Must learn how to cook beef brisket...

[Specop 007]

Thank you! I never thought of an electric. I did a total of about 3 dinners in my old smoker. (Fortunately, it was a cheaper model.) Having to keep feeding it chunks of charcoal with fairly often, etc., was more work than it was worth. I've figured that I can just drive to the local bbq joint (we finally have one in the area.) Their food is good, but slightly pricey for what it is. I'd rather do it myself for a fraction of the price and have the satisfaction of having done it myself.

I should add though, its not a cheap hobby. The pricepoint for entry is steep. Figure on spending 600-1000 for a good electric pellet grill. A bag of pellets runs me 15-20 depending where I go. I can generally get 2 runs out of a bag......So figure 2 turkeys, 2 briskets, 2 ribs or whatever.

Supposedly you can cook all kinds of stuff on them though. Cookies, pizzas, breads. Think of it more as an electric oven that makes smoke. All I've done is meats.

Regardless as I said if you enjoy smoking and cooking its well worth it. I've literally dropped a turkey on the smoker and left the house for a few hours to go out. I wouldnt dream of doing that with the manual smokers.

Not only that but the electrics have been winning competitions as well. You sacrifice nothing in taste and gain the freedom to enjoy the day rather than playing part time slave to a firepit.

Some pics to motivate you....

Chicken quarters ready to go. Italian dressing and a rub.

Brisket going on at 2 in the morning. I went back to bed and slept till around 8:30, didnt get up once to check it.

Good smoke ring on the ribs.

I love doing a turkey. We probably do more turkey than anything. Well, chicken. I can do a run of chicken legs in around 2 hours or so. Perfect for a weekday dinner.

Go outside? Forget it! It'll hold the temp I need all day while I sit inside and watch TV!

 

[zinfamous]

this is relevant to my interests, as I have never worked with brisket.

though I think my flower pot is too small.

 

[zinfamous]

if you get an electric smoker you can skip a thermometer, those things steadily stay 225 - 250 without needing any attention other than putting in wood chips

id plan on cooking a brisket 6 - 8 hours, depending on how big it is. there really isnt much to it if you can do temp control and let it cook all day. a pork shoulder/boston butt is the same way, but large ones may need 10 - 12 hours. amazingly good food that is pretty easy to cook.

watch alton browns episode on smoking pork

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZ2Uj_3v6Dw

dont build your own, a nifty idea, but not worth the trouble. trust me.

mine is awesome, damn it!

though it is somewhat inconvenient and far too small for my needs.

 

[Spydermag68]

I love my Big Green Egg. Some large BBQing I have done: 2 7 pound briskets side-by-side, or 9 racks of ribs and or 15 pound pork shoulder. The last time I did the pork shoulder I started about 9pm and cooked it for 18 hours straight. To night I had sweet potatoes, corn and pork chops. yum.

 

[*kjm]

mine is awesome, damn it!

though it is somewhat inconvenient and far too small for my needs.

So make one out of blocks....
http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10871
http://cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/2007/03/cooking-whole-hog-on-cinder-block-pit_19.html


You can make it any size you would like. I like my Trager becuse it is set and forget but if you don't have the money everyone that has done the block set up seems to love it.

 

[alkemyst]

Dude if you want to smoke some meat, go for it. It's ok nowadays.

 

[CaptnKirk]

Today: 6 hour dry rub St. Louis cut pork ribs, they go on at noon in the lower chamber.
5 hour chicken on the beercan goes up top, adding at 1 PM.

Target time 6:30 to cut after resting when removed.

Ignition will occur at 11:00 AM.

 

[Sluggo]

Since I am doing my first one, I grabbed some pictures.

The drum smoker I put together

The lump charcoal down in the basket

8 pound brisket, with a paste made up similar to the recipe here: http://www.smoking-meat.com/Smoking...ing_Meat_Newsletter-Juicy-Smoked-Brisket.html

Dropped on the grate

9 hours later, internal temp at 170

Going to wrap it all up in foil with some apple juice

All wrapped up and cozy in a cooler to let it cook a few more hours just with it's own internal temp, hopefully to keep from it drying out.

Will update in a few hours when I cut it.

UPDATE:

Ready to go, it sat in the cooler for about 8 hours, and was still nice and warm

Pretty thick fat cap, didn't trim it before cooking.

Over all it was very good, not quite as tender as I would have liked, so my technique still needs some work.

 

[waggy]

oh man i hate you all.

hmmmm

now i really want a smoker.

 

[CaptnKirk]

Since I am doing my first one, I grabbed some pictures.

The drum smoker I put together.

Good build job, impressive- should work great.

Post the plans, show them how it's done.

 

[zinfamous]

So make one out of blocks....
http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10871
http://cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/2007/03/cooking-whole-hog-on-cinder-block-pit_19.html


You can make it any size you would like. I like my Trager becuse it is set and forget but if you don't have the money everyone that has done the block set up seems to love it.

yeah, that's one of those things where you need property to construct it.

 

[zinfamous]

Good build job, impressive- should work great.

Post the plans, show them how it's done.

this. I wanna make one of those. I'd love to be able to cook 4 or so shoulders at once, some brisket, a few racks of ribs.

Mine can only do a max 10lb pork shoulder. :\

That barrel looks deep enough to install 2, maybe 3 racks for meat?

 

[Sluggo]

This is basically the tutorial I used to make mine, I made some minor changes, but nothing out of hand. You can put a couple of racks in if you use the upper lid off of a Weber 22" charcoal grill.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=43943

For a much longer discussion (500 some odd pages) check the other link I posted in this thread.

 

[*kjm]

yeah, that's one of those things where you need property to construct it.

You can set the bricks up any way you want and take them down when done if you want, you dont have to build to their spec... looks like you may go the drum way and thats cool to. Just do what works for you and enjoy the meat! I did I block one with a 14"X14" cooking area when renting as a teen.... now I have moved on

 

[ponyo]

This is basically the tutorial I used to make mine, I made some minor changes, but nothing out of hand. You can put a couple of racks in if you use the upper lid off of a Weber 22" charcoal grill.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=43943

For a much longer discussion (500 some odd pages) check the other link I posted in this thread.

That's really nice. If I didn't have my WSM, I would build one like yours. That's freaking sweet.