Charcoal issue?

[David Willis]

Again, doing the midnight brisket... I took a look at the coals and the ones at the top still have some black on them and the edges are white. However, below them, the coals are almost all white and glowing...really hot. Since I lit the top part, first (unlit ones on the bottom and covered them with lit ones), why did the heat move to the bottom. I'm wondering if the top ones will ever get hot again. I'm using Kingsford so I would think they should be good coals...

 

[Mike Provance]

David,
Trial and error is the best teacher. Not there, so I don't know exactly what you did. How many lit coals did you start out with? Read in your earlier post that you put the meat on at a 225 temp. It's best if you use the MM to put on your meat after you add your lit coals. Or at least I think so.

You are right. The white coals should be on top. But, how good is your light source? Possibly, when you were playing with the wood chunks as you earlier mentioned, you moved some of the lit coals down. But, maybe, you are not seeing things as they really are if your light is not good enough.

Next time, trust the MM and don't mess with the fire. Not being critical. But my advice does not help you any in your currant situation!

Quit playing with your fire. Try to stabilize your temp by adjusting your bottom vents in 30 min increments. Fight the feeling to try to make it happen right now. If your temp gets too high play with the top vent. If you can't get it back up to temp, you might need to add some more lit coals from your chimney.

Again, fight the feeling to make it happen right now. Do everything in 30 min increments. Believe me. All is not lost. You may just have to forgo your snooze this time during your smoke.

Mike

 

[David Willis]

Thanks. I'm learning this thing really takes care of itself. Its about 3 AM right now, close to 6 hours into the cook, so I went to spray/turn the briskets. I went to sleep 2 - 3 hours ago and the tem was around 225. Guess what? Temp around 230. This thing is amazing. Turned, basted, added water, reassembled. 5 minutes later , 225. Wow, this thing is really incredible. Thanks again. I'll do my best to keep my hands out of the coals! /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

 

[Paul G.]

It is true that with MM firing, the prescribed method is to put the meat on after assembling the cooker. However, you strictly followed Chris's description of the Midnight Brisket cook and I believe he waited for the temp to get up to 235 to put on the meat. I don't know which method he would now advise. Of course Jim is right about the huge heat sink created by 20 lbs of cold meat. Was your meat cold or at room temp when you put it on ?

Anyway, sounds like you're passed that point and well on your way. Your issue now may be maintaining the temp through the whole cook. I've never been able to go more than 13 or 14 hrs without refueling but others have.

Good luck.

Paul

 

[David Willis]

They were straight out of the fridge so they were pretty cold. I'm in about hour 12 now and them temp went to 250 so I just adjusted one of the bottom vents. A side question, though. When flipping one of the briskets, a bit of the skin (bark?) tore off and stuck to the grill. I used that opportunity to sample it. It was quite horrid. Maybe I got a chunk of burnt rub, but I hope the rest of it isn't like that!

I'm not gonna tear off any meat to taste, but I'll be heartbroken if the whole thing tastes like that.... /infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif

 

[Paul G.]

I imagine you got a concentrated area of rub so I wouldn't worry about it. You might want to do a member search inder "Kevin Taylor" for some further instruction on the brisket cook even though you're following the Midnight cook procedure. I recall he did a pretty lenghty and thorough posts on this. I'm sure you're monitoring the internal heat of the meat. Most seem to talk about foiling at 170 and letting it stay on till it's up to around 195. Important to add the apple juice prior to foiling because the drying out of the brisket can become a big issue.

Incidentally, I imagine your big temp drop was the result of the large amount of cold meat. This will not cause you a problem but will probably extend your cook time some.

Hang in there and I'm sure you'll do fine.

Paul