First time poster, brisket questions and any help????


 
J

John Consugar

New member
First time poster here. I'm not new to smoking, I have been smoking for over a year with a DBS and I got a WSM for my birthday a few months back. I am looking to do brisket, butts, ribs etc. I have done all of these before in my DBS but this is a whole new realm to me. I also got a BBQ Guru DigiQ 2 for my 18 1/2 as well to keep my temps stable.

I am having some of my friends over for a cookout after me and my wife to be get married and I want to do a brisket on this. The brisket is about 10 lbs. Any pointers or directions would be great. As I have read so far this is completely different from what I have done before here are some simple sueations I have

1. Temp of smoker
2. time and length of smoke
3. will I need to refill the coals
4. ammount of wood for one brisket
5. water in the pan or no?
6. top vent open (I believe that is a yes, but just checking)


Those are some pretty basic questions. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I look foreward to joining this awesome family here and gaining even more knowledge.

John
 
First of all, welcome John, you'll get a wealth of information from the people on this site.
Let me start by giving you a link to the section about brisket. You'll have to choose between
low and slow and high heat, just remember that there's no wrong answer. Just pick the
options that work best for you. Best of luck.
jon

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/cook.html#beef
 
1. You could try the high heat method or anywhere from 220-275 degrees. High heat gives consistent results but you don't get as good a smoke ring or bark normally.

2. L&S your looking at 1.5-2hrs per pound

3.if you use the Minion method you shouldn't have to refill the coals.

4.depends on what you use and how smokey you want it. Hickory I would use 4-5 chunks, mesquite I would use 3-4.

5. You use less fuel without water but you don't get as stable a temperature. You may also have trouble getting higher temps with water in the pan. Lots of people use a clay saucer or just foil the pan. If you just foil the pan leave an airspace between the foil and the bottom of the pan.

6. Top vent should always be open unless your putting out your fire.

Welcome to the forum.
 
Id rather a nice smoke ring and some tremendous bark. Im planning on foiling the pan instead of the water. For a longer cook would a steady temperature of 225-235 be good and yield results? I like my brisket smokey and have only used hickory. I think I am going to try the mesquite this time around.

Thanks for the info, I will keep everyone posted!

John
 
On Texas BBQ Rub forum where they love their brisket, you'll find people cooking from 180 and up. I try to keep 250 at the grate to shorten the time somewhat but still have it on long enough for all the technical reasons. I do low and slow for everything, but others have great success with high heat. The low and slow gives you some wiggle room for not over cooking. Fine line at high heat. Easy on mesquite, pretty strong.

This is a good read for brisket.

http://forum.texasbbqrub.com/showthread.php?t=24789
 
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