Brisket the easy way !!!

[cal1956]

the two little handles you see in the picture are pull out chip drawers , the knob is what controls the gas and the black button is for the electronic sparker
on its lowest setting , it will hold 225 degree's all day long . another way i can control the heat even more is by the amount of chips in each drawer and by pulling out the drawers if the temp should get to high due to an abundance of chip coals , the actual gas flame on low is very very small ( think in the range of 3-4 ciggerrete lighters )

what else would you like to know about it ?

 

[indaswamp]

what else would you like to know about it ?

Temp. at the grate?

*edit to add:
And the last time you verified the accuracy of your bi-metal dial thermometer...

 

[jcam222]

the reason for ONLY smoking for 2 or so hours is simple , after that your just wasting wood as it does 0 to the flavor of the meat and anyone that says otherwise is just blowing smoke up your rear end


The smoke ring also points us to an interesting truth: The depth of the smoke ring is the maximum depth of smoke penetration, and therefore of flavor penetration from the fire.


It doesn’t matter for how many hours you smoke your pork butt or how perfect your fire management is, the dead center of the butt will not taste like smoke. The gasses and particulate matter that smoke is made of just can’t penetrate the muscle fibers that far down. In fact, almost all of the penetrative smoke flavor in barbecued meats is achieved in the first couple hours of cooking.

This is simply inaccurate. You can keep things simple for sure but make no mistake there is science behind what’s happening when you are smoking meat and cooking. FACT - meat will take on smoke flavor as long as it’s exposed to smoke. It has absolutely nothing to do with the smoke ring. You cite the depth of the smoke ring as the limit of how deep smoke will penetrate yet I’ve cooked and I’ve seen others post smoke rings that nearly go through all the meat. The smoke ring itself has NOTHING to do with smoke flavor which for all practical purposes resides mostly on the surface. This is a great post on burning wood, charcoal and impact on meat and flavor. https://amazingribs.com/more-techni...ring/what-you-need-know-about-wood-smoke-and/. Does one need to know all that? No but it doesn’t hurt. Here is a very detailed explanation of what a smoke ring is based on chemical reactions. https://amazingribs.com/more-techni...ce/mythbusting-smoke-ring-no-smoke-necessary/ None of these things are required for knowledge to smoke but they are in reference to several comments you made about meat taking on smoke and the smoke ring. Good info for newer folks who want to understand what is really happening.

 

[cal1956]

well to be honest , it doesn't have grates. it has racks . and as to when the old fashioned stack thermometer...was verified , i sent it out to the thermoeter shop last week and they said it was working just fine ....haha

 

[indaswamp]

well to be honest , it doesn't have grates. it has racks . and as to when the old fashioned stack thermometer...was verified , i sent it out to the thermoeter shop last week and they said it was working just fine ....haha

^^^^this is why you are catching so much flack on this forum.

I was actually trying to help you.

 

[Brokenhandle]

My two cents worth...for anyone that's been here for awhile can smoke meat, of any different type and it's pretty simple...been there done that before. Don't get pissy with me but here is my issue...those of us more experienced know how to do it. We are here posting to help the new people that don't know what to do. You state you've been doing it for 40 years, so yes you might know a thing or two. But you didn't know anything 40 years ago before you smoked your 1st brisket. It's all about helping the new people learn, at least it is to me. If you read back through N Nefarious put it very well...he is fairly new here and your post didn't help at all for him to learn. I'm trying to be polite so don't take it the wrong way.

Ryan

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

well to be honest , it doesn't have grates. it has racks . and as to when the old fashioned stack thermometer...was verified , i sent it out to the thermoeter shop last week and they said it was working just fine ....haha

I tried to not comment here! I am a nobody on this forum, but try to help folks! Hopefully I have helped someone, anyone! My goal is to help the ones just getting into smoking! I try my best to detail my smokes, am I the best… NOPE… not by a long shot! But I am an ol redneck willing to help anyone!

I sincerely hope I do not come across as a know it all and bash folks if they have a question or different outlook than my methods! I am always open to suggestions on how to approach things better or more effectively!

In short, I do not understand your thread meanings… I have actually reached out to you thru a thread or two with suggestions… only to be shot down. Not saying my suggestions were the complete answer, but IMO you would not even consider them! Likely due to you are set in your ways! No one can change that!

Why not be willing to look at others perspectives, rather than always having to be right?

This is all my two cents… and knowing you… I’ll get em both back!

 

[smokebuzz]

Why am I having flashbacks to RonP....

 

[eaglewing]

NO !!! just an old man thats sick and tired of people trying to make something very simple into something complicated ...smoking meat is so simple a small child can learn how in very short order ...if you wonder why so many newcomers have problems, its because they have been convinced its waaaay harder than it really is .. great tasting meat is ...smoke - heat - time and not much else !!!
anything else is just pompus BS !!!

some people on this forum have a real need to feel like "experts " its an ego trip for them plain and simple !!! it makes them feel important and because of that they try to put down any post thats different from the way they THINK meat should be smoked , smoking meat is as old as the hills , there is no hard rules to great tasting meat , when you try to tell people reading my posts that what i describe can't be done , it just makes you sound stupid , i have been smoking meat for 40 years , and i know it can be done exackly as i describe because i do it , just because i do things simpler and faster than the way you say it has to be done just means you want people to think " oh wow thats guy is an expert " well news flash for you ...your not !!!!

Absolutely no finger pointing here, just my observation because I too have been smoking meat for 20 years+.​

Warning, just my opinion: (maybe what cal is trying to say in a different way)
It seems modern BBQing has taken on some sort of "perfectionist faze" that IMO is never meant to be in real BBQing and BBQ Smoking.
BBQ & BBQ Smoking is supposed to be FUN, a way to EXPRESS YOURSELF thru food, be your own chef, cook YOUR WAY to meet YOUR TASTES. It's all about the meat&eat!!!

Maybe we get caught up in all these "contests" and BBQ shows thinking there is a 'right' and 'wrong' way to smoke that meat... according to WHO????
Who is the SMOKED MEAT GOD????? Yeah sure, go ahead and name your favorite guy on YouTube, or your fav show, but just note this, a lot of that crap wasn't around the first time I fired up my Bandera side box smoker. (Jeff was, but didn't find him till 2008) I put out some damn good food with temp swings from 200-350 when I wasn't paying attention and I never ruined a piece of meat!!!

YES, it's fun to watch guys do 'successful' good cooks, everything turns out PERFECT, and you LEARN A LOT from watching. That's how I taught myself almost everything in life, I WATCH and imitate.
There are GREAT THINGS to learn from guys on Forums and Social Media, tips and tricks, fine points and even FACTS about the science of the MEAT itself. I don't have HALF the talent/knowledge they/you guys do, but i still make great smoked meat.
So there are advantages obviously for noob BBQ Smokers to learn from all these different things, but don't fall into the trap that these are all BIBLE TRUTHS. MEAT IS MEAT, it's been the same meat since God told the Israelites to throw cows/bulls on the fire for burnt offerings daily, and certain parts of the cow and lamb were saved for EATING!!!! AHHH, the first BBQers!!!!!

My biggest observation over all these years is: MEAT IS VERY FORGIVING of anything you might call a mistake. Your cook doesn't HAVE to go perfectly like the recipe, or your TEMP doesn't HAVE to stay right on the dot, or your rub doesn't HAVE to have that (whatever) in it to make it perfect.

Obviously use online recipes and videos and info as a GREAT GUIDELINES, but by all means, try to be yourself and HAVE FUN!!! (why do you think we have all these different Youtube guys and recipes, because each one is trying to be "himself" and not just follow one leader)
I'm not a great BBQ Smoker, THE MEAT IS!!!!

This forum has no rules on providing info or pictures when making a thread. It can be all pictures with no info or the other way around. There is alot of info on this forum, this thread isn't the only one out there for new people to learn from.

Thanks for trying Adam.

OH, 1 more thing:
It's obvious to me the heat that hits Cal's meat is not 225°, it's probably hotter and it has to pass around a cold meat and by the time it exits the chimney its 225°. But I'm sure his meat got done that fast because it was cooking higher from underneath, but also obviously to HIS liking so to me that's the way I see it. It happens on 2 full racks in my UDS and my lid Therm. It's always cooler than my lower therms.

 

[justplainbob]

it's threads like these that make me not to want to come back. old men arguing about cooking.
this forum used to be helpful, now it's just an old boys club congratulating each other for grilling a hot dog or buttering bread. someone posts a thread about a cook and inevitably someone posts a link to "well look what i did". enjoy your club but just because someone does something different than you doesn't make it wrong. they sell vanilla and chocolate ice cream at the store. see ya

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

enjoy your club but just because someone does something different than you doesn't make it wrong. they sell vanilla and chocolate ice cream at the store. see ya

If that's all you get out of this forum then best of luck elsewhere. I don't think anyone has an issue with Cal doing things differently. No one said his process was wrong. That was the whole point in us asking questions so maybe we could learn a thing or two from him but in return we get called egotistical douches for posting pictures or processes. If Cal's process works for him and his neighbor and it was the best brisket they ever ate then good for them. Would just be a nice to get a little more info than "Hey I put a piece of meat on the smoker, took it off, and it was the best thing ever." We all know he gets his rocks off on stirring the pot.

 

[jcam222]

it's threads like these that make me not to want to come back. old men arguing about cooking.
this forum used to be helpful, now it's just an old boys club congratulating each other for grilling a hot dog or buttering bread. someone posts a thread about a cook and inevitably someone posts a link to "well look what i did". enjoy your club but just because someone does something different than you doesn't make it wrong. they sell vanilla and chocolate ice cream at the store. see ya

I’m surprised that is your takeaway from this thread and the forum in general. No one self included faulted Cal or anyone for “doing things differently”. I made a comment I was surprised a brisket finished in a little over 8 hours at 225F. Realizing now that’s stack temp I understand cook temp in chamber was higher. Secondly there were some inaccuracies about meat taking on smoke and smoke ring. I wanted to insure that folks had a chance to see the science behind both and understand them. Neither of those are opinion but rather fact. If I would have posted my thought on how fast the meat finished in 20 other members threads they would bit have taken offense but rather would have discussed it. 90% of what I know about smoking was learned here and I still learn every day here, this isn’t a systemic forum issue. Folks were trying to better understand and / or clarify so that new people who stumble on the thread understood.

 

[cal1956]

Eaglewing : understands what i have been trying to get across to everyone !! smoking meat should be simple and fun
the only opinions i value are from the folks that eat what i cook , none of us can taste anything over the internet no matter how good the pictures look , we all need to stop trying to "copy " how others are doing things and do it our own way , the new guys need to learn how to cook meat simple at 1st then after they have a few cooks under their belts THEN experiment and have fun doing it , but at todays meats prices no one wants to screw up an expensive peice of meat trying to copy a complicated post

 

[cal1956]

and while i'm here let me clear up any confusion about the temps
i go by
when i put biscuits in my electric oven i don't care what temp the heating element is ,
the only temp i worry about is what i set the oven to bake at !! i don't put temp probes in my biscuits , but i know when they are done .
the same thing applys to my smoker, i could care less about what the temp is at this or that point inside the smoker, ...it has a thermometer on the stack and thats what i go by ...its simple and it works and its all anyone needs to produce good smoked meat

 

[gmc2003]

it's threads like these that make me not to want to come back. old men arguing about cooking.
this forum used to be helpful, now it's just an old boys club congratulating each other for grilling a hot dog or buttering bread. someone posts a thread about a cook and inevitably someone posts a link to "well look what i did". enjoy your club but just because someone does something different than you doesn't make it wrong. they sell vanilla and chocolate ice cream at the store. see ya

What's the old saying: " Don't let the door hit you on the way out".

Including prior posts to new posts sometimes helps others get new idea's on how to do things a little differently. A change of spices, cook time, or even setup. This post introduced a new method, but didn't go into any details on the method. Many members were interested on how it was done. As for the hot dog or buttered bread posts(which I haven't seen). Responses to those are out of respect for those members who may not be able to smoke meat anymore, but still want to be apart of the forum. Many of whom this forum was built upon their past experiences and knowledge.

Chris

 

[cal1956]

what method ? i don't have a "method " i was just taught how to smoke by an old man when i was in my early 20s . no "method " to it,
mostly just good old common sense

 

[gmc2003]

Going by lid or stack temp instead of grate temp was what I was referring to. In my experience the lid temp is usually higher then the grate temp, So if your were running at a steady 225* lid temp then you grate temp would be lower, and the 8 hr cook time for an 8 lb brisket had me curious. Some of the confusion on this thread could have been eliminated with a few more details.

Chris

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

what method ? i don't have a "method "

Would your method not be that you seasoned it, stuck it in the smoker, checked your stack temp, declared it was done, and then pulled it off?

My method might be little different. I like to run my smoker around 250ish with hickory chunks, keep the smoke rolling the whole time, then wrap the brisket in butcher paper around 170ish and put it back in. I pull it off once it passes the jiggle and toothpick tenderness test. Normally around 203-205 IT. Then I rest it for at least a couple hours before I slice it.

 

[daspyknows]

what method ? i don't have a "method " i was just taught how to smoke by an old man when i was in my early 20s . no "method " to it,
mostly just good old common sense

As I read it your method is put your piece of meat in a propane oven with a few wood chips for minimal smoke at a 225 degree temp on a thermometer and you take it out when you conclude it is done. Yes, very simple and you and your neighbors are happy with it but for me it's not how I would do it. I don't cook with propane except to heat a griddle when camping. To each his own.

 

[diversification]

Death, taxes, and older guys getting annoyed at younger guys for having the absolute gall to think they know anything. I joke of course, but this thread sure gave me a laugh.