Hot cook for brisket on 22 "

[Gary S]

Thanks Mike. I am going to try to strike that balance. I did foil one HH brisket at 150 and the bark went really mushy. I was not able to recover it even after putting it back on the smoker. Based on what I have learned so far I am going to trim less, foil loosely at 165-170 and try to cook in the range of 250 in the beginning (3-4 hours) and take it up to 275 for the finish. It will be interesting to see what that time line is. I really do agree with the jiggle test as opposed to a thermometer reading.
"Probe tender" seems to be the way to go.

 

[Doug Wade]

So to understand correctly, you have both bottom vents open all the way until you hit your target temp then...you close one of the bottom vents to maintain target temp?

I leave both open all the way until I hit target temp, then I basically see what % of the time the fan is running. If it's cranking along I leave it alone. If it's basically not running or just barely ticking along I close a vent so it's running less on its own and more with the controller being in charge. Less likely to overshoot. But I did a turkey a couple of days ago where they stayed open the whole time and the fan ran probably at 90% to maintain 350.

 

[Mitch Wood]

Second dome vent

I cut a second dome vent in my smoker to asist me in getting to the temps I need more easily

Gary--did the second dome vent help with keeping the temp up? I have a 18.5 and I do a lot of high heat cooks. But I'm constantly struggling to keep the temp up. I'm thinking of trying a second vent. Do you recommend it?

Thanks.

Mitch W.

 

[Gary S]

Hi Mitch, I sent you a p/m. Yes, highly recommend it. The second vent will rocket your smoker to higher temps. Works better too when you have a larger meat load.