Warning: that famous "low and slow" rule for brisket might be wrong

I was reading through some old BBQ forums and found a post from a guy who tested temps on 50 briskets. He said cooking at 275 instead of 225 saved 4 hours and the meat came out just as tender. I tried it last weekend on a 14 pounder and honestly the bark was way better. Everyone online swears by 225 but my results say different. Has anyone else pushed their smoker hotter and seen good results?

2 comments

2 Comments

phoenixp309d ago

That "crust was definitely thicker and crunchier" line hits home for me. I switched to 275 on my last brisket after fighting with a stalled piece at 225 for 8 hours straight, and the bark came out so dark and crispy I almost thought I burned it. The fat rendered way better too, like it just melted instead of turning into that rubbery layer you sometimes get with low heat.

paul_burns9d ago

the bark was way better" - that's the part that really got me thinking. I've been doing 225-250 for years because that's what all the competition guys say, but last summer I did a couple at 275 when I was in a hurry and the crust was definitely thicker and crunchier. I think part of it is that higher heat dries out the surface faster which gives you that nice dark bark before the inside even gets close to done. Plus with the shorter cook time you don't have to babysit it as long which is a huge win on a weekend. I'm starting to wonder if the whole low and slow thing is just leftover from when people used offset smokers that couldn't hold a steady high temp.