Planning brisket cook….

[Mark Bohlsen]

I’m planning on a brisket cook soon on the Smokefire. I’ve done other meats with varied success, but the family seems to like whatever come off of it. I’m from the WSM and kettle crew, so I was used to heavier smoke flavor, which I still crave and enjoy.

For this cook I plan to use 1836 for the rub, and possibly prime brisket depending on prices. Our Fareway has a pretty good price on choice brisket so may go that way too. Costco‘s prices have gone way up, so we’ll see.

I’ll be using smoke boost for 2 hrs. The first time I used it (rib cook), it almost died on me, even with everything up to date. Took a temp dive but I caught it in time to set it to a higher temp manually. I‘m then going to cook another two or so hours in the smoker at 275. After 4 or so hours I’ll wrap in foil and finish it in the oven @ 300 Degrees. I’m loosely following Cooks Illustrated brisket method and saving some fuel.

That brings me to fuel. I just bought some 100% lumberjack hickory, but am wavering on buying some BbqRs delight Master your Meat pellets. I have only used Weber hickory and comp, but want to try something else to see if it gives it even more of a smokey taste. Any thoughts or suggestion on all of the above?

 

[ChuckO]

If I was going to do this cook, I'd probably start the brisket on a kettle or WSM for a couple hours and then move it to the SmokeFire or I would put a basket of charcoal in the SmokeFire probably near the fire chamber. I just don't think your going to get the smoke flavor you're describing from the SmokeFire. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of the SmokeFire, but if I was going to smoke a Brisket, my WSM would get the call

YMMV

 

[Darian Hofer]

Just start at 200 degrees for 2 hours. And start with cold brisket. Then jump to 250-275. Don’t pull it out and let it rest out of the fridge. And if you want smoke flavor and bark/crust, keep it on the SF at least till the brisket hits the stall. The point at witch the fat starts to render and temp stalls. About 165-170 degrees. There are some good tips in the competition post about drip pans and liquid for moisture On this page. Give yourself extra cooking time as a warm brisket will hold in a cooler for several hours if needed.

From Dean below…

“
DeanK said:
Thanks for the great comments.

Thanks Chris for the 9 for presentation. For those of you new to competition judging in a KCBS comp, the scale is 1 to 9, a 1 being a DQ and a 9 being the top score.

I use two types of aluminum pans. Full pans and half pans, like the pans used in a chafing set. They are cheap at Costco and easy to clean if they are not to dirty. If they are to dirty, I clean them the best I can and throw them in the recycle bin. The half pan fits on the flavorizer bars under the main grates. I place one on each side, then one in the middle with the edges resting on the other two. I half fill the middle one with water. It’s not a perfect fit. The center grate wants lift up a tiny bit. Drop a 20 lbs. brisket and a large pork shoulder on the main grate, add heat and the pan warms up to settle in place. This leaves me the whole smoker grate space to work with. I will try to add a picture in the next day or two.”

 

[Bruno]

Just start at 200 degrees for 2 hours. And start with cold brisket. Then jump to 250-275. Don’t pull it out and let it rest out of the fridge. And if you want smoke flavor and bark/crust, keep it on the SF at least till the brisket hits the stall. The point at witch the fat starts to render and temp stalls. About 165-170 degrees. There are some good tips in the competition post about drip pans and liquid for moisture On this page. Give yourself extra cooking time as a warm brisket will hold in a cooler for several hours if needed.

From Dean below…

“
DeanK said:
Thanks for the great comments.

Thanks Chris for the 9 for presentation. For those of you new to competition judging in a KCBS comp, the scale is 1 to 9, a 1 being a DQ and a 9 being the top score.

I use two types of aluminum pans. Full pans and half pans, like the pans used in a chafing set. They are cheap at Costco and easy to clean if they are not to dirty. If they are to dirty, I clean them the best I can and throw them in the recycle bin. The half pan fits on the flavorizer bars under the main grates. I place one on each side, then one in the middle with the edges resting on the other two. I half fill the middle one with water. It’s not a perfect fit. The center grate wants lift up a tiny bit. Drop a 20 lbs. brisket and a large pork shoulder on the main grate, add heat and the pan warms up to settle in place. This leaves me the whole smoker grate space to work with. I will try to add a picture in the next day or two.”

What he said, smoke boost simply does not work, set the smoker at 200 and let it go for a while. If you follow Darian’s advice I can’t imagine not being happy with the results. Personaly I find the smoke level on the SF much cleaner tasting, to each their own though.

 

[Mark Bohlsen]

What he said, smoke boost simply does not work, set the smoker at 200 and let it go for a while. If you follow Darian’s advice I can’t imagine not being happy with the results. Personaly I find the smoke level on the SF much cleaner tasting, to each their own though.

Yeah, that might be the way to go. I do wish they would fix that feature once and for all, but I think it's probably just as easy to set it low and ride for awhile without a risk of a flame out.

 

[Lew Newby]

Yeah, that might be the way to go. I do wish they would fix that feature once and for all, but I think it's probably just as easy to set it low and ride for awhile without a risk of a flame out.

I know many people have a problem with smokeboost but it works on my grill and I do a lot of Jerky and Beef Sticks doing it. That said, I don't think it gives enough increase in smoke over cooking at 200 to mess with it on a long cook. I haven't used the charcoal pellets but they might give you the smoke flavor you're looking for. You could always mix them in with another pellet.

 

[Darian Hofer]

I know many people have a problem with smokeboost but it works on my grill and I do a lot of Jerky and Beef Sticks doing it. That said, I don't think it gives enough increase in smoke over cooking at 200 to mess with it on a long cook. I haven't used the charcoal pellets but they might give you the smoke flavor you're looking for. You could always mix them in with another pellet.

Since the Smoke Boost doesn’t really promise you a certain temperature, just a range between 165-200, it would be interesting to measure the actual grate temp using the Smoke Boost compared to the actual grate temp when manually set to 200. So maybe during cooler temperatures it’s easier for the Smoke Boost to keep temp closer to 165. But much more difficult to keep a fire close to 165 in the heat of summer with grill sitting in the sun?
Because it doesn’t actual produce more smoke. It’s only goal is to cook your food slower to keep it in the smoke longer. I could see where 25-30 degrees lower would help your jerky and sticks. Have you ever taken a manual grate reading during a jerky cook? This is all just curiosity Lew. Not doubting your results or skills at all.

 

[Lew Newby]

Since the Smoke Boost doesn’t really promise you a certain temperature, just a range between 165-200, it would be interesting to measure the actual grate temp using the Smoke Boost compared to the actual grate temp when manually set to 200. So maybe during cooler temperatures it’s easier for the Smoke Boost to keep temp closer to 165. But much more difficult to keep a fire close to 165 in the heat of summer with grill sitting in the sun?
Because it doesn’t actual produce more smoke. It’s only goal is to cook your food slower to keep it in the smoke longer. I could see where 25-30 degrees lower would help your jerky and sticks. Have you ever taken a manual grate reading during a jerky cook? This is all just curiosity Lew. Not doubting your results or skills at all.

Excellent question. I always have an ambient probe measuring grate temp. Before the April firmware upgrade I could manipulate the grill to maintain 165 to 180. After the update it insisted on running at 190 but started running lower in September when our high temps were still in the 90s. I agree with you on how smokeboost works and the temp and Sun effect but sometimes my EX6 does something that doesn’t make sense. However, the end result is always great tasting food.

 

[Darian Hofer]

Excellent question. I always have an ambient probe measuring grate temp. Before the April firmware upgrade I could manipulate the grill to maintain 165 to 180. After the update it insisted on running at 190 but started running lower in September when our high temps were still in the 90s. I agree with you on how smokeboost works and the temp and Sun effect but sometimes my EX6 does something that doesn’t make sense. However, the end result is always great tasting food.

Great info, thanks.
I know the Smokefire is never going to rival an offset. And I don’t expect that, nor actually want that. What I do like is the clean consistent smoke taste. And no matter what brand of pellets, it’s always a nice sweet wood taste. I need to give jerky a try.