The Runaway Brisket


 
Charles Howse

Charles Howse

TVWBB Wizard
I'm cooking my 2nd brisket tonight.
Typical plan...Full ring, Minion Method, target cooker temp 250°.
Usually, if I have problems, it's with the temp being too low.
Tonight I had to close the top vent for the first time ever to get the temps down.
At 9:30 (4 hrs in) the grate temp was 273. Closed 2 vents and had 1 at 10%.
Things got worse from there. Spiked up to 299 with all 3 bottom vents closed, and after I had removed the top twice to dump some heat.
I finally had to remove about 25 - 30 coals, and close the top vent tight.
Finally under control at 245°. The meat is at 169°.
I got's a feelin' it's going to be a short night. That sucker will be ready way too soon.

Any ideas what happened?
No wind to speak of, windbreak in place.

--
Charles

Dave: Open the pod bay doors, Hal.
Hal: I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.
Dave: What's the problem?
Hal: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.
Dave: What are you talking about?
Hal: You're cooking that chicken at 225°. The skin will be rubbery. Bump your heat up to 350° or I won't let you in.
 
Hi Charles, not sure why you got the initial temp spike but the reason it may have continued to climb was while you do release some heat by removing the lid I think you're actually adding more air to the coals and thereby igniting them even more, adding more heat once the lid is replaced. Next time if you've already got the bottom vents all but closed and the temp still rises, at that time you can start closing off the top vent. It's always shut down any temp spikes I've ever had. You should never have to remove any coals ... or at least I didn't think so.
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I'm going to see your buddy Bill Saturday. You want I should say hi for ya?

Rick
 
Hey Rick,
I'll try just closing the top vent next time.

I gotta tell you, this Maverick I got for Christmas is just making my life miserable!
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When I didn't have it, I could sleep all night, I wasn't aware of the temp spikes 'cause I only checked the lid thermometer every hour of so, and everything still turned out fine.

Tonight, I've chased the temps, making 9 adjustments to the vents, and had to get up at 0315 to stir the coals, then again at 0515, when the meat done alarm went off.

Oh, well, we'll see how it tastes. It's resting now in the WSM, with all the vents closed, with 1/4 cup of beef broth to soak in.

Yeah, tell Bill I said "Hi!", and that he still hasn't bought me a bbq sandwich on his trips to Jackson.
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Edit:
Just finished my statistics spreadsheet for this cook:
Total cook time: 12 hrs 8 mins
Actual hrs/lb: 1.12
Average smoker temp from cooklog: 259°
The average smoker temp is skewed, because I was asleep, and therefore not logging, from midnight till 0515.
Also, the meat probe may have been in some fat, because I had the meat alarm set for 188°, and it woke me up registering 195°.

--
Charles

You might be a redneck if...
You’ve ever gotten gas for your lawn mower in an empty bottle of apple juice.
 
First, do not remove lid when temps spike. At 299º I wouldn't close that top vent yet. Close all three vents down. Temp should drop pretty quick.

Where did you go wrong? What were the outside temps and conditions? How many briquettes did you fire up in the chimney?

Basically 273º is not that bad. I believe if you would have left it alone while closing down the bottom grates the temp would have came down. You got too scared at that 273º and made it worse by "dumping that heat".

You need to give every adjustment 15 minutes to see if its working and 30 minutes to see if you need to do more. Its not a gasser, you don't get instant results from your actions.
 
Jon,
When the temp hit 260°, I closed all bottom vents to 10%.
At 276°, I closed them all the way and removed the top for about 10 seconds.
Left them all closed till it coasted down to 236°, (1 hr) then opened 1 20%.
During that time, I began closing the top vent a little at a time, and removed the coals.

Conditiions were:
40°, calm, windbreak in place.
I fired 20 briquettes, and waited till the temp hit 220 to close them to 25%.
I normally close them to 25% at 200°, but it's been taking way too long to come up to cooking temp, so I let it go a little longer this time and it hit 240° after only 1 hr.

Yes, I gave each adjustment 15 - 30 minutes.
 
Just brought it in from holding in the WSM and unwrapped.
Still steaming, plenty of juice/broth.
Flat and point seperated very easily.
3/4" smokering.
Tastes great. Maybe a little hot, but it could have been the sauce.
I'd say everything turned out fine, eh?

--
Charles

You might be a redneck Jedi if...
You were the only person drinking Jack Daniels on the rocks during the cantina scene.
 
During your tempspike did you happen to notice your mid section? Happened to me once, and guess what?
The darn midsection hadn't settled in. It was hard to notice because it was getting dark.

A mid section that is caddy wumpus can make it hotter than you know what!
 
hehehe, I laugh because I started my last cook with a cocked midsection. Noticed it fairly quick, though.
This time, things were put together correctly.
 
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