the #BrisketSperiment: Stickburner vs Cabinet, Round 1

[PaulstheRibList]

Well, it's that time. Time to put logs on that beautiful fire that burns with such BBQ elegance upon the end of my stick burner. And, since I've been heavy learning-by-smoking on the new big insulated cabinet smoker, #WhoDat1, and whereupon I have 4 gorgeous 6+ week aged 1855 Choice+ Briskets in the icebox, it seems good to me to put the two smokers in a little Head-2-Head competition: Stickburner vs Cabinet!

Oh, and I got one of those cool new 4 needle injectors with the 1 gallon pump bottle, and it worked great


Now time to light the 2 fires


Only hickup is that one of my buddies is cooking his first full packer, so I sent over there about 11...and didn't come back home until 3:30. So my 3 splits in the stick-burner were just about burnt out when I returned from that great conversation, so I had to re-build the coals. No hill for a stepper!

Which gave me time to pat off the Butcher's Prime injection, oil the beauties down and apply generous coatings of Big Bad Beef Rub from our ole pal Meathead

They were both 14 pounds before trimming, and trimmings were 2.25 pounds on one and 2.75 pounds on the other. So almost the same size and weight

I prepped the fires and put the ice-cold meat in at 4:30, 225 degrees for the first 4 hours, then I'm planning to raise the temp to 275.

[PaulstheRibList]

Oh, and I might as well show you what happened earlier. My wife Loves a great burger!






Your Welcome.

[Jerod Broussard]

Sweet. I'm off to work......with tuna fish.

[Danjohnston949]

Fantastic Photography! Dan

[mackdaddy]

Wow nice briskets. That's a lot of meat to "get rid of". Send some my way. My address is 1238...

[bbqoaf]

That is one bada$$ injector, and those burgers look sublime. I look forward to your pics of the final product, they are always drool worthy!

[PaulstheRibList]

Morning Update.

I was faitful to wake up in 50 minute increments twice, then apparently forgot to set my alarm because the sun was up and slept for 2+ hours, fire down to 170ish on the stick burner. Internal at 129. Fire rekindled! Bark is really nice except for the curled area holding liquid on the flat. Fat cap up.


Raised the temp on the cabinet to 265, and we're off to the races! Internal at 157. Bark looking nice except where there are pools of liquid.

[Powersmoke_80]

#oneofeverything,I'm putting my money on the stick burner!

[mackdaddy]

Thanks, PaulstheRibList. I can root for two teams. The Saints are now my #2. My daughter and son in-law won't like it, buts that's ok.

[PaulstheRibList]

mackdaddy, exactly! Having a 2nd favorite football team is ok, so in that manner it's exactly different than have a 2nd favorite woman besides your wife, which is not ok.

My wife likes the Saints, but as a Texas girl, the Cowboys are here fav! I grew up loving both Dallas and New Orleans. Now the Saints are firmly #1, and Dallas has strong affections but is #2.

[mackdaddy]

I grew up in NE Ohio, so the Browns are my #1 team, forever disappointed, but that's ok. Cleveland fan most said sports saying: "There's always next year".

[Jerod Broussard]

Man that crap looks gooooooooooooooooood!!!!!!!

[PaulstheRibList]

Well, I had to go to and fro for work, so out and about a little bit, but stick burner fire kept going just fine and blue after I got up around 830-9.

I wrapped both in butcher paper about 2-230, put back on their respective pits at around 275. Pulled both around 3:40, probe tender and internal temp in the deepest part of the flat of about 205.

Here's the joy emanating from #LilTex, the stick burner.
When I wrapped it.


When I pulled it and let sit in the cambro.

The middle did not firm up like I expected. I even turned the boy around to let the flat get more of the current from the firebox. Still not seeing the exact pattern when I don't get perfect Mrs. Brown.

And the beef exuberence from #WhoDat1, the cabinet, as I was wrapping it (I didn't take a picture at pull).


#theRibList participants will be showing up about 5, so they won't get as long as a rest as I would prefer. My 4+ hour conversation starting at 11 last night at the friends house prevented that.

I can't wait to cut into them and see!

[Huskee]

Lookin good!

[PaulstheRibList]

‪#‎theRibList‬ took flight again today, with Briskets in 2 different smokers, and a pile of friends to come over for taste testing, then taking some succulent smoked brisket home. Friendship is a gift, a part of the Kingdom of God, and we so enjoy sharing friendship over beautiful food, smoked with care and love. Bart Glatt broke out the spontaneity and wowed the crowd with his magic. The kids, young and not as young, Loved It! Oh, and the brisket was, well, Great! ‪#‎LiveIsMoreFunOntheRibList‬‪#‎HoldMyMule‬

Here are the 3 main cooks on team #theRibList They took home a brisket from the fridge tonight to cook for their friends tomorrow


The Briskets were really good! The next 3 pics are from the stick burner. It tasted great. Bark was great, except for that spot in the middle of the flat? I'm seeing that a few times and still need to figure it out. There was a little spot on the bottom, in the flat about 8 slices in, that was crusty on the bottom. Adjusted the cut and it was fine. The flavor was a little more "Robust" on this one, and I preferred that! And the fat was rendered a little more completely on the stick burner one. The fat on the Cabinet one was fine, but the stick burner was even better.


Behold, the Mighty #BrisketSword


Don't hate me for taking more pictures with my knife...


The Brisket out of the Cabinet smoker, #WhoDat1. It was more moist. Both briskets went into the smokers weighing 11.75 pounds. The one out of the Cabinet weighted 1/2 pound more than her stick-burning sister. The flavor of the wood (Hickory Chunks, about 2/3's of a Western Wood bag, and 2 bags of Frontier Lump Hardwood Charcoal) was a little less pronounced.


The smoke ring on the Point was, well, Beautiful!!!!


And now, my favorite part, #theRibList friends and their take home presents




A couple of friends slipped off without me grabbing a picture..darn!

And the Youth Minister / Photographer /Magician, entertaining everyone!


#LifeIsMoreFunOntheRibList

[Jerod Broussard]

Awesome, insulated vertical smokers will rule the land one day.

[PaulstheRibList]

Awesome, insulated vertical smokers will rule the land one day.

It is certainly WAY easier to say yes to a cook if I don't have to mess with tending the fire. I enjoyed staying up nearly all night last night, but I'm not planning on doing it again tonight! I want to be able to do either.

[Jerod Broussard]

PaulstheRibList I agree, and it wasn't very hard to convert my little offset to gas once I cooked on my Pit Barrel.

[mackdaddy]

Very nice! What's better than love, friends and BBQ?