I had read about others going up to 300 degrees (on some other forums) on their brisket smokes. SO I had to give it a try. Since I remembered reading somewhere that you should not push over 300 on the SI's, I decided to try 275. I used a Costco prime about 12.5 lb untrimmed, approx. 10.5 lbs trimmed.. No brine. I id use a little Morton Tender Quick for about 20 minutes to get a smoke ring. Ambient temp was 10 degrees rising to about 16 degrees.
I had 3 goals in mind.
1. Prove that the SI can work great in the cold.
2. Try the fast smoke
3. Take advantage of the lower brisket pricing in winter around here. (3.29 /LB)
And of course hoping for some bragging rights to my friends with Traegers and BGE's.
In reality, this hit 190 IT at 6 hours and 15 minutes. i did not believe it, but verified with the fast read thermometer. It wasn't quite as jiggly as I thought my last one was. So I lowered it 225 and let it go until 193 literally 30 minutes later. All in all, this size usually takes me 12+ hours and it finished in less than 7. I had to hold in a faux cambro for 5 hours because it was done so fast.
I will declare success!!! The SI was up to 275 IT in 1.25 hours and had no issues holding it there. The flat was a little drier than I wanted - probable should have pulled it at 190. But it had all the flavor and the point was plenty juicy. If I were to rate my last Costco prime at 10, this would be a 9 - only because the flat as a little dry. I am so far sold on the fast cook. Next time I might try to wrap the flat end in pink butcher paper about mid way through. I am also going to try my next butt at 275.
