Hoping for first smoke tomorrow, looking for input.

[red dog]

Well, I put the meat in. Temp dropped a lot upon opening. After a minute, a pop of blue smoke shot out of the side chip loader. Not sure what that was about.

Mine does that too, nothing to worry about.

 

[thehoz]

Hmmm. My brisket sat at 158 degrees from about the 1.5 hour mark to the 3 hour mark when I put the ribs in foil. Things cooled off and the brisket has been at 154 for the first hour since wrapping the ribs.

 

[red dog]

Sounds like you hit the stall. It isn't uncommon for brisket or pork butts to do that. The best thing to do is be patient and wait it out or bump your temp up. What temp is your smoker running at? The temp on my MES always reads higher than it actually is so you may be smoking at a lower temp than you think.

 

[thehoz]

The MES reads 237,the weber thermometer says 231.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Red'a got ya covered. The stall can last minutes to hours. You can either just wait it out or use the methods mentioned above to get things rolling again.

 

[red dog]

Yep, at that temp you hit the stall, be patient, avoid opening the door, it will get through it eventually.

 

[smoked alaskan]

Looking forward to the rest of the show ... 

 

[thehoz]

Well, the ribs came out great. The brisket... Well is still in the smoker. It's been in 7 hours and aftet hour one it has not gone higher than 163 . I just put it in foil hoping it might give me more internal temperature.

IMG_20141208_193753.jpg

• thehoz
• Dec 8, 2014

 

[timberjet]

Looks like you nailed those ribs. MMMMMM..... Brisket, butts, chuck roasts all can and will stall and usually when you have a bunch of people coming over for dinner. lol

 

[timberjet]

Make sure you do the toothpick test on that brisket before you pull it. Do not go by temp. alone with brisket. I have seen it not tender until 212 before one one occasion and done perfect at 198 another time. Just remember, it is worth every hour so keep it low and slow. Also a good long rest if you are going to pull it. A little less for slicing.

 

[thehoz]

Well, I finished them up. Ribs turned out great. Brisket gave me some trouble.  It stayed at 160 degrees from hours 2 to 7.  Then I put it in foil/towel/cooler for an hour.  Turned out good I think.  For a first one at least.

IMG_20141208_193753.jpg

• thehoz
• Dec 8, 2014

2014-12-08 21.32.25.jpg

• thehoz
• Dec 8, 2014

2014-12-08 21.39.15.jpg

• thehoz
• Dec 8, 2014

 

[timberjet]

Brisket looks good to me. Ribs look great too. What did the family think?

 

[timberjet]

Because we are our own worst critics and once you spend all that time and put so much heart into that stuff you want it just perfect right? I bet it all was the best they ever had right? If not you got some tough customers there. haha...

 

[thehoz]

My 12 year old LOVED the ribs.  My wife liked them, which is saying something.  The 9 year old who said he didn't like ribs, ate two.  Since the brisket was cut at 9:30, only me and the 12 year old ate it, and again he liked it.  He is waiting to ad some sauce to it tomorrow.  Thanks for asking!

 

[timberjet]

I think you did a damn nice job there for the first smoke. Well done sir.

 

[red dog]

Well done! Cuddos to you for waiting it out. Looks like you did a great job on the brisket and good to hear your family enjoyed it. Oh, and thanks for the Q-view.

 

[thehoz]

Thank you