First cook: new to me offset (ride along)

[HankB]

Originally Posted by BBQ Bandit

Turn the brisket around - have the flat end facing the hotter zone.

Why is that? I thought the thicker section should be at the hot end. (What Franklin recommended.)

[ButtBurner]

Originally Posted by HankB

Why is that? I thought the thicker section should be at the hot end. (What Franklin recommended.)

that is how I have always done it (point toward the hot end)

But BBQ Bandit has a ton more experience with brisket than I do.

I would like to know the reason as well

[DownHomeQue]

I would think Point towards the fire also.. but i am a relatively new brisket cooker.. BBQ Bandit and Bludawg are the resident brisket experts

[CtTradArcher]

I believe the reason is the relative thickness of one end versus the other. Thicker end toward the higher heat...

[el_matt]

Here's a mod you don't hear about very often. Remove the chimney, and weld the gap between the flange and the chimney, closed. It really helped level out temps in my NBBD. I had originally used JB Weld, but it eventually failed.

Looking forward to how your brisket turns out.

Matt

[tx_hellraiser]

I see that you put on a bezel how do you know if that will work correctly?

[Bludawg]

I always Cook Point to the fire box unless I'm using a RF (Bandit cooks on a Lang who you gonna trust your Brisket to a Texan or a Dude) or direct heat . Your gonna learn allot from this cook. Got an Eye on this one.

[ButtBurner]

Originally Posted by tx_hellraiser

I see that you put on a bezel how do you know if that will work correctly?

a bezel?

Hank, how is the cook going?

[tx_hellraiser]

Originally Posted by ButtBurner

a bezel?

Hank, how is the cook going?

In the picture shows he to foil wrapped it around the grates and put it over the firebox down at a angle and a second one looks to extend it out even more.
I called it a bezel not sure what else you would call it

But i seen the mods for this and its usally just one piece at a 45 degree angle

[ButtBurner]

Originally Posted by tx_hellraiser

In the picture shows he to foil wrapped it around the grates and put it over the firebox down at a angle and a second one looks to extend it out even more.
I called it a bezel not sure what else you would call it

But i seen the mods for this and its usally just one piece at a 45 degree angle

oh ok you mean a baffle

a bezel is like a trim piece around your radio in your car etc

[DownHomeQue]

lol Bezel Baffle mater tater

[tx_hellraiser]

Sweet build Down Home how would you check if the baffle is working properly? would you just take temp readings across the grates?

[HankB]

Originally Posted by el_matt

Here's a mod you don't hear about very often. Remove the chimney, and weld the gap between the flange and the chimney, closed. It really helped level out temps in my NBBD. I had originally used JB Weld, but it eventually failed.

Looking forward to how your brisket turns out.

Matt

I think I saw that somewhere. There is a bolt on the back of the chamber by the chimney. Is it bolted in? If so I may remove it and fit something between the chimney and the opening. I used high temperature silicone on my WSM for a better seal and that might work well here.

Originally Posted by ButtBurner

a bezel?

Hank, how is the cook going?

I'm happy with the results so far but I have much to learn. I opened the cooker to put a probe (ET-73) in the brisket and it is at 181° and inching up. It is coloring up nicely. I'm using my ET-732 to get the temperature on either end of the grate and the end toward the fire box is running about 40° hotter. Right now it's 288° vs. 250°. When I added the ET-73 I put the cooker probe next to the brisket in about the middle. It's running about where the hot end is or even a few degrees hotter. It's probably close to the 2" gap between my "tuning plates."

I'm surprised by how often I need to add wood. It seems like there is a relatively small bed of coals and fresh wood joins it rather rapidly, particularly the box elder. Both are pretty dry. As a result I need to add a couple sticks about every 20 minutes. I'm wondering if larger pieces of wood would provide a longer burn w/out spiking the temperature. It looks like I'll consume all of the wood I prepared before the brisket is finished so I'll try splitting some more pieces a little larger. <need to run out and tend the fire> I seem to be getting relatively clean smoke. I get a little white when adding wood and most of the time it is barely visible.

Woops! Preheating some sticks in the firebox has it's risks. It can catch fire and spike the temperature.

Edit: I do have temps at three points across the grate so I can see what the baffles are doing. In the picture I showed one up against the other but I thought about it some more and opened about a 2" gap to allow some heat to come up after the angled baffle.

[ButtBurner]

opps is right LOL

I only put the wood in the firebox about 10 mins before I need to add it, and my fire is small enough that I can keep it away

anyway, maybe I can help since I have a similar smoker

are you supplementing with charcoal? it really does help, when my coals get low I add a handful or 2 of briqs

I can usually go 45 mins to an hour before adding another more briqs

I took a bunch of pics of my fire for my last cook for a fellow who bought a pit like mine so I could help him out

here is a pic. its running at about 250 when I took this, you can see a few big chunks of lump I used also

[tx_hellraiser]

are you saying that you have about a few degress temp difference across the grates ?