Food Smokers and Smoking Tips/Tricks/Techniques

Conveniently, Costco sells those too.

 

And old wore out bladder.

 

It wasn't quite as hot or quite as fast as I wanted, but I got it done.

To take it from the top:

1. Trimmed the night before. Not aggressive, but I got a lot of the 'big' stuff removed. For the fat cap, where I didn't spend too much time getting the trim just right, I scored it, careful not to get down in to the meat.

2. Then I injected it with Butcher's BBQ Prime Dust. More on that in response to @wilcam47 's post, but it needs to be injected 12 hours ahead of time, per the instructions.

3. I also rubbed it the night before. I don't think it matters much if you put the rub on overnight or just before, but I usually prefer to do it about 30 minutes prior to putting it on the smoker. That said, if I am trying to buy myself some time, I'll do it the night before. Without getting too far in to the details, the rub is a pepper & salt base (pepper being the leader of the two), with some other spices added (garlic, onion, and beyond ).

4. Morning of, the UDS was already loaded with charcoal, peach wood, oak wood from a spent bourbon barrel, and a little mesquite. Target temp was 300*, but with the load and the crazy wind, I got to 275* and called it good.

5. Cooked at ~275* for about 5 1/2 hours (?) unwrapped. As I was working on getting the pork belly in and such I wrapped the briskets in butcher paper. Sidebar: The butcher paper wrap does affect the bark some, but doesn't kill it altogether and the moisture retained nearer the surface of the meat is undeniable.

6. Cooked at ~275* for another 2 hours for one and 2 1/2 hours for the other. These were both about 13 lb briskets and similar thickness, they just didn't have similar plans for when they'd be done . Internal temps, I'm not really sure, but they were buttery smooth in the thick of the flat. Probably just shy of 200*, though? For both of them, when I pulled, I wrapped in foil, then threw back in the smoker for 5-10 minutes to get some heat to carry to the Cambro as I was looking at about a 3 hour rest and the butcher paper doesn't hold as much heat in, so they were starting as if they were partially vented.

7. 3 hours of rest, slice against the grain, and boom!

Thanks! It really turned out good. I love cooking for events, but sometimes hate watching all that good food go on someone else's plate .

I do stand by the brisket guide in my sig for an excellent, easy to follow, right-for-all-levels-of-experience option, but my cook method has morphed slightly. I am a pretty big proponent of the butcher paper wrap, now.

I'm starting to change my thoughts on the injection, too. In the past, I only really used it for competition, but never really bothered for personal cooks or cooking for events. I won't say it is necessary for an excellent brisket at all, but I'm less on the fence about whether it is even worth using in the first place. That Prime Dust just tastes like beef. It isn't any further flavoring or anything (unlike, say, the poultry injection they sell), so the meat just becomes a beef explosion with the bark carrying your preferred tweak/enhancement to the pure beef flavor. I mix that injection to a level that is slightly more diluted than the instructions call for (2 1/4 scoops vs 3 full scoops).

 

Very nice. I've been contemplating that prime dust. May have to try it one

 

A question. I don't have any butcher paper. Will parchment work?

 

How many of you guys use pellet grills/smoker and how many of you use traditional Charcoal Either lump or kingsford type?

 

If it is unwaxed parchment paper, it should be fine, but parchment paper doesn't breath as well as butcher paper. My hunch is that it would be more akin to using aluminum foil than using butcher paper.

I'll find you a link, but you can get the stuff on Amazon. Not too expensive and a roll lasts for a LOT of cooks!

 

Kingsford guy, here!

 

OK Joe's Offset, Reverse Flow for $250 - Would be my first stick burner.

Yes because...

No because...

Thank you

 

So you enjoy the taste of glue?

 

Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought parchment paper was silicone impregnated, which gives the non-stick characteristic. I don't think it'd work at all the same and would avoid using it to wrap.

Looks like butcher paper is easily available on Amazon.

 

I absolutely love it. When I do pork shoulder, I cover it in Elmer's glue to make the BBQ rub bind better.

 

Pancetta has been in the curing chamber since 3/23/18 (23 days). I wanted to have a look to see if any bad molds were developing so I unwrapped it to have a look and there was nothing negative going on. Since it was unwrapped I did wipe down with vinegar and then wrapped in fresh cheese cloth and trussed. Its now back in the curing chamber.


Freshly unwrapped and modeling for the camera:




View of the top side as its hanged in the curing chamber




View off the seam/overlap where the belly was rolled up originally




View of the bottom side as its hanged in the chamber. I can't wait to cut into this and see the meat/fat swirl pattern.




It looks great and smells even better and loosing weight nicely:

3/24/18 = 1774g
4/1/18 = 1630g
4/7/18 = 1579g
4/12/18 =1547g
4/15/18 =1530g

Target weight is 1,068 grams or a 40% reduction in weight from when originally hanged in the curing chamber.

 

Good cause your eating in the Kingsford

 

I order my

I just got my second 200lb load of lump for 2018.

 

Oh that's right you read it on the internet. Therefore it is true....

 

You know what glue tastes like??

 

Isn't everything on the 'net true??