I just got my KBQ. I have oak wood for fuel. I have been tasked with making a brisket for friends and family. Normally I would toss it in the pellet grill, do an overnight and have pretty good results. I have no idea on poppet positions, it's totally new to me. I am only going to cook 6-8 hours in the KBQ to infuse with smoke and would like to get a full nights sleep by tossing it in a warm oven or the pellet smoker. Any help would be appreciated. Looking to kick off football season in style.
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Congratulations and welcome to the pit! I would run it with the bottom poppet wide open for that good clean smoke. The top poppet can be adjusted to to get a stronger smoke profile. I generally follow this rule - long cooks bottom wide open and top closed or partially open; short cooks both poppets wide open to get more smoke quickly.
If you were cooking the brisket for the entire time on the KBQ I would probably keep the top poppet closed (or only open for the first couple of hours to get more smoke) but since you are doing only half the cook on the KBQ you might want to keep it open 1/4 to 1/2 of the way. Keep a notebook of your cooks - through trial and error you will learn how to get the right smoke profile on various meats for your taste.
As an additional note: some people have complained that there wasn't enough smoke flavor when using the KBQ but since you have to tend the fire (think smoke blowing in your face constantly) every 20-40 minutes your senses can get smoke overload and food will taste less smokey. Usually the smoke tastes stronger after you clean up and wait for a few hours. Holding larger meats for several hours in a cooler before you serve it will let your senses recover and will let the juices in the meat redistribute evenly: Most people hold briskets for at least two hours and often overnight wrapped in several towels and placed in a cooler.
I haven't cooked very many briskets on the KBQ but I think Spinaker has, maybe he will chime in. The KBQ is a convection oven so the brisket may cook faster than on other cookers - similar to a pellet grill.Last edited by 58limited; September 4, 2024, 02:28 AM.-
Oh, I added you to the KBQ roll call - #143 https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...30#post1130230 -
while I don't have a KBQ, I do completely agree with your comments smoke overload. Even on mine, especially the Hasty-Bake, I get smoke overload. That happens the least on the WSM since it is extremely set it and forget it. The more I'm tending the fire, the more smoke insensitive I get. Aside from that, you absolutely should hold a brisket for AT LEAST 2 hours. I typically do more like 4. Wrapped in towels/cooler or just paper wrapped and 170F oven. Both work great.
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Additional resource: Member BBQ_Bill has several KBQs and runs a BBQ restaurant with them. He posted a good guide to cooking brisket on the KBQ: https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...815#post587815Comment
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Welcome to the Pit!Comment
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Welcome from Nebraska!
Let the info flow!
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Welcome from Cincy Ohio! Pics would be great.Comment
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Welcome! You've got a heckuva cooker there with the KBQ. Enjoy your cook. Let us know how it turns out!
KathrynComment
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I would not worry about the poppets. I run mine wide open pretty much all the time. The smoke is so clean, that even if you run it with just the top poppet open, you would be fine. Especially with brisket.
Also, cooking on the KBQ is a little different in terms of cook time. I routinely cook a brisket in 5-6 hours with out fail. (Cooking at an average of about 275 F) The KBQ is basically a wood fired convection oven. So she cooks fast! If you separate the point from the flat, it will cook even faster! Just remember to keep the coal bed thick and stoked and you will do just fine. Once you get it to about 185 F, or you have the color you like, wrap it and then finish it to your desired temp, then throw it in a faux cambro or a warm oven and get some sleep.
Enjoy the aroma, have fun, your guests will love the flavor you bring them. Best of luck to you.Comment
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Welcome to the Pit from the Florida Suncoast. Best of luck with your brisket. You’ve gotten some great advice up above, now knock it out of the park.Comment
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Wow, thanks for the awesome welcome. I intend to cook on the KBQ up to the stall, wrap and then finish off in the pellet grill while I sleep. I know this is cheating...lol. I like my sleep. I have an accurate leave-in probe to wake me at 200 degrees. After cooling to 150, I intend to hold it at 150 until game time. I remember seeing Frankin say in one of his master classes that once the meat is wrapped it doesn't really matter what the heat source is as long as you maintain temp. I haven't had good luck on briskets without wrapping on other cookers. It is such a long cook that I end up with tough thick bark and dry brisket.Comment
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Welcome to The Pit.
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Yeah, once it is wrapped, the heat source does not matter. Dry brisket has much more to do with the quality of brisket you buy, rather than how you cook it. However, here is a little trick I use when I have a tough brisket.......
Save the juices from the foil, wait to slice the meat until right before you serve it, then drizzle the juices from the foil over your slices. This is a great way to add some moisture and fat back to those slices. (This is another reason I use foil over the ever popular butcher paper) It also adds a boost of flavor back to the meat.
Welcome to the Pitmaster Club and the KBQ family.Comment
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Everybody has given you great advice and Dr. Pepper is spot on regarding the heat source once it is wrapped. One thing I would point out is that your oak wood is seasoned, right? Kiln dried wood (like your pellets for your pellet smoker) does not offer as much smoke flavor as seasoned wood. If you are using kiln dried wood, keep this in mind when you follow the advice above and then wonder why you did not get as much smoke flavor as you anticipated. FWIW......Comment
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J-Melt Yes, if they're kiln dried. Kiln dried does not have as much moisture in the wood as seasoned. Kiln dried is roughly around 8-9% moisture, while seasoned is from 18-22%. In CA, when you buy a bag of B&B Post Oak that you buy at ACE, it will say that it is kiln dried. But again, if you are happy with your wood chunks, then who cares.
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Welcome from California, and congrats on the new KBQ. I’ve been dreaming of one for several years.
Lots of great advice above…I’ll just add one thing.
As someone who also likes to sleep I started cooking brisket earlier. If I’m serving lunch on Sunday for a game I’ll start it Saturday night and plan to finish before midnight. I toss the wrapped brisket in the warm oven, hit the shower, and get some real sleep.
12 hour holds are no problem…your guests will eat great barbecue, and you won’t fall asleep during the game!
Be sure to share your cook - with photos! We love seeing and hearing about how everything went!Comment
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