Outside of meat dries out very fast on offset

[jaybeerman]

To start I’ve been smoking meat for 10+ years mainly on WSM and gravity smokers. I’m new to cooking on offset smokers and I have a custom built 80 gallon RF.

My question is, how do i prevent meat from becoming overly dry on the outside? I’m usually cooking at 250 +-20. Is that to hot for a smaller offset? Is the air moving to fast? Do I need to lessen the air intake? Do I play with the stack damper?
Most things I read say maximize air flow. Is it possible to have to much air flow? Is my wood overly dry? Please help I’m lost

 

[tallbm]

To start I’ve been smoking meat for 10+ years mainly on WSM and gravity smokers. I’m new to cooking on offset smokers and I have a custom built 80 gallon RF.

My question is, how do i prevent meat from becoming overly dry on the outside? Is the air moving to fast? Do I need to lessen the air intake? Do I play with the stack damper?
Most things I read say maximize air flow. Is it possible to have to much air flow? Is my wood overly dry? Please help I’m lost

Hi there and welcome!

I'm not an offset guy but I would think a water pan would help keep humidity in the smoker and assist you in this area.

There is also wrapping with butcher paper to help while still allowing smoke to penetrate.

I'm sure the offset guys will chime in with more/better info than I have but these are 2 things that help no matter the smoking system :)

 

[jaybeerman]

Hi there and welcome!

I'm not an offset guy but I would think a water pan would help keep humidity in the smoker and assist you in this area.

There is also wrapping with butcher paper to help while still allowing smoke to penetrate.

I'm sure the offset guys will chime in with more/better info than I have but these are 2 things that help no matter the smoking system :)

Maybe a water pan would help but I think there is something else going wrong for me. I’m thinking the air in the smoker is moving to fast but I’m not sure how to fix it and maintain a clean fire.

 

[civilsmoker]

First, is it an offset or reverse flow smoker? Second 250 ish is a great temp to smoke and the air flow shouldn't be drying it out. There is less humidity in both an offset and reverse flow so the surface will be/look dryer, however, meat goes through phases and the surface will get "wet" when the INT reaches 160ish and the moisture starts leaving the tissue.

To give any further advise a picture and or what type of meat extra would help....ie more details.....

 

[Heart of Dixie]

I have an older Oklahoma Joe with a 40" cook chamber and always use a water pan placed on the grate just above the opening from the fire box. I also live in a climate that has a little extra humidity in the air and therefore in my splits. I cook between 250 & 275 on pretty much everything which is mainly: pork shoulders, pork & beef ribs & full packer briskets. Do you use a spray bottle to keep the meat moist during the cook? I will generally spritz everything once an hour or so after about 3 hours in up to the time i wrap. I have not had any drying issues but most of what I cook has a high fat content except for the flat of the briskets.

 

[pit 4 brains]

Second 250 ish is a great temp to smoke and the air flow shouldn't be drying it out. There is less humidity in both an offset and reverse flow so the surface will be/look dryer, however, meat goes through phases and the surface will get "wet" when the INT reaches 160ish and the moisture starts leaving the tissue.

To give any further advise a picture and or what type of meat extra would help....ie more details.....

Pics of any sort will be helpful for diagnostics..
I especially would like to see how your fire looks in the box and know if you are pre-heating your splits before they go in. I'm gonna tag daveomak since he knows a lot about offsets.
Personally I never ran into the problem of drying anything in my offsets, conventional or RF.

 

[pit 4 brains]

I have a custom built 80 gallon RF.

First, is it an offset or reverse flow smoker?

RF .. could be baking more than smoking if on the hot end near the fire box..

 

[jaybeerman]

Pics of any sort will be helpful for diagnostics..
I especially would like to see how your fire looks in the box and know if you are pre-heating your splits before they go in. I'm gonna tag daveomak since he knows a lot about offsets.
Personally I never ran into the problem of drying anything in my offsets, conventional or RF.

That’s the fire when I’m about to add another stick. Yes pre heat the stick before putting them on the fire.

Notice the point side of the brisket is super dry

 

[civilsmoker]

Ok so it is running hotter on that end as the air flow is coming around and the other side is running cooler because the bricks are tempering the heat and that is where your probe is. Rotate it (the brisket) 90 and place in the middle between the bricks and air path. next remove two bricks and rotate the remaining two bricks 90 degrees.

Other options are to:
-try fat side up.
-instead of rotating 90, just rotate it 180 every 2 hours or so to even the heat across side to side

Oh and put your temp probe on the air side for temp as I'm betting the air side is about 290 ish and the bricks are artificially pulling the fire side temp down along with moisture from the meat. That is a good clean fire that you could wait just a few more minutes (10 -15 ish) before you add another.....

 

[BigW.]

Have you tried moving the brisket a quarter turn? That would move the the point further from the heat. I believe some folks use either a baffle/brick/water pan etc to block some of the direct heat.

 

[mike243]

You wrap and you wont get much smoke imo ,

 

[Marknmd]

Congrats on your new offset!

I think that "strong draft" advice you mentioned is out-dated. I would try to create a gentle fire - one that sucks as little oxygen as possible but at the same time gets the cook chamber to the temp you want. It's gonna take some experimentation with the amount of wood you use (number of splits and how thick) and the crack of your firebox door. You could also play with the stack damper as you feel the need. You want yellow flames but not crazy flames. Not necessarily a small fire, but a gentle fire. Don't worry about the white smoke in the beginning. It will take care of itself during the cook. I'd build the fire as close as possible to the firebox door (as far as possible from the cook chamber). I'd place the meat on the far end of the cook chamber, thickest part of the meat towards the fire. Consider a water pan on the firebox side of the cook chamber. Consider a wood block on the grate.

You could also spritz the meat after the stall if you feel the need. Or you could drizzle the meat with heated tallow.

Good luck

Edit: It was such a nice day yesterday, high 65, so I fired up the offset and put a short rib plate on. I had it for 7.5 hrs at 225-275 and then wrapped it in paper and held it at 150 F for four hours. Opened it up at 8:45 PM. It was perfect in every way.

 

[indaswamp]

Water pan.....

 

[Smokin Okie]

Water pan.....

And spritz

 

[daveomak]

When you built your custom 80 gal smoker, did you use this tutorial?

Standard Reverse Flow Smoker Calculator... by DaveOmak and others... Ready to use.. rev5.. 6/19/15.

Here's to "Alien BBQ" and the folks that first put the calculator together and "1728 Software Systems" for this great "Circle Calculator" and all the folks at "SmokingMeatForums", with a special shout out to Ribwizzard, that contributed their ideas and feedback while this thing was coming...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[Hockeydudde]

I struggle with the same thing on my offset specifically when cooking beef. I end up with a jerky-fied surface and is difficult to eat and confuses me when trying to prove for tenderness. No issues with pork or lamb.

Smoke trails bbq did some tests using wet and dry bulb therms. Water pan makes a negligible difference in relative humidity. Mad scientist bbq calculated how much water boils of his water pan compared to how much moisture (by weight) is released by burning wood. Again water pan contribution is minimal. I do use a water pan, but consider it a temp moderator.

The beef I cook is raised by a friend and is much leaner than what you'd buy in the store (unless you are buying grass fed). I think the lack of surface fat contributes to the drying out. Next beef I smoke, I'm going to periodically baste with tallow to see what that does.

 

[philpom]

My Off-Set has a long baffle/tuning plate that runs flush from the firebox side 3/4th the length of the smoking chamber and about 5" from each side. This evens the temp inside the smoker and prevents the meat from being directly bombarded by the high heat entering. You might consider tuning your in a similar way since what I see in the photo looks like the point is taking direct heat from the firebox and smoking meats is an indirect game.

The plate on mine ends right about where that cabbage and stuffed peppers are.