I got an MES40 for Christmas and jumped in the deep end right off the bat with a NYE party for about 30 adults at my house complete with smoked brisket and pulled pork.
My brisket was a 13lb-er and I had read to expect around 1.5hrs/lb cooking time, so I got started about 22 hrs before everyone arrived to give myself time to get it cooked, rested, and carved before guests started arriving. I figured it would be better to be done early and have to keep warm or reheat, than to tell my guests "don't worry dinner will be ready in 4 hrs."
I rubbed the brisket with a seasoning that included brown sugar, paprika, salt, fresh garlic and some misc items, wrapped and put in the fridge overnight. At about 6:30pm the night before the party, I injected the brisket with beef broth and put it on the smoker at 225 with a pan below to catch drippings.
A little after midnight I put the brisket down in the pan, and left it uncovered. I injected the pork butts with an apple/cherry juice (had been rubbed 24 hrs in advance) and put them on as well.
Around 6:30am, the brisket hit an internal temp of 175, so I covered the pan with foil and put it back in. Same with pork butts.
Foil wasn't on in these photos yet, but went on right after the photos.
Around 8:30am or so the pork butts hit an internal temp of 200. I kept them wrapped in foil and put them in a cooler with towels to rest/stay warm.
Around 10:00am or so, the brisket hit an internal temp of 195. I kept it wrapped in foil and put it in another cooler with towels to rest/stay warm.
Around 1:00pm I started pulling the pork (insert off-color comment here). I kept all the juice in the pans, covered in foil and put in the oven on 185 to keep warm until guests arrived.
Next I sliced the brisket, kept the juice, foiled, and put in the oven as well.
Around 6:00pm we started eating and everything was tender, moist, and delicious. I don't know if it was the foiling toward the end of the cooking or foiling and resting that tenderized the meat, but it was awesome. Or maybe just actually knowing what temp to cook at and what internal temp to cook to was what made it so good. Either way, great results.
I ran into a few minor problems/questions though:
I lost smoke from my Amaz-n pellet smoker with Traeger brand pecan and apple wood pellets. I lost smoke just a couple hours into the smoke (based on a guess of less than a single row being burne) and didn't realize it for a while. I'm guessing it's the result of one of three things (or a combination). 1) I used water in the pan, even though the Amaze-n directions said not to (should I use sand next time?). 2) The aluminum pans I used barely fit the smoker (in fact had to be smashed a bit to close the door) so I think I cut off air circulation from the Amaz-n-smoker. 3) I didn't make a foil heat shield between the heating element and Amaze-n-smoker.
I didn't get a nice bark on the outside of either meat. Is this because I used water in the water pan or because I foiled later in the process?
The meats both cooked faster than I thought. Was this due to foiling used later in the process, or maybe lack of airflow caused the meat to absorb the heat faster?
My brisket was a 13lb-er and I had read to expect around 1.5hrs/lb cooking time, so I got started about 22 hrs before everyone arrived to give myself time to get it cooked, rested, and carved before guests started arriving. I figured it would be better to be done early and have to keep warm or reheat, than to tell my guests "don't worry dinner will be ready in 4 hrs."
I rubbed the brisket with a seasoning that included brown sugar, paprika, salt, fresh garlic and some misc items, wrapped and put in the fridge overnight. At about 6:30pm the night before the party, I injected the brisket with beef broth and put it on the smoker at 225 with a pan below to catch drippings.
A little after midnight I put the brisket down in the pan, and left it uncovered. I injected the pork butts with an apple/cherry juice (had been rubbed 24 hrs in advance) and put them on as well.
Around 6:30am, the brisket hit an internal temp of 175, so I covered the pan with foil and put it back in. Same with pork butts.
Foil wasn't on in these photos yet, but went on right after the photos.
Around 8:30am or so the pork butts hit an internal temp of 200. I kept them wrapped in foil and put them in a cooler with towels to rest/stay warm.
Around 10:00am or so, the brisket hit an internal temp of 195. I kept it wrapped in foil and put it in another cooler with towels to rest/stay warm.
Around 1:00pm I started pulling the pork (insert off-color comment here). I kept all the juice in the pans, covered in foil and put in the oven on 185 to keep warm until guests arrived.
Next I sliced the brisket, kept the juice, foiled, and put in the oven as well.
Around 6:00pm we started eating and everything was tender, moist, and delicious. I don't know if it was the foiling toward the end of the cooking or foiling and resting that tenderized the meat, but it was awesome. Or maybe just actually knowing what temp to cook at and what internal temp to cook to was what made it so good. Either way, great results.
I ran into a few minor problems/questions though:
I lost smoke from my Amaz-n pellet smoker with Traeger brand pecan and apple wood pellets. I lost smoke just a couple hours into the smoke (based on a guess of less than a single row being burne) and didn't realize it for a while. I'm guessing it's the result of one of three things (or a combination). 1) I used water in the pan, even though the Amaze-n directions said not to (should I use sand next time?). 2) The aluminum pans I used barely fit the smoker (in fact had to be smashed a bit to close the door) so I think I cut off air circulation from the Amaz-n-smoker. 3) I didn't make a foil heat shield between the heating element and Amaze-n-smoker.
I didn't get a nice bark on the outside of either meat. Is this because I used water in the water pan or because I foiled later in the process?
The meats both cooked faster than I thought. Was this due to foiling used later in the process, or maybe lack of airflow caused the meat to absorb the heat faster?
