Chris in Louisiana
TVWBB All-Star
I did a High Heat brisket test cook today for the upcoming neighborhood 4th of July party.
Almost everything I planned went wrong, and I got a fireball to the face, but the brisket turned out excellent.
About the fireball. Back up two months to when I last used the WSM. (I've been using my new kettle of late.) I did an AB's meatloaf with a clay saucer (wrapped in foil) in the water bowl (no water). All went well, and I put the WSM away.
When I got the WSM out last night, I saw the clay saucer in the pan still had good foil on it, so I left it alone. Fired up the coals this morning and started cooking. After about two hours the brisket was at 160, so I put it in a foil pan and covered it for part two of the cook.
I looked out the window a bit later and saw a fair amount of smoke coming from the WSM. It kept coming, which was odd, so I went out and looked in the hatch. The old foil on the saucer seemed to be smoking, and there was an acrid smell in the smoke. No flames, just smoke.
Called the wife to stand by in case of need for help or 911. At the time I was not sure what was going on. I have since figured it out, and I will share my somewhat embarrassing story so that others might not repeat my mistake.
Removed the brisket and racks. With heavy gloves and oven mitts, I removed the water pan and saucer and carried it to an area in the yard with no grass, where I planned to let it cool down until I could clean it and put it away.
When I dropped the water pan on the ground, the saucer separated, and oxygen finally reached the fat from AB's two-month old meatloaf that had -- unbeknownst to me -- seeped into the pan in the last cook and had been super-heating for two hours underneath the clay saucer.
A fireball like you see in the movies erupted, and I had just enough time to turn my head a bit.
The fire hit the right side of my face and my right arm, singing much arm hair, some head hair, and half my right eyelashes. The flames on the ground were about two feet high and four feet wide. Called for wife and water hose, and she doused the fire, then me just in case.
I put the brisket back on to cook with no pan. It stuck to the bottom of the foil pan a bit because of the direct heat, but it came loose and really turned out great.
I now know to clean the water pan and clay saucer between cooks, especially if ground chuck is involved in the last cook. Or maybe I should go the sand route some folks use.
Here are some pics of the cook. Sorry, no fireball pics.
setup
using kettle to fire Stubb's
lit on
rubbed and rested overnight
meat on
Someone asked about sugar in HH rub. This had brown sugar. Did fine.
After the fireball
Almost everything I planned went wrong, and I got a fireball to the face, but the brisket turned out excellent.
About the fireball. Back up two months to when I last used the WSM. (I've been using my new kettle of late.) I did an AB's meatloaf with a clay saucer (wrapped in foil) in the water bowl (no water). All went well, and I put the WSM away.
When I got the WSM out last night, I saw the clay saucer in the pan still had good foil on it, so I left it alone. Fired up the coals this morning and started cooking. After about two hours the brisket was at 160, so I put it in a foil pan and covered it for part two of the cook.
I looked out the window a bit later and saw a fair amount of smoke coming from the WSM. It kept coming, which was odd, so I went out and looked in the hatch. The old foil on the saucer seemed to be smoking, and there was an acrid smell in the smoke. No flames, just smoke.
Called the wife to stand by in case of need for help or 911. At the time I was not sure what was going on. I have since figured it out, and I will share my somewhat embarrassing story so that others might not repeat my mistake.
Removed the brisket and racks. With heavy gloves and oven mitts, I removed the water pan and saucer and carried it to an area in the yard with no grass, where I planned to let it cool down until I could clean it and put it away.
When I dropped the water pan on the ground, the saucer separated, and oxygen finally reached the fat from AB's two-month old meatloaf that had -- unbeknownst to me -- seeped into the pan in the last cook and had been super-heating for two hours underneath the clay saucer.
A fireball like you see in the movies erupted, and I had just enough time to turn my head a bit.
The fire hit the right side of my face and my right arm, singing much arm hair, some head hair, and half my right eyelashes. The flames on the ground were about two feet high and four feet wide. Called for wife and water hose, and she doused the fire, then me just in case.
I put the brisket back on to cook with no pan. It stuck to the bottom of the foil pan a bit because of the direct heat, but it came loose and really turned out great.
I now know to clean the water pan and clay saucer between cooks, especially if ground chuck is involved in the last cook. Or maybe I should go the sand route some folks use.
Here are some pics of the cook. Sorry, no fireball pics.
setup
using kettle to fire Stubb's
lit on
rubbed and rested overnight
meat on
Someone asked about sugar in HH rub. This had brown sugar. Did fine.
After the fireball
