Pork shoulder and beef brisket on WSM

[lakemirror]

Hello all.

Taking advantage of the mild weather to do some smoking today. I got my butcher to cut what passes nicely for a pork butt, blade bone in. He also sold me a beef brisket with the ribs still attached...first time I have ever seen the bones left on. Applied the appropriate rubs and put those bad boys in the fridge. I like the meat to be cold when it goes on the smoker.

Fired up the WSM this morning at 7AM. I used some lump charcoal that had worked well before, but it burns too quickly. The bag I used today had almost all very small pieces and burned even quicker. I have had to add fuel twice during the smoke. I just went online and ordered some Heat Beads to try next...hopefully they will do much better.

I'm now about 8 hours into the smoke. Last meat temp I took was 160 in the pork. I'll report back once I serve these up tonight.

Anyone else ever do a bone-in brisket?

[AndyHull]

Hope they ended up ok!

I tried lumpwood when i first started (not that long ago) and found the same as you that the lumpwood burned too quickly and it was mainly small bits with the odd huge chunk in amongst it.

I use Big K briquettes now and find they burn consistently and for a good amount of time, if you look around your local supermarkets and DIY stores they are selling briquettes off cheap to clear the stock.

I wouldn't go back to lumpwood now unless i had no choice!

Andy

[kwazulu]

I tried lumpwood when i first started (not that long ago) and found the same as you that the lumpwood burned too quickly and it was mainly small bits with the odd huge chunk in amongst it.

FWIW I had the same opinion of lumpwood charcoal before learning from others on this forum about the restaurant grade lump from Bookers. It's made from hardwood and burns a heck of a lot longer than the stuff you would buy in a local supermarket. having worked my way through a bag of that, I bought some briquettes because they were slightly cheaper and I wanted see if I noticed any difference, and I can. In my UDS, using the lump, it was very easy to maintain a higher temp, but using the briquettes (BigK), it took ages to reach temp and needed alot more work to maintain temps.

Having said all of that, I know there are others who swear by briquettes and will only use those. each to their own

[AndyHull]

I don't have a problem getting to a high temp with briquettes (Big K)
It took me a couple of attempts to get it right, the first attempt i used too many briquettes and had to baffle the kettle right down using bot top and bottom vents which resulted in a dirty burn and a creasote taste on the ribs.
second attempt i used too little charcoal and had to open the vents right up in order to get a high enough temprature and the briquettes burned very quickly and the meat (ribs) wasn't cooked enough.

Now i know exactly how to get the temps i want for low and slow and i use the snake/minion method to get a 6 to 7 hour burn without any more fuel needed.

I supose it's just what your confident using, and im confident in my method as others are in theirs.

Andy

[crizmo]

I've tried lump and briquettes. I have had a 6 hour burn from cheap lump but as I'm cooking brisket a lot I find that I need long cooking times. I've tried Big K and cocoshell briquettes but you just can't beat heat beads. I had a 12 hour burn between 225 and 250 on the weekend and it could have been longer but I fell asleep at midnight and stopped monitoring temps.

Cheers

Chris

[AndyHull]

I had a 12 hour burn between 225 and 250 on the weekend

What Q was you using?
WSM OTP?

Andy

[crizmo]

Hi Andy,
I have a 18.5 WSM. I used about 7/8's of a 7kg bag of heat beads. I filled the chimney up about 3/4 and put the rest in the ring. Once lit I sprinkled the lit coals over the top of the lit ones.

Cheers

Chris

[kendoll]

How did this cook end up? Which meat did you place on each shelf?

I am looking at doing a 5kg butt and. 5kg brisket this weekend. Thinking of putting the butt on the bottom shelf as it is thicker. I do find that the bone in butt does cook quicker than the pork neck does.

Any suggestions?

Ken

[kendoll]

Glad I didn't wait for an answer.

Ken