Brew n Que
Knows what a fatty is.
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2013
- Location
- Houston, TX
Got my Franklin BBQ book last week, and it made me really want to cook this weekend.
The method he describes in his book is pretty much what I (and a bunch of others on this forum) use already. The big thing that struck me was how much attention he puts into the smoker design. His smokers are designed for maximum air velocity. I think that is what mine is missing, so I decided to make some mods. First was to extend the smokestack. I got some aluminum exhaust vent pipe that fit perfectly into the top of the stack to extend it another 2 feet. I also took out the tuning plates to get a better flow through the smoker.
Another thing Franklin mentions in his book is to not make the firebox sit too low below the chamber. No way to fix that on my smoker, but I'll keep it in mind next build.
Another thing I did was to split some of the logs into smaller diameter sections, so I can choose what size to use depending on the characteristics of the fire.
The smoker mods, along with the variety of split sizes, worked like a charm! Before, I would have to poke and prod the fire and coals very often to get the fire to stay consistent. With this, I just threw a log or two on every 45 minutes to and hour, and let it do its thing. I've never seen such thin smoke on a stick burner. There were times when I could just barely see any trace of smoke coming out of the stack. The smoke coming out of the stack was also moving fast. I could definitely see the improvement. Moral of the story, if you are going to build or buy a custom smoker, get the stack taller than you think you need. If it is too tall, you can always throttle it back using the stack damper.
Now, on to the cook. I found a nice prime brisket at HEB. 11.5 lbs.
Trimmed aggressively to about 8 lbs.
Seasoned with salt and pepper
Also trimmed and seasoned a butt with salt and pepper only.
And onto the smoker they went. I was targeting about 275. Smoker temps ranged from 250 to 300, so I think they averaged out around 275. At around 8 hours in, the brisket left the stall and was climbing in temp. I wrapped at this point in butcher paper.
I also wrapped the butt in foil at this time.
After a little less than 10 total hours, the butt probed tender. I pulled it off to let it rest while the brisket finished. The brisket finished in just under 11 hours. This was probably the quickest brisket I have done on this pit.
Since I had planned on a longer cook, I stashed the meat in a cooler for 4 hours while I got a bit of shut-eye. Then, it was time to slice.
And pull.
Quality-wise, this brisket was a bit better than before. Last time I wrapped too soon. This time I wrapped just a bit too late. It had just a couple of dry edges, but nothing major. The fat rendering was great, and made a nice sticky bark. For the butt, I should have also wrapped sooner. There were no dried-out parts, but I think it could have had more juciness if I wrapped a bit earlier.
The big difference in this cook was the ease and speed of it. I never had to fiddle with the fire, and the better airflow made the meat get through the stall and finish a lot quicker. Now I really want to sell this smoker and design a new one with other mods. :grin:
The method he describes in his book is pretty much what I (and a bunch of others on this forum) use already. The big thing that struck me was how much attention he puts into the smoker design. His smokers are designed for maximum air velocity. I think that is what mine is missing, so I decided to make some mods. First was to extend the smokestack. I got some aluminum exhaust vent pipe that fit perfectly into the top of the stack to extend it another 2 feet. I also took out the tuning plates to get a better flow through the smoker.
Another thing Franklin mentions in his book is to not make the firebox sit too low below the chamber. No way to fix that on my smoker, but I'll keep it in mind next build.
Another thing I did was to split some of the logs into smaller diameter sections, so I can choose what size to use depending on the characteristics of the fire.
The smoker mods, along with the variety of split sizes, worked like a charm! Before, I would have to poke and prod the fire and coals very often to get the fire to stay consistent. With this, I just threw a log or two on every 45 minutes to and hour, and let it do its thing. I've never seen such thin smoke on a stick burner. There were times when I could just barely see any trace of smoke coming out of the stack. The smoke coming out of the stack was also moving fast. I could definitely see the improvement. Moral of the story, if you are going to build or buy a custom smoker, get the stack taller than you think you need. If it is too tall, you can always throttle it back using the stack damper.
Now, on to the cook. I found a nice prime brisket at HEB. 11.5 lbs.
Trimmed aggressively to about 8 lbs.
Seasoned with salt and pepper
Also trimmed and seasoned a butt with salt and pepper only.
And onto the smoker they went. I was targeting about 275. Smoker temps ranged from 250 to 300, so I think they averaged out around 275. At around 8 hours in, the brisket left the stall and was climbing in temp. I wrapped at this point in butcher paper.
I also wrapped the butt in foil at this time.
After a little less than 10 total hours, the butt probed tender. I pulled it off to let it rest while the brisket finished. The brisket finished in just under 11 hours. This was probably the quickest brisket I have done on this pit.
Since I had planned on a longer cook, I stashed the meat in a cooler for 4 hours while I got a bit of shut-eye. Then, it was time to slice.
And pull.
Quality-wise, this brisket was a bit better than before. Last time I wrapped too soon. This time I wrapped just a bit too late. It had just a couple of dry edges, but nothing major. The fat rendering was great, and made a nice sticky bark. For the butt, I should have also wrapped sooner. There were no dried-out parts, but I think it could have had more juciness if I wrapped a bit earlier.
The big difference in this cook was the ease and speed of it. I never had to fiddle with the fire, and the better airflow made the meat get through the stall and finish a lot quicker. Now I really want to sell this smoker and design a new one with other mods. :grin:
)
