Dave in KC
TVWBB Wizard
TWO GRILLS- SMOKE FIRE vs SUMMIT KAMADO
TWO PRIME PACKERS FROM SAM'S
Which grill will smoke a better brisket?
Smoke Day Brisket Battle
- Thread starter Dave in KC
- Start date
TWO GRILLS- SMOKE FIRE vs SUMMIT KAMADO
TWO PRIME PACKERS FROM SAM'S
Which grill will smoke a better brisket?
Bob Erdman
TVWBB All-Star
I predict there will be no loser.
Dave in KC
TVWBB Wizard
I tried to keep things as close as close to the same as possible. B & B lump, with 2 chunks of cherry on the WSK.
And after finally finding a deal this was my first time using the Royal Oak Charcoal Pellets combined with Lumber Jack cherry... instead of my normal LJ Char-Hickory with cherry for brisket.
As I suspected the Royal Oak is a great pellet, but the final results were no better or worse than the LJ...... For future use, I will use whichever has the better deal.
For the rub, I went with my tried and true Hardcore Carnivore Black.
This is my go to for almost every beef product I grill or smoke. So much so, I often times feel cheated if I have something that does not use it. Burgers, briskets, roasts, you name it. My absolute favorite beef rub, hands down.
I am pretty horrible at trimming... as the pics below show, but I did my hatchet job, rubbed and placed in a bag for a couple of hours prior to starting.
Then placed on each smoker.
I put each on at 6pm Sunday evening. As a brisket vet on the Smokefire I know that 240 is my ideal temp for overnights. This however, was my first time smoking a brisket on the WSK.
I had on previously done one other overnight cook.... a pork butt, about a month ago. On that cook, I dialed the WSK in, in a matter of minutes and it ran perfectly, with very few adjustments for 15 hours.
This cook was not so smooth. It took about 2 hours to finally settle in at 250 and headed to bed a short time later. I checked at 2am to find the temp had fallen to 200. The meat was in the stall around 150 and 155 on both cookers. I gave the ash sweep a few good turns, sit it just a tad more open and opened the top damper a tad more also, and back to bed. At 430am, I got up. The WSK was now at 280, and meat temp was 195.
The brisket on the Smokefire was at 165.
I immediately pulled, wrapped in butcher paper and replaced back on the smokers. Sorry, no pics of any of this process, as I was barely awake.
I kept checking both every half hour or so after wrapping. The WSK brisket was the smaller of the 2. I finally pulled it at 210 degrees, but it never developed the perfect brisket jiggle that I am accustomed to. The Smokefire did at 205 as we typically see.
Upon opening and slicing, the WSK brisket was slightly over cooked by backyard standards. The Smokefire was nice, juicy and just what you look for. The bark however, was a little bit too thick on both. I would have scored the WSK a 6 and the Smokefire an 8 in KCBS competition overall.
WSK on left, Smokefire on the right.
WSK
Smokefire
As this was just one test, its far from perfect. However... just a few thoughts....
The Smokefire is far and away so much easy and convenient to use. Its no wonder that pellet grills have become as popular as they are. Very easy, and with great results.
The WSK will become easier for me, after a few more uses. Practice makes perfect , as they say.
Overall, I call the contest a draw for me personally but my wife gave the edge to the Smokefire brisket. She liked the look, texture and taste the best from it.
I gave the advantage on taste alone to the WSK. I just prerfer that awesome taste of real charcoal and hardwoods and for me..... the taste is the most important factor.
And after finally finding a deal this was my first time using the Royal Oak Charcoal Pellets combined with Lumber Jack cherry... instead of my normal LJ Char-Hickory with cherry for brisket.
As I suspected the Royal Oak is a great pellet, but the final results were no better or worse than the LJ...... For future use, I will use whichever has the better deal.
For the rub, I went with my tried and true Hardcore Carnivore Black.
This is my go to for almost every beef product I grill or smoke. So much so, I often times feel cheated if I have something that does not use it. Burgers, briskets, roasts, you name it. My absolute favorite beef rub, hands down.
I am pretty horrible at trimming... as the pics below show, but I did my hatchet job, rubbed and placed in a bag for a couple of hours prior to starting.
Then placed on each smoker.
I put each on at 6pm Sunday evening. As a brisket vet on the Smokefire I know that 240 is my ideal temp for overnights. This however, was my first time smoking a brisket on the WSK.
I had on previously done one other overnight cook.... a pork butt, about a month ago. On that cook, I dialed the WSK in, in a matter of minutes and it ran perfectly, with very few adjustments for 15 hours.
This cook was not so smooth. It took about 2 hours to finally settle in at 250 and headed to bed a short time later. I checked at 2am to find the temp had fallen to 200. The meat was in the stall around 150 and 155 on both cookers. I gave the ash sweep a few good turns, sit it just a tad more open and opened the top damper a tad more also, and back to bed. At 430am, I got up. The WSK was now at 280, and meat temp was 195.
The brisket on the Smokefire was at 165.
I immediately pulled, wrapped in butcher paper and replaced back on the smokers. Sorry, no pics of any of this process, as I was barely awake.
I kept checking both every half hour or so after wrapping. The WSK brisket was the smaller of the 2. I finally pulled it at 210 degrees, but it never developed the perfect brisket jiggle that I am accustomed to. The Smokefire did at 205 as we typically see.
Upon opening and slicing, the WSK brisket was slightly over cooked by backyard standards. The Smokefire was nice, juicy and just what you look for. The bark however, was a little bit too thick on both. I would have scored the WSK a 6 and the Smokefire an 8 in KCBS competition overall.
WSK on left, Smokefire on the right.
WSK
Smokefire
As this was just one test, its far from perfect. However... just a few thoughts....
The Smokefire is far and away so much easy and convenient to use. Its no wonder that pellet grills have become as popular as they are. Very easy, and with great results.
The WSK will become easier for me, after a few more uses. Practice makes perfect , as they say.
Overall, I call the contest a draw for me personally but my wife gave the edge to the Smokefire brisket. She liked the look, texture and taste the best from it.
I gave the advantage on taste alone to the WSK. I just prerfer that awesome taste of real charcoal and hardwoods and for me..... the taste is the most important factor.
Bruno
TVWBB Hall of Fame
great info thanks!!
Last edited:
Darryl - swazies
TVWBB Diamond Member
First thing that popped in my head too.
Jon Tofte
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Dave, Thanks for venturing into test comparisons. Pellet grills definitely make it easy to say, I just don’t have the time and energy for charcoal today. I long for a lazy day to just tend a long, low and slow charcoal cook with a few friends to hang out with while it slowly becomes genuine bbq. That day seems very elusive
. My Recteq lets me bbq and still do other stuff I can’t ever catch up on.
. My Recteq lets me bbq and still do other stuff I can’t ever catch up on.
Brett-EDH
TVWBB Olympian
Water pan in the WSK will help regulate and slow down the cook.
A WSK can do a smaller brisket in 6.5-7 hours total. A larger brisket, 16-18# can take around 8.5 hours.
I did one overnight WSK brisket and found it isn’t necessary. It’s easier for me to start a brisket at 0600 and be done by 2/3/4PM and let it rest for dinner service.
It’s just less work and zero stress.
WSK is pretty much set and forget once you make a few briskets and dial in your process.
Kudos to you for dropping $100+ on beef and letting us known your results. Much appreciated.
Temps on a 13.25# brisket with water pan. Note the very low cook temps and still done within 7.75 hours.
A WSK can do a smaller brisket in 6.5-7 hours total. A larger brisket, 16-18# can take around 8.5 hours.
I did one overnight WSK brisket and found it isn’t necessary. It’s easier for me to start a brisket at 0600 and be done by 2/3/4PM and let it rest for dinner service.
It’s just less work and zero stress.
WSK is pretty much set and forget once you make a few briskets and dial in your process.
Kudos to you for dropping $100+ on beef and letting us known your results. Much appreciated.
Temps on a 13.25# brisket with water pan. Note the very low cook temps and still done within 7.75 hours.
Dave in KC
TVWBB Wizard
It certainly has crossed my mind, that's for sure.
Although, it would cost more that I paid for the WSK.
Not that I haven't done that before either though.
But unless Jeff feels like doing some charity work,
this one will likely stay black.
