High Heat Brisket

[ALX]

Ever think to have cut that brisky in half and put em in foil pans from start to finish? Could have taken a can of beef broth and split it between the 2 pans, foil @ 160-165 and let em finish up. Just a couple of random thoughts

Many folk do them in pans whole or seperated from start to finish.....I do ribs,brisket,butts in a pan the whole time when i high heat on kettle and get excellent smoke ring....On my WSM i put the drip pan on rack below meat....


I definetly dont want that fat hitting the coals....I made that mistake once and once only....tasted nasty....

[DDave]

If your deflector is going to vaporize fat, how do you think a pan on the second rack would be any different during a high heat smoke?

Because the temp at the lower rack where the foil pan would be sitting (27" from the bottom of the drum) will be much lower than the temp of the deflector which is only 15" from the bottom of the drum. So the fat in the pan should not reach the smoking point. Plus, as I found this morning, my deflector has enough of a grease buildup on it that it should be rustproof for about 500 years. The goo that made its way on the underside is most likely what was smoking .

Moving the deflector up, which I have considered doing, would probably accomplish the same thing.

When I smoked/high heat baked the calzone, the temps directly under the pizza stone were 600*+. At the vent they were 400*. Obviously I was running wide open, but I don't see how a pan would be any different unless it contained additional liquid which, from what I remember of the deflector debate, is counter to what you are trying to accomplish?

At those temps, I don't think you could keep grease from smoking regardless of where you put a pan. The temp where the brisket was was 315°. This was on the lower cook rack. In the future (yes, I MUST try it again) I would shoot for a grate temp of 300° on the top most rack and put a pan under to catch the drippings.

Actually with that setup on a high heat cook, the deflector would probably not be necessary. The pan would keep the fat out of the fire and the deflector just makes the fire have to burn that much harder to get temps up at the cook grate. If you're going for a temp of 300°, I don't think I'd have to worry about temp creep. Plus the foil pan and the brisket itself would interrup the airflow enough I would think.

Just my thoughts on that.

Cool. I enjoy the "theorizing" and discussion.

Regarding what I think the purpose of a deflector plate is: Keep fat from dripping on the coals and hence burning, the ONLY way you can avoid that would be to drain it out the side, right?

The purpose of the deflector to me is two-fold. One is to interrupt the vertical updraft of air that happens when you lift the lid causing the temps to creep up out of control. This helps me keep the drum in "the zone" (225° to 250°) when smoking.

The other purpose is to keep SOME of the fat from dripping into the coals and causing that overpowering burning fat smoke smell. Fat does not really "pool" on my deflector to where a drain would work.



A good coating does build up on it though over time. But aside from that the other way to keep the fat from burning is to raise the deflector up farther away from the fire thus keeping the temp of the plate below the smoke point. It will likely still sizzle but not roll white smoke.

What am I missing on the deflector?

It's purpose may be different for different people. For me, interrupting the air flow for "normal" temp smokes and keeping most of the fat out of the fire. For shorter cooks such as tri tip or chicken, I don't use it because the amount of time that the fat is dripping into the fire doesn't really seem to cause a taste issue. Even with ribs, I don't think it would be terribly bad but in that situation, the airflow/control aspect is helpful. But on longer cooks like butts and briskets, it really helps with the burnt smoke fat taste. Unless of course, it gets rockin' hot and makes the fat that is on it smoke.

A drain would be super easy to do. If you simply bored a hole in the side of the UDS at the desired height, then welded a pipe nipple to it, much like the air intake, then found a pipe that would fit exactly inside of that attached to your slanted, solid deflector, you could almost have an air tight deflector....except for the size of the drain pipe.

Way too complicated for those of us who can't weld. And really not necessary I would think depending on how high above the fire the deflector is.

Like I said, now that me and Keith are in the UDS business, I'm trying to learn and understand if deflectors are worth the trouble, or if placing a cheap foil pan on the lower rack to catch the drippings solves the problem.

If you don't have a problem with the temps creeping up on you and your primary purpose is to keep fat out of the fire, a foil pan would probably do the trick. But the deflector does a nice job of evening out temps across the grate as well.

Hope this all makes sense.

Dave

[DDave]

Ever think to have cut that brisky in half and put em in foil pans from start to finish? Could have taken a can of beef broth and split it between the 2 pans, foil @ 160-165 and let em finish up. Just a couple of random thoughts

I've thought about doing them in pans before. Never tried yet though.

I usually pan and cover them at 165° but the surface of this one looked so moist at 160° I figured I'd try it without foiling. (Oops)

I definetly dont want that fat hitting the coals....I made that mistake once and once only....tasted nasty....

Yup.

Dave

[ALX]

I see guys in comps all the time who use the UDS and when they have 3-4 butts on i just shake my head.....the drums are hissing and producing this weird cloud....

It's obviously not an issue if grilling leaner meats on a kettle(hamburgers,hot dogs) etc.......But...dang.....a piece of meat that has a lot of fat to render out like a brisket or butt..whether it be low and slow or high heat..

IMO.....I would try same technique with fat cap down in a foil pan the whole time....Its worked for me many times....If need be drain off some of the drippings before foiling and add something like beef broth.....you can take it out of pan at end and tighten her up nicely naked...

[Fishawn]

Pan below. I learned me lesson. Beef fat fires while smoking cockspatched chicken was not good.

[Richtee]

Got my thinkin' cap on Dave... Hmmm... we can whip it!

[DDave]

the drums are hissing and producing this weird cloud....

Tried to "no foil" a couple of butts before I started using the deflector. Weird cloud no smell good.

IMO.....I would try same technique with fat cap down in a foil pan the whole time....Its worked for me many times....If need be drain off some of the drippings before foiling and add something like beef broth.....you can take it out of pan at end and tighten her up nicely naked...

Sounds like a plan.

Pan below. I learned me lesson. Beef fat fires while smoking cockspatched chicken was not good.

Always half tempted to let it burn out. Clean it out nice and good. But it seems to make the seasoning flake off and makes a big mess in the drum.

Got my thinkin' cap on Dave... Hmmm... we can whip it!

Hell yeah.

Dave

[Squirrel]

Damn it all to hell man. I just started reading this thread from start to finish and I feel worse than when I dropped me ice cream cone at the zoo.

for taking one for the team brutha, it sure looked pretty, nice smoke ring and all.

[Richtee]

Damn it all to hell man. I just started reading this thread from start to finish and I feel worse than when I dropped me ice cream cone at the zoo.

Did everyone do that or what? Damn... then the camel spit at me. Ain't been back since.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xKLBne1CoI

[Kingudaroad]

Sorry about the loss Dave. I do briskets in the drum with a deflector all the time up at the deer camp. I think the drum does them faster anyway, than an offset.

I truly believe if you had foiled at the 160-165 mark, it would have made all the difference. Also, large brisket means old cow. Maybe that played a part.

[sweet_magnolia]

Bummer, Dave!

[Rio_Grande]

Tried my first high temp brisket last week and had similar results. Mine tasted ok, but was dry. I wasn't pleased, we chopped it up and it will become eg rolls tomorrow!

[FishDaddy09]

Truely a bummer Dave. It was sooo purdy too.