Hi all, longtime reader, first-time poster.
After doing a couple of chickens on it the night before (my 2-year-old now requests "chicken bacon" -- the smoked cracklins), I did a 7.5-pound HOF brisket in my new Smoke Vault 24" on Saturday. It came out very, very well.
I salted liberally the night before and put on a rack in the fridge. I knew we wanted to eat around 5pm, so I got up at 4:30am to apply MH's Big Bad Beef Rub and put it on the smoker.
I'd like to say I went back to sleep, but I was so excited I just waited until the rest of the family woke up, adding wood chips every 30 minutes for the first two hours. It was a rainy day in the D.C. area on Saturday, but I didn't let that deter me -- I rigged up an umbrella in the pergola to keep the rain at bay, and to keep the smoker going at a steady 225.
I hit the stall at about four hours in -- stalled at 149 and refused to budge. So I wrapped it in foil and put it in a 225 oven. Here it is before wrapping.
And then came the waiting, while the house became filled with the smell of beef. This being my first brisket, I wanted to cook to 203; on subsequent cooks, I'll start to use the "probe doneness" test. Here we are at 199 -- so close! (Oh, also -- thanks to this cook, I unofficially calibrated my oven -- temp was set at 210, actual temp was 225. Good to know.)
At almost exactly noon -- so 7 hours and 15 minutes in -- I hit 203, and pulled out to rest on the stovetop.
Now, I knew we had about five hours to wait until dinner, and I read that the faux cambro rig is only good for about four hours, so my plan was to let the temp fall to about 145, then put it back in the oven set at 170 (the lowest it'll go). I left it wrapped in the foil, and the temp fell very slowly -- it didn't hit 145 until about 3:30. My wife needed the oven for the braised cabbage we were serving with the brisket, so I took it back outside and put it back in the smoker, set to low (about 165).
I pulled it at 4:30, then unwrapped. (It's possible I was a little excited about this whole thing.) A thing of beauty.
Quarter-inch slices, against the grain:
And a close-up of the smoke ring -- I think I pointed it out to my wife and kids a half dozen times.
So tender and flavorful. We have quite a bit left over, which I'm looking forward to enjoying throughout the week.
Thank you to Meathead and all of the AmazingRibs team for everything you do. You're revolutionizing the way we approach outdoor cooking -- and we're eating better because of it.
After doing a couple of chickens on it the night before (my 2-year-old now requests "chicken bacon" -- the smoked cracklins), I did a 7.5-pound HOF brisket in my new Smoke Vault 24" on Saturday. It came out very, very well.
I salted liberally the night before and put on a rack in the fridge. I knew we wanted to eat around 5pm, so I got up at 4:30am to apply MH's Big Bad Beef Rub and put it on the smoker.
I'd like to say I went back to sleep, but I was so excited I just waited until the rest of the family woke up, adding wood chips every 30 minutes for the first two hours. It was a rainy day in the D.C. area on Saturday, but I didn't let that deter me -- I rigged up an umbrella in the pergola to keep the rain at bay, and to keep the smoker going at a steady 225.
I hit the stall at about four hours in -- stalled at 149 and refused to budge. So I wrapped it in foil and put it in a 225 oven. Here it is before wrapping.
And then came the waiting, while the house became filled with the smell of beef. This being my first brisket, I wanted to cook to 203; on subsequent cooks, I'll start to use the "probe doneness" test. Here we are at 199 -- so close! (Oh, also -- thanks to this cook, I unofficially calibrated my oven -- temp was set at 210, actual temp was 225. Good to know.)
At almost exactly noon -- so 7 hours and 15 minutes in -- I hit 203, and pulled out to rest on the stovetop.
Now, I knew we had about five hours to wait until dinner, and I read that the faux cambro rig is only good for about four hours, so my plan was to let the temp fall to about 145, then put it back in the oven set at 170 (the lowest it'll go). I left it wrapped in the foil, and the temp fell very slowly -- it didn't hit 145 until about 3:30. My wife needed the oven for the braised cabbage we were serving with the brisket, so I took it back outside and put it back in the smoker, set to low (about 165).
I pulled it at 4:30, then unwrapped. (It's possible I was a little excited about this whole thing.) A thing of beauty.
Quarter-inch slices, against the grain:
And a close-up of the smoke ring -- I think I pointed it out to my wife and kids a half dozen times.
So tender and flavorful. We have quite a bit left over, which I'm looking forward to enjoying throughout the week.
Thank you to Meathead and all of the AmazingRibs team for everything you do. You're revolutionizing the way we approach outdoor cooking -- and we're eating better because of it.
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