First cook on the UDS - any advice?
 

The Ugly drum smoker is getting lit for the first time this weekend, and just to add a little pressure, I am going to be cooking a 12lb brisket for the first time in it.

Any guidance that can be offered to prevent the neighborhood from laughing at me? About how long should it take to cook it...and finally...is there anything else I could/should throw in the UDS with it especially for my vegetarian friend?

Hmmmmm.... your vegetarian friends. Throw in couch in the UDS, ya know.....somewhere for your veggie friends to sit :loco:

For your vegan friends, throw them IN the UDS for your first cook.

1st relax it is just bbq!

2nd keep your brisket nice and simple. Don't over think it. Season up the meat, put it on the fire. cook it till it is probe tender at the thickest part of the flat. Pull it off and let it vent heat off for 20mins, then wrap in foil/butcher paper and let it rest for 2 hours. Slice and enjoy.

Cooking time will vary at which temperatures you cook at. If you go low and slow at 225-235 you will probably be looking at 10+ hours of cooking. If you go medium pace 250-275 you will probably look at about 8-10 hours of cooking. If you go hot and fast at 300-325 you are going to be looking at about 5-7 hours of cooking.

full basket of lump coal with wood chunks interspersed, light about 12 briquettes in your chimney distribute on the top of coals evenly. let it get going, open all intakes until it's up to about 50 degrees below you cooking temp close 2 intakes and see where it settles.... wait for the white smoke to turn to sweet blue, then cap the last intake, open the top put on the products you intend to smoke (quickly) close the lid and uncap the single intake again... watch your temp rise back to cooking temp wait for it settle and adjust from there..... Good luck

Brisket is the most challenging meat for most people you really picked the most difficult way to tryout a UDS... But you can do it pick your cooking temp, I like 275-325 and cook it till it probes (warm butter) tender.... Wrap it and rest it for about 1-2 hours and you'll be good to go...


Vegetarian friends!, just leave them out, there no fun anyway.....

300* till it probes tender in thickest part of the flat then wrap n rest for 1.5 hrs.

Relax and enjoy it. As for your vegetarian friend...I'd ditch him and tell him to call me when he decides to eat like a man. LOL :becky:

BluDawgs Brisket

K.I S.S. some of the best brisket you will ever eat! Total cook time including the rest 8 hrs or less. I promise it will be as moist as mornin dew on the lilly, tender as a mothers love, pure beefy smoky goodness.

1 packer 12-15 lb
Trim off the hard fat on each side of the flat thin the fat cap to 1/4"

Mix your Rub
1 part kosher salt 4 parts Med grind Black peppa by volume( this is a true 50/50 BY weight)
apply a coat of rub you need to be able to see the meat through the rub clearly.

Pre heat the pit to 300 deg
place brisket on the pit Fat cap down and point to the firebox unless it is a RF cooker then point to away from FB

Maintain pit between 275-325 cook Brisket 4 hrs
remove from pit wrap in a single layer of Butcher paper Return to pit Fat cap up.
after 1 hr probe the thicket part of the Flat only if it isn't *probe tender it will be within 1 hr.
once it is probe tender remove from the pit and allow it to rest on you counter for two hrs.
Don't ever slice more than you can eat big pieces retain moisture and won't dry up on you like slices will.

*PROBE TENDER>This is the feel that is mimicked by cutting room temperature butter with a hot knife, there should be no drag

Do you have an approx. temp to pull it off at (don't want to kill anyone)? How about ribs or anything? I think I will have some extra space in that drum :)

Are you returning to the pit with butcher paper on?

Sorry for the very noob questions.

If your friends are real vegetarians they won't eat anything cooked in the same cooker as a piece of meat. I only mention this because I had some VG friends who said "oh I can't eat that" (it was a vegetable) I said "Why not?" they said "because it was cooked alongside meat" as in the same vicinity.

Ughh. So pretentious. Needless to say I never have them over for dinner!

Sorry for the short rant, that stuff just gets on my nerves.

Good luck on your first cook, keep it simple, give yourself plenty of time and don't stress out and you'll have lots o fun!

As for your VG friends, flip em a can o green beans lol:-P

How can find the vegetarian at a cookout?


Don't worry they'll tell you.

Monitor your pit temp in the center of the grate. Shorter stem thermometers mounted on the side can read up to 50° lower than the actual temp in the center of the drum. I have both a short stem and a 10" stem thermometers on my drums.

I don't do temps they will not result in a consistently tender moist brisket. Just probe it in the thickest part of the Flat 1 hr after wrapping.

Wrap it in Butcher Paper and put it back on the pit fat cap up.

Ribs> BB bones 3-3.5 hrs at 300 St Louis racks 3.5 -4 hrs full spares 4-4.5 hrs until they pass the bend test.

Follow Bludawg's advice. When the meat probes tender it will be well beyond safe serving temperatures.

It is actually one friend in particular and he is so cool about it that I go out of my way to accommodate him. The type of person you are talking about is Vegan, but that is neither here nor there. I actually FOUND OUT he was Vegetarian by accident....he always just 'finds something' on the menu to eat, so I thought I would try to do something nice and smoke a salmon or something. He is also helping me build a tree house.

Case in point...this fall we are doing a trip to Tree House Brewing and BTs BBQ together.