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Ever since visiting Texas some twenty-plus years ago and
tasting Texas BBQ I've been longing to smoke my own... or at least attempt
to. This summer Canadian Tire stocked the New Braunfels American Gourmet Deluxe smoker. I don't know if it turned out to be a good move on their part but I was certainly happy to finally have one without the hassle of shipping and border crossing. |
First attempt at smoking a brisket actually turned out pretty good. Good enough to invoke the a little knowledge is a dangerous thing rule. I acquired some apple wood preparing for smoke number two.
For smoke number two I used a starter chimney full of lump charcoal and the apple wood. What a disaster. The yuk ranged from a funny smelling brisket to a tar like substance covering the inside of the smoker. It was terrible. Brisket got thrown away and I spent two days and many cans of oven cleaner to clean the inside of the smoker. Of course the oven cleaner oozed over the outside some so a little repainting was in order too.
While researching what went wrong I visited http://bbq.about.com and found out about some recommended modifications for offset smokers like the New Braunfels. I installed a baffle at the firebox end so that thee is no direct heat hitting the grill, or what's on it. I also lowered the thermometer to near grill level.
I then seasoned the smoker again for about 6-7 hours and the following day I was ready for attempt number three. I used a relatively small brisket for number three, just the flat. Kind of a trial balloon you might say. I put to use what I had learned from my mistakes and from the research I had done in the meantime. Only mistake this time was that I didn't cook it long enough. I followed the wrong directions, wrong for me, and pulled the brisket at about 170 degrees. BIG mistake. It was salvageable though. We cooked it in the oven for a bunch of hours, first at 200 and another hour at 250 and it turned out good. Good enough to go for number four.
Attempt number four is looking pretty good. Number four got 6 1/2 hours at 190 to 220 degrees and several handfuls of hickory/mesquite woodchips on lump charcoal. Results for number four won't be known until later as phase two is going to be the oven at 210-225 for ten hours or so. At the moment I'm back to enthused and looking for an excuse for a number five.
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Note the relocated thermometer. I'm also using a digital that has the probe
closer to the firebox, above the baffle and at grill level.
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The digital probe is located on the grill fairly close to the firebox end. I
can just imaging how high the temperature was in that area before I
installed the baffle. I was shooting for 190-200 on the dial thermometer and
no higher than 225 on the digital, hence I reset the Beef Medium setting to
give me an audible alarm at 225 degrees.
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In this picture you can see the baffle bolted to the firebox opening. I kept
water in the cooking area during the whole time. I turned the brisket end
for end at 2, 4 and 5 hours. Note the location of the digital temp probe.
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Couldn't resist a peek.
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The five hour mark. Phase one (smoking) almost done. Phase two will continue
in the oven for easier temperature control until we get better at it.
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The Smoker Modification
For me the modifications consisted of moving the thermometer down the lid
so that it's closer to grill level. I have to be careful though so that the
probe doesn't come in contact with the meat when smoking a large brisket.
Anyone with a more normal size smoker probably wouldn't have that problem. In
addition to moving the thermometer I manufactured a baffle using 22 gauge
steel. As you can see by the pictures I'm no sheet-metal expert but hey, it
seems to be working.
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Before the Mods: After the scrubbing and as NB builds them the inlet side of the cooking area. |
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...and before seasoning: The outlet side with chimney stack removed for smoker cleaning and painting (outside only). |
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You can find out more about the modifications at
http://bbq.about.com but
I'll try and explain what I did. I don't know if how I did it is right but
by the looks of the brisket I may have to say yes. Of course the proof will
be in the pudding, er taste, but it sure looks encouraging. In a larger
model smoker you can probably use the existing bolts to attach the baffle
but as I wanted to be sure to not decrease the opening between fire and
cooking area I used the existing center bolt and drilled for the ones on the
end. Full Size Picture. |
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The recommended modifications also included lowering the chimney inlet to
the grill area but as this model has the chimney attached on the end with
the opening just above the grill I left it alone. Full Size Picture. |
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The end result:
Turns out that our oven lied quite a bit. When I laid the probe on the oven
rack it showed about 230 while the dial was supposed to give us 200 degrees.
That meant that 10 1/2 hours of cooking was a little too long. Didn't dry things
out (I had a little water on the bottom of the pan) but it made cutting a little
difficult. Didn't affect the goodness any though... it was GREAT.
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Took a little careful cutting to not mush it up too badly. Going to let the rest cool off and see if it'll cut any better with a meat slicer after it's cold. |
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As I said... it was GREAT !!! |
Comments, suggestions? Email me.
Page was last updated on September 07, 2003 06:42 PM