First smoke

[samculper]

Hey everyone ok gearing up for my first smoke on Saturday I picked up a nice 9 lb brisket going to marinate and do a nice rub. Hopefully everything turns out good.

image.jpeg

• samculper
• Dec 30, 2015

 

[mike5051]

Welcome to the group!  That's a nice looking butt.  Looking forward to you sharing your first butt experience with us.

Mike

 

[joe black]

Welcome from SC. It's good to have you on this great site. Don't forget to post some pics of your cook.

 

[samculper]

So probably a newbie question but does anyone soak their wood before the cook? If so for how long?

 

[wango]

So probably a newbie question but does anyone soak their wood before the cook? If so for how long?

Hi Sam, I personally don't soak the wood chips or chunks, I have before and I didn't see any advantages.  What type of smoker are you using?

 

[lamar]

Soaking wood does not hurt anything, but it has to dry out before you will have smoke. Most people don't soak.

Lamar

 

[samculper]

I'm just nervous about the keeping the correct temp after adding wood for such a long cook

 

[BandCollector]

So probably a newbie question but does anyone soak their wood before the cook? If so for how long?

Most experienced smokers feel that soaked wood only produces steam until it dries out and then produces smoke.

I don't soak any of my wood and usually produce fine smoked cuisine.

Welcome to the Forum and good luck with the brisket!

Happy New Year,

John

 

[joe black]

I never soak any wood....cook wood or flavor chunks. It takes heat to dry the wood. That heat could be used better to cook the meat. The steam that is created when drying wood makes a white smoke that I personlly don't like. I always pre-heat my splits before putting them in the FB. This allows them to ignite quicker, keeping the heat more steady and reducing the smoke created as the wood warms up to the ignition point. Just my $0.02 worth.

 

[samculper]

Okay guys sorry for so many questions but can anyone suggest a good simple spray recipe? Also when should I start spraying the brisket? And finally is it advisable to put a small pan of water/juice/beer in the bottom of the cooking chamber to keep the humidity up?

 

[lamar]

Personally.....I hardly ever spritz any meat. Most of the time it don't need it. I never use the water pan for liquid. I foil it and use it as a drip pan. It is the general opinion of most smokers that juice and/or beer, or other liquids do not add anything to the taste of the final product, it only holds moisture in the cooker that is not needed.

This is my opinion and many others may disagree.

 

[BandCollector]

Okay guys sorry for so many questions but can anyone suggest a good simple spray recipe? Also when should I start spraying the brisket? And finally is it advisable to put a small pan of water/juice/beer in the bottom of the cooking chamber to keep the humidity up?

Do a search and you will find a multitude of information.  There are a great deal of knowledgeable folks here on the forum who have contributed a wealth of information.

 

[mike5051]

I don't spritz, or spray any meat either.  You lose temp in your smoker when you open it to spritz.  JMO

Mike

 

[wango]

I spritz chicken but not pork or beef, some guys do with great success.

Looking at your intro post I see your in MA and using a CharBroil 430.  I haven't used one of those so I can't help you with any tips specific to your smoker.  I'm in Michigan, its pretty cold here right now, I'm guessing its fairly cold there too.  Keep in mind, cold and wind will play heavily on any un-insulated smoker.  I smoke all year long, it helps if you can get it out of the wind and cover it with a welding blanket.  

Brisket is probably the most difficult thing to learn how to smoke correctly.  If you haven't used your smoker yet, you might consider playing around with some cheaper cuts of meat until you learn what it takes to control the temps.  Ribs will take less time.  Pork butt is more forgiving and harder to mess up and cheap.

If you have your heart set on brisket and your itching to try out your new toy, I wish you the best of  luck.  You won't ruin it, if it turns out a little dry or tough you can pull it and add some sauce and make sammies.

Post some pics of your cook, looking forward to it.

 

[samculper]

Update- everything is going well I started cooking about 7am hardest thing I found is regulating the smoker temp, but I've kept it in a relatively good range meat temp right now is 155 ish and seems to be stalled and pit temp is around 240. I'll be honest I got very nervous at how fast the meat temp rose because I'm not planning to have people over until 5ish.

 

[mike5051]

Update- everything is going well I started cooking about 7am hardest thing I found is regulating the smoker temp, but I've kept it in a relatively good range meat temp right now is 155 ish and seems to be stalled and pit temp is around 240. I'll be honest I got very nervous at how fast the meat temp rose because I'm not planning to have people over until 5ish.

Sounds like it's right on track.  Keep us posted.

Mike

 

[samculper]

Okay, just pulled the brisket, temp was steady at 165ish for a while and the probe slides in with zero effort (giggity) I've got it wrapped in foil and resting in a cooler for a couple more hours in the meantime I'm going to throw on some chicken drums and grill them up with a nice marinade and rub. I will post back with some pics in a few hours when everything is done!

 

[joe black]

I agree with Mike and others. I don't ever spritz and never use a pan with liquids. I have the liquid in the recipe that I want. I'm waiting on your pics.

 

[mike5051]

Okay, just pulled the brisket, temp was steady at 165ish for a while and the probe slides in with zero effort (giggity) I've got it wrapped in foil and resting in a cooler for a couple more hours in the meantime I'm going to throw on some chicken drums and grill them up with a nice marinade and rub. I will post back with some pics in a few hours when everything is done!

That brisket might not be done yet.  165ish for a while sounds like the stall.  

Mike

 

[smokingearl]

Yea, brisket needs to go to 195