First cook in my new offset

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First cook in my new offset

Postby BuckyThreadkiller » Fri Jan 04, 2019 8:18 pm

Not a spectacular start.

Had a small 13lb prime brisket from Costco with a LOT of fat. I trimmed it up and did a basic Dalmatian rub. The weather fought me the whole cook - started wet and cold, 35º and rainy, then the wind came up after sunrise. Couldn't keep the coals steady and it ate wood the entire time.

I don't usually wrap and the stall took hours, but I took it off at 200º internal and I think the fat could have rendered more.
Let it rest in a knockoff Yeti - wrapped in foil and a towel for three hours.

Got really good bark and the meat pulled apart. Flavor was good, but the point was a greasy, fatty mess. Nice cosmetic smoke ring.

I'm thinking about dropping to a Choice cut next time to see if the lower fat content will clean it up some. I also really need to work on my fire management - I'm blaming the weather, but I had a devil of a time keeping it clean and consistent.
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Re: First cook in my new offset

Postby Rambo » Fri Jan 04, 2019 8:27 pm

Was the flat OK? It doesn't sound that bad to me. Maybe the Point was just very fatty; If recognizable, you could have went ahead and done burnt ends; just a thought
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Re: First cook in my new offset

Postby BuckyThreadkiller » Fri Jan 04, 2019 9:26 pm

Flat was fair. Not nearly as tender as I wanted, especially for a Prime piece of meat. It's not going to become chili or chop, but it's definitely not what I was shooting for.

I learned a ton about how it cooks. I'm thinking about adding a couple firebricks to the far end of the cooking chamber to retain some heat and even out the temps. Anyone tried that? Thoughts about it?
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Re: First cook in my new offset

Postby Rambo » Fri Jan 04, 2019 9:43 pm

LOL; in my old Lyfetyme Smoker I have 4 Fire Bricks; 2 on each end. That allows me to suspend a separate expanded metal grate to allow more ventilation and an additional chamber for ash. Keep tinkering, you’re gonna do great
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Re: First cook in my new offset

Postby TwoGuysBBQ » Fri Jan 04, 2019 9:53 pm

The way you described that point is exactly how I like my point. Actually scores well down here in south Tx.
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Re: First cook in my new offset

Postby Chasdev » Sat Jan 05, 2019 6:44 am

Costco prime has way too much fat, I prefer choice HEB or even ungraded HEB briskets.
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Re: First cook in my new offset

Postby rus_bro » Sat Jan 05, 2019 9:42 am

What kind of wood and what temps were you running the offset at?

I am only about 8 months into my offset and I'm learning more every cook...

I usually run post oak for beef and have found if I'm trying to run 225ish it is real tough to keep a solid coal bed. I have to either run closer to 250 or mix in some wood the Burns quicker with more BTUs to keep that coal bed going.

Good luck brother.

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Re: First cook in my new offset

Postby spacetrucker » Sat Jan 05, 2019 10:38 am

BuckyThreadkiller wrote:Not a spectacular start.
Got really good bark and the meat pulled apart. Flavor was good, but the point was a greasy, fatty mess. Nice cosmetic smoke ring.

I'm thinking about dropping to a Choice cut next time


I keep reading and trying to analyze what happened on your cook.
I have never cooked a prime brisket, so I am no help there, I cook on pellets so my dynamics are a little different,
I understand that you had to constantly "fight" with the fire, I have been there done that,


The part that haunts me is your statement of the meat pulling apart? the way I am reading this is over cooked on the point and under cooked on the flat? the flat was dry and tough correct? I cook at 250 and my cook times are 1:15 hours per pound to a probe tender in the thickest part of the flat. Sometimes the cook time will vary plus or minus a few minutes, when I cook brisket "just me and my methods" I always cook for the flat, that is where the temperature probes are made, the doneness probes are made; To me it is the "prime" part of a brisket, the point- well that is where all the fat is so no matter where or how that goes, if it is good ok we will eat parts of it if not then the trash can wins the spoils.. I still trim to 1/4 inch or so of the fat all over, on occasion trim some of the flat and or point to "square it up" so that the whole brisket is symmetrical and cooks evenly. Not sure if I am helping you or not.. all things said respectfully so you can see my "way" of cooking. Good luck on your next cook, we are always learning :salut:
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Re: First cook in my new offset

Postby BuckyThreadkiller » Sat Jan 05, 2019 11:40 am

I used pecan as I had a neighbors tree that we took down and cut up last spring. I've got two-plus cords. For beef I've always used oak for brisket and mesquite for steak grilling. Every now and then I've got just enough hickory to give a different flavor to a cook, but not enough to do a big, long cook on a brisket.

The point would pull apart, but the fat layer between the the two muscles was surprisingly thick and didn't render as well as I wanted. The flat wasn't exactly tough, but on the tail end it did get dry. So I had a fairly decent, fatty point and a flat that went dry about an inch from the end cut. It was a thick point with a flat that was fairly consistently size across the entire brisket.

My fire issues were huge. Temps would drop below 200 and I'd pile on wood to try and get it back up and that generated all kinds of dirty smoke. I was able to stay between 250 and 290 for the most part and it never ran away on me, but it blew enough thick smoke to elect a new pope. I was expecting the end result to be $45 worth of inedible gunk, but the taste wasn't too bad.

One thing I learned is to start with a bigger fire, burn it down, and feed the coals rather than the fire. I kept chasing fire as my coal bed wasn't sufficient enough to keep things steady. There's an art to this and it feels like I'm still finger-painting.
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Re: First cook in my new offset

Postby Rambo » Sat Jan 05, 2019 12:37 pm

Do you have a charcoal chimney? Sometimes if needed, I'll just fire up a chimney of charcoal and when it's ready, dump it in the firebox
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Re: First cook in my new offset

Postby rus_bro » Sat Jan 05, 2019 3:10 pm

BuckyThreadkiller wrote:
One thing I learned is to start with a bigger fire, burn it down, and feed the coals rather than the fire. I kept chasing fire as my coal bed wasn't sufficient enough to keep things steady. There's an art to this and it feels like I'm still finger-painting.


Good thought...I have learned that just adding splits isn't always enough when the temps drop. I'll take a split or 2 down to strips and chunks and I'll toss some of those in from time to time. It keeps the coal bed going whike there are a couple clean burning splits going.

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Re: First cook in my new offset

Postby sinfony78 » Sun Jan 06, 2019 2:43 pm

coals are hotter than burning wood. I'm putting wood in every 30 to 40 minutes based off of the coal bed, not how much wood is burning. my temps stay constant between 225 and 250. I'll stray from that a couple times a day bc I'll get lazy or my cat nap takes a little longer.

I used to add wood when I saw no more flaming wood, but that doesn't work out well, and I ended up chasing temps

hot coals will clear up your problem with dirty smoke. what kind of smoker you got? that may also explain your runaway temps and billowy smoke

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