Bill M
TVWBB Member
Yesterday I smoked a brisket flat on my WSM 22.5" for the first time. This magic bullet has been on my patio since mid to late August. I had done a few pork butts and shoulders, some ribs and some chicken thighs, veggies and potatoes before. But this was my first beef. And I made a few mistakes.
I woke up around 6 and started the charcoal. At that time of the morning, that means sitting outside with a cup of coffee and cigarettes staring blankly at the chimney starter. Mrs. M and the M-lets woke up and I got called in to run interference with the kids while Mrs. M made breakfast. Ok, so I dump the now lit briquettes for the minion method, assembled the smoker, opened my vents, and played with the kids. After about 45 minutes, oh yeah! The smoker! Temps were sitting at a nice 415f. Crap! Shut it down, kill the fire, and try again. Luckily there was no food on the grates yet, so I just wasted charcoal only.
About 2 hours into the smoke, once I got the temps back to a reasonable number, I ran out of propane for my auxiliary backup smoker. Oops! So I pulled the turkey tenderloin, mac and cheese and squash mix out and mumble some words I don't want my kids repeating. And I do the second stupid thing of the day (in regards to the smoke, I do lots of stupid things inside). I take the lid off the WSM, pull off the brisket and grate, and try to arrange everything in the charcoal. Instead of throwing what I can in the oven (the smarter play) and keeping working on developing a good bark or stable temperatures, I go the route I chose.
So I had this great idea. I'll put the baked beans that I parcooked the day before under the ham in the propane smoker. Honestly it was a good idea right? Let that delicious pork fat drip into the beans, drip delectable into yummy. Well when the propane tank ran out, plans changed. Plan B, since I'm taking everything apart anyways, let's add beefy goodness to the beans. So onto the second rack with the brisket flat on top. Life was good for the next few hours until I realized I had to at least check them because I didn't want them to dry out. Which is what started to happen. I had to take apart the smoker again to pull the beans.
That was my point self inflicted wounds for the smoke. However, it was enough. It sent me chasing temperature stability for the rest of the day. But how? It was about that point the rain stopped and the outside temps dropped like a rock tied to a bigger rock with wind gusts on top of that. I mean, I stayed within 50 degrees one way or the other of my target 275. But it meant big swings. Which I stupidly chased.
At the end of the day, the smoked food was delicious. It was by far the most tender brisket flat I've made in my life, the probe went through that brisket like a hot knife through melted butter. There is no turkey left. And from now on I'm adding rendered pork fat and beef juice to baked beans. But my inexperience plus less than great decisions led to a later dinner than planned and presentation that was embarrassing to me. I shared this in the hopes that this won't happen to anyone else, because I'm surely not making these mistakes again.
I woke up around 6 and started the charcoal. At that time of the morning, that means sitting outside with a cup of coffee and cigarettes staring blankly at the chimney starter. Mrs. M and the M-lets woke up and I got called in to run interference with the kids while Mrs. M made breakfast. Ok, so I dump the now lit briquettes for the minion method, assembled the smoker, opened my vents, and played with the kids. After about 45 minutes, oh yeah! The smoker! Temps were sitting at a nice 415f. Crap! Shut it down, kill the fire, and try again. Luckily there was no food on the grates yet, so I just wasted charcoal only.
About 2 hours into the smoke, once I got the temps back to a reasonable number, I ran out of propane for my auxiliary backup smoker. Oops! So I pulled the turkey tenderloin, mac and cheese and squash mix out and mumble some words I don't want my kids repeating. And I do the second stupid thing of the day (in regards to the smoke, I do lots of stupid things inside). I take the lid off the WSM, pull off the brisket and grate, and try to arrange everything in the charcoal. Instead of throwing what I can in the oven (the smarter play) and keeping working on developing a good bark or stable temperatures, I go the route I chose.
So I had this great idea. I'll put the baked beans that I parcooked the day before under the ham in the propane smoker. Honestly it was a good idea right? Let that delicious pork fat drip into the beans, drip delectable into yummy. Well when the propane tank ran out, plans changed. Plan B, since I'm taking everything apart anyways, let's add beefy goodness to the beans. So onto the second rack with the brisket flat on top. Life was good for the next few hours until I realized I had to at least check them because I didn't want them to dry out. Which is what started to happen. I had to take apart the smoker again to pull the beans.
That was my point self inflicted wounds for the smoke. However, it was enough. It sent me chasing temperature stability for the rest of the day. But how? It was about that point the rain stopped and the outside temps dropped like a rock tied to a bigger rock with wind gusts on top of that. I mean, I stayed within 50 degrees one way or the other of my target 275. But it meant big swings. Which I stupidly chased.
At the end of the day, the smoked food was delicious. It was by far the most tender brisket flat I've made in my life, the probe went through that brisket like a hot knife through melted butter. There is no turkey left. And from now on I'm adding rendered pork fat and beef juice to baked beans. But my inexperience plus less than great decisions led to a later dinner than planned and presentation that was embarrassing to me. I shared this in the hopes that this won't happen to anyone else, because I'm surely not making these mistakes again.
. It is hard not being my own worst critic though. Especially when I know I can do better. 
