Hi everyone---newbie from Texas

[hhersh]

Hello all, my moniker is Hersh and I am a dedicated amateur smoker from Texas. I have a large custom pit that I was given by a friend. I have never been able to smoke satisfactorily in it since I got it. The meat always turns out with a bad creosote flavor and it's VERY hard to maintain an even temperature with it. I did not let that deter me though, I went to Academy last week and bought a Brinkmann Gourmet electric bullet smoker. I first did a picnic with it that turned out perfect! Yesterday I did a brisket that was picture perfect and tasty but it was tough. I am very pleased with the electric smoker so far. I used the tutorials from our leader,Jeff, to do both the picnic and the brisket, all good advice. If you like here is my home page with my picture and some bio of me here: http://hometown.aol.com/hhersh7784/m...age/index.html
If any of you fellow smokers can give me a tip or two on how to make a brisket tender, i'm all ears. It's good to be here, hope to talk to yall later, best regards,Hersh

 

[msmith]

Welcome aboard Harold Im from Texas also. What kind of custom built smoker do you have. Tell us a little bit about it and maybe show a picture of it to if you can. I built my own smoker and love the way my food turns out. There are several diffrent kinds of mods you can do to make that smoker work a lot better I'm here to help you in any way I can.

 

[rookiesmoker]

Welcome hhersh,

Remember the little old book about the little blue train, and follow his advice, "I Think I Can, I Think I Can..."

This is a great place to help you answer those nagging ol' questions about your smoking.

Brisket must be cooked low and slow. Do not try to rush it. Other meats you can cut some corners and be alright, but brisket is not one of them.

Remember the plateau of meat, this is the critical time, do not adjust the temp to get it to rise. Cook at 220 @ 1.5 hrs per pound and you should have yourself a moist, tender piece of good ole Q.

Again welcome to the forum and happy smokin....

 

[hhersh]

.........I have a digital camera if you or someone can tell me how to get a digital picture to here from it, i'll do it.
The pit I have was made from boiler plate it has a separate firebox. It is very heavy (took 4 men to load and unload ). I think the chimney is too small for its size. The chimney is made from a length of what looks to be about 2" square tubing.

 

[hhersh]

Heres a picture....( click on it to enlarge). Does't that chimney look too small for that smoker ?

 

[monty]

Heya, Hersh!

First of all welcome to our neat little friendly place!

And second, YUP! Open up that smoke stack. In addition I would also open up some vents on the lower portion of your cooker. Jeff's most recent newsletter deals with airflow. I must confess that I have not yet read it entirely but I am sure that you will get some excellent info on airflow and it importance to good Q.

I would suggest no less than a four inch stack with six inch diameter being probably ideal. Also, I would cut in at least two vents and regulate them like the setup on a GOSM. That should end your creosote problem

Of course there is one other matter; your wood. You MUST use properly seasoned wood. Wood containing sap will make a mess of your smoking efforts.

Get back to us with any questions!

Welcome
and
Cheers!

 

[tonto1117]

Welcome to the SMF hhersh. With the help of the good folks here you'll be making the tenderist brisket in no time!!!

Glad you found us.

 

[meowey]

Welcome to SMF! Glad you are here!

Take care, have fun, and do good!

Regards,

Meowey

 

[teacup13]

welcome to SMF.... you have found the best Q site on the internet... there are lots of people here that are more than willing to help you on your journey to a tender Q'd brisket..

welcome aboard

 

[smokincowboy]

Welcome to SMF

 

[lovetosmoke]

Welcome to the forum I hope you enjoy it.