14 LBS. monster and need some help.

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i put the thermometer in at the beginning. i didn't check thermometer accuracy before using it (big no-no i understand).

so, you guys are saying i just ruined this damn thing? can it be fixed?
 
Personally, I wouldn't eat it. Don't feel bad as this isn't the first time this issue has come up. I'm sure there'll be a ton of opinions on this one.
 
when i did the pork shoulders, i didn't have a good thermometer. they took 9 hours. @ 7 hours they where 150 and 180 @ 9 hours. after the rest (about 45 mins.) they where 175 and no one went to the hospital with food poisoning.

you guys really got me worried now. don't know if it makes much of a difference, but this thing was NOT completely thawed and i screwed up making the fire. it wasn't burning really consistent when i put it on.
 
Hang in the Bud. They may have missed the part where you said you started with it partially frozen. Now I'm no expert by any stretch but, I have been cookin since I was 12. I think you gonna have some extra time due to the fact you started partially frozen. I'd give it a extra hour or so but you might turn up the heat a little.
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What are you smoking it on?
 
it's a New Braunfels Hondo. it's a 14lbs flat brisket and it started at 31-32 degrees. in the past hour i kicked the temp up to 250-260 and the brisket is now @ 115.

words of encouragement appreciated, but also words of caution.
 
Well, you never know when that dreaded plateau is going to hit.
My brisket the other day hit at 158 and lingered for 3 hours. It was a 10# brisket and took a total of 14 hours not counting rest time.
Make sure you don't get your temp up too high. 250 is fine but I wouldn't go much higher.
 
ok, so 1 and a half hours later and it's jumped 20 degrees (120). i wish i had more smoke time under my belt. i have NO idea what is going on right now (and it has nothing to do with the beer).
 
Per our discussions last night it appears to be a therm issue. Since hour 2 actually was hour 1 and hour 5 was hour 4, I think you're fine from the info that you gave me. Let us know how it turned out.
 
I think you'll be ok since you started with a frozen brisket. One thing a lot of folk do is to probe the meat at the beginning. That imo is the biggest no no most folks do when they first start smoking meat, me included. I no longer do this, I use an ir therm and make sure the surface of the meat is at least 140 or more before I think about inserting a probe.
 
ok. update. done eith the smoke @ around 4 AM. my digital therm. said 140, but the analog i stuck in to compare read 160. i put the thing in the oven @ 225. right now, the analog reads 180 and the digital 187. i think it's about time to pull the thing and put it in the cooler.
 
Make sure you take some pics of that bad boy so we can see.

Hey RICK, I seen you said not to probe when you start a brisket, why is that?
 
this is for you poi dog:


still tired for keepin' dad company till 4AM.
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i'm still a little zombified. just realized you were asking for pics of the brisket too poi dog. i'm lame.
 
And I quote, I'm sure bbally won't mind.

"This would depend on how you handle the large cut and what you consider a large cut.

The "intact muscle" rule for commercial USDA products allows an intact muscle to be cooked to rare using low temp. Provided it has not been punctured.

Unpunctured, intact muscle need only have the outside 0.5 inch pass through 140 degrees within 4 hours. Something easily done at temps of 200 F or more.

Now if you inject it, you have changed the "intact nature" of the meat and should treat it as ground meat or forced meat. This means the inside temp of the meat must pass through 140 within four hours. Usually requiring a temp of at least 275 F or better.

Going under 200 F without intact muscle generally requires that another method of cooking have been used.... Nitrate or Nitrite curing being most common. But lemon and lime juice under a method called ceviche also will do the job, though generally limited to fish.

Most common error that results in hospitalization of people consuming improperly handled intact muscle?

"inserting a temp probe into the intact muscle prior to the outside being above 140F or the probe not being wiped with sterilizer prior to insertion."
 
I dont want to hijack this post, but that was very interesting Rick, thank you. I guess when you think about it, there is no need to insert a probe at all for the first few hours of a large smoke as you know its gonna take several hours anyhow before its even close to being done. Always learn something new here.
 
I like the picture of your Smoking Buddy. I got three of em at my house and they always end up helping me with Quality Control during my smokes.
 
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