Brisket


 
T

Todd Finchler

TVWBB Member
I have tried the oven finished brisket - and the smoke time is too long for me. Can one start the brisket in the oven and then finish it off in the smoker? I have no problem with a 5-6 hour smoke, but I'm not inclined to go 10-12 hours... Any suggestions as to cook/smoke time?
 
Some people argue that meat stops taking smoke once its temperature reaches somewhere around 165 degrees.

If that indeed is the case, then starting a brisket in the oven doesn't make for a smokey brisket.
 
How much wood are you using to begin with? Would just a couple chunks at the beginning be sufficiant?

Another thought, If you are using lump, then maybe don't use any additional wood chunks at all.
 
Jim, I believe meats will continue to have smoke deposited on it as long as there is smoke around it. The smoke ring stops around 140.<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jim Groom:
Some people argue that meat stops taking smoke once its temperature reaches somewhere around 165 degrees.

If that indeed is the case, then starting a brisket in the oven doesn't make for a smokey brisket. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by paul h:
Jim, I believe meats will continue to have smoke deposited on it as long as there is smoke around it. The smoke ring stops around 140. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Paul, thanks for that correction. I now remember the smoke ring vs the smoke taste part of the argument.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Todd Finchler:
I have no problem with a 5-6 hour smoke, but I'm not inclined to go 10-12 hours... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I was wondering about this statement - it confused me, as a 5 hour smoke is just as much "work" as a 20 hour smoke. The vast majority of the work goes into setting it up at the begenning and tearing it down at the end...and you gotta do that no matter how long the smoke lasts. I typically do 16-18 hour smokes starting around 8 pm. I go to bed at my usual time - wake up and do my usual stuff until the thermometer alarm tells me the meat is done. Rarely do I have to add any fuel or do much of anything at all while the smoker is actually doing its magic.
What do you see as the negative side to doing a longer smoke?
 
If the issue is the amount of smoke on the meat being too much, then just cut back on the number of chunks you are starting with, or use a more mild type of wood such as apple mixed in with the more robust smoke wood. Also, if you are soaking your wood in water, that will cause more white smoke, so avoid that. Also, there is no need to add more wood chunks during the middle of the cook. In short, there are many ways to limit the smoke without starting in an oven.
 
As I was the original poster - and as many kind folks have given of their time to reply - I should clarify. My concern is the time - not the amount of smoke. I am not inclined to start a smoke at 10pm at night so that a brisket can be ready at noon the following day. I have no problem starting to cook at 8am - and having a brisket ready to carve by 4-5pm. I am just trying to figure out a way to do that. Can I cook it in the oven for a few hours and finish it off in the smoker?

As far as the setup/time being the same for a short or long smoke, I find that maintaining a temp of 250 for more than 5-6 hours is a chore. I can use a full chamber of charcoal (Kingsford briquettes) and still wind up around 200 degrees after 5-6 hours. I wouldn't even mind going 7-8 hours, but to me, the idea of cooking for 12+ hours is not appealing.... just me.

Thanks for the posts.
 
Not quite sure what makes it a chore. Once it is stable, about 60-90 min into the cook, you shouldn't have to do much if anything at all. I just did two butts--12.5 hours, never touched the cooker once it was stable about an hour-and-a-half after assembling the cooker and loading the meat in (Minion start).

Regardless, briskets are quite easy to do using the high heat method, as Bryan noted above. 6 hours tops--and that's including the rest time though you can rest longer if you wish. It's my method of choice for standard supermarket briskets.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Todd Finchler:

As far as the setup/time being the same for a short or long smoke, I find that maintaining a temp of 250 for more than 5-6 hours is a chore. I can use a full chamber of charcoal (Kingsford briquettes) and still wind up around 200 degrees after 5-6 hours. I wouldn't even mind going 7-8 hours, but to me, the idea of cooking for 12+ hours is not appealing.... just me.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thats how I understood your objection, but I wanted to be sure.

The smoker you paid big bucks for is known for its ability to maintain temps. I am not exaggerating when I say I can go for 18+ hours at a steady temp on a single load of charcoal - and I am not taking the credit either
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The smoker is capable of running for long enough to give you the brisket you desire if you follow the advice on this site and give the smoker a chance to do what it was built for.
The most effort it might take is to go adjust a vent or two if the temp gets too high or too low - and maybe add a bit of fuel if the winds are high. Everybody has their own idea if what "too much trouble" is - but as I alluded to in my original post, the amount of work and effort getting it set up and torn down is much more then the amount of effort required once its up and smoking. I sincerely hope you give it a try sometime.

Jeff
 
Todd--there is something a little odd that your cooker wouldn't hold a temperature and that it would be so much trouble. For me moving a hunk of meat to the oven would be far more trouble than wandering out to peak at the cooker once every 90 minutes only to see that it is about where I left it almost all the time.

So not to hijack your thread, but tell us a little about what happens with your cooker, and perhaps we can help you to troubleshoot to make it such that using your cooker is less tedious.

What are the symptoms that cause you the most grief in a long cook? Does the cooker always lose temp, or does it sometimes go higher as well? Do you live at high altitude?
 
I appreciate the replies - and since everyone is trying to help me overcome my fear of long smokes, I'll explain.

I generally start with two full chimneys - and then add more fresh briquettes to the top until I have nearly a full chamber. I assemble smoker - no water in pan yet - and no meat yet - and temp reaches about 350. I then put water in pan and meat in smoker. Vents closed - temp goes down to about 250. Will maintain 250 for 3-4 hours if I open some vents and then drops to 200. I then add more charcoal after 3-4 hours to bring temp back up. The idea of adding charcoal in the middle of the night does not thrill me - hence the notion of a longer smoke not being appealing.

Perhaps it'd be easier if I simply described a scenario and those with more wisdom explained how they'd approach the situation.

Assume a 8-10 pound brisket. Assume no wind. Assume nighttime temps of 70 degrees. Assume you own two chimneys.

I'm game to try a longer smoke - and I know those who have responded know far more than I about the capabilities of the smoker. And if I can go to sleep and know that the smoker will maintain its temp when I awaken, then this will be the weekend.

For those who have responded in this thread - I thank you.
 
Todd,

Have you given any thought to switching from water pan to clay pot base, PP, or sand? I recently switched to clay pot base and will never use water again. The clay pot base is way more efficient then the water.

Bob W.
 
You shouldn't have to add charcoal in the middle of the night. If you can't get around 10-12hrs (variable, of course considering wind or ambient temp.) at a fairly steady temp without refueling, something's wrong. Perhaps you've got an air leak or something, but you should definately be getting WAY more than 3-4 hrs on a load of fuel.
 
I think you are making this to hard. Load up the charcoal fill the water adjust the vents and go to sleep. The cooker will keep the temp. I have not been disappointed. wake up in the morning shake the the dust off the coals and the temp will climb back up.
 
Todd,

When you're adding the charcoal to the smoker, is it all lit? Have you tried the minion method? Filling the ring with unlit charcoal then adding a handful of lit coals. You should easily get 12 to 14 hrs of steady temps with that method.

Michael
 
I think I may have figured out my problem. I have first put 2 chimneys of lit charcoal into the ring and THEN put unlit ones on top... is that suffocating the lit ones and affecting the temp? Shall I put in unlit ones at the base and then the lit ones on top?
 
Hmm... If you haven't mis-typed, there's the problem. The MM is a bed of unlit coals with a small amount of lit coals placed on top. Those few coals light off the coals below them, working against natural convection and upward airflow, until, slowly, over time, the bottom-most coals ignite.
 
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