First Brisket Smoke

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

smoknjhawk

Newbie
Original poster
Dec 11, 2007
8
10
Arkansas
I'm preparing to do my first brisket this weekend for a christmas party on Saturday at 6pm. Well it looks like the weather has turned south on me, and it going to be in the high 20s. I'm smoking a 6 pounder, and I figured if I fired the smoker up at 6am I wouldn't have any trouble completing the task by 6pm. I'm going to use the basic brisket smoke method. I'm smoking on a Horizon. Will I have trouble achieving a good smoking temperature if it's cold and snowing?
 
Definitely keep an eye on the temp inside the smoker as weather is far and away the biggest factor I have come across when dealing with heat loss. Wind is the killer on poorly insulated smokers (like mine).

Beak em hawks!
 
I'm going out today to get a temp guage for the chamber. I can keep it out of the wind, but not the snow or rain. Rock Chalk.
icon_wink.gif
 
Wind is as big a factor in sucking the heat from a smoker as cold or wet.

A welding blanket or something similar can be used to retain heat.
 
I will be waiting for your results. The only brisket I did on my smoker was quite tough and chewy
icon_redface.gif
. Maybe I can learn how to do it right from you folks.

Keith
 
Brisket has been in two hours twenty minutes. Internal temp is 111. Fire is holding up nicely considering the weather. There is a nice stream of thin blue smoke flowing from the stack. Going well so far (I hope).
df69e4d6_vbattach16074.jpg

e00684d2_vbattach16072.jpg

2b3f515b_vbattach16073.jpg

a2b227ba_vbattach16071.jpg
 
That looks great man!! It is just about dinner time where I am working and that Q-view makes me hungry. Great job.
 
3 Hours 30 minutes in the smoker. Brisket temp is creeping up slowly now. It just hit 125. Should be interesting to see how long it takes to hit 160. It needs to be done by 6pm tonight. Gotta run to the store to get another bag of fuel.

PDT_Armataz_01_42.gif
 
Update. The brisket was done on time, but it didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped. It started snowing around noon, and that reaped havoc with my fire so I had to improvise as you can see in the picture. It wasn't the best solution, but it got the job done. I didn't make it all the way to 170 before I foiled as I was short on time. I foiled at 160 and threw in the oven to take it on up to 180. It turned out great, and everyone enjoyed it. My dog especially enjoyed it. Here is the rest of q-view.
09a69d96_vbattach16088.jpg

df3ad295_vbattach16086.jpg

467f6a9b_vbattach16087.jpg

8d5ac4b0_vbattach16085.jpg
 
Hey now, that looks good enough to eat! Ya' got a nice smoke ring on that brisket... good job!
PDT_Armataz_01_37.gif
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky