The brisket passed the bend test, and when I probed the brisket with an instant-read thermometer, it felt like a bag of butter. The fat rendered, as evidenced by the juice in the paper. It was time to unwrap the brisket and see if my experiment was a success. I then placed the top on the cooler and rested an additional hour. To avoid any carry-over cooking, I rested the brisket in a cooler with the top off for the first 30 minutes. It took a total of 5 hours and 5 minutes to reach 203 degrees. After an hour of cooking, the wireless thermometer calculated an additional 5 hours for the brisket to reach 203 degrees. I anticipated 4 hours but really did not know how long it would take to achieve 203 degrees. I was hoping the second cook would be shorter and thought it would be since the brisket was cooked to 165 on Day One. I didn’t add any wood chunks since the brisket was wrapped for the second cook. I returned the wrapped brisket to the BGE once the smoker reached 250 degrees. I unwrapped the brisket to inspect, and to my delight, I discovered a crisp bark. My concern with placing the brisket in the refrigerator overnight was that it could make the bark soggy. I began Day Two by removing the brisket from the refrigerator an hour before the second cook. I didn’t want any residual heat in the brisket to create steam in foil or plastic wrap and make the bark soggy. I then wrapped the brisket in butcher paper. I rested the brisket on a cooling rack over a rimmed sheet pan for an hour. The brisket looked ready to eat, but I would have to wait. Total cooking time was 5 hours and 15 minutes. I anticipated 6 hours for the first cook based on the size of the brisket. The brisket stalled at 136 degrees at the 3-hour mark. I continued to spray the brisket every hour until the brisket reached 165 degrees. After an hour of smoking, I sprayed the brisket with a mixture of apple cider vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. I inserted a wireless thermometer probe to monitor the brisket temperature and placed the seasoned brisket in the BGE. The shaker allows me to season the brisket evenly. I combined equal parts kosher salt and 16 mesh black pepper in a shaker to season the brisket. I left on more fat than usual since I was going to cook the brisket twice. While the BGE came up to temperature, I trimmed a 12-pound brisket. I heated my Big Green Egg XL (BGE) to 250 degrees and placed large oak chunks inside to create wood smoke. I normally wrap the brisket in butcher paper once it reaches 165 to preserve the bark and retain moisture. I chose 165 degrees as the temperature for Day One since it would have made it through the stall. The plan was to smoke a whole brisket unwrapped to 165 degrees, rest it for an hour, store it in the refrigerator overnight, and finish cooking the next day. I was curious to see if I could conquer the brisket time challenge and break up the cook into two days. And that doesn’t include resting the meat. Smoking a full packer brisket can take 10 to 12 hours or more. But I don’t always want to spend the time to achieve the ultimate slice of brisket. My favorite cooking method is low and slow since it allows a crispy bark to develop and all the intermuscular fat renders to create a super tender and tasty bite of brisket.
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