Smoking a brisket with temperature swings..??

[oonighttrain]

ok, long story short.. i have a GMG daniel boone and cannot for the life of me get it to hold temp.. set at 250, it swings from 235 to 255 within 10 minutes (back and forth) according to my thermo works smoke thermometer.. is it possible to cook a good brisket with those swings?

 

[chilerelleno]

Not a problem at all.

People stress themselves out chasing a particular or steady temp, up abd down they go.
When what they really want is to stay within a steady range just as you describe.
Stay in that 20-30 range and you're cooking just fine.

It is the BIG swings that matter.
Like opening the door to check too often.
"If you're looking you ain't cooking!"

 

[oonighttrain]

thanks for the input chili!

 

[noboundaries]

Folks who cut their culinary meat-roasting teeth in an oven are often under the mistaken belief than when you set an oven at 250F, it stays there for the entire cook. Nope. Put an oven thermometer on a shelf you can see through the oven window, set 250F on the oven, and watch the temperature vary as much as + or - 20F. My natural gas kitchen oven is + or -10F (a 20F swing) at lower settings, 20F at higher temps (a 40F swing). AND, my bottom shelf is 15F lower than desired setting; the top shelf minus 5F lower.

+ or - 25F at a 250 setting in a smoker is no big deal. The meat doesn't care, but the clock does.