From Oregon

[mr mac]

Just a few notes about me, I have been smoking for a couple of years now with some successes and some failures. Thankfully my failures have all been when I was alone and trying something new!

I'm a husband of one and a father of four. I'm the associate pastor of a small church at the north end of the Rogue Valley here in southern Oregon and an avid football fan and tailgater! It's the tailgating that got me started on smoking in the first place as it just seemed to be a natural fit!

I was recently given a Brinkmann charcoal grill/smoker and I have been able to do fine with the chickens, ribs and some smaller pork shoulders/Boston Butts but the brisket is where my problem lies.

I'm pretty sure it's an issue with the smoker just being too hot so the brisket (typically a 6-7 pounder) comes out dry. My father-in-law can smoke a brisket that size and have trouble getting it off the rack because it wants to fall apart but mine, well, a hatchet is a handy tool.

Help me Obiwan Kenobi, you're my only hope!

 

[bmudd14474]

Welcome to SMF from northern california. You asked for help and I can say that you should start by signing up for the 5 day ecourse. It will help alot.

 

[zjaybird]

Welcome to SMF...you have asked for help....and I am pretty sure your request will be filled in a matter of hours. There is so much knowledge on this stop in the smoking world, you will not need to go anywhere else.
Good luck.
I would guess...and I strongly use the word GUESS, that maybe you might benefit from using the water pan. Either with water or sand. The pan might help deflect some of your heat way from the brisket and help keep a more even heat. This is strickly only a guess...please read below. This might help...if not..I hope to get you close

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ight=water+pan

 

[fire it up]

Welcome Mr Mac, glad you have had some successes and I guarantee before long you will be outsmoking your FIL with briskets

First bit to help us figure out what issues you are having, how are you smoking your brisket? What size/cut, temps smoked at, wrapped in foil or no, spritzed or no, resting period or no, so many little things can make such a difference in the end.
No worries, you are definitely in the right place.

 

[alx]

Love the shield pastor.I think you have all my lineage in that one...almost!

Post a thread- later- on your smoker/conditions.Welcome aboard!!!!

 

[beer-b-q]

Welcome, Glad to have you with us. This is the place to learn, lots of good info and helpful friendly Members.

For Those of you New to Smoking, be sure to check out Jeff's 5 Day Smoking Basics eCourse.
Click Here it's "FREE"... 5 Day eCourse

Everyone here enjoys seeing the Qview so be sure to post plenty of pics...

Large ones that us old people with bad eyes can see.

When you uploading to Photobucket I always use the Large IMG setting, 640 x 480 it is a nice size...

How to post Qview to Forum:



For Step By Step Instructions On Posting Qview Check Out This Tutorial

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=82034

 

[treegje]

Welcome to SMF, Mr Mac. Glad you joined us.

 

[irishteabear]

Welcome to SMF. Glad you joined us.

 

[bassman]

Welcome to the forum. Glad to have you aboard.

 

[cowgirl]

Welcome to the forum Mr. Mac, glad to have you aboard!

 

[chefrob]

welcome and lots of info.......

 

[oregonsmoker]

Welcome Mr. Mac! Glad to see a fellow Rogue Valley resident on here. I live in Medford and have my entire life. I have a very close uncle that lives out your way in Gold Hill not far from the railroad bridge. He is probably my biggest fan and official taste tester of most of my smoking adventures!

 

[mr mac]

Thanks for the welcome! I too live very close to the bridges at the south end of town and who knows, may even know or at the very least, seen your uncle! Small world, eh?

As for my brisket woes, again, if I had to nail it down to what I think my issues are it would be the heat control and that being too high. I always have the water bowl filled and do not allow it to run dry, I always allow the meat to rest for 20 to 30 minutes (depending on the size of the cut) covered under foil.

The smoker I've been using lately is a Brinkmann gas/charcoal unit with the standard thermometer attached which doesn't allow me to accurately monitor the cooking temperature and adjust accordingly. I just get it to just below the "ideal" and have found that it ain't! I suppose I could/should purchase a better thermometer that reads the temperature and try again. I will certainly enroll myself in Jeff's 5 Day Smoking Basics eCourse to start.

Again, many thanks for the warm and smoky welcome!

Mac

 

[mballi3011]

First off welcome Mr Mac's Wife to SMF. You'll like it here cause there are abunch of good folks here that would just love to help you out with just about anything to do with smoking. We really like to have newbies here because they can bring in a new propective to how things are done. There's nothing like a new set of eyes to give and new way to make things that little differant to make things alittle better. So I hope you know about the Qview here.
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=58920
Here's a link to photobucket it's free and easy to download pictures. Then if your really new to smoking Look up the E-course.
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...play.php?f=127
It's also free and it will give you the basics of smoking. So after all of that you just need to go grab something to smoke and if you have any question just post them here and we will answer it quickly so you don't have any mishaps with your smoke.
Welcome To Your New Addiction