Baptism of Smoke for layman

[holehogg]

Gooday

Purchased a chunk of "Brisket" from a butcher today the piece still has the bone in weighing 3Kg or 6.6 pounds. Not yet familiar with certain cuts but having read and reread Meatheads BBQ Beef Brisket Texas Style, concluded it has the flat and the smallest section of point.
So… I have only ever smoked once before and that in my custom built smoker. Monday will be a baptism of smoke using the Brisket. As a layman I am diving deep end and cooking pork ribs and a spatchcock chicken (skin off?) at the same time. I need advice and any other help that doesn’t require you to fly out here and assist.
Do I need to remove the bone?
How much time will each meat need in the smoker?
THX

[Spinaker]

I am not totally sure what cut you have there. That being said, I would remove the bone from the meat. It will cook much more evenly. I would also trim down that fat cap. Maybe leave about a 1/4" of fat on the meat.

As for the chicken, I would absolutely leave the skin on. You can go low and slow on the chicken, then sear it over a hot grill. otherwise, I would cook them hot and fast. The chicken can take hours if cooked low and slow, but hot and fast, it will take about 45 mins. I would opt for the second.

For the ribs, you can make them at the same time you are cooking the brisket. They should take between 3 and 5 hours. I would lean more towards 5 hours. But make sure you do the bend test or check for tenderness. Cooking by time is not a good idea. Cook to tenderness.

[holehogg]

I will be cooking low and slow. This is the start of test cooks to make sure the smoker is behaving and how the chef should. Will be making notes as advised on this site. I plan to start at about 8 AM in the hope that the cook will be done by around 4 PM. I will be using a thermometer and not time as my guide.

[randy.56]

I've only cooked 20 or so briskets. There are a lot of online YouTube video's, on how to trim a brisket. Look at the one by Malcolm Reed. It normally takes 2 hours for brisket to reach 160 at 225. Then wrap in foil, put it back on, till temp reaches 195 to 203, save a jue . some are thicker than others, may take 12 hours.

[holehogg]

Thanks will check the video. I do have some experience deboning meat and fish.

[hoovarmin]

You swing for the fence, I see! Good luck with it and post pics

[Troutman]

Good luck mate, you’re definitely entering the deep end as you say. Read Meatheads recipes on each cut of meat and you won’t go wrong.

[fzxdoc]

Have a great time with that cook, holehogg and let us know how it all turns out.

Kathryn

[kmhfive]

Should be fun! I’d expect the beef to take longer than 8-hours though. Don’t forget: probe tender on the beef, not time or temperature, bend test on the ribs, BUT definitely temperatures on the chicken!

[Danjohnston949]

holehogg, You are Getting a Lot of Good Advice Here so I Won't Pretend to Give You Any❗️ A Good Leave in Thermometer is Nearly a Must❗️
A MultiProbe Digital Recording Thermometer such as FireBoard will allow You to Record up to 6 Probes‼️ I would Suggest: 1: Ambient Temp,
2: Pit Temp (1), 3-4-5 Food Temps, & 6: Pit Temp (2) ‼️ Also an Instant Read Thermometer like a Thermopen Mk4 by Thermowerks is a necessity❗️
All of this Non Advice is Given IMHOP of Course❗️
Eat Well and Prosper❗️ From a Backyard Cremator in Fargo ND USA, Dan

[holehogg]

Your IMHOP is much appreciated and trusted. I have yet to buy a suitable Thermometer. None here in SA. Am currently using 2 digital probes that I tested for accuracy and are only out by a degree Celsius. One to monitor the box and the other for the meat. I will in the near future when the exchange rate is more favourable. I do however realise the importance of owning a decent one.

[FireMan]

Well, at least ya got somethin, better than nothin. You’ll be fine. No luck involved here, your doin the right thing on all fronts.

[Spinaker]

Looking forward to seeing these results on Monday. Good Luck!

[holehogg]

Well…. I think the excitement got the better of me.
6:15am Fired up 1 off the infrared burners and added 5 chunks of wood to bring the box to target temp of 107celcius.
6:25 oven temp was at 50c and rose about 10c every 10 minutes and by 7:10am it was at 96c that’s when I realized I need to get a hold of myself. NO water in the tray so added 2 liters of COLD water to each of reservoirs. They can hold about 5 liters each. Oven temp dropped to 60c and I switched to the 2 ring gas burner. The oven temp seamed to increase better than with the IF?
7:30 the temp had reached target temp and at 7:35 meat in. The water had not started steam.
The box dropped to 95-97 range and stayed steady. All four 1 inch inlet valves were fully open as well as the 2 ½ inch outlet valve.
8:00 I closed the outlet valve by about a ¼ to see the effect (thinking it might raise the temp) and it rose to 102c by 8:1. At 8:20 the gas burner flame died (I noticed the temp started to drop quickly. I opened the outlet vent to full and relit the burner. Opened the big door so lost a lot of temp. 8:30 the temp was 86c. 8:35 - 91c and dropped to 86c at 8:40. Steam and smoke was rising steadily from the outlet valve. I had a suspicion that the burner was lacking air and not functioning correctly. I opened the small hatch door at the bottom of main door at the burners slightly to allow additional air in. Temp began to rise immediately. 8:45 was at 93c and by 9:05 had reached 105c. Closed outlet valve by ¼ again and the temp seemed to stay constant at 105c. Did the boiling water check for Thermo accuracy and concluded it to be about 8c out and revised my target temp to 100c.
9:40 was 105c so opened outlet vent fully and closed the hatch door. At 9:50 my curiosity got the better of me and opened the main door for a peak. Good call because the water tray on the LHS was dry and the other near to dry. Topped up with COLD water and some wood chunks. 9:55 door closed the temp read 85c and rose to 110 at 10:10. Closed outlet vent by ¼ and by 10:20 was at the target Thermo temp of 100c. 10:30 dropped to 96c so opened outlet valve to full. 10:55 temp 104c closed outlet valve ¼. 11:05 down to 96c and opened vent to full. 11:10 had a flame failure again. Relit and opened hatch door slightly and added 2 liters cold water. There was still water in the pan.
11:25 oven temp was 99c and another oxygen starvation again so opened bottom hatch wide for oxygen boost then closed it to slightly ajar. The temp stayed between 99 and 102c.
12:00 temp 101 and at 12:10 burner died. Opened big door and meat was looking good. Did the rib crack thing and it was good. Checked the "brisket" temp and got a reading of 77c so add 8c and so a guesstimate internal temp of 85c?
12:30 oven temp read 106c and at 12:45 - 103c.
13:00 needed running repairs to my pride (not prepared to elaborate on why but trust me I felt embarrassed). Burner failure again added cold water and yes I know must add HOT water.
13:10 tackled my pride issues the box issues and the oven temp was 76c.
13:30 called it a day to attend to my rig. I did not give up but I can only attend to the pride issues while the box is not in use.
However the ribs were damn tasty and that was agreed by all 7 tasters.
I left the meat in the box with the outlet valve closed “to rest in warmth while I carried out my tasks. At about 15:10 the meat was removed and sliced. Again great reviews and honestly it tasted really good.
In conclusion….this was not a food prep task but to get a feel for the smoker and adjustments I need to make. I had a great time while it lasted.



NB: The bone on the back of the cutting board is for my pet LION SIMBA.

[holehogg]

Having the same issues here as with my smoker. Lets see if I get the upload sorted.

Find SIMBAS bone

[Mudkat]

Looking good! Great write up and welcome to the Pit! Where's Simba? That's where the bone is.

[Mudkat]

Do you have pics of the custom smoker?

[holehogg]

Thanking You. Pics of smoker on my Post Raising the smoke for South Africans