Brisket on LSG Adjustable Grill & Smoker

[Alphonse]

I cooked the first brisket on the Lone Star Grillz 24 x 48 AGS. I used a coal bed of B&B Competition Char-Logs and splits of oak. The fire was in the left firebox using the LSG fire management basket. The brisket was over the right side and dormant firebox with a drip pan suspended under the food grate. The hot gas flowed over the brisket to the right side hood exhaust vent which was fully open.

My impressions/learnings:

• The pit is efficient and seems to use less wood than my LSG 20 x42 offset for a similar cook.
• The B&B Char-logs have a lot of BTU's packed in them and you don't need to fire a whole chimney of them to get the coal bed started. Next time I will fire half for the front of the fire management basket and the other half for the back of the basket and allow the fire to propagate over them.
• There's room in the fire box to prewarm splits as you go.
• The lack of a stack causes you to keep the daisy wheel inlet air vent open more than I had expected. On my offset the stack's draft stokes the coal bed and the fire. This pit doesn't stoke the fire as much so you give it more air via the air intake vent.
• Smaller splits seemed to work a bit better in terms of keeping the flame going. (Attributed to lower draft.)
• The pit works very well in this indirect mode and the double wall firebox seems to conserve heat.
• The brisket cooked quicker than I expected. Next time I will lower the grate target from 250F to 220F.
• Temperature was easy to control and fire management didn't seem to be as big of a PITA as my offset.
• If you wanted to, you could easily start with a good coal bed and splits and then switch to lump charcoal for the finish.
• The right side firebox allows you to suspend a drip pan under the grate perfectly.

The Q was outstanding and the taste testers weren't disappointed.

Here are the photos:

Salted/rubbed the night before and ready to load (12 pound prime brisket from Costco):



Building the coal bed of B&B Char-logs and splits:



Drip pan suspended in place over the cool side (unfired right firebox):



Loaded and off to the races:



Underway and spritzed with Mirren and apple juice:



The coal bed during the cook, plenty of space for prewarming the splits:

​

On the cutting board for the blade:

[jfmorris]

Wow! Great first brisket on that new cooker! That really seems to be a great alternative to an offset.

[Alphonse]

Thanks Jim. I do like the pit a lot and it works well in "offset" mode. Naturally the capacity is less than my offset but it is not often that I need that much space.

[Bob K]

Thanks for the great details and pics. I’ve never tied a brisket — is that something you normally do or was that flat just a bit thin and tapered?

[Alphonse]

The flat was a bit thin, so I rolled it up to get it closer to the thickness of the point. I also tend to trim most of the fat out from in between the point and flat on the prime briskets that I cook. This also helps in getting them more uniform in thickness. Tying one up is likely not a huge benefit but it seems to works until it gets to the stall and then I wrap anyway. Of course the goal is to keep the flat from drying out.

[Redwng]

Thanks for the write up and the pics. I am considering this smoker/grill or the LSG 20 X 42 offset as my next purchase. Do you have a preference at this point between those two?

[Alphonse]

It is a bit early to say but I think the AGS is quite impressive and it is proving to be a truly multipurpose machine. I feel very fortunate to have both. If I had neither, I would likely buy the AGS first.

[Jerod Broussard]

Great job! Perfect grill/smoker right there.

If ya had more room then you would be back to using an offset. I wish LSG would incorporate the firebox intake they have on the 20" to the 24".

[Alphonse]

I like the more lightweight character of the doors on the AGS. The way they are hinged they are stable when in the closed position even if not latched. They are pretty airtight and will shut the grill down quickly.

[FireMan]

Great tutorial, nice pics, impressive cooker! Well done! 👍👍👍

[Skip]

Looking good Alphonse ! Nice write up.

[Greygoose]

Impressive !

[Uncle Bob]

I like your comparison to the dynamics of an offset, I've done the same comparison with my Cajun Preaux which is very similar to the AGS design/function wise. When I did the boar piglet the results mimicked an offset in many ways.

[Steve B]

Nice. Awesomeness all around. 🙌

[Alphonse]

Thanks Steve B ! You actually started me out on the LSG journey! I sent you a note inquiring about the grill in your avatar and you shared some good insights. With a little time and a few bucks later, I now own two of them! Forgive me, but I may declare victory now! I still would like a Santa Maria but I am thinking the AGS may be able scratch that itch with a mod or two.

[Steve B]

You’re quite welcome my friend.
I love when someone acquires a great cooker like you have. Twice. 😁🙌
Also I like spending others money. 😂

Seriously though if there is anything else I can help you with just reach out. 👍

[Troutman]

Outstanding. Love that cooker!!

[Sweaty Paul]

Outstanding! Well done!

[Uncle Bob]

Alphonse you were holding judgement on the stainless grates last I recall. Ready to pass on an opinion yet?

[Alphonse]

Alphonse you were holding judgement on the stainless grates last I recall. Ready to pass on an opinion yet?

My impression of them thus far is positive. I have no buyer's remorse at this point and I am thinking that will not change.

They're easy to clean with a 6" wide putty knife and I spray a mist of water on them when they're hot and wipe them down. I give them a light coat of Crisco or Pam grilling spray before I use them. They remind me of the grate on my Watchman Stove and I use the same procedure to clean it.

The grates on the lower level are a bit hard to grab and maneuver. So I made a grate tool to lift and move them. The tool spans three slots and slides under the grate so you can lift it.

Here are some photos of the grate tool I made.








Drops into the slots and slides under the grate to lift it.

[Uncle Bob]

Nicely done.