Sunday Funday Brisket--Cruise along with me

[ssv3]

Yeah, even not so good brisket is better than no brisket. Looks good enough to me Sako...

Thanks Terry. You bet especially since it was enjoyed by all.

 

[The Wookiee]

Did you get it yet?

scheduled for tomorrow; changed my afternoon meeting to phone calls from home.

 

[BillN]

Question for you ssV3, I have ordered the charcoal basket with my LSG HOS do you feel its a worthwhile investment? How long a burn time did you get? Do you think you would have maintained 275 if lit from one side only. When you added more fuel any issues with the cool white smoke? Thanks, Bill

 

[Springram]

Did you notice any flavor profile difference between using all wood vs charcoal/chunks in cooking briskets based on yesterday's cook?

 

[ssv3]

Question for you ssV3, I have ordered the charcoal basket with my LSG HOS do you feel its a worthwhile investment? How long a burn time did you get? Do you think you would have maintained 275 if lit from one side only. When you added more fuel any issues with the cool white smoke? Thanks, Bill

Hey Bill,

It's a good thing to have if you feel lazy and don't want to feed sticks. I'll definitely use it again for sure.

I hadn't used my basket and yesterday was my first time using it and I'd say it's well worth it. I'm pretty positive I would've been able to run 275 with one side lit only. It just takes some time for the pit to come up to temp and all the steel to warm up. If I had to guess I'd say about an hour or so if you start from one end. I started the cook rather late so I lit the opposite end to speed things up. Doing so, the flame touched the middle row causing the middle to light up as well. It wasn't a big deal though as I just left a tiny crack open and once stabilized it ran 275 the whole cook. It ran clean the whole cook.

What I'm going to do next time is use my charcoal chimney filled half full or more perhaps and dump the lit coals on one end to avoid the weed burner flaming and lighting an area of the basket I don't want lit. That was my screw up obviously.

As for adding charcoal, I had a pretty good lit coal base when I dumped the remaining half bag of unlit coals and it caught right up. A little smoke for about 5 mins if that but it cleared right up with no interruption to my 275 temp I had locked in. So adding coals if needed for a long cook is a non-issue. Basically it was exactly like throwing in a new stick which takes a few mins to ignite and it's good to go. Very impressed with that. If you're doing ribs, chicken etc, you wouldn't even need to reload.

Now, I used 2x18lbs KComp bags with about 8-10 fist sized chunks of oak and cherry for the whole cook. Initially I used a bag and a half of briqs and about 6 pieces of chunks. When there was about 1/4 of the lit fuel left in the basket I then added the remaining half bag of briqs left over along with 3-4 chunks of wood. It burned for about 7 1/2 hours total on my watch. It went longer than the 7 1/2 hours but I was inside and wasn't monitoring temps anymore but it was still going.

I'd like to add that on the next cook using the basket I'll cut down the fuel amount significantly. Basically depending on the cook but I now have a better idea since I gave the basket a go. For a big arse smoker like this I'm surprised the basket and charcoal will run it flawlessly. Easier to control temps also. The pit was very responsive to the heat increase/decrease when I was playing with the intake.

 

[cowgirl]

Looks tasty from here. Nice job Sako!

 

[THoey1963]

I never got a chance to try mine basket either. Wookie will have to let us know how he likes it.

I am curious if you could change gears with this. Say you are doing an over night cook. Light up the basket and throw the meat on before you go to bed (Maverick in place to warn you of highs or lows). Eight hours later, get up, pull the basket, and burn sticks the rest of the day. Concerns would be where to put the hot basket, and maybe the amount of ash in the pan.

 

[ssv3]

Did you notice any flavor profile difference between using all wood vs charcoal/chunks in cooking briskets based on yesterday's cook?

Yes! The smoker flavor/profile was more mellow comparing to using all sticks. I can see using the basket when I have people that don't like too smoky of a flavor. Personally, comparing sticks and charcoal I like both now that I got a chance to use the basket.

 

[ssv3]

Looks tasty from here. Nice job Sako!

Thank you Jeanie!!

 

[ssv3]

I never got a chance to try mine basket either. Wookie will have to let us know how he likes it.

I am curious if you could change gears with this. Say you are doing an over night cook. Light up the basket and throw the meat on before you go to bed (Maverick in place to warn you of highs or lows). Eight hours later, get up, pull the basket, and burn sticks the rest of the day. Concerns would be where to put the hot basket, and maybe the amount of ash in the pan.

When ever they deliver it to him. :doh: Tomorrow should be it though.

It's doable Terry but I'd say you have to keep an eye on it though here in there. Maverick definitely will help. I gotta tell you that with the basket it's a breeze to cook on this thing and control temps. I can tell you that with just one cook. I don't think ash will be an issue and once you take out and set the basket somewhere safe it should cool down pretty quickly. I know there was a guy here that had and LSG horizontal offset and with the charcoal basket and a CyberQ he was running pretty consistent and trouble free for hours. He hasn't posted in a long while and can't remember his handle.

 

[Norm]

We're all our own worst critic, I'll bet I'd try it and love it!

 

[northeast bbqer]

Nice brisket there. Looks delicious!