First Go at a Packer Brisket on the Smokefire

[Chris R.]

Hi Guys,

Grabbed a 14 lb PB on the way home, Trimmed it up, Mustard Slather and Rubbed. It's in the fridge and I figure I'll put it on tonight around 10 pm pst. Probably going to set in on smokeboost until midnight and then rev it up to 240 for the overnight cook as I go to bed. I'll get up pretty early ( 6 am) and check on it before eventually turning to a pink butcher paper wrap.

The intent is to take it off by about 10 am for a 45 minute rest before slicing it up and running it down to an account of mine a few miles down the road for their Lunch around 11:30. i think a 12 Hour cook will get me where i need to be especially with the PBPW at the end.

Looking for a smooth overnight cook and flexibility to run morning errands like picking up buns and Sides while its still on the Smokefire. - Pics to come throughout

The pit is loaded with Weber Hickory Pellets so that's what I'll be using for the burn.

This is a test

Chris

 

[Joe Anshien]

Hi Guys,

Grabbed a 14 lb PB on the way home, Trimmed it up, Mustard Slather and Rubbed. It's in the fridge and I figure I'll put it on tonight around 10 pm pst. Probably going to set in on smokeboost until midnight and then rev it up to 240 for the overnight cook as I go to bed. I'll get up pretty early ( 6 am) and check on it before eventually turning to a pink butcher paper wrap.

The intent is to take it off by about 10 am for a 45 minute rest before slicing it up and running it down to an account of mine a few miles down the road for their Lunch around 11:30. i think a 12 Hour cook will get me where i need to be especially with the PBPW at the end.

Looking for a smooth overnight cook and flexibility to run morning errands like picking up buns and Sides while its still on the Smokefire. - Pics to come throughout

The pit is loaded with Weber Hickory Pellets so that's what I'll be using for the burn.

This is a test

Chris

I am so glad you are testing this as I have a brisket in the fridge and am trying to decide if it goes on the WSM or EX4. Looking forward to your pics and report!

 

[Chris R.]

I moved my Schedule forward to 9pm - I was antsy.

Slight Probe Variance which as you can see moderated after about 5 minutes in the Pit Before starting up unit. I ultimately decided the temp difference was because i brought the 2 new probes out of the house which is warmer than outside. That's why the temp moderated after a few minutes.

 

[Chris R.]

Here is the Brisket just before putting on Smoker after a Second pass of Rub. Brisket had been in Fridge for a few hours after the first Rub.

 

[Chris R.]

Here it is on the Top Rack with a good Size Foil pan underneath on the Main Rack. Temperature is Set to 200 and I ran it up in about 5 minutes before Setting Smokeboost. I did this due to the prior mishap where near immediate Smoke boost caused an overflowing Fire bowl with flame out. I figured getting it up to 200 degrees before setting Smokeboost might help. True start time with Smokeboost closer to 9:15pm as unit likely moderated temperature down to the 165 range. Plan is to set the Pit to 235 at 11pm - Monitor for a few and get some sleep shortly thereafter. Wake up around 5 am and check the situation out before deciding to continue Unwrapped or to Wrap at that point with Butcher paper before continuing the cook.

For reference later in the cook - Probe 1 is placed in the flat and Probe 2 is placed in the Point after this picture.

 

[Joe Anshien]

Here it is on the Top Rack with a good Size Foil pan underneath on the Main Rack. Temperature is Set to 200 and I ran it up in about 5 minutes before Setting Smokeboost. I did this due to the prior mishap where near immediate Smoke boost caused an overflowing Fire bowl with flame out. I figured getting it up to 200 degrees before setting Smokeboost might help. True start time with Smokeboost closer to 9:15pm as unit likely moderated temperature down to the 165 range. Plan is to set the Pit to 235 at 11pm - Monitor for a few and get some sleep shortly thereafter. Wake up around 5 am and check the situation out before deciding to continue Unwrapped or to Wrap at that point with Butcher paper before continuing the cook.

For reference later in the cook - Probe 1 is placed in the flat and Probe 2 is placed in the Point after this picture.

Thanks for the write up. Did you use any water in the pan?

 

[Chris R.]

Thanks for the write up. Did you use any water in the pan?

No Water in the Pan, No.

Probe readings at the 1 hour mark of smokeboost




Probe readings at the 2 hour mark of Smokeboost




Slight amount of pellets gone from the 2 hour smokeboost operation.









5:01 Temp Check from the phone. Looking good. I'm pressing snooze for some more zzzz's





6:30 Hopper pic - Need to Move the pellets around and plan on refilling soon.










6:30 The Brisket after 9 1/2 hours on the Smokefire - Looks pretty tasty to me.
I'll be wrapping soon as the Brisket has been in the stall since atleast 5 am

 

[Bruno]

Nice! Good info!! Looking forward to sliced pics.

 

[Chris R.]

Have bumped the temp to 250 and then an hour later 275 and now that it is wrapped 300. Wrapped at 9:30. Internals still around 155 - I'm running late. Oh well. Quality takes time.

 

[Tye R.]

That’s looking really good!

 

[Bruno]

Yeah buddy! My family is counting down til pulled pork right now. Just bumped to 300 myself.

 

[JimK]

Looking spectacular!

 

[A Harrison]

Looks great. My last one took 18hrs with water in the pan but was a top 5 smoke for me. I have learned with brisket it’s easier to start it early and put it in a cooler when it finishes than it is to try to guess how long a particular cut will take.

Going to start them at 9:30 from here on out, no smokeboost 225F for the duration. Plenty Smokey that way and great bark.

 

[Joe Anshien]

Have bumped the temp to 250 and then an hour later 275 and now that it is wrapped 300. Wrapped at 9:30. Internals still around 155 - I'm running late. Oh well. Quality takes time.

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Chris - So how was the taste? Have you done a comparable smoke on charcoal? If so how would you compare? Waiting to hear about the final outcome. I am planning on mine tomorrow morning. I just did a coffee / cocoa rub and put it in the fridge, and will start it around 9am. I am a little confused about my brisket though. It says whole prime but it seems to be a flat and very well trimmed. There was not much fat at all that came off of it. The other thing is it was package differently than the others. It was in Styrofoam and not just shrink wrap as usual. If anyone can shed light on this it would be appreciated.

 

[Chris R.]

Here we have the Brisket at completion. Still wrapped in the Pink Butcher paper but Probes out with a Temp of 185 in the Flat and 195 in the Point.



Brisket Unwrapped before resting en route to serving place. Approximate 25-30 minute rest with xfer etc. I did use a ladle to remove some of the Liquid before transport.






Produced a nice bark, a nicely pronounced smoke ring and very tender and juicy meat. It turned out very good and the eaters were pleased as punch. Were I not under pressure timewise i likely would've slowed the entire process down. As it is it took 16 hours on the Smokefire the way I did it. I think i could've done better in 18 hours. I've got to remind myself that although 10-12 hours seems like enough time, its just takes longer when you are really Slow and Low which is my preferred cook.


All in All, Chef's abilities notwithstanding, I am very pleased with how it turned out and Served Top Notch BBQ to some friends and Colleagues. Nothing wrong with that

The BBQ Baked beans turned out Awesome too and if I have final pic of them I'll be sure to post aswell.

Smoke-On!

 

[Joe Anshien]

That looks outstanding! I will report back to see how mine goes tomorrow. Mine is much smaller and I will probably go at 250 degrees.

 

[Chris R.]

Chris - So how was the taste? Have you done a comparable smoke on charcoal? If so how would you compare? Waiting to hear about the final outcome. I am planning on mine tomorrow morning. I just did a coffee / cocoa rub and put it in the fridge, and will start it around 9am. I am a little confused about my brisket though. It says whole prime but it seems to be a flat and very well trimmed. There was not much fat at all that came off of it. The other thing is it was package differently than the others. It was in Styrofoam and not just shrink wrap as usual. If anyone can shed light on this it would be appreciated.
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Joe - I'm a prime guy myself and love Costco steaks but they don't typically (if ever) sell Packer brisket's. Try your local Wholesale food supply place for Food trucks etc. That's where i got my Packer. Your flat will undoubtedly turn out great but they are a leaner part of the cow.

 

[Joe Anshien]

Chris, did you do your cook temps strictly by the set temp on the SF? Did you confirm your pit temps at any time? Mine are all lower than reported SF temps by over 50 degrees sometimes. I have the SF set at 240 and right now it is 189! It even told me it went out so I ran out with a blow torch but it was just down 60 degrees and then came back to a "normal" 30 degree off temp. Check the screen shots. It even lost the set temp at one point.

 

[Joe Anshien]

Brisket is done and so am I with the SmokeFire. I must say that the SM puts a nice smoke ring on a piece of meat, but it can't hold temp worth a Sh*t. My actual temps where up to 50 degrees under in a lot of cases. Average was 35 degrees under reported temps. I finally settled on a set time of 245 and a real temp of about 200 to 210. My WSM and even my Kettle holds better temps. So it is now for sale. I waited until the stall and wrapped in foil and used the oven to finish. Quite tasty but I still prefer charcoal taste to wood pellets.

 

[Chris R.]

Brisket is done and so am I with the SmokeFire. I must say that the SM puts a nice smoke ring on a piece of meat, but it can't hold temp worth a Sh*t. My actual temps where up to 50 degrees under in a lot of cases. Average was 35 degrees under reported temps. I finally settled on a set time of 245 and a real temp of about 200 to 210. My WSM and even my Kettle holds better temps. So it is now for sale. I waited until the stall and wrapped in foil and used the oven to finish. Quite tasty but I still prefer charcoal taste to wood pellets.
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Sure Looks tasty Joe. Sorry things didn't go better for you. No I haven't verified the Pit temp - I have just trusted the Smokefire to do it's thing and it's worked for me so far. I think you should reconsider selling it - The best is yet to come

Chris