Smokeymole Brisket Time

Set the alarm this morning for 4am to get the smoker fired up. Bought a 14 pound brisket last night and a 9pound pork loin. Also throwing on some bacon wrapped sage deer sausage to nibble on today! What a great way to do Christmas Eve!

Well, It was 4 degrees this morning. Not a typo. 4 degrees! Also known as Damn Cold! Planning ahead for this I went out to Lowes yesterday and bought a sheet of that Foil backed foam insulation board. Cut to fit the back, side and top panels of my vertical smoker and hopefully help maintain my box temps.

So far so good. Put smoker in garage with 2 doors cracked to vent and keep it out of the wind. Finally got cooking about 6am. Brisket now at 135 internal after 3 hours. Gonna foil it at 170 and take it up to 190 and then cooler for the rest of the evening.

Pork loin is just gonna have to wait until tonight to go on, or at least until I get the brisket(s) to foil. (14# had to be split to fit in the chamber) Too damn cold to put more meat in the box. I set my soda down in the garage for about 10 minutes and was frozen when I picked it back up. Go easy on me guys. Still a work in progress with this smoker of mine. BellyBros are keeping me on the right track with great pointers in addition to the wealth of knowledge from all of you.

I'll post the outcome when I finish

Brisket turned out great! Breakfast Deer sausage was excellent as well I tried 3-2-1 on the sausage. (foiled for two) I think that seems to be the ticket. Brisket was in the smoke from about 5:30am til about 3:30pm. I coolered it when it hit 190 for about 4 hours. Bagged all the juice and refrigerated, Gonna slice on Sunday and freeze until Thursday, Tuesday I will have to take care of the Loin. I wasn't man enough to tackle it in the single digits today. Got to have it all ready for New Years eve! 25-30 people coming for dinner. I figure 22 # of meat should cover it. Why so much meat for only 30 people you ask? Got to plan for leftovers you know!

Mother in Law did a 13 # prime rib in the oven today for the whole family for lunch/supper. I saw the $90 price tag and shuddered. It was an awesome rib, but if I am gonna spend that much on a piece of meat, it is going in the smoker. If she had asked me, I would have just done my brisket a day or so later. She did a great job as she does every year, but I am gonna volunteer early to cook it next year!

The foil backed insulation worked pretty well on the outside of the smoker. Edges curled a bit when it got real hot after the water pan ran dry. I think Ill leave it armored for a few more runs if the weather stays like this. Wife is tickled to death I am cooking all our meat now. She appreciates good Q and is especially partial to Ribs. Got to keep her happy! Darn the luck! Guess it's my duty to buy a couple more thermometers and charcoal.

I did learn a valuable lesson in the cold today. If the will to Q is strong enough, you'll find a way to do it in spite of the weather. If your smoke is right, you only need to leave the garage door open about a foot to make it work out right.

All Y'all have a very Merry Christmas! Remember Christ is why we have Christmas.

I bet that Prime Rib was to die for! Man, now I need to go out to Sams Club and either by a brisket or a Prime Rib! I have a serious Beef jonesin right now.