Good evening everyone. I thought I would come in and brag on myself tonight. After browsing this forum for more than a year I have smoked my first brisket!
After thoughtful consideration I bought a Char Griller w/SFB. I modified it with the smokestack extension, probe inlet beneath the grate and a Lowe's shaker basket in the firebox. Despite the nagging doubts that I could control the heat well with this, I am convinced it isn't that big a deal. I usually smoke on the weekends when I don't have any other plans which allows me to watch the smoker all day long. I am also convinced that fretting over the perfect temperature just leads to frustration and just turns what should be a relaxing hobby into too much work. The reason I say this is that my wireless probe wasn't working too well and wouldn't give me a proper temperature. Because of that I had to estimate off of the stock thermo based on past observation of what was a true temp. What I found was that by worrying less and aiming for a general range, it all worked out.
On to the Q-view! I bought a 6 pound brisket flat. Not wanting to do an all night smoke and wanting to be fully awake to learn the basics for a brisket, I put the meat on at 9:00 AM. I planned for a 12 hour smoke and eating the brisket for the next day. Again, I didn't have a working probe to watch meat temps but knew that I didn't really need one. I used oak chunks with a few of mesquite thrown in. I just rubbed the meat down with garlic, paprika, pepper and salt. The mop applied every two hours after 12:30 PM was apple juice, evoo and some tabasco sauce(I didn't really try any special recipes for this one). I foiled it around 6:30 PM and left it until 9:00 PM, a full 12 hour smoke. Went through a full bag of RO Lump and half of Kingsford Briquets. The final product wasn't dry but it wasn't moist, much like what I have gotten at local BBQ joints. I think I don't like mesquite too much and I may have laid too much white billowing smoke onto the meat. Being my own worst critic, next time I'll get a working probe to watch meat temps, foil it sooner, lay off the mesquite and try a better rub. Either way, it still tasted great, can't wait to do another one! Here are the goods:
After thoughtful consideration I bought a Char Griller w/SFB. I modified it with the smokestack extension, probe inlet beneath the grate and a Lowe's shaker basket in the firebox. Despite the nagging doubts that I could control the heat well with this, I am convinced it isn't that big a deal. I usually smoke on the weekends when I don't have any other plans which allows me to watch the smoker all day long. I am also convinced that fretting over the perfect temperature just leads to frustration and just turns what should be a relaxing hobby into too much work. The reason I say this is that my wireless probe wasn't working too well and wouldn't give me a proper temperature. Because of that I had to estimate off of the stock thermo based on past observation of what was a true temp. What I found was that by worrying less and aiming for a general range, it all worked out.
On to the Q-view! I bought a 6 pound brisket flat. Not wanting to do an all night smoke and wanting to be fully awake to learn the basics for a brisket, I put the meat on at 9:00 AM. I planned for a 12 hour smoke and eating the brisket for the next day. Again, I didn't have a working probe to watch meat temps but knew that I didn't really need one. I used oak chunks with a few of mesquite thrown in. I just rubbed the meat down with garlic, paprika, pepper and salt. The mop applied every two hours after 12:30 PM was apple juice, evoo and some tabasco sauce(I didn't really try any special recipes for this one). I foiled it around 6:30 PM and left it until 9:00 PM, a full 12 hour smoke. Went through a full bag of RO Lump and half of Kingsford Briquets. The final product wasn't dry but it wasn't moist, much like what I have gotten at local BBQ joints. I think I don't like mesquite too much and I may have laid too much white billowing smoke onto the meat. Being my own worst critic, next time I'll get a working probe to watch meat temps, foil it sooner, lay off the mesquite and try a better rub. Either way, it still tasted great, can't wait to do another one! Here are the goods:
