mattdean1003
Knows what a fatty is.
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2012
- Location
- Bogart, GA
Most all of you know how excited I was when I bought my Brinkmann Trailmaster LE, and how even MORE excited I was when I returned it and got the Old Country Ranch Hand at Academy for 250, cheaper than the Brinkmann. Tomorrow is her maiden voyage. Already seasoned her and did a few small cooks (did a pork loin and chicken one night, then some ribs a few nights ago). Even with the heat deflector, it cooks much hotter towards the fire than towards the smokestack. I was hoping my brisket would go from lid to rear, and not side to side, but it just barely doesn't fit. This will be my first packer cut...the smallest one Walmart had was 15 pounds, and it wasn't too terribly priced at 2.58 a pound. Will also have a Boston booty on there as well...Bells had them on sale for 1.19 a pound and I got 2 big 'uns. I keep reading and hour and a half per pound, so at 15 pounds, I'm looking at a hellacious cook.
I bought the correct Old Country Pitts temp gage and installed it in the predrilled hole in the lid, very center middle of the cooking chamber lid, and the problem is, once it starts reading 250 or so, stuff starts sizzling ever so slightly on the expanded metal cooking grate. I do plan on rotating the brisket around every 2 hours until it shrinks small enough for me to put it side to side where the smokestack is mounted at, that way its totally away from the hot fire. I had thought about rigging up a water pan to go under the cooking grate that way it'll cover the deflector plate and be under the butt...but, I'm still learning how to cook on it.
Hey, if it ends up being tough and dry, it'll go back on there smothered in BBQ sauce and it'll be the best beef jerky we ever had!
I bought the correct Old Country Pitts temp gage and installed it in the predrilled hole in the lid, very center middle of the cooking chamber lid, and the problem is, once it starts reading 250 or so, stuff starts sizzling ever so slightly on the expanded metal cooking grate. I do plan on rotating the brisket around every 2 hours until it shrinks small enough for me to put it side to side where the smokestack is mounted at, that way its totally away from the hot fire. I had thought about rigging up a water pan to go under the cooking grate that way it'll cover the deflector plate and be under the butt...but, I'm still learning how to cook on it.
Hey, if it ends up being tough and dry, it'll go back on there smothered in BBQ sauce and it'll be the best beef jerky we ever had!