What to put in the smoker this weekend?

[SideShow Bob]

I've never had the opportunity to try a deep fried turkey.

Go to Arby?s, but you need to hurry, for a limited time only......

[Irving]

I'm just going to come out and say it. I've never had a Thanksgiving turkey that I thought was great. People are always like, "Oh you've got to try the way I cook turkey, it comes out perfect and juicy and blah blah blah." Then I try it and it tastes like every other turkey I've ever had. I've just decided that there is nothing wrong with people's cooking, I just must not like turkey. People talk about cold turkey sandwich left overs and I'd rather eat spaghettos right out of the can.

[Great-Kazoo]

I'm just going to come out and say it. I've never had a Thanksgiving turkey that I thought was great. People are always like, "Oh you've got to try the way I cook turkey, it comes out perfect and juicy and blah blah blah." Then I try it and it tastes like every other turkey I've ever had. I've just decided that there is nothing wrong with people's cooking, I just must not like turkey. People talk about cold turkey sandwich left overs and I'd rather eat spaghettos right out of the can.

You're not alone, we don't do turkey as a meal. Especially for t-giving.

[vossman]

Wyome, I have tried using water and apple juice in a tin for humidity but not much luck. It uses up 3 to 4 cups over the 8 to 10 hrs. I will look into the foil though. I usually rub the meat with olive oil the night before too.

Jer, I did some checks on the units digital temp gauge and it’s pretty close. The smoker itself is pretty good at staying +/- 20 degrees of the 225. Next lowest temp is 185 and it struggles to maintain that at times, I don’t trust it to stay lit to be honest. The dial temp is always +20 degrees but it coincides with the digital temp. Maybe a dual temp thermometer would be an investment?

[Jer]

Wyome, I have tried using water and apple juice in a tin for humidity but not much luck. It uses up 3 to 4 cups over the 8 to 10 hrs. I will look into the foil though. I usually rub the meat with olive oil the night before too.

Jer, I did some checks on the units digital temp gauge and it?s pretty close. The smoker itself is pretty good at staying +/- 20 degrees of the 225. Next lowest temp is 185 and it struggles to maintain that at times, I don?t trust it to stay lit to be honest. The dial temp is always +20 degrees but it coincides with the digital temp. Maybe a dual temp thermometer would be an investment?

A few things....

For brisket I personally don't use any liquids inside of the smoker and I don't have issues with dryness. Salt, pepper then smoke and patience. No other ingredients required if you use good cuts of meat. In fact, with most of my smokes I really don't use any liquid at all save for some cuts of meat getting slathered in cheap yellow mustard to adhere the dry rub better for a nice bark when completed. The mustard taste completely cooks off during the smoke so don't let that scare you. Other than that... no liquids at all. No injections, no brines, nothing in the smoker. No liquids. Done properly your meat will be tender & juicy w/o the need for a lot of extra curricular activities.

For the temp I would put some more effort into investigating this in detail. For starters, how have you calibrated your thermostats to know that they're exactly what they state? Most are calibrated for sea-level which, using the boiling water method, would be 212 deg. At my elevation this same method requires a temp setting of about 10deg colder which can make a difference over longer smokes. Also, your smoker might read 225deg but that's at one point. It's not unusual for some smokers to vary significantly (almost 100deg) from one side of the smoker to the other. I'm guessing that these could both be your issue but the latter has more potential for larger differences obviously. If you set your smoker to 225deg and one side (where your probe is for instance) is 200deg and the other side of the smoker is 295 degrees you can see how this could mean more cooking on that side of your brisket which would dry it out.

These same variances can apply to your meat probe as well. Has it been calibrated? Where are you probing? When are you probing? Etc.

Does your smoker have heat shields? With long term smoking you don't want direct heat as it could overcook that side of your meat. Some put the fat cap down to protect the meat but if your smoker is setup properly and functioning properly this really shouldn't matter.

I also tend to wrap at 160 degrees on most whole-muscle meats like Boston Butt or Brisket. I use heavy duty foil and I do several layers making sure it's very tightly wrapped.

[Great-Kazoo]

Wyome, I have tried using water and apple juice in a tin for humidity but not much luck. It uses up 3 to 4 cups over the 8 to 10 hrs. I will look into the foil though. I usually rub the meat with olive oil the night before too.

Jer, I did some checks on the units digital temp gauge and it?s pretty close. The smoker itself is pretty good at staying +/- 20 degrees of the 225. Next lowest temp is 185 and it struggles to maintain that at times, I don?t trust it to stay lit to be honest. The dial temp is always +20 degrees but it coincides with the digital temp. Maybe a dual temp thermometer would be an investment?

Don't bother, get away from oil and try mustard as your base. If anything a dry rub the night before then wrap in saran / plastic wrap over night. Before going on smoker, mustard then another layer of your dry rub. I wrap brisket @ 160ish, but put on low smoke for 2-3 hours, then bring up to 225. Wrap @ 160ish till a 200ish reading.


Everyone does their smoking differently with good results. The best thing is try 1 or 2 ways to see what works best for you.

Try this temp probe, great customer svc.
https://www.amazon.com/Thermometer-B...=weinas+chugod

[vossman]

Got a question for you guys. I’ve been doing briskets for several years on a traeger pellet smoker, usually large 14-16 lbs before trimming. I’ve been doing them at 225 till the temp in the middle is 190ish, after wrapping in butcher paper after about 5 hrs. Problem I have is the the thin end of the flat burns to a pretty hard crisp and so does the bottom of the brisket. Still edible but the meat drys out. Anyone else experience this? I thought about putting a fireplace brick on top of the firebox cover to maybe disperse the heat a bit more. Any thoughts?

[Jer]

Got a question for you guys. I’ve been doing briskets for several years on a traeger pellet smoker, usually large 14-16 lbs before trimming. I’ve been doing them at 225 till the temp in the middle is 190ish, after wrapping in butcher paper after about 5 hrs. Problem I have is the the thin end of the flat burns to a pretty hard crisp and so does the bottom of the brisket. Still edible but the meat drys out. Anyone else experience this? I thought about putting a fireplace brick on top of the firebox cover to maybe disperse the heat a bit more. Any thoughts?

This could be a case of incorrect temperature readings. What are you using to get your temperature of 225 degrees?

[ChickNorris]

Irving you're weird. Ravioli is better.

[wyome]

Vossman most folks who wrap usually wrap at 160.... then cook till 200-205
Or try wrapping in foil, and putting a half cup of beer, or juice or beef broth with the brisket in the foil... and then take to finished temp...