Hi all,

I've been on a quest to smoke most all of the meats common to barbecue on my Smokey Joe. One by one, I'm getting them done. In the past, I've smoked and posted about Pork Butt, Beef Ribs (Nubbins) and Chicken (Drumsticks). Today's smoke was Beef Brisket.

This is my first USDA Choice brisket--a tiny flat! I usually buy ungraded brisket. It was simply lightly sprinkled with freshly ground sea salt and pepper--along with some granulated garlic.








Brisket just before foiling.



I'm still pondering the logistics of St. Louis-style Pork Ribs on Smokey Joe--they're on my list along with a good ol' Beef Chuck Roast...

Doing it small and enjoying it more!

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Now, now, DL. This ain't gonna fly without a little more info on your procedure on the SJ. Good looking results, for sure.

I love you man! There are the recent posts about Wiviott's "5 steps", discussions on water vs sand vs saucer vs empty foiled pan, the endless/pointless debate of lump vs briquettes... and you go and cook some of the finest looking Q with complete disregard for any of that garbage.

I've been grilling on my SJ since the wife has the gasser up in CT and it's easier than firing up the WSM for a single steak, and damn that little thing sizzles. Keep up the great work and keep proving that results depend on the chef, not the gadgets!

Oh Man, look at that nice smoke ring. Fantastic!!!! Nice job, on your Smokey Joe. I think you are doing great, on your mod. Thanks for the pics.

Great looking brisket D L. Nice ring and bark on the flat.

love that little sj. what a machine. great job.

I hope you managed to get all of those quarters puled out of the meat before serving it!!!!

On a serious note, that meat looked really good!!

On a side note, good call on the granulated garlic.

Most people often get garlic powder or garlic salt which all too frequently have anticaking agents, preservatives, etc. that (to me, anyway) give foods an off flavor.

quote:

Originally posted by Howard Barlow:
Now, now, DL. This ain't gonna fly without a little more info on your procedure on the SJ. Good looking results, for sure.

Hi Howard,

What else do you want to know? There is a lot of information in the post about the Chicken (Drumsticks).

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quote:

Originally posted by j.shan:
I hope you managed to get all of those quarters puled out of the meat before serving it!!!!

On a serious note, that meat looked really good!!

Hi j.,

Yup, I counted them--two quarters were retrieved and run through the dishwasher!

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You are killing me D.L.!!! I have a 15lb packer that I'm cooking tomorrow and now I want to cook it today!!!! I think you have made me change my cooking plans though, I believe I will cook it on the Performer vs. WSM now.

I've said this before and I'll say it again, 'You are demonstrating that it's the cook that makes good BBQ, not that cooker they're cooking on'! FANTASTIC JOB!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Larry Wolfe:
You are killing me D.L.!!! I have a 15lb packer that I'm cooking tomorrow and now I want to cook it today!!!! I think you have made me change my cooking plans though, I believe I will cook it on the Performer vs. WSM now. SNIP

Hi Larry,

You and your posts inspire me! There are so many great posts to this bulletin board! So many different ways to accomplish great cooking/smoking! As I was sautéing mushrooms this morning, I kept having visions of the skewered mushrooms recently posted by Ken_K. I think Bryan S grilling on his chimney had a bit to do with my considering smoking on Smokey Joe--that's thinking outside the kettle!

So many great posts and photos! I don't grill very often and with almost no variety--burgers, shrimp and steaks. I've got some bread baking to do on the 22.5" OTG yet this summer and some more smoking on Smokey Joe to come. But, so many great posts and photos of grilling have me itching to do much more grilling!

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D.L.W.

I think you deserve your own reality TV show. A cross between Throwdown and Junkyard Wars. I'd watch it.

Jim

Thanks, DL. I'll give that a looksee. I was just wondering how often you had to add fuel on such a small chamber. How long does a 'load' burn? How many coals make a 'load' on the SJ?

I've been wanting to add an SJ to my arsenal. Guess I'm going to get one today. Thanks, again.

quote:

Originally posted by JRPfeff:
I think you deserve your own reality TV show. A cross between Throwdown and Junkyard Wars. I'd watch it.

Hi Jim,

That would be a tribute to my parents. My mother was an excellent cook (for the most part) and my father could take a pile of junk and turn it into something astonishing.

Thanks,

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quote:

Originally posted by Howard Barlow:
Thanks, DL. I'll give that a looksee. I was just wondering how often you had to add fuel on such a small chamber. How long does a 'load' burn? How many coals make a 'load' on the SJ?

I've been wanting to add an SJ to my arsenal. Guess I'm going to get one today. Thanks, again.

Hi Howard,

Keep in mind that this is still a work in progress. I have precisely seven smokes under my belt with Smokey Joe and there have been some changes along the way.

Yesterday, I started with 13 unlit briquettes and 9 fully lit briquettes. Nine lit briquettes has typically gotten me up to the 225-250 degree F. range rather quickly. The bottom vent was closed or mostly closed after nearing 230 degrees F. and the top vent was about half closed. There is some air seepage into and out of my SJ kettle where I have a 14 gauge copper wire bent over the kettle lip to protect temperature probe cables. This seems to me to be neither good nor bad. It is simply a very small source of air intake.

I needed to rearrange my briquettes and smoke wood yesterday after about 1.5 hours. This was somewhat unusual. We had gusty winds and very high humidity yesterday. The charcoal was not burning evenly and my 2nd piece of smoke wood hadn't started smoking by the 1.5 hour mark. I added three more briquettes at that time, but likely wouldn't have needed them. The burn time with 24 briquettes (total) was almost exactly 5 hours--a couple unburnt briquettes remained.

I firmly believe that a 4-hour, 225-250 degree F. cook can be done, typically, without adding briquettes. I am using K Blue.

I'm still tinkering with the higher heat smokes in the 300 degree F. range. Eleven lit briquettes added to about 12 to 14 unlit seems to be where I'm headed with higher heat cooks. I'm thinking it will be possible to fully cook a 2.5 lb. meatloaf at 300 degrees F. without adding charcoal. I haven't achieved that yet, but have come close.

Remember, it's a small chamber and you are cooking small quantities of meat. It really doesn't take much fuel.

Do get a SJ!

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D.L. I am fascinated watching this work in progress. I think you may have some great material for a book one day, The Complete Guide to BBQ on the SJ!

D.L. - don't know how I missed the drumstick post and the mods to the SJ. Those mods are "over the top"...it has never crossed my mind to attempt a smoke on the SJ...great pics!!