first packer; first over-nighter

smokin trees · Jun 28, 2012

picked up a 16-lbs untrimmed packer from the heb today...$1.47/lb for select cut, not too bad.

trimmed 'er up and seasoned her with a new rub mix i'm trying out...

also found out that the grocery store carries some pretty cool bbq gear...

picked me up a mr. bar-b-q wireless thermometer

seems to be working good so far...even has a cool lil led light at the top of the handheld unit. shoot, for $17.88, i figured i'd give it a try.

pretty cool.

more to come...

joe

cabrego · Jun 29, 2012

Looking good. Just to give you a heads up I bought two of those thermometers at HEB myself and both of them crapped out on my very quickly. In fact one screwed up during my smoke and I didn't even know it. I was using it to monitor the pit temperature and it read 235 all night, come to find out it was not refreshing and I was to sleepy to notice. It didn't screw up my smoke but it sure was annoying.

Just make sure it syncs through the night. Maybe I just had bad luck but both of them stopped working very quickly. I had trouble returning them but they ended up giving me store credit. Keep us posted with your smoke, what kind of rig you running?

I'll be smoking boston butt early in the am, that is if I can get some sleep :)

cabrego · Jun 29, 2012

Actually I bought the other thermometer in the picture too but didn't realize it was only a pager and I wanted to read the temp. Will be using my new maverick tomorrow

smokin trees · Jun 29, 2012

thanks for the heads-up...i'll keep an eye on it.

...looking like it's working so far. i'm using it to monitor i.t.'s, i just use a $9 digital stuck in my smoker to monitor temps.

my smoker...ol' sam, is a little bullet smoker; not sure of the mfg or make, but i'm getting the hang of it.

2.5hrs into this smoke...i.t.'s on this new wireless thermometer is reading 133*F. ...grill level temp is around 225. i'm expecting a stall pretty soon. or maybe i should rephrase that. there better damn sure be a stall pretty soon. hehehe...i'm looking to take her off the grill around 12pm-1pm tomorrow, which will be 13-14hrs. maybe too long cook time? i don't know...i've never done anything this big before. the seven pounder i cooked last week went 5hrs and i foiled at 3hrs into it. i figure if i don't foil i should be able to go 10-14hrs or so, at least on this 16 pounder?

...if it goes too fast, i guess it'll be BRISKET TACOS FOR BREAKFAST! lol...let's just hope it goes a little slower and we end up with good timing. guests are supposed to be here around 3-4pm.

joe

cabrego · Jun 29, 2012

If you maintain no higher than 230-240 and you do not foil I expect you will be smoking that brisket for a good while at LEAST 1.5 hours per lb, but I have not done anything that big before. My 10 lbr last weekend took 14hrs but my temp dropped to 180 (ran out of propane) for about 20-30 min. No foil during smoke and finished in the oven at around 230. it was my best brisket. I got a boston but in now for about 2 hrs :)

jack07 · Jun 29, 2012

smokin trees · Jun 29, 2012

hehehe...just took her off the grill after 12.5hrs. probe was sliding in w/o resistance so i'm fairly positive she's done all around. i.t.'s were reading 192ish

smells good!

here's a pic from around 2am...more pics when she's unwrapped for lunch.

4am to 6am was rough for me and i'm quite positive the temps went below 200 to about 180-190 during that time. i put some hickory chunks in at 420, but i guess they burnt up fast during that time. i got the temps back up pretty fast when i woke up at 630, but the i.t.'s were still reading 153. i waited until around 8am, then i decided to wrap her in some foil. ...2hrs later she was at 192ish. man, that foil sure is a "texas crutch" lol... ...i'm wondering how long it would've taken without it, and if it would've been too dry? maybe next time i'll try the full smoke w/o a wrap; i just didn't want to lose this one to overdrying...we've got company coming over today.

oh...btw, mr. bar-b-q is going back to the heb today. he pooped out w/ the receiving signal sometime in that 4-6am time period. i guess that old saying is right...buy nice or buy twice.

man....i'm tired.

joe

cabrego · Jun 29, 2012

Good deal! Those thermometers I learned were junk.

Seems like you got to 192 fairly quick, what was the temp when you foiled and what was your cooking to temp that got you to 192. Low and slow with no foil I bet your looking at around 19 hrs on that brisket.

Make sure you poke the flat and not the point when you do the poke test. Point is like better but the flat could still be firm. Keep us posted!

smokin trees · Jun 29, 2012

cabrego said:
Good deal! Those thermometers I learned were junk.

Seems like you got to 192 fairly quick, what was the temp when you foiled and what was your cooking to temp that got you to 192. Low and slow with no foil I bet your looking at around 19 hrs on that brisket.

Make sure you poke the flat and not the point when you do the poke test. Point is like better but the flat could still be firm. Keep us posted!

150-155ish at foil...2hrs later was reading 195ish in point and 190ish in flat...probed both for resistance.

was running around 225-235 at grill level...no water in the pan during foil, but water/aj in pan when unwrapped.

joe

jack07 · Jun 29, 2012

Looks good...let's see final pic and how it tasted.

smokin trees · Jun 29, 2012

Jack07 said:
Looks good...let's see final pic and how it tasted.

will do...

...just got some sucky news though. half of the people that were supposed to come by today aren't gonna make it..."something came up".

lol...more for me!!! just gotta remember, no napping after eating. maybe i should get one in right now?

unveiling/slicing in about an hour or so.

joe

cabrego · Jun 29, 2012

smokin trees said:
will do...

...just got some sucky news though. half of the people that were supposed to come by today aren't gonna make it..."something came up".

lol...more for me!!! just gotta remember, no napping after eating. maybe i should get one in right now?

unveiling/slicing in about an hour or so.

joe

Oh well I guess they will be missing out huh lol. I guess you blazed right through the the stall with your foil on that early, good job!

smokin trees · Jun 29, 2012

cabrego said:
Oh well I guess they will be missing out huh lol. I guess you blazed right through the the stall with your foil on that early, good job!

i hit 140 around 3.5hrs into it...she just stayed there for about 4-6hrs i would guess. she was there at 4am, but like i mentioned, i'm not sure when she broke through b/c at 630 she was at 150ish.

should be good. ...just checked the cooler stuffed w/ towels and she's still piping hot. smells good.

smokin trees · Jun 29, 2012

it was good...

...a little on the spicy side...i think i need to pull back on the pepper or the chili powder or both.

cabrego · Jun 29, 2012

smokin trees said:
it was good...

...a little on the spicy side...i think i need to pull back on the pepper or the chili powder or both.

Looks good, that is the point right? Looks pretty juicy-how was the flat? One of the reasons I use the store bought spices is because I would not want to screw up the ratios on such a long smoke. I use a brisket rub at HEB called Zachs Original Brisket BBQ Rub, I have been pretty happy with that. What kind of fuel did you use, wood and lump or regular charc?. Decent smoke ring but I would expect a little thicker ring-that is very similar to the ring I got with my propane smoker. Looks great for your first time! My first one was terrible!!!

oldschoolbbq · Jun 29, 2012

That looks good ,

to me...way to go on the First

.

smokin trees · Jun 29, 2012

oldschoolbbq said:
That looks good ,

to me...way to go on the First

.

thanks...it was.

Looks good, that is the point right? Looks pretty juicy-how was the flat? One of the reasons I use the store bought spices is because I would not want to screw up the ratios on such a long smoke. I use a brisket rub at HEB called Zachs Original Brisket BBQ Rub, I have been pretty happy with that. What kind of fuel did you use, wood and lump or regular charc?. Decent smoke ring but I would expect a little thicker ring-that is very similar to the ring I got with my propane smoker. Looks great for your first time! My first one was terrible!!!

that was the flat! lol...she was real juicy in the flat and the point. (it was a little dry as you got out to the toe of the flat)

the smoke ring being that small is because i'm so afraid of creosote that i tend to under-smoke. i'd hate to get 15hrs into it and then slice and taste it and it tastes like tar. i use heb lump charcoal and pecan and hickory chunks.

as for the spices, i'm freaking afraid, too, but if you don't dive in, you'll never know how to swim. i always do a lick-the-finger and dip-it-in-the-rub test before rubing it on the meat. that'll give you an idea of what it's gonna taste like...usually more pungent and salty/spicy, but you'll get a good idea of the mix. i do this about 4-6 places around the mix, just in case i'm not picking something up the first few times.

i'm really liking the addition of the chili powder and celery salt; i'm on the right track for my flavor profile...i've just gotta rain in the spicy and get a little more depth to the taste. i did use a little cumin this time, so maybe more of that next time? ...it just smells like an underarm, so i'm afraid....lol.

my mix this time was:

1/3 cup course pepper

1/3 cup kosher salt

1/3 cup paprika

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup gran. sugar

1/4 cup chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp celery salt

2 shakes from the cayenne pepper <<<<duh, spicy

joe

first packer; first over-nighter

Fire Starter

Smoke Blower

Smoke Blower

Fire Starter

Smoke Blower

Meat Mopper

Fire Starter

Smoke Blower

Fire Starter

Meat Mopper

Fire Starter

Smoke Blower

Fire Starter

Fire Starter

Smoke Blower

Legendary Pitmaster

Fire Starter

Similar threads

Hot Threads

Featured Blackened Rockfish...