Social Saturday is BBQ Day V3 - How big is your meat?

[MisGuidedAngel]

I did my practice run / seasoning. Went ok. I didn't know so little wood could raise the temp so much. I think the chunks will work perfectly. Going to try the pork tomorrow and maybe some brisket because my wife really wants some. I'm a little worried about that but I told her she had to eat it no matter how bad it is <45>. Is putting the rub on and wrapping in the fridge overnight a yes or a no?

 

[usmctanker242]

I did my practice run / seasoning. Went ok. I didn't know so little wood could raise the temp so much. I think the chunks will work perfectly. Going to try the pork tomorrow and maybe some brisket because my wife really wants some. I'm a little worried about that but I told her she had to eat it no matter how bad it is <45>. Is putting the rub on and wrapping in the fridge overnight a yes or a no?

Brisket as a first cook? Let me get you a wheel barrow to carry around those enormous balls! haha You can rub the meat the night before, but do pay attention to the amount of salt in the rub. If it's a really salty rub and you leave it on overnight that salt flavor will likely be overwhelming in the final product. Salt is probably the only spice in the rub which will really permeate the layers of the meat, so just be careful with how much salt is in the rub if you plan on rubbing it the night before.

Personally, I rub the meat, put it back in the fridge, then start my cooker and am ready to go in about an hour. So usually the rub is only on the meat for about an hour or so before I put it on the pit.

Edit: Glad to hear you figured out your cooker already. Cooking with wood is great but it's definitely different than cooking with charcoal. Remember that when you put on huge cuts of cold meat your temps will vary a bit more so just be ready for it when you start cooking.

 

[MisGuidedAngel]

Brisket as a first cook? Let me get you a wheel barrow to carry around those enormous balls! haha You can rub the meat the night before, but do pay attention to the amount of salt in the rub. If it's a really salty rub and you leave it on overnight that salt flavor will likely be overwhelming in the final product. Salt is probably the only spice in the rub which will really permeate the layers of the meat, so just be careful with how much salt is in the rub if you plan on rubbing it the night before.

Personally, I rub the meat, put it back in the fridge, then start my cooker and am ready to go in about an hour. So usually the rub is only on the meat for about an hour or so before I put it on the pit.

Edit: Glad to hear you figured out your cooker already. Cooking with wood is great but it's definitely different than cooking with charcoal. Remember that when you put on huge cuts of cold meat your temps will vary a bit more so just be ready for it when you start cooking.

To be fair it isn't a whole brisket and I expect to mess it up, but I will try my best. I wouldn't say I have the cooker completely figured out, but have a decent idea. Thanks for the advice as always.

 

[Gorack]

I smoked about 7 pounds of salmon and a bunch of chicken thighs today. Both came out excellent, definitely the best non-jerk chicken I've made. I'm really digging thyme in my chicken rub lately.

Had a few people over and they were all really blown away. Made tacos with the salmon and they were fantastic.

Great day for it too. In the 80's, really humid with very little wind so maintaining temp was pretty easy through the whole cook.

 

[Uber_Noober]

So I had to make a small lateral move from the pit I wanted to this pit due to timing issues. Here's what I've got in the works now... already paid for, just waiting for it to be built and delivered.

I'm pretty excited about it... my only concern is that the main smoking chamber is only 5 feet long, so I'm not too sure about the size of a hog I can get in there. I live in North Carolina so hogs are king out here, but I'm thinking I could probably get a 100Lb hog in there without too much trouble. Truth be told I don't even know how to cook a whole hog right now, so we'll see if I end up getting a lot of requests for them.

This pit is pretty great though... reverse flow offset, two door smoking chamber, and then the charcoal grill at the end. Great thing is the grill has a damper to the smoking chamber, so I can actually get some smoke on the meat as I'm grilling it. The vertical smoker on top of the firebox has a damper system as well, so it can act as a warming box or a smoking chamber.

Overall I'm pretty stoked... got my business all setup, just need my pit and the paperwork for the permits to be fully processed and I'll be ready to go. I even got my logo finished off, but waiting for the trademark to go through before I post it. haha

That’s gonna he tough to beat there Tex.

 

[usmctanker242]

That’s gonna he tough to beat there Tex.

It's been a hell of a cooker... had it now for about 15 months and it produces the best BBQ I've ever made. The reverse flow really makes every single inch of the cooking chamber almost perfectly even, so I don't have to worry about hot spots or rotating the meat like I would on a traditional flow cooker.

 

[Uber_Noober]

It's been a hell of a cooker... had it now for about 15 months and it produces the best BBQ I've ever made. The reverse flow really makes every single inch of the cooking chamber almost perfectly even, so I don't have to worry about hot spots or rotating the meat like I would on a traditional flow cooker.

How much? And yes I’m jelly.

 

[usmctanker242]

How much? And yes I’m jelly.

Cost was $4500 brand new from Johnson Smokers out of Ennis, TX.
http://www.johnsonsmokers.com/ultimate-chargrill-trailer/

 

[MadSquabbles500]

So that looks like a Dyna-Glo... right? It's an offset cooker designed to run on wood splits, so make sure that's what you're using. You can use charcoal to start the wood splits on fire, but after that you'll need to add a small amount of wood every 20-30 minutes or so to keep the temps where you want them.

DO NOT assume the dial thermometer on the front door is accurate... at all. Do you have some kind of digital thermometer like a Maverick or a Thermoworks? Using those digital probes it will tell you the exact temperature and it will allow you to calibrate your dial thermometer, or at least let you know how far off that dial temp really is.

For the most part I've heard decent enough things about that cooker, with the main complaint being that it won't get hot enough using just charcoal... which it's not supposed to. Do you have any experience running an offset smoker or doing fire management in a confined space?

I'm going to post this video here because this guy is a chemist and goes into some good detail about things to look for when running a fire in an offset smoker. Even though his smoker is designed differently than yours the same principles will still apply :

So you really do have to watch it for a long time then? The cooking process I mean.

 

[usmctanker242]

So you really do have to watch it for a long time then? The cooking process I mean.

On an offset yeah, you really do. But there's other types of cookers that are much less "needy" in terms of attention like a kamado (Big Green Egg type) cooker, or even something like a Weber Smokey Mountain. On those types of cookers once you get the temp dialed in by adjusting the vents you can usually walk away for 6+ hours without an issue. There's also fan systems that will keep the temp dead-on accurate for you so there's no worries at all.

You can also do power cooking, or hot and fast, where you cook at 325-350° and you can do a whole brisket in 4-5 hours. It still comes out very good but the margin for error at that high temp is very small, so kind of better to start off cooking at 250-275° and get a really good grip on the process and how the meat responds after hours on the cooker.

 

[MisGuidedAngel]

So I finished my Cook. All wrapped and resting. Will be eating soon! I can't figure out how to post pics. Will when I can.

 

[usmctanker242]

So I finished my Cook. All wrapped and resting. Will be eating soon! I can't figure out how to post pics. Will when I can.

I hope the grub was good! You can upload your pics to Imgur and then just link them here... probably the easiest, free way to upload and post pics on the internet.

 

[MisGuidedAngel]

I hope the grub was good! You can upload your pics to Imgur and then just link them here... probably the easiest, free way to upload and post pics on the internet.

Pork and ribs turned out excellent. I overcooked the brisket. It was still edible, but definitely too dry. I believe what I had was the flat although the butcher had it labeled as brisket points. That is the flat right? Made some biscuits too- Monterey Jalapeno Biscuits.

 

[usmctanker242]

@MisGuidedAngel

That looks like the flat... it takes a lot of practice to get just the flat to come out well. I still screw them up sometimes myself which is why I usually cook a full packer (unless I'm doing competition). Ribs and pork shoulder look great with an amazing color! Good job for your time out and props for really pushing yourself with all of that meat.

What kind of temps were you cooking at during the majority of the cook?

 

[funcrusher2007]

Cost was $4500 brand new from Johnson Smokers out of Ennis, TX.
http://www.johnsonsmokers.com/ultimate-chargrill-trailer/

That’s a work of art...fucking jelly beyond comprehension.

A buddy of ours has a rig like that he has trailered, he made it himself.
he brings it out to the river(Colorado) and cooks a tri tip that makes you want to smack your momma.

I can weld and am seriously considering making my own.

He cooked enough tri tip to feed about a hundred people effortlessly...so bad ass, about five of us hung out with him and marveled at his setup..

My wife told me I liked his smoker more then our boat lol.

 

[MisGuidedAngel]

@MisGuidedAngel

That looks like the flat... it takes a lot of practice to get just the flat to come out well. I still screw them up sometimes myself which is why I usually cook a full packer (unless I'm doing competition). Ribs and pork shoulder look great with an amazing color! Good job for your time out and props for really pushing yourself with all of that meat.

What kind of temps were you cooking at during the majority of the cook?

I was aiming for 250, but spent most of the time in the 225-230 range (maybe even slightly lower). I overshot for a bit and was around 310-320 for a bit before I could cool it down. I was having a bit of trouble where the heat would be nice, but by the time it started to drop there were almost not enough coals to keep to get the fire going again. Maybe I should put some on sooner, but I didn't want to get the temp to high (which I eventually did). Still worked out pretty good. How long would you generally cook a brisket flat? I am not sure how soon I will try another one. As I mentioned earlier, my Wife really wanted one so I was willing to try it. To her credit she did eat some despite it being more like pot roast than BBQ brisket. I am thinking of using the leftovers (brisket) for a soup or chili as to not waste it all. I think that will work out ok.

 

[usmctanker242]

That’s a work of art...fucking jelly beyond comprehension.

A buddy of ours has a rig like that he has trailered, he made it himself.
he brings it out to the river(Colorado) and cooks a tri tip that makes you want to smack your momma.

I can weld and am seriously considering making my own.

He cooked enough tri tip to feed about a hundred people effortlessly...so bad ass, about five of us hung out with him and marveled at his setup..

My wife told me I liked his smoker more then our boat lol.

I would love to learn how to weld and do metal working in general, but I am amazingly clumsy. I have to basically "suit up" in full sleeves and pants with boots when I cook because I've burnt myself so many times. Just unreal how clumsy I am, so I'm definitely jelly of people who can weld.

If you're going to make your own smoker there's lots of resources out there which can give you some good guidance. SmokingMeatForums.com has a whole sub-forum dedicated to DIY smoker builds and there's lots of people in there who make some professional level stuff similar to mine. Just remember it's all about airflow and keeping a good fire, so you'll need to meet certain firebox to smoking chamber size criteria, along with certain volumes for the exhaust stack.

Good luck and please post your build if you do end up giving it a shot.

 

[usmctanker242]

I was aiming for 250, but spent most of the time in the 225-230 range (maybe even slightly lower). I overshot for a bit and was around 310-320 for a bit before I could cool it down. I was having a bit of trouble where the heat would be nice, but by the time it started to drop there were almost not enough coals to keep to get the fire going again. Maybe I should put some on sooner, but I didn't want to get the temp to high (which I eventually did). Still worked out pretty good. How long would you generally cook a brisket flat? I am not sure how soon I will try another one. As I mentioned earlier, my Wife really wanted one so I was willing to try it. To her credit she did eat some despite it being more like pot roast than BBQ brisket. I am thinking of using the leftovers (brisket) for a soup or chili as to not waste it all. I think that will work out ok.

Yep, running a wood fire can be a serious balance between too much heat and not enough coals to get the next piece of wood going. Play around with your smoker some more and you'll find that it tends to want to cook at certain temp... some cookers just do well at 225, others do well at 275. If your smoker needs to run a bit hotter so that you can keep a good fire going and be able to replenish the coals then it's OK to do so. Your timeline will just need to shift appropriately. Remember it's all about tenderness in the final product rather than a specific time or temperature.

As for brisket flats I would usually cook them for about 4 hours at 275° and then start checking for color. Once I get a good color I would wrap them up and let them finish tenderizing with a usual finish temp of about 200-203°. They are really tough to cook on their own and you can actually practice using the cheaper corned beef briskets. While they are cured so it's more of a pastrami than brisket flavor at the end, the process is the same and it can be good practice while you're learning your cooker.

Leftover brisket goes perfect in a stew / chili so good call and it should really work out well.

Good video on doing just a flat :

 

[RerouteToRemain]

Well got some Kosmos Q rubs, injection and sauce. Will probably do a brisket next weekend.

 

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