My wife bought me an 18.5" Weber Smoky Mountain for Christmas .. yeah ..
My ambitious 1st ever smoke was this past weekend .. I tried doing a 7lb brisket ..
Here is what happened and my questions if some one can chime in with help that would be great ..
Smoker: 18.5" WSM
Charcoal: Green Egg natural
Weather Conditions: I am in Ontario, Canada - woke up with about 4" of snow on the Smoker and temperature was about 26 Farenheit (was probably closer to 32 most of the day)
7:30 am
Tried the Minion method as this was my 1st time and it seemed like correct method for LONG smoking.
Got quickly to desired temperature however it was fluctuating a bit high and a bit low for better part of 1st 3 hours as I was adjusting to 1st ever cooking with charcoal.
As well I noticed that it was really burning through charcoal - I assume this was because it was cold out and it had work that much harder. Was a bit windy and it was snowing on and off for early am.
10:30 am
Fire was more or less out - caught me off guard as I expected it to burn for much, much longer - REFIRED it up
For remainder of morning/afternoon was pretty good with temperature - around 225
2:30 pm
Temperature dropped but was able to get it back up to 225 ish shortly after and it stayed there consistently for remainder of afternoon
Family coming over for 7 pm for dinner so I finally checked temperature of meat at around 4:30 - was about 150 degrees
Kept monitoring it (staring at digital reader) for next hour and there was no change!
6:30 pm
Still in the mid 150's - getting worried!
At this point I cancel Brisket dinner (wife told me to put in oven) and we order pizza!
I didn't put brisket in oven as I wanted to see this through
8:00 pm
Covered Brisket in foil and added some "juice"
Let it cook for about 60 minutes longer
Temp actually back down to 150
Total time now is 13 hours!
Following Day:
Put Brisket in oven at about 300 for about 90 minutes
Did not check Temperature at this point (wife was in charge while I was working)
I sliced a piece when I got home (see pics) and it was delicious - not dry but not dripping in juice like I wanted ..
Looking for any advice about getting through STALL and being able to better plan for Next Time?
Should I wrap at 150/160 and then finish in oven?
Thinking the cold weather played a big role in slowness ..
What else can help me? I know that I opened and closed Smoker too many times as I tried to get this right.
Thanks!
BB
My ambitious 1st ever smoke was this past weekend .. I tried doing a 7lb brisket ..
Here is what happened and my questions if some one can chime in with help that would be great ..
Smoker: 18.5" WSM
Charcoal: Green Egg natural
Weather Conditions: I am in Ontario, Canada - woke up with about 4" of snow on the Smoker and temperature was about 26 Farenheit (was probably closer to 32 most of the day)
7:30 am
Tried the Minion method as this was my 1st time and it seemed like correct method for LONG smoking.
Got quickly to desired temperature however it was fluctuating a bit high and a bit low for better part of 1st 3 hours as I was adjusting to 1st ever cooking with charcoal.
As well I noticed that it was really burning through charcoal - I assume this was because it was cold out and it had work that much harder. Was a bit windy and it was snowing on and off for early am.
10:30 am
Fire was more or less out - caught me off guard as I expected it to burn for much, much longer - REFIRED it up
For remainder of morning/afternoon was pretty good with temperature - around 225
2:30 pm
Temperature dropped but was able to get it back up to 225 ish shortly after and it stayed there consistently for remainder of afternoon
Family coming over for 7 pm for dinner so I finally checked temperature of meat at around 4:30 - was about 150 degrees
Kept monitoring it (staring at digital reader) for next hour and there was no change!
6:30 pm
Still in the mid 150's - getting worried!
At this point I cancel Brisket dinner (wife told me to put in oven) and we order pizza!
I didn't put brisket in oven as I wanted to see this through
8:00 pm
Covered Brisket in foil and added some "juice"
Let it cook for about 60 minutes longer
Temp actually back down to 150
Total time now is 13 hours!
Following Day:
Put Brisket in oven at about 300 for about 90 minutes
Did not check Temperature at this point (wife was in charge while I was working)
I sliced a piece when I got home (see pics) and it was delicious - not dry but not dripping in juice like I wanted ..
Looking for any advice about getting through STALL and being able to better plan for Next Time?
Should I wrap at 150/160 and then finish in oven?
Thinking the cold weather played a big role in slowness ..
What else can help me? I know that I opened and closed Smoker too many times as I tried to get this right.
Thanks!
BB
