First cook: new to me offset (ride along)

HankB · Jul 23, 2013

I recently picked up a New Braunfels Black Diamond to see what it would be like to cook on a stick burner. Yesterday I picked up a 14 pound brisket that is about two feet long for this cook. It looks like it will be a better fit in the offset than the 22 WSM.

I started with some mods. These are temporary so I can see how they work. This grill has charcoal greates which I wrapped in heavy duty aliminum foil to convert them to tuning plates.

I also extended the stack to grate level.

Split some oak and box elder I had drying in the back yard.

This morning I lit some lump and used that to light a modest fire.

It turned out to be too modest, only getting the cooker to about 150°F before the box elder burned off without getting the oak going. I added more of each and soon the temps in the smoke chamber shot past 300°. They leveled off at about 360° at both ends and started to drop. (I'm monitoring cooker temperature with both probes of my ET-732 laying on the grate.) At 320° I put the meat on and threw a couple more splits on.

Now I'm watching cooker temperature and learning the joys of temperature management. :grin: And all of you get to ride along for better or worse. :tongue:

QansasjayhawQ · Jul 23, 2013

Nice! Is the brisket on the cooking grate down by the stack? Or did you add another grate down over the tuning plates for it to cook on?

This is the same set up that I use on my Brinkmann version of the same cooker.

DownHomeQue · Jul 23, 2013

nice.. *Pulls up chair and Picks up Beer* :wink:

ButtBurner · Jul 23, 2013

great so far

make sure you only add hot splits. Heat them on top of the firebox until they are before you add them

Sometimes I even put a split in the fire box away from the fire to get it real hot before adding it

HankB · Jul 23, 2013

QansasjayhawQ said:
Nice! Is the brisket on the cooking grate down by the stack? Or did you add another grate down over the tuning plates for it to cook on?

ButtBurner said:
make sure you only add hot splits. Heat them on top of the firebox until they are before you add them

Thanks for the tip. Edit: I'll do that going forward. The last splits I added produced very little smoke and now the smoke is barely visible. That wood is pretty dry.

DownHomeQue · Jul 23, 2013

thats a man size brisket.. I can dig it..

J-Rod · Jul 23, 2013

Never heard of anyone smoking with box elder before. I hope the wood is more useful than the trees, because they suck as trees. Let us know how it goes.

HankB · Jul 23, 2013

DownHomeQue said:
thats a man size brisket.. I can dig it..

Go big or go home! Well, I am at home... But you know what I mean. :wink:

BBQ Bandit · Jul 23, 2013

Sounds like you're well on your way... lookin' good.

HankB · Jul 23, 2013

J-Rod said:
Never heard of anyone smoking with box elder before. I hope the wood is more useful than the trees, because they suck as trees. Let us know how it goes.

Box elder is actually a variety of maple, not really an elder at all. I've used it before for smoking in my WSM and it works fine.

Garyclaw · Jul 23, 2013

Rock on Hank!

Ron_L · Jul 23, 2013

Is it done yet?

:becky:

ButtBurner · Jul 23, 2013

I would watch your temp real close on the deflector end. Its gonna get real hot

If it were me I would shove the brisket over to the right and put a loaf size foil pan of water at the deflector end to help with that.

HankB · Jul 23, 2013

Ron_L said:
Is it done yet?

:becky:

I wasn't even going to open it for hours except...

ButtBurner said:
I would watch your temp real close on the deflector end. Its gonna get real hot

If it were me I would shove the brisket over to the right and put a loaf size foil pan of water at the deflector end to help with that.

:doh: I had planned to do that! Thanks for the reminder.

The end closest to the fire is running hotter.

BBQ Bandit · Jul 23, 2013

HankB said:
I wasn't even going to open it for hours except...

:doh: I had planned to do that! Thanks for the reminder.

The end closest to the fire is running hotter.

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

HankB · Jul 23, 2013

BBQ Bandit said:
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 · Jul 23, 2013

HankB said:
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 · Jul 23, 2013

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 · Jul 23, 2013

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

el_matt · Jul 23, 2013

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

First cook: new to me offset (ride along)

is Blowin Smoke!

is Blowin Smoke!

is Blowin Smoke!

Babbling Farker

is Blowin Smoke!

is Blowin Smoke!

is Blowin Smoke!

is Blowin Smoke!

Babbling Farker

is Blowin Smoke!

Babbling Farker

Administrator

Babbling Farker

is Blowin Smoke!

Babbling Farker

is Blowin Smoke!

Babbling Farker

is Blowin Smoke!

Knows what a fatty is.

Babbling Farker

Similar threads