It's SMOKE TIME!

[Guest]

SO, my WSM arrived from Amazon.com Friday. Assembly was easy as already noted on this BB. I did find a nasty little metal sliver somewhere while assembling that hurt like the Dickens. Anyway, I purchased my 10+ lb. brisket (USDA Select- I forgot to look for Choice). Trimmed it up last night and marinated using the wet rub. I checked the NWS weather for Hardin, MT last night, which was calling for mostly cloudy skies with temps in the 60s. I wake up to windy, overcast conditions. I started my chimney at 0630, the coals were all glowing by 0715. It started to rain and the wind picked up to about 15-20 MPH right about this point, but I figured I'd forge on. I figure if I can pull this off in these conditions, all else will be cake. I put the brisket on at 0720, but then I realized I don't remember if I put it fat side up or down. I don't know if this will really matter. I guess I'll find out! By the way, I reached my target temp pretty quickly, and I'm using the 12 o'clock method to monitor temps. I'll update as the day goes on.

 

[Guest]

I couldn't resist- I checked and it was fat side down. So I flipped it. I know to never ever do that again. Lesson learned. Pressing on...

 

[Keri C]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> I know to never ever do that again. Lesson learned. Pressing on...
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>What problem did you have by flipping the brisket? I think you would have been fine with it fat side down. Jim Minion told me that a number of competition teams were having good luck with cooking fat side down.

Oh, if you're using sand in the pan instead of water, you may want to flip it again during cooking, or you're liable to wind up with an undesirably hard bark on the bottom like some of us have been. (Again corrected by Professor Minion, suggesting we flip or cook fat side down.) I've only had that problem using sand and cooking the brisket on the bottom rack, but just thought I'd pass it on.

Let us hear how it comes out, and also what time dinner is being served. /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

Keri C
Smokin on Tulsa Time

 

[Guest]

Thanks! Dinner (hopefully) will be around 6.

I hesitated to flip it because I didn't want to open the bullet and mess up the temp. It came right back up to 250 anyway, so no big deal.

So far so good! Temps been steady at 250. I'll be basting with cider and adding water soon.

 

[Guest]

Well, I cooked the brisket until 3 PM. I had turned and basted it a total of 2 times. The temp was easily maintained at around 250 degrees despite persistent winds and occasional rain. The brisket temp at pull off was 170 degress in the flat. I wrapped the brisket in foil and placed it into a preheated oven at 300 degrees for 90 minutes. The temp had only gone up to around 190 at that time, but I stopped cooking it at this point. I let it rest in foil for 30 minutes. When I took that first bite, I immediately became a WSM convert! MAN IT WAS AWESOME!!! My son said it was even better than the barbecue we get at a nearby restaurant (which is saying a lot). The smoke ring was 1/8 to 1/4 inch throughout. The flat was easily sliced across the grain. It was so tasty that it didn't even require any sauce! The point was then shredded using two forks for sandwiches. Clean up was easy.

I AM SOLD! All of the raving on this site is absolutely true- the WSM is an outstanding smoker! By the way, this was accomplished using a Select brisket, not a Choice- I can't wait to try that one!

Thanks to Chris and all the members of this site. I look forward to learning more from this helpful, friendly bunch of folks!