Need a little advice

[Voch]

My first project on my smoker is going to be a 9 lbs. brisket. I have a few Texas style rubs I need to pick from but the biggest challenge I have is my temp guage says WARM-IDEAL-HOT. The replacement gauge is on the way so I know what the smoker is really at but any help advice I can get will be great. Don't worry I will be posting the pics when I do it. the fight with the smoker is on Saterday i know it is going to be an all day project. I have a BRINKMAN SMOKE'N GRILL it is my first smoker so it is a little guy.

[texokie]

Not sure what kind a smoker ya got, but my first impression would be between Warm & Ideal.......Low & Slow, and leave the fat back up, so that the fat juices will run thru the meat to keep it juicy and tender. By cooking a brisket low & slow, it will allow the connective tissue in the thicker part of the brisket to soften, and become fall apart brisket whenever ya slice it.

Good Luck, holler back if ya need more ideas :)

[gooose53]

As far as temp gauges - I use a oil temp gauge in a pinch. Works fine....in fact my big smokers gauge wasn't working so I unscrewed it and put the oil temp gauge in and it worked just fine. Not sure why you would pick a brisket as your first cook though....I would have smoked a butt, much more forgiving even if things don't go as planned you can still eat it. Good luck though in any case!!

[Richtee]

Jumpin' right in with a brisket eh? Woo!

You should go buy yourself a digital thermo, yer gonna need one anyway... it CAN do double duty...use for the pit till the meat heats up, then into the meat for internal temps. You SHOULD wait till the meat's surface temps hit 140° to insert the thermo, and for pit temps, insert the probe thru a potato hunk, making sure the last 1.5 or so inches is out the other side.

[jbchoice1]

going right to the top huh... it's not really that hard to do... lots of tending to the fire... if you get stuck, feel free to ask.. lots of people here to help...

[Texas-Hunter]

Voch, also since this is your new smoker you may want to log a few smokes... This is a XL Flow chart I made... It really helps guys and gals that are getting into smoking.. You can see it here and download it for free HERE

[Walking Dude]

get yourself a Maverick Redi-Chek ET-73 dual probe digi thermo. One probe is for the smoker temps, and the other, you insert into the meat. PLUS, its wireless. You can go in the house, and still monitor both temps !

[Fishawn]

Keep us posted...My first smoke was a brisket also, it turned out great & I have yet to screw one up. Not sure why people are intimidated by them.

Are you going to foil it?

[thepoolguy]

I Lost mine to a briskett also lol...... Nothing wrong with that, just as everyone says low and slow, low and slow, you do need to know your temps though, you can go down to your local grocer and pick up an instant read thermometer(cheep) until yours comes in.

Good luck, theres a lot of experienced gals and guys here and a lot of em are on line all the time... ( It's addicting), so don't be shy to ask questions even if you feel they are on the dumb side

[DDave]

You should go buy yourself a digital thermo, yer gonna need one anyway... it CAN do double duty...use for the pit till the meat heats up, then into the meat for internal temps. You SHOULD wait till the meat's surface temps hit 140° to insert the thermo, and for pit temps, insert the probe thru a potato hunk, making sure the last 1.5 or so inches is out the other side.

Do what Rich said.

I have a Brinkmann Smoke N Pit and IDEAL is about 325° -- sometimes --according to the digitals that I use. The stock thermo is junk and not very consistent nor repeatable from one time to the next.. You can get a replacement from Brinkmann for $3 which tells you that even they aren't very proud of them.

I would wait to do the smoke until I had a reliable thermometer. You don't want to ruin a good piece of meat.

Dave

[Capt Dan]

At your local big box store , you can buy an oven therm, 3-5 bucks. Set it on the grate next to the meat. Check it and compair to the POS dial them on your pit. Try and figure out where the crap dial needs to be when the oven therm is at 250. Lotsa of folks swear by low and slow for brisket. I do them at 250-270 every time I do them. I really don't think it makes any difference except for time. If you feel that you wanna cook that piece of meat for 12-15 hrs, thats fine.I do packers all the time at 250-270 in 9-10 hrs.

I would put them up against anyones.

[Texas-Hunter]

At your local big box store , you can buy an oven therm, 3-5 bucks. Set it on the grate next to the meat. Check it and compair to the POS dial them on your pit. Try and figure out where the crap dial needs to be when the oven therm is at 250. Lotsa of folks swear by low ans slow for brisket. I do them at 250-270 every time I do them. I rwally don't think it makes any difference except for time. If you feel that you wanna cook that piece of meat for 12-15 hrs, thats fine.I do packers all the time at 250-270 in 9-10 hrs.

I would put them up against anyones.

Yes sir I agree, That way you dont have to wait week to 10 days to get a good remote...Points Dan

[rph7307]

Distractions are the biggest problem.....

I started out trusting the POS therm mentioned above and realized fairly quickly that it was a lying POS. Went to a couple of taylor digitals, one for the meat, one for the smoker, and things improved tremendously. Problem is even with good sensors you still need to keep a close eye on it cause a couple hours at the wrong temp and you've got a brick. I've decided that from now on if I am going to smoke I am setting up shop in my man-cave, i.e. cigars, beers, and tunes or ball-game and not moving for as long as it takes. I might have to step away for a second to sign the divorce papers but all good BBQ requires sacrifice!