Hello all!

[steve t]

I am posting to introduce myself to all you fine people.
I have been lerking this forum for about a year. About a year ago I tried my hand at smoking meat via a gas grill with moderate success with ribs and pretty much failure at brisket, so I decided to actually go all in andbuy a smoker this year.
I've been deep frying turkeys almost every week during football for around ten years so now I want to try the " slow" end of the cooking spectrum.

I am a complete novice at smoking so I hope you folks will have patience with what I'm sure will be a lot of stupid questions.
I look forward to making friends here and I hope to learn from all of you.

BTW, I love my brews when I smoke:devil:


So.... First question.
How long should a 4 lb. brisket take to smoke? I've heard a good rule of thumb is 1hr 15min per lb. but I've also heard that when the temperature "stalls" it can put the kybosh on that . So is it just better to wait for a perfect temp?



Thanks in advance!!!

 

[s2k9k]

Hi Steve! 

 to SMF!!! We're happy to have you here! You have come to the right place to learn, there are a lot of great people here to help you on your journey!

Would you do us a favor and update your location in your profile, Thanks!

Brisket is one of the hardest to judge, your time guidelines are about right and you are also right about the stall. Yes it is best to cook to temp and not time, about 195* for a brisket and do a toothpick test, when it slides in like going in warm butter it should be very tender.

Being new you might want to take Jeff's Free 5 day E-course, it will teach you all the basics and a lot more:

http://www.smoking-meat.com/smoking-basics-ecourse.html

 

[smokinhusker]

Hey Steve! I've been smoking foods on and off for several years, but just started smoking again on a constant basis 2 1/2 yrs ago and I just did my first brisket a little over a month ago. 

Generally rule of thumb for pork butt, brisket and those cuts of meat that require low and slow cooking is 1.5 to 2 hrs per pound, but that is only a general rule of thumb or estimate. It's best to smoke them to an Internal Temperature, just as Dave (S2K9K) advised.

Also check out Jeff's Free 5 day Smoking Basics E-course: http://www.smoking-meat.com/smoking-basics-ecourse.html

The forum is broken down into sub-forums/sections, just click the drop down menu box at the top of the page and head on over to whatever interests you.

Then there's the search bar at the top of the page that's really helpful in getting answers quicker than waiting for one of the moderators to get to it. Simply type in keywords that you are looking for information on.

 

[scarbelly]

Hello Steve and 

to SMF - glad to have you here 

 

[jrod62]

Welcome to SMF :welcome1: