Smoking Brisket in the cold - Oklahoma Joe's Horizon

[Smoking in Virginia]

Well, not really cold but not as warm as it could be . . .

New Oklahoma Joe's Horizon and my first brisket on this smoker. Used a chimney to get lump charcoal going and added it to the lump in the firebox about 7 AM and probably 33 F. Took awhile go get the temp up so that's when I put the rub on the beef.

As is often the case with this smoker, the temp at the FB end was quite a bit higher than at the stack end so, of course I put the point at the FBend.

Kept feeding lump and chunks of cured oak to keep the temperature up and, as reported elsewhere, it took quite a bit of the lump to keep the heat up and the oak provided a goodly amount of smoke. I prefer to smoke about 250 but had problems keeping it that high, and if I added extra fuel, the temp jumped to almost 300. I blame the cold weather.

Quicker than with my old New Braunfels (that leaked smoke like the dickens), the brisket quickly got to the stall and UNLIKE I usually do, I wrapped it in paper to finish. After about 10 hours for 12 lbs of brisket, I took it off. Cut it into chunks and vacuum sealed it to take to my mother-in-laws for Christmas. Will finish it in the oven before serving.

Observations: Smoking when it doesn't get above 40 takes a lot of fuel. Don't think I'll do it again. Maybe wait until spring.

Also, I need to use more wood and less lump since I like the strong(er) smoke flavor. This has some nice beef flavor, but I prefer more smoke. I usually visit local smokeries, order some sides, and they will usually let me take what I need for my smoke. Didn't do that this time so didn't have as much oak as I wanted.

Still trying to dial in the temps on this sucker. A 30-40 degree difference can be a problem.

 

[banderson7474]

As a fellow stick burner, I have to ask, how come you don't use logs instead of chunks. I found it once you got the base coals set then you just have to learn what the norm for yours is. I find that 1 log about every 40 mins is normal when it's warm. I haven't smoked a lot in the cold but I had to up my logs to keep temp so I wasn't able to figure out my time interval in the cold yet.

I'm also going to turn my FB grate a gtr turn so it sits higher and I can get more air flow underneath.

 

[phathead69]

My stick burner really don't use much more fuel in the colder months. I've started in the wee hours of AM and really cold, think low 20s and no real differance. But let the wind blow and cool temps is a different story.

 

[Smoking in Virginia]

...how come you don't use logs instead of chunks. ... I find that 1 log about every 40 mins is normal when it's warm.

I'm also going to turn my FB grate a gtr turn so it sits higher and I can get more air flow underneath.

I don't have logs. In-laws used to live in Tennessee and I'd raid their woodpile when I visited. That's no longer an option so I usually pick up quarter splits from the local 'cue joints and then I cut them in half to better fit in my firebox. By "chunks" I simply meant smaller pieces of oak as that's all I had left in my stash. For my previous smoker, a quarter split would go an hour to 75 minutes with no problem. I probably relied too much on lump charcoal and less on the wood that I had on hand.

I have my grate up and have no problem with airflow, and next time I do a smoke (in the spring) I'll use larger pieces of wood. It's a new smoker so I'm still learning it.

 

[banderson7474]

Yea I should have said splits too b/c actually logs are a little harder for me. I like the splits b/c they catch fire faster. Sounds like you don't run into the issue that I do. About 4-5hrs into the smoke, all the ash will start to snuff the firebox a little. So by having the grate up, I should be able to clean the ash out easier. I haven't actually tried it yet so will see.