke setting.

Take the brisket out of the fridge at least an hour before cooking to get to room temperature, I usually do this first, trim as required and apply the rubs and start the Traeger ensuring it is clean the hopper is full of pellets and ready for a long low and slow cook.

Trimming the brisket is usually down to personal preference however, if you watch the Franklin techniques on YouTube then the brisket is lightly trimmed to an even fat cover and any big lumps of fat are removed giving an even overall shape. I always resist over trimming and losing fat unless really necessary, you can see this in the picture below.

To apply the rubs there are several techniques I use to provide a sticky coating for the rub to adhere nicely to the meat. This can be a little smear of oil, yellow mustard or even sriracha sauce which will add a background heat.

On this cook I have layered the rubs and added a light base of Angus & Oink’s Moo Mami for an umami background depth. To that I have added a layer CowPat, which adds savoury notes including cumin and spice, then finally a finish of Hardcore Carnivore Red which adds complimentary flavours including paprika, a little heat and notable pepper.

Cooking

When the bbq is up to temperature place the brisket either way up onto the lowest or middle grill level and place the temperature probe into the thickest part of the brisket.

For this cook I made sure the Traeger was stable for half an hour or so then went to bed leaving it for 8 hours straight with the super smoke setting at 225°f/110°c. I look for an internal temperature of around 75-76°c and for the temperature to be rising as this has usually passed through the stall period. I then wrap in peach paper and continue at 225°f/110°c with the super smoke switched off, as the smoke will no longer penetrate the meat through the paper.

The stall mentioned above is a typical stage in cooking a large piece of meat low and slow on the bbq. It is when the evaporation of the moisture leaving the meat cools the surface at a rate which prevents the overall temperature rising and is normal. Once sufficient moisture has been released the temperature will continue to rise and the cooking will continue. Never panic during this phase of the cook or raise the bbq temperature etc. just stay with it as good things take time.

I continue to cook using the temperature probe as a guide looking for 95°c/203°f internal temperature before I start probing the meat for overall tenderness with a Thermapen, also checking the evenness of internal temperature across the brisket.

Using these UK grass fed dry aged beef briskets from Turner and George butchers, I tend to push for 100°c/212°f for the internal temperature, this appears to be the point at which the internal fats and connective tissue breaks down and allows the trademark wobble to the brisket appear. The brisket is then removed from the bbq and placed into a towel lined insulated box and covered with more towels and left for at least 2 hours. It will relax and stay well above a safe temperature for around 4 hours depending on the specification of the insulated box or cooler.

This being a point end the meat can then either be sliced for eating or cubed sauced and returned to the bbq to produce burnt ends, this one was sliced and served in rolls with jacket potatoes, coleslaw and corn.

The difference in this cook was the extended period of super smoke using the Trager Timberline for the first period of the cook. The intention was to add a greater level of smoke which can be seen in the smoke ring around the sliced meat and a method I will use again.