Hello from the Pa. Dutch country

[mgsteve]

I received a Brinkman gourmet smoker for Christmas and have used it once.  This weekend will be a picnic for unsuspecting "victims"   We love BBQ, but didn't realize it was quite as involved as it seems.  anyway, we'll give it i"a go" and hope for the best. 

 

[mdboatbum]

Good luck!! I don't think it's that "involved", just requires patience and attention to detail. Have fun and let us know how it turns out. :grilling_smilie:

 

[SmokinAl]

   Glad to have you with us!

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Welcome again, Steve!

After your weekend smoke, I'm sure you'll be looking for some answers about how to improve the performamnce of the gourmet, so I took the liberty of searching for info already in place here on SMF that will help you get a better idea where to start.

I don't have this Wiki updated yet, as I've done more mods to my gourmet, but this is a good start for fire control and allowing clearance for ash fall-out. Anything you can do to control intake draft and allow ash fallout will help...it doesn't really matter what you use to accomplish those tasks, but, here's what I did with mine:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/wiki/brinkmann-gourmet-low-budget-mods-how-to-w-pics

The charcoal smoker forum is found HERE.

I tried a search for brinkmann gourmet mods, but came up with a ton of hits for some strange reason, so that didn't yeild what I was hoping for. I know there are quite aa few gourmet users who have modified theirs as well...just a matter of finding the threads.

Hope all's well!

Eric

EDIT: Jeff's 5-day ecourse is found HERE.

 

[venture]

Welcome aboard!

Good luck and good smoking.

 

[ellymae]

welcome to the party neighbor!

 

[meateater]

Welcome to the SMF. Glad to have you here. Lots of good folks, great recipes and knowledge. Looking forward to your first qview.  

 

[tyotrain]

 

[sqwib]

 

[mgsteve]

Man, those tips are GREAT!!!!  Have you tried to seal the door on the side of the unit?  It looks like you don't use the thermo. on the unit.  Do you use a digital?  Is that the probe in the picture?  

Thanks again

Steve

 

[mgsteve]

I want to smoke 1/2 brisket and a pork shoulder.  Can anyone give me approximate times.  I get confused with all the different info I'm seeing.  I would like to do both at the same time.  I thinking about putting one on the upper shelf and one on the lower. 

Stevea

 

[jc1947]

Welcome to the SMF.  Great place to get info. Good luck with your smoke.

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Man, those tips are GREAT!!!!  Have you tried to seal the door on the side of the unit?  It looks like you don't use the thermo. on the unit.  Do you use a digital?  Is that the probe in the picture?  

Thanks again

Steve

Hi Steve,

I've not had much leakage on the access door...I just bend it a bit to fit better and it holds the smoke pretty well. I only use the lid therm as a reference and have a hole in the side below grate level to stick a probe or fryer them...I've used both types.
 

I want to smoke 1/2 brisket and a pork shoulder.  Can anyone give me approximate times.  I get confused with all the different info I'm seeing.  I would like to do both at the same time.  I thinking about putting one on the upper shelf and one on the lower. 

Stevea

If you have a center-cut brisket (trimmed flat cut), about 4.5lbs is max for the 15" diameter grate. A whole packer brisket will need seperation and trimming before it'll fit in the little brinky.

If you move the lower grate up a bit, you will get a bit more smoke to the lower grate, but it will reduce the head-space for large cuts of meat.

For a butt and brisket at the same time, be sure you have adequate mods done for the charcoal fire so it will handle the longer burn times you'll need...we're talikng 2 hours/lb of meat being pretty common @ 225* grate temps with pork shoulder/butt, and about 1.5 hrs/lb for trimmed seperated brisket flats, but I have had many run quite a bit longer as well.

I would probably toss the butt on the lower grate and the brisket on top. Then when the brisket comes out, just pull the lower grate up into the top grate position, unless you wanted to toss in some taters, onions, garlic heads, cabbage, etc...if you get creative, you can keep a smoker loaded up all day and most of the night...

Don't forget...lower grate is cooler than the upper grate if measured from the center, and stay away from the ouotside ~1.5" whenever possible...that's ahot area and will eventually overcook or scorch your food.

Eric

 

[africanmeat]

 

 

[terry colwell]

I received a Brinkman gourmet smoker for Christmas and have used it once.  This weekend will be a picnic for unsuspecting "victims"   We love BBQ, but didn't realize it was quite as involved as it seems.  anyway, we'll give it i"a go" and hope for the best. 

How do you do that??? get a Grill and only use it ONCE since Christmas......WTH// HOW i ask,,, HOW??? lol
 

 

[Bearcarver]

Welcome neighbor!!!

Complete the sentence popular in this area:

If You Aint Dutch, ___ ____ ____.

Bear

PS:  Watch out for low flying Distelfinks !!!