Fire Went Out - Offset Smoker

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Failed

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 20, 2021
4
2
First ever Brisket smoke. I had a 14lb brisket on the fire last night from 1AM to 3:40AM while I watched it with a digital probe in the air by the meat steady at 220F (2.6hrs). I went to bed at 3:40 AM and woke up at 7:10 and found the fire was out. :-( The center of the meat was 120F when I woke up. The grill internal air was 95F. I don't know how long it was at temp between 3:40AM and when the fire went out but my thermostat does have a limited saved buffer so I know the air at meat level was
140F at 5:30AM
122F at 6:00AM
106F at 6:30AM
100F at 7:00AM
Unfortunately, I can't go back farther then 5:30AM. I assume I was not so unlucky as to have had it go at exactly 3:41AM when I stopped looking.

I started a new fire in the offset and had the main chamber to temperature by 7:30. I am so sad. It's a new grill for Fathers day and I am new to this... and I really screwed up.

3.5 hrs of unknown smoker temperature. What do I do. If it is safe to eat, any tips to not dry it out given the double heat?
 
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Seems to be a common theme this weekend. You should be fine. Go ahead with your brisket and enjoy. The double heat shouldn't affect it - just continue with your original cooking plans.

Chris
Thank you Chris. I really appreciate it. I was really looking forward to a morning by the smoker and really appreciate hearing that all is not lost.
 
I agree with Chris, just keep on cooking it.
Al
Thank you Al. You and Chris are much appreciated. Masters in your craft that still take the time to help panicked newbies like myself.
 
It happens, don’t stress. Change your username and report back with some pics of the finished Q :emoji_grin:
 
Because it couldn’t go 4 hours without wood?
 
The best part is joining SMF with the user name Failed and then sticking around and learning to make brilliant things and being super successful and stuck with the username!

Seriously though.. the others before me are right.. keep on keeping on.. and now you know that you can't leave it unattended for that long. We have all failed.. more than once.. do not let it keep you from trying again and again. Every smoke is an experiment and even the most experienced have troubles now and then. It's about how you mitigate those troubles that makes the difference.
 
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As everyone above said, keep going. The brisket is safe.
For future overnight smokes and if your thermometer is a multi probe unit, consider programming it for high and low alarms to monitor chamber temp.
 
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Hey all. Having a great day by the smoker and obviously, after my disaster, it is taking much longer then originally planned. Thanks to your encouragement though, it has been an enjoyable day just getting on with it instead of fearing I was playing with bacteria. Again, thank a lot for saving my brisket (and the enjoyment of the day). There are worse things one could do with time. Not a bad way to spend a day really.

As for Smokin Peachy's rhetorical question, I think Mike242 got it about right... seems a fire can't go without wood (go figure). I watched one two many Youtube videos showing me how to do it and, after it holding steady for a long time while I was watching, (and obviously using up the fuel in the process), I made a rookie mistake. Now I have a smidge of experience to go with my YouTube videos :-) . mcoKevin/Kilo Charlie - I will strive to live past this user name with future smokes... Might even work my way up to 'Fires-Need-Wood' or something like that... but as I sit here on hr 18 with a 187F brisket chuging slowly away.... it remains to be seen. Looking forward to finding out though.

(Second Hand Smoker - thermometer does not have a low alarm and also doesn't have range to let me get far enough to use such an alarm anyway. Sounds like a fantastic feature though. Maybe if the wife and kids like this brisket I can earn myself an upgrade. We'll see.)
 
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Hey all. Having a great day by the smoker and obviously, after my disaster, it is taking much longer then originally planned. Thanks to your encouragement though, it has been an enjoyable day just getting on with it instead of fearing I was playing with bacteria. Again, thank a lot for saving my brisket (and the enjoyment of the day). There are worse things one could do with time. Not a bad way to spend a day really.

As for Smokin Peachy's rhetorical question, I think Mike242 got it about right... seems a fire can't go without fire (go figure). I watched one two many Youtube videos showing me how to do it and, after it holding steady for a long time while I was watching, (and obviously using up the fuel in the process), I made a rookie mistake. Now I have a smidge of experience to go with my YouTube videos :-) . mcoKevin/Kilo Charlie - I will strive to live past this user name with future smokes... Might even work my way up to 'Fires-Need-Wood' or something like that... but as I sit here on hr 18 with a 187F brisket chuging slowly away.... it remains to be seen. Looking forward to finding out though.

(Second Hand Smoker - thermometer does not have a low alarm and also doesn't have range to let me get far enough to use such an alarm anyway. Sounds like a fantastic feature though. Maybe if the wife and kids like this brisket I can earn myself an upgrade. We'll see.)
I was afraid you were going to say that. I guess now you know.
 
F Failed

(Second Hand Smoker - thermometer does not have a low alarm and also doesn't have range to let me get far enough to use such an alarm anyway. Sounds like a fantastic feature though. Maybe if the wife and kids like this brisket I can earn myself an upgrade. We'll see.)
[/QUOTE]

Bummer. But you maybe in luck. Inkbirdbbq Inkbirdbbq is running a Prime Day deal. The IRF-4S is a programmable 4 probe unit with a fantastic range since it is radio frequency as opposed to the limited range of bluetooth units.


 
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