SOS - My first attempt at smoking ended in disaster

[Angrydwarf086]

Hi guys, I'm new to this site here, I think this is a good place to ask for help, sorry if this the wrong thread.
My first attempt at smoking went bad.
No, no one got hurt and my house is intact, but my smoker is destroyed along with the brisket I busted my ass preparing and babysitting. I'm hoping someone can tell me what I need to do differently.
I had a cheapo 16" Cuisinart bullet smoker and about 20 pounds of brisket. In hindsight I don't think the butcher trimmed it enough, but I digress.
I split it, a slab on each grill, water in the pot, and gasket applied to keep the smoke in.
First of all, once I added water, I STRUGGLED to keep it at 200°, and it ate nearly four bags of charcoal just to keep it above 180°.
6 hours in or so, and the water pan ran dry, and the temperature finally hovered around 275°, and then I started hearing sizzling sounds, so I opened the lower hatch.
As I did, I saw some fat drip into the pan, which wasn't a big deal, but then some fat droplets went straight past the pan, into the coals directly. The meat took up so much space it was flush with the edge of the grill, but not quite touching the wall.
The second the grease hit the coals, the entire inside of the grill was ablaze.
Now I'm beginning to panic, so in my infinite wisdom I took off the lid.
I took off the fucking lid.
WHOOSH.
What happened next involved a lot of shouting, flour, a fire extinguisher, and a garden hose, and a lump of twisted metal.
I already posted this on Reddit, but if anyone here knows what I could have done different or any words of wisdom, please let me know, thank you.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

How where you measuring temp? Sounds like it was running a lot hotter than you thought.

 

[normanaj]

You put WAY TO MUCH meat on a very small smoker,with that amount of meat it was going to struggle mightily to achieve a decent temp.The butcher's trim job might not have helped but it was not the problem.Plus you used way to much charcoal to offset the struggling temps and once your meat reached a certain temp and all the water boiled off your temps went thru the roof and you were no longer smoking but high temp baking your meat.

What you could've done different was lessen the amount of meat by a minimum of 10lbs but if this was your 1st brisket I would've started with a 5lb or less point on one rack.Brisket is not really the 1st choice you want to put on a smoker if you've never used a smoker or done brisket before.

Now that your smoker is destroyed and if you'd like to stay with that type of smoker I HIGHLY recommend the Weber Smoky Mountain(WSM).

 

[Angrydwarf086]

I wasn't trying to blame the butcher as much as figure out what the heck I did wrong, because frankly I had no idea. I did think the meat was too much though. So what is the correct way to maintain temps? I had all the vents open for hours and the temperature continued to plummet over time without me shoving hot coals into the bottom. Thank you for your help.

 

[Angrydwarf086]

I had a third party thermometer added to replace the stock smoker thermometer, plus two thermometers in the brisket itself, one for each slab. But they were both cheap. What would you recommend?

 

[apn73]

First off, please don't be discouraged. There is a lot to barbecue and smoking if you've never done it before, and you just need to chalk this one up as a learning experience and move on. My first recommendation is to not start with a beef brisket, rather than starting in kindergarten, you went straight to college with the brisket.

Without a doubt, the most forgiving piece of meat is a Boston butt (pork shoulder), and you really need to be abusive to ruin one of those. That's the best place to start as a newbie. Even if 275 was accurate, that's actually too hot for a beef brisket, about 225 is the max you want to go with those. You want to shoot for 250 with a butt, but if it goes to 300, no big deal, it will be fine. An internal temperature of 170 if you want to slice it, 185-195 if you want to pull it. Don't worry, if it goes to 205 internal temperature, then no big deal. That's beauty of the butt, you can get away with a lot as you figure out how to barbecue.

If you've destroyed the grill, then a WSM or a prefab pit barrel (upright drum smoker) smoker would be easiest, as others have pointed out. That, and get a a good digital thermometer. You can even use a Weber kettle if your strapped for cash. Briskets get big, and it sounded like you just over powered your smoker. In a small smoker, water pans soak up all of your heat, and it sounded like you were pretty close to using direct heat, which goes against the first rules of smoking, heat needs to be indirect. The distance away from the heat source is how WSMs and UDSs get away with it.

There are some excellent books out there that can help, Smoke & Spice by the Jamisons, Big Bob Gibson BBQ by Chris Lilly is another that would be a big help. Don't be afraid to ask questions, we're here for you.

Best,

Adam.

 

[normanaj]

I had a third party thermometer added to replace the stock smoker thermometer, plus two thermometers in the brisket itself, one for each slab. But they were both cheap. What would you recommend?

This is a good thing.Cheap is a relative term if they work then they work,a simple boil test will let you know if your probes are good.

 

[Angrydwarf086]

Thanks man, not gonna deny it, I had a *small* episode after that lol. I'll definitely look into those books tonight, appreciate it

 

[DougE]

Yea, way too much meat on that small a smoker. That said, you may have been able to save the meat if you had pulled the smoker off the charcoal pan when it caught fire instead of pulling the lid off. Just chalk it up as a "what not to do" and start again with some easier smokes, like pork butt, as has been suggested.

 

[SmokingUPnorth]

Don’t worry. It takes patients. Try a pork butt. There usually cheap, easy to smoke and will get you used to your smoker. My first smoke was a chicken.... about everything went wrong all the way till I was pulling it out and dropped it in the grass. It was all shredded and looked like crap and my daughter asked why there was grass on it...... I just told her bc it’s organic chicken all mad as haha

 

[olaf]

Friends of mine have tried doing brisket right after getting their smoker both were disasters. Get a new smoker and start with a butt as others suggest it is good experience with a larger piece of meat for several hours. My first briskets were small flats.

 

[apn73]

Friends of mine have tried doing brisket right after getting their smoker both were disasters. Get a new smoker and start with a butt as others suggest it is good experience with a larger piece of meat for several hours. My first briskets were small flats.

Even the experienced can fail with brisket, you let that temperature run away even once and you may have just made yourself a piece of shoe leather. Where Boston butt is the most forgiving, brisket is the least and the wrong cut of meat to start out on. I've been barbecuing now for about 10 years and I still haven't attempted a brisket for fear of making a pair of shoes out of an expensive cut of meat. What I have tried is tri-tip roast, mmmmm-mmmmm, that is some high living right there! That and smokes quickly, 1.5-2 hours, and you put the best steak houses to shame....

 

[gmc2003]

First of all sorry to hear about your experience. I'm going to play the devils advocate here. First I think I read that your split brisket was on two different grates and they weren't touching the walls of the smoker. That to me would indicate that you didn't have to much meat in the smoker. I think your issue is with the water pan. Did you heat the water up to a boil before adding it to the smoker? If you added cold water then your smoker was expending to much energy trying to heat up both the water and the meat. Second, cheap smokers have leaks. Leaks mean that heat and smoke are escaping. If you get another smoker fire it up and see where it's leaking. Try to plug up the leaks the best you can. Whether it with a gasket or aluminum foil. Leaks also feed the fire making it harder to control. Finally I don't remember if you mentioned this, but did you bring the smoker up to temp before putting the meat on? Trust me it's easier to raise the temp on your smoker then it is to lower it.

That's enough to chew on for now.

Chris

 

[leol2]

You put WAY TO MUCH meat on a very small smoker,with that amount of meat it was going to struggle mightily to achieve a decent temp.The butcher's trim job might not have helped but it was not the problem.Plus you used way to much charcoal to offset the struggling temps and once your meat reached a certain temp and all the water boiled off your temps went thru the roof and you were no longer smoking but high temp baking your meat.

What you could've done different was lessen the amount of meat by a minimum of 10lbs but if this was your 1st brisket I would've started with a 5lb or less point on one rack.Brisket is not really the 1st choice you want to put on a smoker if you've never used a smoker or done brisket before.

Now that your smoker is destroyed and if you'd like to stay with that type of smoker I HIGHLY recommend the Weber Smoky Mountain(WSM).

 

[leol2]

The problem was definitely the smoker. If you are going to have a small smoker you need to stay with small cuts of meat. I would suggest you buy a larger smoker in the future if you want to do packer briskets. also I do not use a water pan. I leave the meat naked with mopping until it reaches an internal temp of 160 degrees. If the bark is how I like it I then wrap in foil or butcher paper. Invest in a good thermometer if you are serious about smoking

 

[1MoreFord]

The one thing you should have done is shut off all the air to the cooker to put the fire out if you ever have a similar event in the future. Let it cool down to be safe.

 

[WaterRat]

You put WAY TO MUCH meat on a very small smoker,with that amount of meat it was going to struggle mightily to achieve a decent temp.The butcher's trim job might not have helped but it was not the problem.Plus you used way to much charcoal to offset the struggling temps and once your meat reached a certain temp and all the water boiled off your temps went thru the roof and you were no longer smoking but high temp baking your meat.

Pretty much describes what happened at Chernoble... ;)

 

[WaterRat]

Hi guys, I'm new to this site here, I think this is a good place to ask for help, sorry if this the wrong thread.
My first attempt at smoking went bad.
No, no one got hurt and my house is intact, but my smoker is destroyed along with the brisket I busted my ass preparing and babysitting. I'm hoping someone can tell me what I need to do differently.
I had a cheapo 16" Cuisinart bullet smoker and about 20 pounds of brisket. In hindsight I don't think the butcher trimmed it enough, but I digress.
I split it, a slab on each grill, water in the pot, and gasket applied to keep the smoke in.
First of all, once I added water, I STRUGGLED to keep it at 200°, and it ate nearly four bags of charcoal just to keep it above 180°.
6 hours in or so, and the water pan ran dry, and the temperature finally hovered around 275°, and then I started hearing sizzling sounds, so I opened the lower hatch.
As I did, I saw some fat drip into the pan, which wasn't a big deal, but then some fat droplets went straight past the pan, into the coals directly. The meat took up so much space it was flush with the edge of the grill, but not quite touching the wall.
The second the grease hit the coals, the entire inside of the grill was ablaze.
Now I'm beginning to panic, so in my infinite wisdom I took off the lid.
I took off the fucking lid.
WHOOSH.
What happened next involved a lot of shouting, flour, a fire extinguisher, and a garden hose, and a lump of twisted metal.
I already posted this on Reddit, but if anyone here knows what I could have done different or any words of wisdom, please let me know, thank you.

Glad you're OK. Obviously lifting the lid was a bad idea with the sudden massive chimney created and rush of O2 it could have gone really bad for you personally. I know you were trying to say the brisket, I totally get it :)

I think the others covered you on overloading a small smoker and picking a simpler cook for next time.

 

[Brokenhandle]

These guys have you pretty well covered. Do some more reading on this site...oh and welcome from Iowa by the way! Don't be afraid to ask questions, we were all new at some point and time. Glad everyone is ok! Someday you'll look back and laugh at your first adventure!

Ryan

 

[Colin1230]

Yep, welcome to SMF, we'll help you out. First of all I'm glad no serious damage occurred.
It sounds like you are willing to give the bbq hobby another try, and I'm glad. The recommendation of a Weber Smokey Mountain cooker is spot on! The 18" or 22" models would be a good choices. Let us know what your plans are. We're here to help.