Over Night Brisket

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The wood is not green. It is over a year old. That said, the pcs were a bit bigger that fist size. I take a split log about 14"-16" long and cut it into 3-4 pcs.

On this burn there was more wood than I would normally use plus the stave. All pcs of wood were likley burning at the same time. :(

I will try smaller pcs buried a little better amongst the lump next time.
 
Also, look closely at your lump when you load up. Even the best brands can have a piece of uncarbonized or sappy wood, a chunk that's all bark, I've even seen something like a tar ball. Any of that can make some nasty and bitter smoke.
 
oompappy said:
Also, look closely at your lump when you load up. Even the best brands can have a piece of uncarbonized or sappy wood, a chunk that's all bark, I've even seen something like a tar ball. Any of that can make some nasty and bitter smoke.
Those chunks of bark get me in the offset...
 
Cliff H. said:
The meat was very black and what I would call over smoked.

It proably was oversmoked. Small fireboxes in bullets and small offsets are really unforgiving. It's easy to oversmoke. They're also unforgiving in terms of wood quality. Besides the terrors everyone else talked about, there's the possibility of mold in the wood.

Tough black bark sounds like too much heat.

Anything at all wrong with the wood will produce the results you described, but my bet is you hit a big sappy spot in one of the pieces of wood that for one reason or another hadn't dried out -- and you got a temperature spike plus a big ol' plume of white smoke while you weren't looking.

The remedy is to stop adding wood at the projected half way point of the cook, or when the meat hits an internal of 140 -- whichever is the more convenient measurement, or to mix the chunk into the top layer of charcoal only (if going Minion on a WSM), or foil the wood to prevent it from bursting into flame, spiking the temp, and burning sour, or even to go with foiled packets of wood chips -- noob fashion.

FWIW, pork is the most forgiving meat. This kind of FUBAR isn't all that rare with brisket, especially with a small firebox.

Confused yet?
 
Since I'm planning on making my first smoke this weekend with a WSM, I'm curious as to everyone's opinion on how many wood chunks to use and where they should be placed in the charcoal ring with the lump??

I would like to avoid the problems that have been described here. :shock:
 
I fill my charcoal ring about 1/3 the way and take 3 (or 4 depending on the the size) and twist em in until they hit the bottom layer of coals ....standing on end. Then fill the rest of the ring, and make a little "dent" in the charcoal for the Minion Method coals to sit in.

PantherTailgater said:
Since I'm planning on making my first smoke this weekend with a WSM, I'm curious as to everyone's opinion on how many wood chunks to use and where they should be placed in the charcoal ring with the lump??

You gotta select the lump pieces and pack them into the ring so it won't get away from you. I do the same as above with lump.... pack it and twist in the chunks cut ends up....so they're 4-5 inches away from each other.

Not saying it's the right way, but that's what I do.
 
ScottyDaQ said:
I fill my charcoal ring about 1/3 the way and take 3 (or 4 depending on the the size) and twist em in until they hit the bottom layer of coals ....standing on end. Then fill the rest of the ring, and make a little "dent" in the charcoal for the Minion Method coals to sit in.

PantherTailgater said:
Since I'm planning on making my first smoke this weekend with a WSM, I'm curious as to everyone's opinion on how many wood chunks to use and where they should be placed in the charcoal ring with the lump??

You gotta select the lump pieces and pack them into the ring so it won't get away from you. I do the same as above with lump.... pack it and twist in the chunks cut ends up....so they're 4-5 inches away from each other.

Not saying it's the right way, but that's what I do.

Scotty,
Thanks for the recommendations. I'm looking forward to taking the new WSM out for a spin the weekend! :D Hope the CharGriller doesn't get jealous!
 
I fill my charcoal ring and make a hole in the center and add a good size chunk there and spoon my lit coals directly ontop of the chunk for instant smoke on the cold meat. I will scatter 3-4 more throughout the top of the charcoal, but push them down just a bit.
 
brian j said:
that's what i love about this country... everyone is different! i fill my ring with lump until i can't fit any more. then i pour ~ 1/3 of a chimney of lit lump on top before putting 3 or 4 fist size pieces of smoking wood on top. of course all this should be discounted because i close my top vent a 1/4 or so when it comes up to temp. :LOL:

[smilie=a_whyme.gif]
 
I pack the lump around a coffe can and then place the chunks like spokes on a wheel from the center and then dump and a whole chimney of lit lump in the middle...
 
D.Harris said:
Cliff, was that your first time using one of the barrel staves? Might try burning one on a small grill just to test, to see how it reacts. Just a thought.

I have used them before but I may give that a try anyhow. Thanks.
 
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