Brisket and Butt

My brother is coming into town for a few days and we have decided to try our hands at smoking meat.

Brisket and pork butt.

I have a large weber grill 3ft wide and 18" deep(maybe 20"). It has two removable cooking grats. I do not have a smoker and am not going to go buy one but intend to use my grill.

I have multiple questions though and i know some of you are avid meat smokers (lol, no pun intended).

Here is what i think i know:

Temp control is key, i want about 200 degrees

Meat as far from heat source as possible

Do not rush, take about 1.5 hours per lb


What i dont know:

Do i need to use Lump charcoal or will briquetts work?

Are the tiny wood chips fine or should i use the larger wood chunks?

Do i need to soak the wook in water or some other liquid (cider vinegar has been suggested)

From the time i put the meat on do i have smoke rolling?

can the pork and brisket go on the grill at the same time?

Do i marinate?

If i marinate do i Rub as well? and continually Baste?

Im sure i will have more as the answers come in.

Thanks in advance.

Reverend

It's going to be difficult to maintain proper temp for such a long time with a weber, but give er a go. Put a drip pan in the bottom and lump charcoal on both sides of it. Use chunks of wood too, not chips. No need to soak. Get it going slowly to start and keep the vents almost closed on the bottom and top.

When the smoke goes from thick gray to wispy blue, thats the time to put the meat on. You will need to add lump charcoal every few hours till it's done. Shoot for 250 degrees as it is easier to maintain.

You can do both meats if they fit. I marinate overnight and use mustard then rub. I don't baste or mop as I use an Egg. A weber will dry things out so a mop will come in handy.

Good luck!

I have done a brisket on a Weber and while it's not easy it is doable. As always follow Ed's instructions and add liquid (just plain H2O works fine here too) to the drip pan. Remember... it is doable, use a good mop and rub and keep close watch!

Ed's right about maintaiming temp on a Weber. Just watch it closely and, like he says, add liquid. I use a spray bottle.

The night before I rub pork with mustard and beef brisket with Worcestershire sauce. I use a simple rub on both, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The next day let them come to room temperature before putting on your smoker.

What I do - and some will tell you this is a 'crutch', but don't believe them - is wrap the meat in a doubled heavy duty aluminum foil about 2/3 of the way through cooking and finish it off. By this time, the meat will have absorbed all the smoke it can. This also helps keep the meat from drying out. Good luck!

Temp control is key, i want about 200 degrees.

200deg is too low. Go with at least 220, 250 is probably better with the Webber. Maybe a little more. (Of course you have a thermometer on that puppy.)

Meat as far from heat source as possible

Not much you can do on your Weber

Do not rush, take about 1.5 hours per lb

Don't go by the clock, get a meat thermometer. Once you get rolling, the pork butt will sit seemingly forever at 160. This is good, the fat is liquefying. It will take several hours for this finish. Don't rush it.

Once this phase is completed, the meat temp will rise steadily. Pull it off at 185-190, wrap it in a towel, drop it in a cooler and forget about it for one hour. This will allow all of the juices created in the previous stage to absorb back into the meat.


What i dont know:

Do i need to use Lump charcoal or will briquetts work?

Up to you. Briquettes have calcium carbonate and a few other goodies in them. They are harmless.

Are the tiny wood chips fine or should i use the larger wood chunks?

Up to you. Either way it is important to soak them. You do not want these chips to catch on fire, especially in a Weber. This will make the fire burn hotter and use the fuel quicker, which means you open the lid more often.

From the time i put the meat on do i have smoke rolling?

Get the heat before you add the meat.


Do i marinate?

Brine overnight. Slather in mustard, as suggested by EdW. Coat with your dry rub.



A mid-sized butt takes me 10-12 hours on my smoker @ 220-230. I think this is the norm. The finished meat has a pink ring, maybe 1/2-3/4" thick all around it. It comes apart easily with a fork.

NOTE: The first time I smoked a butt it took 15 hours. I could not resist the temptation of opening the smoker to check things out every 20 minutes.

The advantage of an offset smoker is no heat is lost when re-fueling the fire. This will be your biggest problem with the Webber.

This may sound like sacrilege, but give it some thought: A good portion of the smoked flavour comes from the first coupla hours or so. You may want to consider 2-3 hours on the Webber than shoving the meat in your oven to finish it. Set the oven at 230. put in your meat thermometer and forget about it. Pull it out at 185 and let it sit for an hour.

NOTE 2: A decent digital kitchen thermometer wil run you about 20 bucks. Get the one with the probe attached to a wire. Probe goes in the meat, digital unit sits outside.

Good Luck!!

arturo7 said:

... A decent digital kitchen thermometer ... Get the one with the probe attached to a wire. Probe goes in the meat, digital unit sits outside. ...

Click to expand...

A "must have", IMHO! I have three - one for my mash tun and two for BBQ!

Yeah, i have a digital probe thermometer. a must have for all cooking if you ask me. I have noticed since getting the grill just about a year ago that with a mid size pile of briquettes i can keep a constant temp of 225 for 40 min or so. I might be naive but i think temp control will not be an issue for me, we shall see.

Talk to me about this drip pan Ed. I should have a foil type tray between two piles of lump charcoal with liquid in it?

Do i also need one under the meet to capture the juices?

Do i need a seperate one for the pork and one for the beef?

Reverend JC said:

Talk to me about this drip pan Ed. I should have a foil type tray between two piles of lump charcoal with liquid in it?

Do i also need one under the meet to capture the juices?

Do i need a seperate one for the pork and one for the beef?

Click to expand...

One drip pan is all you have room for and will do the job. Get a foil food service one.

arturo7 said:

This may sound like sacrilege, but give it some thought: A good portion of the smoked flavour comes from the first coupla hours or so. You may want to consider 2-3 hours on the Webber than shoving the meat in your oven to finish it. Set the oven at 230. put in your meat thermometer and forget about it. Pull it out at 185 and let it sit for an hour.

Click to expand...

I agree if you don't have a smoker or don't have a good smoker get your smoke on the meat and then finish it in the oven wrapped in foil. You need to get the final temp up to 210. All the moisture will cook out of the meat by 165 or so. At 180 the collagen begins to galatinize and by 210 it will be complete. That will give you very tender meat. Let it rest before you slice it. Serve with Good BBQ sauce.

Also mopping will not help keep the meat moist, but rather inhibit smoke absorption. It can also add some flavor.

I learned a lot talking with a food scientist from Cargill about smoking meat a few weeks ago.

Thanks for all of the tips so far.

I am heading to either sam's ( i hear they have good prices on whole picnic briskets) or to a small local grocery that has tremendous meats sunday and then to a local BBQ joint that sells all manner of food smoking products.

I have done a butt and pork ribs on my weber with some success -- not perfect, but very tasty nonetheless. The one thing I can add to the great suggestions is a small mod I did to my weber. I cut a small "window" in one side of the grill (near one of the handles), big enough to allow me to reach through with some long tongs so that I could add more briquettes or lumps (I used both) and/or rearrange them a bit. This made it pretty easy to maintain heat for several hours. I used an oven thermometer placed on the grill the same distance from the coals as the meat to monitor the temperature -- if you position thermometer and lid just right you can read the temp through the vents in the lid. My experience has been that it's difficult to keep it below 250, so my suggestion would be to use a lot less fuel than you would for grilling -- probably only enough to cover 10-15% of the coal grate.

Everything you've ever wanted to know about BBQ.

http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/index.php

I did a test run of the grill last night. I used about 50% less coals than i would normally. it took about 35 min for the coals to get going. Once they did it maintained a 225ish range for the hour it took me to slow cook some veggies on a kebob and the 10 min it took me (since the temp was so low) to grill a piece of salmon and a piece of talapia.

After talking about it with my father he tells me he has a smoker he bought about 14 years ago. He does not remember if it is electric or coal. I am going to investigate that tomorrow.

Going back to the pan issue. I have one pan with coals around it to creat moisture. do i need one under the meat to catch the drippings for anything other than cleanliness?

Well, we decided to go with just the boston butt. It has been rubbed with yellow mustard so the rub I mixed up would stick and that has been applied as well. It is now snuggly wrapped in suran wrap in the fridge and will begin smoking in the morning.

For a 6 1/2 lb butt how long folks? I was thinking it should take around 9 hours? is that about right?

Pics to follow tomorrow.

Reverend JC said:

For a 6 1/2 lb butt how long folks? I was thinking it should take around 9 hours? is that about right?
.

Click to expand...

Trust your thermometer, not your watch.

10+

arturo7 said:

Trust your thermometer, not your watch.

10+

Click to expand...

+100 on that.

And, I agree with raising your cooking temperature to 235-250F. If you cook it at 200F, you'll never get your butt up to the 195-200 that you want it.


TL

Well, the camera was dead so no pics. BUT!!!!!!! the pork was smoked beautifully and after 4 hours of apple wood smoke and a temp of 165 i wrapped it in foil and stuck it in a 230 degree oven and went and played 9 holes. Got back the pork was sitting at 206. pulled out the thermometer and let it sit for 40 min. Opened up the foil and with the strength a toddler would have gently eased the bone out, it practically feel out on its own. used two kitchen forks and pulled that pork apart. holy crap was it tender/juicy.

Not bad for a first timer.

My rub was right on but the BBQ sauce i made was not my favorite.

Just a thought and obviously too late now. However, why do you smoke a brisket so hot 220-250 is way to hot for a brisket. Brisket is a bad cut anyways. Butts-175, Brisket-168(depending on thickness, this will take 7 hours)

I worked for a large bbq restaurant and we did all of our own smoking. Name of the game is smoke as low as possible, never below 165, till the internal temp of the meat reaches 165. For smaller pieces, game birds, sausage, etc., smoke warmer as to not dry them out, 190-210

I was reading a website from a self proclaimed master of all that is smoking food and he shared a mistake he made that he would gladly make over and over and over. He was freaking out that is temp had risen in the smoker while sleeping to 230 degrees. He overslept and had to get to work so he tossed the meat in the oven planning on coming home in an hour and half to check on it. 4 hours later he showed up and the poks internal temp was 210 i think it said. he was freaking out, sure as all get out that he had ruined the butt. Didnt even look at it, kept it wrapped up for another 2 hours and took it over to his friends.

Appearently after smoking by the guidlines for years he makes this "mistake" and now tries to replicate it every time and thats what i tried to do as well.

R-JC,

Congrats on a job well done!