First Drum Brisket

[DDave]

Taking a vacation day tomorrow to do some smoking. Got a 10.5 pound packer that's going on the drum at about midnight. Going to try and do some burnt ends from the point and slice up the flat.



Here it is all rubbed and ready to rest in the fridge for awhile.



Figure I'll light the chimney about 11, let the drum warm up and get 'er dialed in and put the brisket on at around midnight. If things are going smoothly tomorrow, I may fire up the SnP and do some ABTs, Armadillo Eggs, and MOINK Balls for some lunch time snacks for the guys at work.

Should be fun to have both smokers going at once. :biggrin:

More later.

Dave

[Kingudaroad]

Lookin sweet DDAVE!! Man them briskets take a long time.

[DDave]

Man them briskets take a long time.

Ah yes . . . but they're sooo worth it!

Well, time to go light some charcoal.

Dave

[Bbqgoddess]

Awesome Dave! Are you searing it before you put it on?
Mine was a beast... I have yet to post the final photos, cuz frankly they take a lot out of ya when you smoke one!
Brave to you and I can't wait to see your fianle!!
Smoke ON!!!

[DDave]

Are you searing it before you put it on?

No searing although I am going to have to do one that way one of these days.

Dave

[DDave]

My brisket is on. Went on at 12:15. Filled the charcoal basket with 18 pounds of Royal Oak because . . . I wanted to see how long a full load will go. Got some hickory and cherry wood in there also.



Lit 10 briquettes in the chimney.



Let 'em ash over, dumped them in the basket and let the drum warm up. When it was ready, I put the brisket on. Here it is in its bed for the night. (I moved the probe after I took the picture. )



Letting the drum settle in and then I think I'll grab some shuteye.

Dave

[irishteabear]

Looking good Dave. You're off to a good start. How's it coming along?

[Richtee]

Morning Dave! How goes it?

[DDave]

Stuck a temp probe in it at 6:15 (6 hours in) and it's at 166.



Haven't decided whether to foil or not. It still looks pretty moist. I'll give it a bit longer then take another look. May just start mopping it.

Dave

[wutang]

Looks great so far. Can't wait to see it finished up.

[Bbq Bubba]

Stuck a temp probe in it at 6:15 (6 hours in) and it's at 166.

Haven't decided whether to foil or not. It still looks pretty moist. I'll give it a bit longer then take another look. May just start mopping it.

Dave

Close the lid and walk away.

No mop, no spritz, just let it do it's thing.

You will be rewarded!

[Texas-Hunter]

I dont own a drum, nor am I a drum expert.. But is 18lbs. of charcoal a bit much?? I thought the drums were efficient... and you would not need that much...

[sweet_magnolia]

Will it be ready for my lunch today?

[BigRedQ]

I dont own a drum, nor am I a drum expert.. But is 18lbs. of charcoal a bit much?? I thought the drums were efficient... and you would not need that much...

Good question Ken. I for one am going to be building a couple very soon. I've often thought that it would be great if someone one of these DRUM HEADS would do a tutorial on just how to cook with a UDS.


Oh yeah, That Brisket looks great, looking forward to your progress when you wake up.

[DDave]

Close the lid and walk away.

No mop, no spritz, just let it do it's thing.

You will be rewarded!

Sounds good. I noticed at last mop the rub was still "slidy" so it doesn't need any mop anyway.

I dont own a drum, nor am I a drum expert.. But is 18lbs. of charcoal a bit much?? I thought the drums were efficient... and you would not need that much...

You're absolutely right. 18 lbs should be WAY too much for a 10.5 lb brisket. But I am curious to see how long a full basket load will last and if it will keep going and allow the ash to work its way down through the pile or snuff out.

I'm also trying to prove a point. My FIL and BILs use "barrel cookers" as they call them but they are basically a drum open on both ends. They light a full bag of Kingsford on an upside down disc plate, set the barrel over that (propped up on the bottom for air flow) and places the lid on top -- again propped up for airflow. They get about 3 hours of burn time - plenty of time for chicken and tri-tips that they do. They have no idea nor do they care what temp the inside of the barrel is. They run into a problem when they do something big like a turkey and have to reload. I told them if you build it like a UDS with a charcoal basket and control the airflow, you can get 6 to 8 hours easy on a bag of charcoal. Well, they didn't really believe that so I am curious to see how long this burn will last. After the brisket is done I am going to open up the valves a bit to get the temp to 350 - 375 (oven roasting temp) and see how long the fuel lasts. I will probably also do the burnt ends on the drum this way. (Wow, that was long-winded.)

Dave