My First Brisket

[Doc_Holliday]

Looks like a great first attempt. I agree with the above about spritzing. Every time you open it there is a sudden rush of O2. Makes stable temps a nightmare. And as far as temps go, find where the smoker wants to run and let her ride. In my opinion, briskets can cook anywhere from 200* to 325*, all depends on your smoker and your urgency. Set her up, get the meat on, let the temps stabilize, and let her do her thang...

Solid advice...I have been trying a few cooks (without meat to ruin) just to see where the kettle has a natural tendency to run with a consistent fuel load. I understand it may be a bit lower with a full grill of meat. It seems part of my problem was that I had been running the lower vent full open and trying to control the temp with only the top vent. By closing the bottom vent about ½ way I am able to control the temps much better with that top vent.

 

[THoey1963]

Doc, I am not a kettle owner, but you may have that backwards. Might want to try top vent (exhaust) wide open, and use the lower vents to control the amount of airflow, which controls your fire. When I had my WSM, I would have top vent wide open, two of the bottom three vents completely closed, and the third open any where from #2 pencil size to a little less. She loved to run right around 275* and would coast there for hours.

 

[Doc_Holliday]

Doc, I am not a kettle owner, but you may have that backwards. Might want to try top vent (exhaust) wide open, and use the lower vents to control the amount of airflow, which controls your fire. When I had my WSM, I would have top vent wide open, two of the bottom three vents completely closed, and the third open any where from #2 pencil size to a little less. She loved to run right around 275* and would coast there for hours.

Very interesting...I'm no airflow expert so I have no idea why one vent over another would make a difference but i am absolutely willing to give your suggestion a try! Thanks for that - I hadn't even considered that.

 

[Burnt at Both Endz]

Very interesting...I'm no airflow expert so I have no idea why one vent over another would make a difference but i am absolutely willing to give your suggestion a try! Thanks for that - I hadn't even considered that.

I think you'll find that it will produce a cleaner fire also.

 

[Norm]

Yeah it seems like you should do the opposite but when I started keeping the top vent open and using the bottom vent I had a lot less problems with temp. Brisket looks good, looks like you did a nice job with it.

btw nice avatar, I'm a big fan of the movie.