It had been a long time since I’d smoked a brisket, since the last one ended up costing well north of $100K in repairs and replacement. This hot and fast brisket was my way of celebrating — the rebuild after the fire was finally finished. If you haven’t read the full story of how that happened, it’s all documented in Details on Garage Fire
The rebuild ended up being extensive. We replaced all the windows and siding, and the original single-story garage got a loft added during the process. The fence replacement was the last step.
Getting the Smoker Back to Work
Prior to the fire, I had all three models of the Weber Smokey Mountain. So far I’ve only replaced the 18″ — the one I used the most. I’ve always found it the most efficient, and large enough for most of what I smoke.
For this one, I decided to go hot and fast — a method I don’t use often. If you want to dig into the technique itself, Virtual Weber Bullet has a solid breakdown of the high-heat method. I was shooting for 350°F as the base temp, planning to wrap in butcher paper once it hit 170°F internal. I’d recently picked up a 4-probe setup, which let me monitor the cook while I played a quick 9 holes of golf. I’d never pay the full $70 for a whole packer brisket, but caught this one on sale for $28.
I trimmed several pounds off the brisket, and it barely fit on the 18″.
Here’s where things stood 3 hours in, before the wrap.
The Wrap and Rest
I wrapped it in butcher paper while it continued to smoke. When it came time to rest, I laid some foil in the cooler over the towels first, just to make cleanup easier.
Total cook time came to 5 hours, with 1 hour of rest before slicing.
Result
Turned out good — not much of a smoke ring given the shorter, hotter cook, but very moist and tender.
Hot and Fast Method passed the bend test
All in all, I’d go hot and fast again. I was able to put this one on at 11am and have it ready for dinner the same day. I liked it enough that I picked up two more briskets at the same price around the same time, to smoke again soon.
Want to see the standard overnight method I usually run instead? Check out my Overnight Smoked Brisket post.
Curious how this compares to everything else I’ve tried? See the Complete Brisket Guide.
Complete Brisket Guide