Lets get some pics up

[joker smoker]

Following my request for members to post more pictures of their cooks heres todays brisket for BBQ Shack

[MadCow]

Nice !!

[Chris__M]

Actually, that is very useful, especially for us neophytes - it is great to be able to see what it should look like.

The rolled brisket joint I cooked earlier in the week had a surprise in the end. As I mentioned earlier, it turned out looking ok, but not with much taste (beef taste, that is, I could taste the smoke) and a bit tough.

However, I think the BBQ elves stole my foil-wrapped parcel from the fridge, and replaced it with something else. When I tried it the following day, cold and thinly sliced, it was much tastier, and quite acceptable in texture. I even showed it to a visiting neighbour, who ended up nicking some slices, so it couldn't have been that bad!

Anyway, I have a proper brisket in my fridge now, waiting for a nice sunny day for me to have another go.

[MadCow]

Not sure I would bother waiting for a nice sunny day ... you could end up never cooking it !! ... The Traeger will work quite happily in this weather, just cover up the electrics if it is raining and go for it !!

[Chris__M]

Heh. It's not the Traeger I am worried about. I have still got the remnents of my cold, in the form of a persistant cough, so I am keeping warm.

Also, as I work from home, I can pop out and put it on at any time, so I am not restricted to weekends or holidays for my cooking.

For a couple of years, I have been thinking of running a car port or canopy from my kitchen door to my garage, which I use for storage. If I did this, it then be easy to semi-permanently site the BBQ under shelter (but still well ventilated), right by my kitchen door. All I would need to do then is drill the wall through to the kitchen and install an proper outside power point.

[clairbare]

Following my request for members to post more pictures of their cooks heres todays brisket for BBQ Shack

Wow that looks good, where do you source your meat from? Also what sort of prices would you expect to pay for brisket that size?
I did post a picture on another thread of my not so pulled pork lol, it was quite dry - bought it in Tesco - 3lb pork shoulder, but whilst I am still throwing more than eating I don't want to use good quality meat
Keep the pics coming, it's good to see what its meant to look like when cooked

[Chris__M]

You said you wanted pictures, well this is the first brisket I have ever cooked on a Traeger (I am not counting the small rolled brisket joint I bought the other day).



All in all, it turned out pretty good, better than I could have hoped for for my first attempt. It cooked from 8:30 to 5:45, not including resting time. There was a panic around lunchtime, when I wasn't completely convinced the grill was getting hot enough in smoke mode (showing only 135 degrees on an oven thermometer), so I turned it up to medium for a while, until the grill built up some heat, then turned it back to smoke. At about 3pm, I wrapped the meat in foil, with some sauce and some pre-cooked onions, to keep it moist, and then put it back into the grill on medium until it hit the right temperature.

Regarding the grill temp of 135: was I panicking unnecessarily here, or was something going wrong? It didn't seem to be cold enough out to affect it that much (I was standing outside in a t-shirt). Jackie had earlier suggested getting a welder's blanket for cold weather cooking, but I didn't think it that cold yet. Still one of those is now going on my shopping list.

The meat itself is tasty and tender - the only minor gotcha is that my rub (which was store bought) is somewhat hot to taste. Not awfully so, but hotter than I would normally wish. Still, one learns, which is what this session was all about.

[British BBQ Society]

On a pellet cooker I generally smoke for 7 hours then increase the cooker temp to 250 until the brisket hits 175 wrap in foil then finish at 200 ish.

What you have not mentioned is whether the 135 is the meat temp or the air in the cooker, also are you using an electric probe? The ambient tempreture will always be lower until the meat reaches a reasonable temp.

For example at the royal this weekend we cooked 2 brisket, 2 pork butts, then added ribs which lowered the cooker temp and extended the brisket and pork cook time.

What pellets were you using?

[Chris__M]

The 135 was the air in the cooker, measured by an old-fashioned Lakeland oven thermometer. I've used it many times in my domestic oven, so I believe it is reliable. The oven thermometer was on the left side of the cooker, so I can believe it might be a little cooler than the centre, where the meat was, but not by much.

An electronic meat probe showed the meat go up to 101 by 11:30, and then just sit there. By 12:30, the meat temperature started to fall, which is when I went outside to take a look. I found that I could comfortably lay my hand on the door of the BBQ, which didn't seem right to me - that is when I broke out the oven thermometer - note that this was the first time I opened the grill during the cook - I had resisted the temptation to peek up to then.

Getting the reading of 135, which I felt was too low, I turned the cooker to medium for a while to get the temperature up. Doing this quickly saw the air temp go up to 300, which is when I switched back to smoke. I watched the meat temp climb again, and after an hour, it started to fall, which is when I gave it another boost at medium. When I finally wrapped it in foil, at 3pm (so 6.5 hours elapsed), I switched to medium again, and left it there.

The external temperature was 18 degrees C. The meat probe is an inexpensive wireless probe, from Brookstone, which let me monitor from upstairs, as I worked.

Pellets were Cookshack, as bought from Jackie.

I didn't have any time to look into it last night, and I am out for the next couple of days. But I'm around on Sunday, so I am going to run it for a while without any meat in it, and see what temperatures I get.

[joker smoker]

in my experience traegers run hotter at the chimney end so this could account for your low temp reading..It may be an idea to monitor temps around the oven, find the average and its comparable place in your oven then make this the place to take your readings from