Brisket Planning for a Camping Trip

[BeerPalate]

Hey folks - I've got a group/family (10 adults/10 kids) camping trip coming up and I'm responsible for one of the dinners.  My hopeful plan is to do some burnt ends in advance, refrigerate, then heat at the site.  Assuming that's not a dumb idea, I could use some help on serving size.

I don't think the point alone is enough, so I believe I have two options:
- I can just buy the whole packer and hope that my flat cooking skills are up to par for those that simply want slices.  If I go the whole packer route, is 14 lbs enough? This option has me concerned with reheating the flat.
- Buy two packers, and just cook the points for the trip, save the flats for practice at home.  If I go this route, what does the point size typically avg. (as a %) in the packer?  What total weight should I be looking at, so that the points are enough once removed?

Any tips/suggestions are appreciated!

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[Lipster]

Just my opinion, but I would do something simpler, like pulled pork.
Brisket has too many variables for a camping trip.

[old sarge]

A lot depends upon what else you will be serving/sides. As for weight, just get as large a packer, or two or three, as you can find and afford.  I get mine at Costco, always prime and mostly less expensive than choice. Figure 3 to 4 ounces per child depending upon age and sides.  Teenagers and you may need to bump it up by couple of ounces. Adults, 6 to 10 ounces plus sides.  For me in my younger days, camping always had beans and biscuits.

[barelfly]

You could do a packer and use both point and flat. Smoke to the temp you want and then wrap and cool it off quickly. Once it’s completely cooled to fridge temps, cut up the entire packer, but keep the point and flat separate. Then store until the trip. Once at the camp site, let the point cook longer and add the flat later to get to temp. The bbq sauce is going to help the flat.

I’ve made brisket burnt ends once, and used the entire packer and cooked it all together. I had a smaller packer so just went with it and it was great.

As for serving size, about 4-5oz per person if it’s the only meat. Like the others state, sides will help the meat go farther. I recently served 48lbs of m at for 80+ guests and had one of each 1/2 sheet serving pans left of pulled brisket and pulled pork. Served a ton of sides.

Just a thought, You could also do pork belly burnt ends for much cheaper if you wanted to still go with burnt ends and you wouldn’t have to worry about the flat.

But hope it all works out and you enjoy the trip!

[BeerPalate]

Thanks for the input all, much appreciated.  The trip is fast approaching and the Costco Gods have worked against me - No prime packer in basically all of Orange County, CA.

That said, I was going to use both the point and flat (instead of 2 points) for the burnt ends, which had me a bit nervous, considering the need to reheat.  In light of the forced change in plans, I'm going to follow Lipsters advice and go the pulled pork route, which I have no concerns about.

I do want to try pork belly burnt ends one of these days though!

[LuvMyQ]

I get nervous when I can’t control the heat on a brisket like in a crockpot.  I agree on the pulled pork.  Easier to package and reheat.

[kayakingphotog]

Hey BeerPalate,

Just saw your post and wanted to share w/you and others for future occasions similar to this one (I am assuming your camping trip has probably come and gone).

Back in April I volunteered to provide all of the meals for a raft trip down the Salt River in AZ.  Since our group was small (10) I figured why not.  My plan was to pre-make all of the dinners and then vacuum seal them in bags for reheating.  The overall trip was 7 days and 6 nights.  I froze each bag and then layered them sequentially in 2 RTIC coolers.

One of my pre-made meals was a 12 lbs brisket that I smoked in my 3D using the fast method (which I am sold on).  After completion I sliced up the brisket and sealed the brisket in three bags.  On the river I placed the bags in a large boiling pot and reheated it.  My rafting and kayaking buddies were blown away.  The cool thing about this method was that the meat was super tender and of course tasty.

SYOTR

[johnnytex]

What's the fast method

[kayakingphotog]

I followed Gregs method for reference.  Very successful.

https://www.smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=5870.0

[BeerPalate]

My plan was to pre-make all of the dinners and then vacuum seal them in bags for reheating.  The overall trip was 7 days and 6 nights.  I froze each bag and then layered them sequentially in 2 RTIC coolers... After completion I sliced up the brisket and sealed the brisket in three bags.  On the river I placed the bags in a large boiling pot and reheated it...

That's the general idea I was thinking of doing, I'll have to give it a go next time.  That said, the pulled pork worked out well.

[LuvMyQ]

Glad it worked well.

Also I second Greg's fast brisket method mentioned above.  I used a choice flat form Kroger and went at 275.  It was as good as any prime packer i have done.