Summit charcoal cook - brisket and pulled pork

[Bbqmiller]

Planned this for the long weekend - wanted to see how it would handle a long cook full of meat.

Two 8 lb pork butts



15 lb prime grade packer brisket



Brisket was trimmed and rubbed with Wiviot's brisket rub from Low and Slow 2





Butts were poked with a potato nail and a mix of rub was applied (souther succor and magic dust) the day before. They were dusted with additional rub before hitting the grill.



Fired the grill up. I loaded it up full and left room for three good size chunks of wood - two oak and one pecan





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I turned the lighter off after 8 minutes and shut the lid with the rapid fire fully open and lower full open. Once the temp got around 180 I closed the top to a third and bottom on smoke setting. As others have pointed out, you must take care not to light too much  up especially with a full load of fuel. Meat hit the grill at 5 am. Brisket on extended rack fat cap down, and butts on bottom. I used two maverick's to monitor temp (733 for both butts and 732 for brisket and bottom grate temp.  It took about 30-40 minutes to get it ready.



At 7:20, I flipped the brisket far cap up. I figured the fat cap up and pork butts on the bottom would help to cook the brisket more evenly.



9:00 AM - one butt 158 and brisket 163.



Other butt 154 and grate temp 226. I kept the grate temp around 225 for the first part of the cook. This thing is rock steady.



11:20 - rotated brisket and flipped butts



12:00 pm - pushed grate temp to around 250



Fired up the 26 kettle to cook up some baked beans - used the recipe from low and slow (wiviott).  Rendered some brisket fat for sauce later. Lunch was a hit dog



2:00 pm - brisket hit 195 and it was removed and tented in foil





Beans done - they simmered indirect in a CI Dutch oven for several hours.



Appetizer - Gorgonzola stuffed dates wrapped in bacon. Used a little rub to season.







Butts came off at 4:30 - internal temp hit 203





Brisket before slicing



Point was removed and sliced up the flat



Pulled pork and sliced brisket. The brisket was incredibly tender with a nice peppery bark. Pork was good as well, but everyone was really digging the brisket.



Plated up



This was my first whole packet brisket - I think I did ok on it based on the reviews.

Took pics the next day for charcoal left. Looks like maybe 40% or so left for a 12 hour cook with 30lbs of meat. It could have gone longer.

[G19]

Well done miller. everything looked great.  What was your original charcoal configuration when you started? 

[Bbqmiller]

Well done miller. everything looked great.  What was your original charcoal configuration when you started?

Just filled it up with the charcoal grate in the lower position. Lighter on for around 7 min and then shut and adjusted vents accordingly. I did have the rapid fire vent (top) fully open to get it warm but i shut it when the temp was around 150 or so.

[WNC]

Wow, just awesome!

[Bbqmiller]

I forgot to mention I used the Trader Joes natural briquettes for the cook, and I added two chunks of persimmon wood when rotating the meat. One of the things that is really nice about the grill is being able to use the one touch to get rid of ash so the bottom vents stay clear. I did this periodically during the day. I actually spent most of the day working in the yard and paid no attention to it.

[Saugust]

Fantastic cook. Way to use the whole arsenal! How many people did you feed?

[G19]

Well done miller. everything looked great.  What was your original charcoal configuration when you started?

Just filled it up with the charcoal grate in the lower position. Lighter on for around 7 min and then shut and adjusted vents accordingly. I did have the rapid fire vent (top) fully open to get it warm but i shut it when the temp was around 150 or so.

Thanks, sorry I am not familiar with the Summit so is that like lighting one section and then the burn spreads out on its own from there?  Is the light in the center of the charcoal mass or starting down in one corner?

[SmokenJoe]

Fantastic cook and writeUP.  Thanks for sharing.
SJ

[Bbqmiller]

Well done miller. everything looked great.  What was your original charcoal configuration when you started?

Just filled it up with the charcoal grate in the lower position. Lighter on for around 7 min and then shut and adjusted vents accordingly. I did have the rapid fire vent (top) fully open to get it warm but i shut it when the temp was around 150 or so.

Thanks, sorry I am not familiar with the Summit so is that like lighting one section and then the burn spreads out on its own from there?  Is the light in the center of the charcoal mass or starting down in one corner?

Yes the charcoal just sits on the lower grate and you light a little up and it spreads as it needs more fuel based on vent settings aka minion. The lighter is off center a bit with it closer to the table side.

[Bbqmiller]

Fantastic cook. Way to use the whole arsenal! How many people did you feed?

5 adults and 4 kids - the kids really gobbled up the brisket.

I made way more than I needed, but a food saver will make quick, easy meals during the work week. Originally, I was planning on only a brisket but I was going to use a water pan underneath on the grate to help protect the brisket a little.  I figured two pork butts would be better as a "water pan".  The pulled pork and leftover brisket were refrigerated overnight in ziplock bags so the food saver doesn't take out the moisture. I added a few cubes of frozen apple juice to the pork before vacuum sealing. When you thaw out the bag, the apple juice will redistribute into the pork. You just dump into a small pan and heat up with with some bbq sauce - instant pulled pork sandwiches.

I vacuum packed the brisket point.  It will be thawed,  and I will make some burnt ends in the near future.

I had an awesome brisket sandwich for lunch today by the way

[Vwbuggin64]

Simply amazing. I can't wait for the summit grill to come out here

[THUNDERDOME]

Great post. Love that grill/smoker

[Davescprktl]

Impressive!  Great bark on the buts.