Here's my temp profile for the minion method on my kettle. Stayed 250-320 or so. Pretty stable, but a bit high. I'll take it. I can't seem to get 225-250.

looks great, I noticed an all natural briquet like rancher, stubs, or the new Comp K you will get better results than charcoal filled w/ a bunch of fillers. When I do briskets or butts, I will use firbericks on one side, start minion w/ 4 or 5 lit on a pile of raw/ Bottom closed about 95% top open half. I think the key is to put the lid on before your temps get over 200 or so. W/ rancher and a 10lb brisky I have gotten 7+ hours at 270. I really like the 250-275 range. I have gone lower w/ my other smokers but..seems my best results are 250-275.

I hate to sound dumb, but where can I find out about rancher, stubs and the Comp K, sounds very cool. Big problem with briquettes is the ash sometimes smothers the lit ones.

Hey Dave, Rancher is limited...seems its in the SE more, he tried to extend all over, but K beat them out. But..kingsford competition briquet is at Home Depot, most of them should have it in now. Lowes is carrying stumps. They are an all natural Briquet so the ash is minimal, burn hotter...and smell great.

Thanks so much. I know where I'm goin' for lunch. This forum has great information.

I meant to say Stubbs...not Stumps

Gary, just did another run using Kingsford Competition. Worked just great, but no better in terms of duration of burn. See my two profiles here, pretty consistent temp profile.

I haven't peeked in yet to see how the residual ash compares. I took out the probe this morning and then my daughter had a tirade. I'll look tonight.

sounds good, they ash should be half as regular. I am doing a brisket cook on the kettle tomorrow w/ stubs, I will let you know my burn times.

Hey Dave...here is a pic of my set up. Prob have 10-11lbs of coals in there. This is an 11.2 lb brisky. I try to stay in the 9-10 lb range but..the ones I looked at had some pathetic flats on them, so I bought this one. I like to use pecan as it is real mellow and does not over power the brisket.
http://i299.photobucket.com/al...palasz/brisketup.jpg

Heres some pics of the cook. It was way too windy..pretty much a constant 20-30 winds, so burn times were botched. Overall a success. Temps ran on the high end. Got an easy 8 hour burn, but w/ out wind...no doubt 12 hours. Stubbs had half the ash as reg K. The burnt ends were incredible. Man...I love those things!
http://i299.photobucket.com/al...palasz/brisketup.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/al...gpalasz/brisket3.jpg
http://i299.photobucket.com/al...gpalasz/endsdone.jpg
http://i299.photobucket.com/al...84/gpalasz/money.jpg

Nice run! Second shot makes my mouth water.

I got my first nice brisket done. 12 h @ 200, 5 h @ 240, wrapped an hour and heaven. I'll get a pic up tomorrow, busy work day. Work really gets in the way. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for all the great ideas contributed on this thread. I have been using this method since last July but rereading have picked up a lot of new tricks to try this weekend after revisiting. BTW our local brickyard sold us firebrick for a dollar a piece.

quote:

Originally posted by Gary Michael:
Heres some pics of the cook. It was way too windy..pretty much a constant 20-30 winds, so burn times were botched. Overall a success. Temps ran on the high end. Got an easy 8 hour burn, but w/ out wind...no doubt 12 hours. Stubbs had half the ash as reg K. The burnt ends were incredible. Man...I love those things!
http://i299.photobucket.com/al...palasz/brisketup.jpg
http://i299.photobucket.com/al...gpalasz/brisket3.jpg
http://i299.photobucket.com/al...gpalasz/endsdone.jpg
http://i299.photobucket.com/al...84/gpalasz/money.jpg

Hey Gary...I was talking to my mom, whom I cook for frequently, about the use of fire bricks and long, slow cooks on my kettle. I just showed her pics of your brisket, and she wants me to make her one, so I'm going to give it a whirl. However, I have to ask...what's the make up of the rub you used? How long before the cook did you apply it?

Nice to see this thread still running after a couple of years.

A couple of years back our team placed about 15th or 16th in ribs (can't remember which) at a KCBS comp using the kettle for ribs.

If you have seen one of these comps, you'll know that many use cookers that are on the expensive side... so in this case the kettle was able to hold it's ground with the high end cookers.

Shows you a big variable is the person doing the cooking versus what is being used.

John

J.Reyes said:
Shows you a big variable is the person doing the cooking versus what is being used.

.............................................

You've got that right John, it's like anyone can go and buy a set of Titleist Golf Clubs but that's not going to make them in the Tiger Woods.

Cheers

Davo

quote:

it's like anyone can go and buy a set of Titleist Golf Clubs but that's not going to make them in the Tiger Woods.

Ssssshhhhh - what the hell Davo! Next thing you know my/our wive's will hear that and that's all she wrote for bigger and better grill or the newest driver.

Tiger (or close to it...)

ooops!!

(whispering) sorry for speaking so loud Eric,

quote:

Originally posted by DAVIDMICHAEL:
ive gotten good results without a water pan. I can usually tell where the temp is going to peak just by watching how fast the temp is going up on the thermometer. I have one at cooking grate level and a probe at the top vent level. It takes a little more work than the WSM however you can get similar results with some practice. I can keep 230(indirect) at grate level for several hours, of course the vent temp is hotter than that.

Sorry for the newbie question, but what kind of thermometer do you use? Does it have two probes attached? Would a third probe be necessary for the meat itself?

quote:

Originally posted by Dan Davidson:

quote:

Originally posted by DAVIDMICHAEL:
ive gotten good results without a water pan. I can usually tell where the temp is going to peak just by watching how fast the temp is going up on the thermometer. I have one at cooking grate level and a probe at the top vent level. It takes a little more work than the WSM however you can get similar results with some practice. I can keep 230(indirect) at grate level for several hours, of course the vent temp is hotter than that.

Sorry for the newbie question, but what kind of thermometer do you use? Does it have two probes attached? Would a third probe be necessary for the meat itself?

I have several but the ones i use the most are tel-tru (candy therm), maverick, accu-rite probes (electronic). Really all you need is two, one through the lid vent or on the cooking grate and a meat therm. Do the boiling test to check for accuracy on the therms.

Great information here...!!! I'm going to try this over the weekend...

Jester