Brinkmann Trailmaster Limited Edition

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I'm liking the red color on the silicon, it reminds me of the A-Team van.

I threw some chicken on last night and had temp issues again. After looking through the forums some more, I think it may be due to a poor design with the deflector plate. That being said, the chicken still turned out great, even if I did have to finish the skin in the oven. I used my own spice blend and homemade bbq sauce (no katsup used).

Chicken just put on, rub only, no sauce:

Finished product:
 
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Here as some recent pic from my BBQ 2 weeks ago.  6th one since I bought the BTLE, 1st try with all the mods finished.......1st one where everything came out amazing.  Ribs I did the 3-2-1 hours, with the wrapping done in an alumn. pan, same for the brisket.  Brisket I had an internal temp of 203 Deg F, and it was as perfect as I could have wanted.  I put smoke on it (apple and hickory) for about 6 hrs straight, till internal temp of about 155DegF, then wrapped with some apple juice and JD and 1/2 bottle german beer.  RIbs came the same but wrapped them with honey/brown sugar/ apple juice.  Teeth tender......Yum!   I did only 45 mins finishing them on the regular grill to get my finishing BBQ sauce on them.  This pic was after 3 hrs smoke and before wrapping.  Also did the pork shoulder in the pic, and that was just amazing and pulled great when temp was about 200 internal.  did this on the regular gas grill also after about 6 hrs smoke.





 
WOW rob that looks awesome!

Trek - I have never been able to finish chicken well on the smoker.  I feel like to get the great finished skin it needs to be finished at higher oven temps. Let us know if you figure out how.  However, I love the pig so much I rarely smoke chicken.
 
Nice looking food there, rob!  Keep the Q-views coming!  
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WOW rob that looks awesome!

Trek - I have never been able to finish chicken well on the smoker.  I feel like to get the great finished skin it needs to be finished at higher oven temps. Let us know if you figure out how.  However, I love the pig so much I rarely smoke chicken.

I take the chicken to 10 degrees under the target temp, then throw it on the grill for a quick sear.
 
Thanks Dabeve, it's nice to know I am in good company. While I wasn't able to get the skin crispy (hungry people waiting on a late dinner) I was able to get the skin bite through tender. They were on for 1.5 hours at 225-250 and in the oven at 375 for 30 minutes. I basted in sauce twice, once at 30 and the next at an hour. The rub sauce combo was and is a big hit with my family and coworkers. I was considering posting the recipe, but I actually am getting offers from people wanting to purchase some. Never expected that to happen.
 
Sorry to hear that man. The last offset smoker I owned was a tiny $89.00 piece of junk Char-Broil that I bought from Lowes and I pretty much had the same experience. I took the thing to the landfill after just one cook. Words can't describe what a hunk of junk that cooker was. I only have myself to blame though. I don't know what I was expecting from an $89 smoker in the first place. 
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I bought the same one at Walmart. Did three smokes on it did a mod and made a UDS. I am giving mine to my neighbor. He can have fun with it.
 
Alright guys, I have some QView for you.. I did my first two smokes last night and tonight.  They came out AWESOME.  Still a bit of an issue with keeping temp at 225 but i can deal with it.  It wants to stay steady at 260.  Here it is

!









The last three pictures is the meat i'm smoking tomorrow for my birthday party.  Wish me luck.
 
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Hope it all comes out well.  Part of the fun is learning about your smoker, and then enjoying the results as you fine tune.  Have fun!
 
Very nice Mike! Looks like today should be a fun day.  Happy birthday.  Where did you pick up those clamps for your door?  They look awesome.
 
Just put the brisket on an hour ago.  Smoker temp is steady at 219 and the IT is sitting at 111 so i'm not messing with it too much.  It's close enough for me.  I will post some QView later on.
 
Very nice Mike! Looks like today should be a fun day.  Happy birthday.  Where did you pick up those clamps for your door?  They look awesome.
I ordered the clamps from Harbor Freight.  They have Horizonal Close and Verticle Close handle options.  Here is the link for the ones that i bought.

http://www.harborfreight.com/500-lb-horizontal-toggle-clamp-96233.html

And here is the link for the Verticle Clamp.

http://www.harborfreight.com/500-lb-vertical-toggle-clamp-96238.html

The work great.  the only issue i have is if i'm not careful i hit the smoker with my finger when trying to lift them up.  But it could get a problem with both styles because at some point the handle will be close to the Barrel.  Other than that with some silicone sealant around the edge of the door it definately keeps the door shut very well.
 
right at 3 hours now.. was having a couple of temp issues.. it didn't want to go over 210.  Removed some of the ash from the firebox and added some more charcoal to it.  Running smooth again.  Decided it was a good time to snap a picture of it.

 
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Finally did it!! Talked my wife & four kids into getting this as a B-Day/Fathers day gift for me. Upgrading from the Brinkmann stainless Smoke-N-Grill, my starter smoker that I outgrew after two years or so. Picked up the BTMLE today and cannot wait to put it together on an upcoming day off. I will be doing most if not all of the mods as they all seem to control heat, disperse heat properly and keep the smoke where it belongs. Thanks to all of the pics, ideas and links to parts. After I order that cover right away, really looking forward to working on this bad boy!!!
 
Finally did it!! Talked my wife & four kids into getting this as a B-Day/Fathers day gift for me. Upgrading from the Brinkmann stainless Smoke-N-Grill, my starter smoker that I outgrew after two years or so. Picked up the BTMLE today and cannot wait to put it together on an upcoming day off. I will be doing most if not all of the mods as they all seem to control heat, disperse heat properly and keep the smoke where it belongs. Thanks to all of the pics, ideas and links to parts. After I order that cover right away, really looking forward to working on this bad boy!!!
AWESOME!!!  You definately have to do all the mods to keep the heat controlled and dispersed in all of the right places.. Do a season burn through it without the mods and you will see just what i mean.  Burns extremely hot at the firebox side and the thermo that comes with it will read about 100 degrees higher than it actually is.  Once you get the mods done you will see the difference immediately.  Well welcome and be sure to post pics of your progress and your Q.

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Welcome nvv522, just remember if it looks like it needs high temp seal, seal it.

Legs, fire box, handle, stack, clamps for lid if its tweeked, baffle is a must on fire box end.

Grommet for temp probes, put in new temp gauge at grill level.

Basket for wood or charcoal.

Its a different creature, but with some tuning it will work fine.

Don't forget to empty ash from tray during smoke or your temps will drop.

Just have fun.

Happy smoking.




 
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