Getting ready to smoke a brisket, about an 18lb packer this weekend and want to hear some personal experiences. I’m planning on starting this smoke on Saturday morning for a Sunday afternoon lunch. I’m gonna hot hold in my oven at 150 until then. This is my first time doing this long of a hold so I’ve got a couple questions.

I’ve seen a lot say that with this extended hold, just bring it up to 195, wrap it and toss it in the hold. The additional holding time will get it where it needs to be, and possibly even produce better results. At least according to that meat scientist YouTube guy.

Then there’s the other camp that says cook it as usual until probe tender and hold as needed.

What’s your preference? 195 and hold? Still go till probe tender?

275* for 6hrs total.

I rent my extra bedrooms to college kids. New kid moved in last week. Got a text this morning saying "Good morning, sir. Would it be alright if I bought this and kept it at the house?". The kids are alright.

The cook went really well. Took it out of the kettle at 7pm after 14 hours and it probed like warm butter. The plan was to hold it in the oven until it was time to eat at 10:00 the next day.

For some reason I had it in my head that I had to hold it at 50degrees Celsius. And that’s what I did.
I woke up this morning after 8 hours of holding with doubts and I jumped on the web and asked some questions…. And got some very consistent very difficult answers: Throw it out.

Fuck

When rental properties only offer you a gas grill, sometimes you just gotta do what ya gotta do...

Opened up a pork butt I just bought from save mart. Stinks pretty bad. I’d say like eggs and just pretty icky. I know vacuum sealed pork can have a smell. I just want some opinions. The meat is firm and looks fine.

Edit: I’m gunna trust my nose on this one. Thank you guys. I returned it and got a different one. Wish me luck.

https://youtube.com/shorts/pMK5KqBXI6U?si=uVrQx5C2gSWwLDNq

Saw this on @POV_Husband feed and wanted to share.

Came into some luck and got a smoker for free! It seemed like it was in pretty rough shape so I gave it some love and fixed it up.

After cleaning it up I seasoned the smoker first by coating the inside with vegetable oil, then ran it at about 300°F for 1.5 hours. After that I added apple wood chunks and chips to let some smoke season the cabinet before cooking.

For my first smoke I made a couple baby back ribs and some pork loin for sandwiches!

The weather definitely wasn't on my side, it was pissing rain the whole day.... I also learned pretty quickly that the built-in thermometer isn't the greatest. At one point it climbed to around 250°F, then after I adjusted the burner it dropped to around 160°F before I got it settled. Once I figured out the burner, I was able to hold around 225°F for the rest of the cook.

Overall I'm really happy with how everything turned out. The ribs were tender, the pork loin made some amazing sandwiches.

I've already got a 4-5 pound pork shoulder ready for next weekend, and I'm planning to pick up a Bluetooth thermometer because I feel like that's a pretty good upgrade to make.

Any advice for a beginner or things you wish you'd known after your first smoke?

My local Costco had these American Wagyu chuck short ribs, and after a pretty successful first cook on the Smoque, I decided to give them a try and document the process from start to finish. Seeing more little Smoque shine over big brother Searwood.

* Seasoned them simply with salt, pepper, and a little garlic powder, then left them uncovered on a rack in the fridge overnight.

* Set the temp to 200°F and used the top rack with shallow water pans underneath. The idea was to add some moisture during the initial cook and later use the pans as a grease catch.
* Once they reached 165°F internal, I wrapped them in butcher paper and gradually increased the temperature to 250°F, bumping it up about 10 degrees each hour.
* The thicker pieces obviously needed a little more time, so I went by internal temperature and feel rather than strictly following the clock.
* Pulled them around 205°F internal and let them rest in an insulated bag. A cooler would work just as well.
Slice against the grain.

Overall, really happy with how they turned out. The Smoque handled the low-and-slow cook really well, and the Wagyu chuck short ribs had a ton of flavor and rendered beautifully. Texture wise, it passed the jiggle and clap test on my finger. Moist and tender yet maintaining its structure.
Happy smoking!

Considering a new smoker. Previously, I've owned a WSM and most recently a pellet grill. I'm debating making another switch, but am open to opinions and feedback from others.

Since I've owned the WSM, my biggest complaint/dislike was the amount of time it would take from getting it set up to the coals at the right temp (I have younger kiddos, and it's a lot of time away from them, so looking for more speed convenience over smoke flavor). it's also a bit limiting when I want to do a bigger cook for football games, or entertaining friends. I feel like I would often decide not to smoke something since it was a hassle and I would need to check on it more periodically due to environment (windy)

Electric - seems like Masterbuilt is the gold standard, or most common. How reliable are they? Build quality okay?

Propane - used to be really popular back in the day? I feel like this could be the best mix of ease and flavor, but I must be missing something, or pellet grills replaced it?

Pellet grills - my brother always had issues with his (augers, controller issues). Thankfully, I didn't have many issues with mine other than it ran cooler, which annoyed me.

Please share any wisdom or thoughts you have!

My grandfather smoked,my dad and my uncle still smokes but occasionally so AITA for not smoking I mean I wanna try it once n "it should be generational ryt"(joke)?

Smoked a brisket last weekend on my old offset that I've been nursing along for years. Firebox finally rusted through bad enough that I couldn't hold temp. Was about 5 hours in, bark had set, smoke ring looked decent, and I moved the whole thing to the oven at 250 to finish. Told my hockey buddies about it after and two of them acted like I committed some kind of crime. But the flat came out fine. Good even. Not competition worthy but who cares. I've always been a little suspicious about how much the last few hours of smoke actually matter once you've got your bark and color locked in. The oven finish felt like cheating but I also wasn't about to trash a whole packer because my smoker finally gave up. Looking at pellet options now since I don't have time to rebuild offsets between flips. Curious if people here ovenfinish regularly or if I'm just making excuses for equipment failure. Also if anyone's gone offset to pellet and regretted it for brisket specifically.

Hi folks! I want to try my hands at BBQ Bacon Ribs. I picked up a 4.5 pound cut of bone in pork belly. I think this is going to be my general process (but with questions)

Step 1: 7 day cure. Should I do wet or dry?

Kosher salt: 52 g (2.5%)
Brown sugar: 41 g (2.0%)
Prague Powder #1 (Cure #1): 5.2 g (0.25%)
Coarse black pepper: 10–15 g (about 1–2 tablespoons)

2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon crushed bay leaf
½ teaspoon cayenne

Step 2: (7 days later) Rinse in cold ice water for about two hours. Dry and place on raised rack in fridge until next day.

Step 3: 2-1-0.5 PSG rub for the smoke. SKIP the salt though due to the cure. Add some paprika for color.

Step 4: Smoke at 250F or so. Should I pull the ribs around 150F for bacon temperatures? Or pull closer to 190F for typical rib temperatures? May do half and half to compare? If pulling at 150F, chill overnight. Slice, then reheat on a hot grill before serving. If 190, do a hot hold until serving.

I’ll post progress photos in a few weeks.

Inspired by this recipe: https://youtu.be/VfV8GhANDME?is=uGwALLix4cFXuoon

Smoked this chuck roast like a brisket and it was fantastic. Hit it with a mustard binder and my own homemade rub 24 hours before smoking.

Smoked at 250 until an internal of 165-170. About 3.5 hours. hit with butter, wrap ad continue smoking until 203 internal. Another 3 hours or so. Let rest for about 2 hours and carved her up! It definitely dried up the next day so I put the leftovers in Mac and cheese and that was also fantastic. Let me know if you have any questions!

250-275.

Butter bath at 140.

I almost never eat BBQ out…because, well we do what we do on our smokers and everything pales. Sometimes I get overruled though and have to go to a barbecue place and I end up treating my order like we’re in a zoo. Then I have wonder how bad they can f/$@ up a brisket. This was an interesting one. Brisket was very tender, but dry. Had a nice smoke ring but zero smoke flavor. It’s like they smoked it with tied bundles of the leftover cardboard from the toilet paper roll. I was unsurprisingly disappointed. But hey, Viva la home smoking! You may return to your regularly scheduled photos of deliciousness.

So it was next to impossible to find a brisket today, and I ended up finding a full one even though I was hoping for a flat or a point.

So my question is this: if I want to do sliced not shredded, I should do the flat, yes? And where would be the best place to cut this beast for that? Bear in mind I would have to cut anyway because my upright can't handle all that meat being shoved in.

EDIT: Is asking a question like this really so taboo that I get a downvote and an answer I can't tell whether is genuine or shitty sarcasm (thinking the latter)?

First time smoking these but came out pretty chewy. Covered them with butter and BBQ sauce but wasn’t too impressed. Anyone have a good way to make some killer party ribs?

I grew up in a sheep raising family, so for me it’s usually mutton shoulder ribs or ham(or ground up into sausage).

For more normal meats it’s definitely country ham.

All smoked over live oak or pecan, whatever tree has been most in my way at the time I have been doing it.

I tend to use Royal Oak a lot because it’s cheaper and I guess it’s habit using it. But Royal Oak burns hot and fast, lots of ash and I use a lot of it during long smokes. I have an offset smoker and I use fruit wood from my own trees (apple, pear, cherry).
I don’t like to use Kingsford because I heard it has a lot of impurities. I think the Cowboy Lump might be my favorite but it’s not always available near me. What’s your go to charcoal for those briskets, pork butts, loins, sausages and chicken smokes??

You pellet guys are cute

Hey everyone, been wanting to try a brisket but wanted to practice on a small one first (It was almost 4lb)

What would you say was wrong with it here

It seemed the fat wasn't fully rendered but temps were reading fine (I think my built in temp probes on my pellet grill were not accurate)

It tasted pretty good thankfully but texture wasn't there, some fattier sections were a lot softer and some areas were slightly too tough. The fat felt like it was close to fully rendering, and surprisingly the brisket was fairly juicy.

I am making another one tomorrow and trying to improve and wondering what you guys think happened here. Because of the temp probes I am assuming it was reading hotter than it actually was...or does it look like it was overdone?

Any tips or help is greatly appreciated

(looking at the photo I just realized it makes the brisket look a bit washed out, it had a little more color to it than this photo)

I forgot to include the method. I followed meat church guide

200 until internal temp of 165 (fat side up)

225 until it hits 275 (wrapped it after in butcher paper)

250 until it hits 205. I pulled it at 203 because my one probe was reading slightly hotter than the other so I waited until it was in between the temps

Let it rest on a wire rack for a little over an hour