I have painted myself into a brisket corner-please advise

[ButtBurner]

it should close

but some will say run with the door open

pics would help

 

[JohnnyB]

Aaron Franklin swears his very successful business by leaving the FB door WIDE open. The draft is all that matters, long as you don't have smoke pouring out, you're good to go.

 

[Royalslover]

Holy moly, I've having trouble with my maverick so I went out to check on things. It was up over 400 with the door propped shut and all four vents open. Way too much smoke also. About how many splits do you typically have on at a time- I know this can vary greatly. I'm trying to load pics but it won't let me.

 

[JohnnyB]

It varies by cooker. My friend has a 250 gal that he puts a forearm thick X 12" length on every 45 min or so. Mine I put a wrist thick X 6-8" every half hour to 45 min. Did you let it even out before you put meat on? Mine takes about an hour to get a good bed, beautiful clean smoke, and the whole unit up to an even temp.

 

[ButtBurner]

let your fire burn down some, then put 1 pre heated split on at a time

and watch it. don't rely on the maverick

and I would not go by what Aaron Franklin does, his pits are totally different

 

[Skip]

OK I am doing my first dry run today. This is my first stick burn and I am pumped. The smoker is a Lang. I am experimenting and will eventually figure this out but is the fire box door supposed to be open? It has four daisy wheels and the door won't shut quite right. It just seems like an awful lot of heat is getting lost out the door.

The natural draft created will mitigate the loss of heat. Since the door is your intake the draft will pull the heat in not let it escape. The only errant heat you feel is the radiant heat from the steel. Many stick burners run their firebox door open. There is a recent thread that addresses this issue specifically. Trying to remember the name. I think it was something like air flow = clean fire or something like that.

 

[pjtexas1]

let your fire burn down some, then put 1 pre heated split on at a time

and watch it. don't rely on the maverick

and I would not go by what Aaron Franklin does, his pits are totally different

I agree. I start with a bed of lump and 2 or 3 sticks depending on size. Once I start seeing tbs that's when I start worrying about temps in the main chamber. Usually then only have to ad 1 normal size split every 45-60 minutes or 2 smaller ones. If I want to go longer and don't care about a temp spike will add a more.

 

[Skip]

let your fire burn down some, then put 1 pre heated split on at a time

and watch it. don't rely on the maverick

and I would not go by what Aaron Franklin does, his pits are totally different

Note the preheated comment. This will allow your splits to ignite clean rather than go through the initial off gas of the moisture which can dirty the fire.

 

[Royalslover]

OK you guys are life savers, I will definitely preheat the splits.

 

[Skip]

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=213178&highlight=air+flow

Here is the thread I spoke of. Hope it helps a little.

In reference to pre heating the splits I have seen most just lay them up on top of the firebox.

 

[ButtBurner]

if that lang as a warmer just lay the splits in the bottom of it

you can put more in there too on the other shelves just rotate and feed from the warmer floor

 

[Wager]

if you had a food saver this would be my process...
- Cook the briskets when ever in advance of the party.
- after the cook let them rest as you normally would
- slice just as you are serving them
- pack slices in foodsaver bags with either the juices saved from the foiling stage or some beef broth.
- freeze (if more than a couple of days) or refridgerate
- the day of the party boil the freezer bags of brisket as needed and serve piping hot with au jus.

I've done this a bunch and the brisket comes out of the bags just like it came off the smoker minutes before. there is no loss in quality that I can tell.

 

[Royalslover]

if you had a food saver this would be my process...
- Cook the briskets when ever in advance of the party.
- after the cook let them rest as you normally would
- slice just as you are serving them
- pack slices in foodsaver bags with either the juices saved from the foiling stage or some beef broth.
- freeze (if more than a couple of days) or refridgerate
- the day of the party boil the freezer bags of brisket as needed and serve piping hot with au jus.

I've done this a bunch and the brisket comes out of the bags just like it came off the smoker minutes before. there is no loss in quality that I can tell.

this is what I'm leaning towards doing. I borrowed a food saver. I am still thinking about maybe cooking the day of the event depending on how my dry runs go. I know there is more risk this way though and so I'll probably cook ahead and bag it.

 

[ButtBurner]

man don't go that route now!!

you are all lined up with the stickburner

commit yourself man!!

don't be wishy washy about it

how is your fire now?

 

[Royalslover]

LOL I have learned a lesson already. DON'T let your fire go down to far. I'm down around 200 or so but coming back slowly. I'm telling you, a lot of draft comes out the fire box door. I wonder if that is because it is a reverse flow and the draft has so much further to go than in a straight offset.

 

[Mikhail]

While I am famous for my wife telling me she has told me things that I do not know, she has not yet heeded my admonition that if I am not looking directly at her I did not hear it. The fact that she enters a room where I am doing something else and starts telling me things virtually guarantees transmission failure.

That said, I think it revolves, as was said above, on the quality of the end product. Your friend is expecting the meat you have done so many times, and it is going to be different on a vastly different grill and scale. I'd just say I thought about it and don't think I could produce that quantity and be sure of the quality.

The last thing you want to do is embarrass your friend who has built up expectations.

How much CAN you produce with your present equipment? You might say you'll be glad to do that, but that's the limit. Then he can supplement with chicken or sausage or something.

 

[Mikhail]

Oh, never mind! You are well on your way... carry on and I hope it turns out fantastic. :thumb:

 

[Coach_Bones]

I wish you lived near DFW, I would have loved to put a couple of extra briskets on smoke and deliver to help you out.
That being said, you have to go with the order of
1.God
2.Family
3.BBQ, or "whatever your hobby might be"

 

[Mikhail]

Well, to be fair BBQ is much more than a hobby. a hobsession perhaps.

 

[Royalslover]

I wish you lived near DFW, I would have loved to put a couple of extra briskets on smoke and deliver to help you out.
That being said, you have to go with the order of
1.God
2.Family
3.BBQ, or "whatever your hobby might be"

I wish so too. Ironically my house guests are from DFW(St Paul). I can't wait to try this brisket to see how much difference there is between it and my regular product.