Brisket

[Jewrrick]

trust me I told her to stay in the house and away from my meat for the remainder of the day. Its funny because she did it and it was her own house...

[Randy]

The smaller the brisket is, the less you can use the hour and a half per pound rule of thumb. The reasoning is that the brisket is smaller, and the smoke will penetrate quicker. I'm telling ya'll. Screw the time. Cook to internal temp, and be done with it.

you know ive heard this before from a buddy of mine and she swears by it... ive always been a "time person" im willing to try the internal temp technique, but what would you recommend for a good temp gauge... i mean one that will stay in the meat throughout the cooking process?

[bcoop]

you know ive heard this before from a buddy of mine and she swears by it... ive always been a "time person" im willing to try the internal temp technique, but what would you recommend for a good temp gauge... i mean one that will stay in the meat throughout the cooking process?

Time is ALWAYS a generality based on what it takes on average to be done. i.e 165 for chicken, pork (until they just lowered the pork to 145), etc. The problem with this, is weight, density, and thickness of a chicken breast, pork chop, etc. And that is all subjective to the processor. IMO, you should ALWAYS cook to internal temp, and just use the time as a guideline on what to expect. Always know that it could be under, could be over on the time. So going strictly on time, a lot of times you could be overcooking resulting in dried out meat. The flip side, is you could also be undercooking. That's why I always go by temp, because the temperature doesn't lie. You always need to double and triple check though, different parts of the cut of meat. Don't check temp right next to a bone, the bone holds the heat better and will give a false reading.

As for what is better, what is best, etc. For a plain, simple meat thermometer, I'm always inclined to use a Cooper Atkins or a Taylor thermometer. These are simple, disposable (all therms go bad after heavy use/abuse) and not ridiculously priced.

For my smoker, I use a remote thermometer with hi/ low alarm and meat probe. This is the one I use. I'm not claiming it's the best, in fact, I wish it had a bit more range. It's just what I bought, and it's served me very well. It's still accurate after a year or so of heavy usage. In fact, I learned just how far off the thermometer in my smoker was when I went to this remote setup. The therm on my smoker read 50 degrees high. I really like this one, because I can set a hi/lo on my meat, and a hi/lo on my smoker cavity temp. An alarm will go off if I drop below 200 or over 250 on the cavity temp (the temps are all adjustable, this is set at my preference). An alarm will also go off for the meat probe once I hit my desired temp.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Remote-Thermometer/713709.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dthermometer%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=thermometer&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

[mstng86]

The only thing that bothers me about internal temp cooking (which I do everytime), is I don't like to let the juices out, so I always only want to do it once. I hate poking the meat three or four times and watching juices flow out.

[bcoop]

The only thing that bothers me about internal temp cooking (which I do everytime), is I don't like to let the juices out, so I always only want to do it once. I hate poking the meat three or four times and watching juices flow out.

As you cook more, you'll know the look you want to achieve. Once you start approacing that look is when you want to use the thermometer. I poke 3-4 times, but it's become so routine, it is a very rare occasion that I check temp and it's not done. So, very little moisture escapes. You are thinking on the right path though. You don't want to poke a shit ton of holes, because it will dry it out.

[mstng86]

As you cook more, you'll know the look you want to achieve. Once you start approacing that look is when you want to use the thermometer. I poke 3-4 times, but it's become so routine, it is a very rare occasion that I check temp and it's not done. So, very little moisture escapes. You are thinking on the right path though. You don't want to poke a shit ton of holes, because it will dry it out.

I check the temp on EVERYTHING. Well maybe not fajitas, but everything else. I use a gas grill for everything right now, so it is fairly easy for me to control temp and where to put the meat, etc.

Finally picking up a used brinkman smoker after work. Will probably play with a brisket this weekend.

[bard]

Here ya go bcoop.

Maverick ET-732

The new model has a greater range than the old one, up to 300'. The probes also can withstand more heat, up to 572°F, far better than the 410°F of the previous model. You can set it to read either Fahrenheit or Celcius.

I have the same one as you and would only trade it for one with an extended range. In other words, the one above.

As for keeping it on the fire while they got everything else ready. You should be resting your meats after smoking it anyway to let the juices redistribute. Wrap it in heavy foil (if not already) and set it in a dry cooler with old towels above and below it. It will be plenty warm a couple of hours later. Ribs and such are fine for only an hour, but briskets and butts will easily last two.

[Randy]

so bcoop..... if the thermometer is in the meat while it cooks... why stab it at different times?

[bcoop]

Here ya go bcoop.

Maverick ET-732


I have the same one as you and would only trade it for one with an extended range. In other words, the one above.

Awesome, I'll read up on that one. I've been keeping my eye on the iGrill. Originally it only had the capacity to do one probe. It looks like they've added another port for a second probe. If they add a third, I'm all in. Though I just checked their site, and I must have misunderstood the info I read the first time. I thought the range was limitless, due to wifi/3g. It appears it's only good to 200' which is disappointing. My smoker is currently at a buddy's house down the street, and if I could monitor from my house, that would be convenient as hell. What I really dig about the redi-check is the grate surface probe, and the meat probe. An additional meat probe would be kickass, but I know that the overwhelming majority of the general population has no need for a second probe. As I stated, when I smoke, it's usually for quite a crowd, and I usually have several different things on the smoker at once. Like a turkey, a boston butt, and a brisket, etc. A third probe would allow me to monitor the beef and pork, or pork and poultry, or beef and poultry simultaneously. Don't get me wrong. It's doable and manageable as it is. A third probe would just be more cool factor for me, and slightly easier to manage.

http://www.igrillinc.com/about.shtml

As for keeping it on the fire while they got everything else ready. You should be resting your meats after smoking it anyway to let the juices redistribute. Wrap it in heavy foil (if not already) and set it in a dry cooler with old towels above and below it. It will be plenty warm a couple of hours later. Ribs and such are fine for only an hour, but briskets and butts will easily last two.

This^^. This can't be stressed enough. Letting the meat rest when it comes off the smoker is imperative to a moist brisket. If you slice it immediately, the fat runs out on to the cutting board. If you let it rest, that fat redistributes in to the meat keeping it moist.

[kingjason]

I got one in the smoker right now. We shall see at 5.

[bcoop]

so bcoop..... if the thermometer is in the meat while it cooks... why stab it at different times?

You don't want to stab it at different times, really. In fact, you want to keep the punctures as minimal as possible, and as close to the end of the cook cycle as possible. Doing so will minimize the fat/juice loss. I will stick my probe in the thickest part of the meat I'm cooking, whether it be brisket, pork, or poultry. for turkeys or chicken, this means the breast, away from the breastplate. For brisket, it goes almost dead center. For pork, I go to the end with the bone, but away from the bone by an inch and a half or so.

What I am saying, is when you think it's done, you need to check the temp in more than one spot. Especially when smoking, because it's a weird creature. For instance, when I'm smoking a pork butt, the probe is in the same spot the entire cycle. When my alarm goes off and tells me it's at temp, I will stab another spot or two in the pork butt, just to make sure the whole thing is done.

[Randy]

When my alarm goes off and tells me it's at temp, I will stab another spot or two in the pork butt, just to make sure the whole thing is done.

thats exactly what i was looking for.... my brisket rocks... but i just go by time and feel of the meat.... but ive been wanting to give this a shot since it seems there is less to keep track of.... lol

[Trick Pony]

In fact, I learned just how far off the thermometer in my smoker was when I went to this remote setup. The therm on my smoker read 50 degrees high. I really like this one, because I can set a hi/lo on my meat, and a hi/lo on my smoker cavity temp. An alarm will go off if I drop below 200 or over 250 on the cavity temp (the temps are all adjustable, this is set at my preference).

Are you sure it's not just that your smoker has large temperature differences within the chamber depending on where you measure? Horizontal offsets, especially the less expensive ones, are notorious for this because the heat tends to make a bee-line from the firebox to the exhaust.
On my Oklahoma Joe Longhorn smoker the temp gauge is on the top of the chamber on the opposite side from the end where the firebox is. I added another gauge at the same height near the firebox end as well as using gauges that sit on the cooking grate itself.
There was a difference of 50 degrees between the cooking grate and the temp gauge on the upper part of the lid and even more than that between one end of the chamber and the other. Putting in the diffuser plate and extending the exhaust down to grill height reduced the vertical difference to 20 degrees or so and made it even pretty much all the way across.
Of course the temp variations inside your smoker don't matter so much as long as you're directly monitoring the temp of your meat. It just bothered me because mine has a pretty large cooking area and I tend to load it up with multiple pieces of meat so I want everything to cook evenly.

[kingjason]

I got one in the smoker right now. We shall see at 5.

Here it is 11:28 and the damn thing is at 178.9. LOL I must have read the size wrong or something.

[A+]

Heading out to pick up a cheap-o brisket, give it a rub down and smoke it in tha a.m. Usually turns out pretty good. We'll see if I get lucky again