Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Good, because that's what I brought home. I don't have any experience with lump charcoal but see that several on here use it.

 

No, I've never tried it. I will give it a few runs in the smoker to see how I like it. Worst case scenario, it just becomes grilling briquettes. I'm much less fussy about what I use for a lot of basic grilling, so it'll get used one way or another.

 

I've only used one bag of lump, but it wasn't a quality brand. I found inconsistent sizes and a lot of dust in the bag. It burnt hotter for less duration, and caused pretty big temp swings for me, i.e. Harder to control. I used the rest of the bag to get temps up initially on each cook, but burnt KBB and Stubbs for the duration. It did yield a different flavor, or added to the flavor. The briquettes will be my main heat source in the future.

Buy a bag or two of different brands and test it out.

 

This ^. Gotta keep fckng with it til you find your own mojo. If you think you're wasting money by not getting it *perfect*, you haven't done it long enough. It's all edible, it's all learning, and it's all good.

 

Figuring stuff out, that's part of the fun isn't it?

I liked the flavor from the Stubbs, but it didn't burn as consistent as the KBB. I may buy a few more bags of it for further testing. I did a few cooks with a mix of those two, and really liked the results.

 

Roughly speaking, lump will burn hotter with less ash, but is less consistent (BTUs vary from chunk to chunk) and burns out faster. Briquettes are more consistent and last longer, but don't get quite as hot and have more ash. Briquettes will also usually be cheaper. Lump you can get from various hardwoods (i.e. oak & hickory in your picture) that will add a little bit of smoke flavor that is mostly absent in briquettes.

Good read here: http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/zen_of_charcoal.html

As mentioned above, lump can vary wildly from brand to brand in terms of how good the chunks are. Some have a lazy manufacturing and fulfillment process that results in a ton of charcoal dust in the bottom of the bag and, make no mistake, you're paying for that dust.

If you find you like lump, find a good brand and spend the premium on it. You'll love it. Briquettes are great with a few wood chunks mixed in. You'll find lots of fans of that method, too.

Or, just make yourself a retort, a heat source, and start making your own charcoal, then tell us what bunch of ninnies we are.

 

Used to run Royal Oak. Bags were hit and miss for size consistency, but always got good temp control and long burns from them.

 

This man speaks the truth.

 

Will do. Been a while since I had Blue Bell and I'm a sucker for Dutch chocolate.

 

Dutch chocolate is a great one and the one we mostly get. Occasionally we try some random ones for the sake of trying them, but usually stick with the basics.

 

On another note, I'm hoping to start cranking up the practice regimen for brisket here pretty soon. Going to try and really dial in cooks using a butcher paper wrap and I'm also going to see what all the fuss is about with Butcher's BBQ Prime injection.

 

always meaning to order some butcher paper to try it out too. I used to inject briskets when I did them regularly (years ago). Always just did beef broth. never experimented too much with other injections on brisket. Curious to hear feedback on that injection.

 

Butcher BBQ won Grand Champion at the event we cook in two years ago and was top 10 last year (maybe 5th or so?). Brisket finished high, too.

At the level those guys cook at, you'll be hard pressed to get any hardware on brisket without an injection that contains some moisture retention element (usually phosphates). Sounds kind of like a chemistry experiment, but it's just part of keeping the meat as moist as possible. I've never used anything besides a beef broth type injection, either, so who knows. I'll probably be cooking two briskets side by side at some point, one with Butcher BBQ Prime and one with a standard beef broth injection. Will certainly share the results here.

 

Good info. I understand for comps, you also have to figure in delay time between slicing and judging, and also get that one bite as perfect and flavorful as possible. Backyard Q is less stressful although, someday I'd like to try a comp or two out.

 

You got it. There is cooking and there is competing. We know how to cook badass BBQ. We have a lot to learn about how to compete, though.

I know, sounds like a cop out, but I don't mean it that way. There is a skill to it. If you think about it, when someone comes on here for advice, we rightfully tell them that the meat is done when it is done. Don't rush it and if it is done early, just let it rest longer in the cooler. If it needs longer, push dinner back by half an hour. In competition, your window is 5 minutes wide. Tough to look at a 15 lb brisket, work backwards on timing (including resting, slicing, and placing in the box), then work it just right so it doesn't rest for too long or not long enough.

I could fill two pages of posts with the quirks of competition and we've only done it a few times and were pretty average!

That said, I highly recommend entering a competition if you can. It's fun, stressful, relaxing, enjoyable, frustrating, exciting, and a beating all at once.

 

And don't inject it with phosphates

 

Won't get much argument from me, but, like I said: cooking vs competing

 

Wait, now I was supposed to inject my brisket?

 

No. Not at all. You can, if you want, but you don't have to.

For all intents and purposes, injecting acts as a way to put more flavor in the meat. The meat is the flavor with brisket, as far as I'm concerned, so if I inject it, it is always just a beef bullion or broth. Double-down on the beef flavor.

I'm going to inject in competition because it can be so damn hard to get a slice of brisket to be moist by the time the judge sees it (could take 5+ minutes from when I slice it to when the box gets opened up). Injections that contain phosphates are better at retaining moisture in the meat. It is part of the game, but not something I would deem necessary for backyard cooking. That said, try some injections and see if you think your food tastes better for it. Experimenting is part of the fun!

 

^^^ wut he sed

inject, marinade, slather, coat, smoke...

whatever works best for you injection supposed to help with moisture and flavor. never done a side by side comparison though.