# ECB and the Minon method



## bill r (Aug 18, 2012)

I only recently joined the meat smoking community within the last month or so with the purchase of my first smoker--the Brinkman Smoke-N-Grill, (aka the ECB--El Cheap-O Brinkman).  I made the mods recommended on this and other sites and smoked a brisket and whole chicken.  Meat turned out great, but I had to dump the charcoal pan every hour and start over with new briquettes.  Did the same thing on the next couple of smokes.  Finally got tired of having to babysit the darn thing every minute, to add coals every hour, open and close the door to regulate the temp, etc.

I decided to try out the Minion Method this weekend to see if it would work with the ECB and ease the babysitting issues I was having.  For anyone not familiar with this method do a yahoo search on it or read Jeff's article on it from the Smoking-Meat Homepage.  I cut the ends out of a #10 can and placed the can  in the center of the ECB charcoal pan, filled the rest of the pan around the can with lump charcoal and then filled my Weber charcoal chimney about 1/2 full of lump charcoal.  I placed 5 or six chunks of mesquite and hickory that had been soaking for 12+ hours around the perimeter of the charcoal pan.  After getting the charcoal chimney going with the side burner of my gas grill I let it burn for about 10 minutes until everything was glowing a nice orange color and then dumped it into the #10 can in the middle of the ECB's charcoal pan.  Once the hot charcoal was in the can I used a pair of pliers to lift the can off of the hot charcoal and set it aside.  I placed the smoker body back over the charcoal pan and let the temperature guage reach 220 degrees and then put my brisket, that had been rubbed with Jeff's Naked Rib Rub the night before, on the grate and put the lid in place. 

I saw a tip on another website that suggested using folded up aluminum foil to close the gaps between the ECB dome lid and smoker body.  I did this and I feel it allowed the top vent that I added to be more useful in helping to control the temperature.  I still used opening and closing the door to trap or allow heat to escape, but not nearly as often.  (I can't say if this is because of the Minion Method or the foil between the lid and smoker body, or both.)  The ECB reached my target temperature of 220--240 degrees and stayed there for over 5 hours with very little messing with doors and vents to control the temp.  Mostly I just occasionally  added chunks of wood from my water buckets to keep the smoke going.  When there were spikes in temp it was usually from a flare-up.  I opened the door and used to tongs to take the flaming wood out, dunked it in the water bucket and put it back on the coals. 

After 5 1/2 hours most of my initial lump charcoal had been consumed and the temp began to drop towards 200 degrees.  I forgot to buy more lump charcoal so I had to use briquettes for the second loading of the charcoal pan.  When the temp began to dip I filled my charcoal chimney with briquettes and got them lit on the gas grill burner.  I let them burn for about 10 minutes before lifting the smoker body off the charcoal pan.  I dumped the ashes from the charcoal pan into the metal fire ring I have on my patio and re-filled the charcoal pan with briquettes the same way I did the first time, using the #10 can in the middle of the pan and filling charcoal around it and added a bit more smoking wood to the briquettes.  Same as before--when the chimney was ready I dumped the briquettes into the can and then lifted the can out of the charcoal pan, replaced the smoker body and sat back to let it work its magic. 

I got about 3 hours of burn time out of the briquettes before they began to smother in their own ashes.  That is my biggest issue with briquettes--they produce so much more ash and mess than the lump charcoal.  I have a raised grate in the bottom of the charcoal pan, but when the pan is mostly full of briquettes it produces a lot of ash!  The ash filled the space under the grate and began to smother the few remaining coals.  As when I used lump charcoal, I did not need to do much adjusting of the temp.  It held steady for hours on end.  I watched it closely because I had not ever used this method before, but it needed minimal intervention from me to burn just right. 

After 8 hours over the coals it was 2:00 am, I was tired, my coals were smothering and my brisket was reading 172 degrees--well below my target temp of 200 degrees.  By 2:30 am I threw in the towel--I heated the oven to 230 degrees, double wrapped the brisket in heavy duty foil and put it in the oven and fell asleep on the couch.  At 5:00 am the alarm on my digital thermometer woke me up saying the brisket had reached  200 degrees.  I pulled it out of the oven and placed it in a cooler and covered it with a fleece blanket.  When I got up a few hours later the digital probe thermometer in the brisket was still reading 145 degrees.  The meat pulled apart beautifully. It was smokey, tender and delicious.  

This was a very long way to say, Yes, the Minion Method does work with the ECB smoker and works extremely well!  I also had a good time doing a side by side evaluation of lump charcoal vs. briquettes.  In my opinion the lump charcoal is the clear winner--burns cleaner and longer with less mess to clean up afterward. 

I want to extend a heartfelt thanks to Jeff for the website and recipes (they are wonderful--well worth what I paid for them!) and to you fellow Meat Heads for your tips, tricks and advise that you share with  novices like myself on this forum.


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## bomftdrum (Aug 18, 2012)

Thanks for this post.  I have an ecb and I have wondered if you could do the minion method on it.  I usually stick to 6 to 7 hour smokes due to all the babysitting.  I haven't done any Morse except the temp gauge as I am having problems finding a grate.  I am going to try my local ace hardware store, but I will be surprised if they have it as I live in such a small town.


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## bill r (Aug 18, 2012)

Thanks for the feedback!  I found a used tabletop charcoal grill at a moving sale and used the charcoal grate from that in my ECB charcoal pan.  I saw the same tabletop grills new at Home Depot for $20.  I can't remember the brand name of them, but the Weber version is called the Smokey Joe and it runs about $30 at Home Depot.  I actually pulled the charcoal pan from the ECB floor display and pulled the charcoal grate from the Smokey Joe knockoff to make sure that they will work together.  They fit really well. 

For my ECB mods I took the lid vent from the used Smokey Joe knockoff and installed it on my ECB lid after drilling 1/2 inch holes.  I used the vent as a template to mark with Sharpie where the holes should be.  From my limited experience I think the most important mods to make on the ECB are the temp guage and moving the legs to the outside so you lift the smoker body off of the charcoal pan.  I did all of the mods to mine before using it for first time, so I can't speak to how well the charcoal burns with vs. without air holes in the pan.  However, I can say that it burns better with the grate in the pan to keep the coals out of the ashes.   

One other bonus of having the Smokey Joe knockoff is that after using it for parts for the ECB mods you can use the body of the little grill to dump your charcoal pan's hot ashes into when you need to add more charcoal to the ECB.  With all mods + the initial investment in the smoker I have spent well less than $100.  Not too bad.  No, the ECB--even with mods--is not a Weber Smokey Mountain, but it works decent enough and seems to be a good unit to learn the ropes on.


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## flash (Aug 19, 2012)

Minion method is the way to go. I finally retired my original ECB this year, it was 30+ years old.  After mods it was capable of around 450º. I tried lump but it burned to hot and too fast, so stuck with briquettes. Usually had to add new coal after every 4 hours, so would start up the chimney starter every 3 1/2 hours.  I had a spare charcoal pan and had the legs reversed so easy to swap out the pan or add too it when needed.













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## bill r (Aug 20, 2012)

Great pics!  In the shot of your ECB I can see smoke coming out of the unit, but I can't see how you are getting air to the charcoal pan. Meat looks great!
Also, sounds like you've been doing this for a while--I like the consistent temps that briquettes provide, but as I said in an earlier post, even with a charcoal grate in place my briquettes generate so much ash that they smother the fire. How have you dealt with this issue?


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## deanoaz (Aug 20, 2012)

Thanks, Bill R for that comprehensive coverage of your ECB experience.  I just did some chicken breasts this weekend, after all the "Jeff Mod's" to the ECB and was satisfied with the results.  Your suggestion of lump charcoal and sealing off the space around the lid talks to a few of the problems I ran into.  I will be trying them for my next project.


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## flash (Aug 20, 2012)

Bill R said:


> Great pics! In the shot of your ECB I can see smoke coming out of the unit, but I can't see how you are getting air to the charcoal pan. Meat looks great!
> Also, sounds like you've been doing this for a while--I like the consistent temps that briquettes provide, but as I said in an earlier post, even with a charcoal grate in place my briquettes generate so much ash that they smother the fire. How have you dealt with this issue?


 Well I did drill extra holes in the fire pan. This did funnel out some of the ashe, but removing the pan and replacing it with the secondary one was the real savior. As to air. In the older versions of the ECB, the lid fit OVER the barrel of the smoker, where as the new ones, the lid fit IN the barrel of the smoker. This allowed for some air, but the biggest change came when removing the feet, I placed the unit on three standard concrete block, placed in a triangle layout. The firepan rested in the center opening and the barrel of the smoker on top of the 3 blocks. In the first photo you can see the two openings of the concrete block. This allowed air flow to the pan. If I needed more, I would place another block with the openings facing out. If I needed less air, moved the block so there were no openings facing out. I found I used much less charcoal this way too. I actually had to cut back on the normal amounts I had used in the past or the heat would really climb on me.


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## bill r (Aug 20, 2012)

Thanks for the tip on using cinder blocks, sounds like it works really well!.  I've been using a platform made from red bricks to rest the charcoal pan on, I have the legs reversed with the smoker body standing on the bricks as well. 

I had a couple more questions on how you set up your cinder blocks and charcoal pan; I have air holes drilled in the lower sides of my charcoal pan, I have about 16, 1/4 inch holes (8 on opposite sides).  It sounds like you have holes in bottom of your pans--is that correct?  In you experience is there such a thing as too many air holes in the charcoal pan?  As in if I drill more holes in the bottom of my pan will I need to cover some of the side holes up to prevent excessive air getting to the charcoal (if I remove the legs so the smoker sits flush on the blocks)? 

Thanks again for the feedback and advise!  I look forward to trying this on my next smoke.


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## flash (Aug 21, 2012)

I went with larger holes, more like 1/2 inch to allow the ash to fall thru better. So if I remember, I had the existing center hole then added around 6 more around the sides.  More air will get the coals going hotter and burning faster, that is why you would then turn the cinder blocks to block excessive air flow. As stated, if I used a 3/4 to full pan of charcoal, I could achieve 450º. I was able to cut back quite a bit on the amount of charcoal I used.













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## deanoaz (Aug 21, 2012)

Well, I am updating my ECB setup with some more changes besides Jeff's Mod's. 

In Jeff's Mod's, he put some holes towards the bottom of the charcoal pan, on either side.  Probably because of using briquets, they plugged towards the end and I lost heat.  I added some more holes further up, so that ash won't plug them as much.  Although that may be "belt and suspenders" if I use charcoal chunks.  My pan is sitting on three of those round patio stepping stones (which is what it looked like in his mods.

I also read a recommendation somewhere to use wood stove door gasket around the lid of the ECB.  Got some and will be trying that this weekend to cook a brisket.  I'm also going to do some searching to get opinions on which wood to use for smoke on a brisket......any ideas?????  I know there are about as many opinion on that as there are members on this forum.

I'm also following your recommendation to use charcoal chunks instead of briquets, for more constant, long lasting heat and less ash.


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## bill r (Aug 21, 2012)

Thanks again for the tips!  Started setting up my blocks and drilling larger holes in the bottom of the pan tonight.  We'll see how she burns next time I smoke something.  Thank you!


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## bill r (Aug 21, 2012)

You'll have to post how the stove door gasket works out!  Sounds like a better solution than the folded sheets of foil I've used the last couple of times.  Good luck with the lump charcoal, I've used it several times now and have been pleased with the results.  I've seen some other posts saying that the lump burns too hot and fast, but it has worked well for me.  As far as wood goes for the brisket I did one this past weekend with hickory that turned out really well.  I've also used mesquite and apple.  I probably don't have the most discerning palate, but I thought the apple was a bit on the mild side for me--if I'm going to the trouble of smoking something I want a strong smoke flavor.  I think mesquite may be my favorite right now.  I would like to pick a weekend and smoke two chickens (or something similar that doesn't take 12+ hours to cook), doing each one over a different type of wood in order to see how significant the difference in flavor is.  Good luck with the brisket!  I'll have to figure out how to post some pics-- the ones that "Flash" posted with his responses were really helpful!


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## deanoaz (Aug 21, 2012)

Thanks, Bill for the feedback.  I'm really looking forward to doing the brisket (1/2 cut) this Saturday.  I think the wood stove seal-rope will work just great.

I have a recipe that calls for a marinade first (overnight) then a rub for 45 minutes, then hit the grill for 3 hours.  I am modifying the recipe to include spraying apple juice on the brisket when turning it over every hour or so.  At the end of the 3 hours, it will be wrapped in aluminum foil and back on the grill for 1-2 hours.  Depending on the temp., I will pull it out of  the foil and back on the grill for an hour or so for an outer crust.  I am using a mixture of apple and hickory wood for smoking.  I will then probably hit the styrafoam cooler to let it rest before serving it sliced thin for sandwiches.

One thing I didn' t mention that I was going to try are a couple of "aluminum fatties" of water-soaked smoking wood that will sort of sit to the outside rim of the burner pan and one or two made up ahead of time to replace the originals as they burn off.

Looking forward to this next smoking project (2nd in a row).


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## bill r (Aug 21, 2012)

Sounds like a solid plan. I've seen the recommendation to spray the meat down with juice or marinade during the smoking process before, but have never tried it. It sounds good, especially with using apple juice with the apple wood. I also like the idea of using the soaked wood in foil. The first brisket I did smoked for about 6 hours to 167degrees and then rested it and sliced it thin--it is really good that way.  I think the foil wrap is a good idea as well. I did a pork roast that took about 10 hours. I had rubbed it, but did not brine, marinade or mop it and it was good, but a bit on the dry side.  I think a foil wrap half way through may have helped that. 

Is the stove seal rope adhesive?  Does it attach to the lid or to the inside rim of the smoker body?  Looking forward to hearing how that works out.


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## deanoaz (Aug 21, 2012)

I could use an adhesive (one came with the rope) to attach the rope, but I think I would rather just poke it down into the space around the lid after setting it back down, since I'm not sure how it would seal after taking it off and on after being glued.  It doesn't take much to just put it on top of the gap.  I'll let you know how things work out.

Lets keep up a running conversation on how our smoking goes, since we both appear to be newbies.


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## deanoaz (Aug 22, 2012)

Okay, final preparations are done for this newbie to try a brisket smoke this weekend (2nd project after chicken).

Have the Brinkmann ECB and did all the recommended "Jeff Mod's" (see setup below) of legs outside, firebox on pavers, controlled venting holes on lid, real thermometer.  I also set up some pavers around the round blocks supporting the firebox, for the legs to stand on evenly.  I had read about sealing off around the lid to stop losing smoke/heat from that way, so I have a piece of wood stove seal rope (see in the picture), which I can pull on and off whenever lid needs to be removed.

I am going to use the Minion method for firebox wood starting, by having a new paint can (bottom removed) from Lowes in the center and charcoal chunks around that.  I will then fill that with hot coals and remove when ready.  I am going to try making two aluminum "fatties" to hold wood for smoke (holes punched in top).  I think I can make them long and narrow and curve them for locating opposite each other in the firebox.  Then if I start running out of smoke, I can have spares made up to just replace the others.  I have a theory that I can also make the two with different woods in them for a mixture of smoke.

My brisket recipe will be an overnight brined piece of meat (half of a full brisket), rub applied 45 minutes before smoker time, 3 hours on the grill, removed and wrapped in aluminum foil, back on the grill for 1-2 hours, then an unwrapped period back on the grill for some crusting.  During this time I am also going to be spraying the meat periodically with apple juice.

Ready for any and all critiques!



















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## flash (Aug 22, 2012)

> Originally Posted by *deanoaz*
> 
> .  Got some and will be trying that this weekend to cook a brisket.  I'm also going to do some searching to get opinions on which wood to use for smoke on a brisket......any ideas?????


 I prefer Oak and Cherry for my Brisket.


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## bill r (Aug 22, 2012)

Set up looks good to me!  I really like the wood stove door rope to seal the top of the smoker.  I'm also interested in how the foil wrapped wood works out.  I just set up my smoker in the manner described by Flash--withe legs off and the charcoal pan and smoker resting on cinder blocks.


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## deanoaz (Aug 22, 2012)

The setup of aluminum wrapped smoker chunks and outside legs (firebox resting on stones) worked for me last weekend.


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## bill r (Aug 23, 2012)

Do you feel that wrapping the smoking wood in foil gave you a longer smoke/smolder time from them before 
needing to add more wood or packets?  That is something I've never tried.


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## deanoaz (Aug 23, 2012)

Bill, last weekend I had soaked hickory chunks in aluminum foil with holes in top, I got good smoke and still had some left in the foil.  Towards the end, I had a few chunks left in the soaker pail, so I threw them in the side door,  Even though they were soaked, it didn't take very long for them to flare up, raising the inside temp's and burned up in a short while.  I know there are a lot of opinions about it, but I will definitely have wood in aluminum foil, but might try non-smoked at some point.








Deano

Sorry, I meant "non-SOAKED".  My bad!


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## flash (Aug 23, 2012)

Bill R said:


> Set up looks good to me!  I really like the wood stove door rope to seal the top of the smoker.  I'm also interested in how the foil wrapped wood works out.  I just set up my smoker in the manner described by Flash--withe legs off and the charcoal pan and smoker resting on cinder blocks.


 Watch your temps until you realize how much charcoal you can cut back on.


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## bill r (Aug 24, 2012)

Thanks for the extra detail on doing the foil wrap. I will definitely give that a try. No smoke this weekend, I've got too much going on. Hopefully next weekend. Good luck with the brisket!


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## deanoaz (Aug 25, 2012)

Well, Bill, here is my report on my brisket for this weekend and my daughters birthday.  Setup was as follows:

- I did all the published mod's to the ECM (thermometer in lid, outside legs, firebox grate, flue in lid and a wood stove gasket rope around the lid) and set it up on flat pavers for the legs and firebox (three stacked, round pavers). I only wrapped the rope around the lid without glueing it in place, as it only took a few seconds to fit it.

- I used charcoal chunks instead of briquets, for the main reasons of temperature control and lack of ash:  Both of these proved to be true.  My temperature in my ECM held steady at about 225 on my thermometer (one of the mod's to my ECM), only varying when I added chunks and I went through a 6 hour session without having to empty the firebox.  I was amazed at how steady the temp's held from my chicken attempt last weekend (the rope and charcoal chunks were the main changes).

This is my smoker workplace setup:













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- I used the Minion starter method and put a bottom-less gallon can in the center of my firebox, charcoal chunks surrounding it and my soaked smoke chunk packets on top (see a packet below).  I then used the chimney to start some chunks, dumped them in the center gallon can and removed it:













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I used hickory in one packet and apple in the other (just trying something different).  You can see the setup below just after filling the gallon can and removing it.  Ready to start.  Those black paint spots on the pavers are my targets when putting the whole smoker back in place after working on the firebox.













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I followed a brisket recipe (for a 6 pound flat) that did a brine solution overnight, patting it dry and adding a rub, then allowing it to sit while I got the smoker started.  It was allowed to smoke for 3 hours, then removed and put into aluminum foil to cook for another 2 hours.  After that I put it into a wrap of aluminum foil and towels and held for 1-2 hours in a styrofoam cooler.  I was planning on pulling it out of the aluminum foil and smoking over the coals, without the water container (to get a crust), but the temperature showed it was already up to well done.

We sliced the brisket for sandwiches and it was very tender and passed as a success to the whole family.











Deano


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## bill r (Aug 29, 2012)

Glad to hear the brisket was a success!  How did the minion method and the wood stove rope work out?  I liked your idea of painting "targets" on the pavers to position your smoker legs on.  I just took the legs off of my smoker to try out the cinder block stand that Flash used in his photos.  I made smoked stuffed peppers last night.  Pretty darn good!  Sorry the first pic is sideways--took it w/ my phone and couldn't get it rotated once it was on the computer. 













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## deanoaz (Sep 9, 2012)

Well, today I took on baby back ribs and BBQ beans.  It was a total success, but I will qualify that by saying it took some effort.  We ended up having wind today and it took some extra effort to get past the impact of that.  Here was my roadmap:

1. Plan was to follow the 3-2-1 method of doing the ribs, with it to be modified to 2-2-1 with baby backs, according the my research.

2. The wind blew all day and kept the smoker temperature down at about 190-195 F, so I got my horse in gear to find some way to take the wind out of the situation.

3. Picked up a roll of 2' x ? thin aluminum sheeting, cut it to the approximate circumference of the ECM and clamped it in place around the base of the unit.

4. I got the temperature up to about 205-210 F and then went ahead and cooked for 3 hours because of lost temp's to start with (two racks in one of those rib holders), with the beans (Bourbon Barbeque Baked Beans, can't remember where I got the recipe) on the lower grill to catch dripping from the ribs.

5. Took the ribs off, wrapped them in aluminum foil and put them back on for 2 more hours.  At that time, I pulled the beans and put them in the oven at 250 F (I was unsure of whether to leave the beans on the smoker for another 2 hours; found out it would have been okay).

6. Pulled the ribs, unwrapped them, put them back in the rack on the lower grill to crust them off.

7. Finished after 6 hours and had wonderful ribs and beans.

There are a lot of rocks thrown at the Brinkmann ECM, but it has started to grow on me.  It just takes a little work, but I have found (without wind) that I can hold the temp's at about 215-225 F after putting on all the mod's, using chunk charcoal instead of brickets and putting my soaked smoking wood chunks in aluminum foil (shaped like crescents to fit around the starter can) with holes in the top.  I bought some wood stove gasket rope, to seal off the lid from leaking and that works well to help seal smoke leaks.   I get a little leakage around the top damper and around the door, but that is all.  I also use the Binion method of ignition which helps keep the temp's constant by slowly igniting the charcoal around the starter chunks in the center (i.e. a bottomless can in the center, where I put burning chunks from my chimney, then removing the can) .  I'm finding my temp's hold constant for hours that way.


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## deanoaz (Sep 14, 2012)

I will definitely stick with soaked smoker wood in aluminum foil.  I did that and had some soaked wood chunks left over.  I just threw them on the burning charcoal chunks and the temperature slammed clear up into the 300+ range.  With the wrapped packages, they just slowly burn and smoke until they are gone.


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## bill r (Sep 16, 2012)

I haven't done the aluminum foil packets yet like you've shown.  I'll have to try on my next smoke. 

In a couple of weeks I am going to be smoking brisket and pork shoulder for a group of guys from church.  I think there will be about 55 to 60 of us.  Does anyone have a suggestion for how many pounds of uncooked brisket and pork shoulder I should plan to secure to feed a group of this size? 

My thought was that I could put two brisket flats on the top rack of my ECB and two pork shoulders on the bottom rack.  I have access to an electric ECB if I need to have more than smoker going at once. 

Look forward to trying the foil wrap to see if I can keep my flare-ups down and make my soaked wood last longer.


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## deanoaz (Sep 16, 2012)

Bill, on another forum today, I read how it did no good to wet smoke wood, because wood does not absorb water.....???  I don't really believe that and have had good success with wet wood in the aluminum packets.  If I had any caution on them is that it might take longer to get those chunks to start smoking.  But they for sure, for me, lasted longer and eliminated the flare-ups.  That is only my opinion, so take it for what its worth.

I did salmon on the smoker today and it turned out great, using wood chunk packets.


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## flash (Sep 17, 2012)

Wetting the wood, for wood chips is not a bad idea. It really serves no purpose for dried chunks because it doesn't penetrate the wood that deeply.


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## deanoaz (Sep 17, 2012)

I should give more detail on my wood chunk packets.  I take the wood CHUNKS and split them down into pieces that are bigger than wood chips, but smaller than the large wood chunks (mini-chunks).  I also soak them for 24 hours before using.


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## flash (Sep 18, 2012)

I always soaked wood chunks, no matter the size. Sometimes chopped them up some too. I really see no advantage after trying it both ways. However, do what you are familiar with, that is what is best.


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## bill r (Sep 18, 2012)

Thanks for the clarification on the packets-- I tried it once with large chunks, but had issues with the packets being so big that they hung up against the bottom of the water pan. That was with only a few chunks in the foil. Cutting it down and soaking 24 hours sounds like a better plan. 

By the way--in a couple of weeks I am helping prepare a big BBQ for a men's group from church (between 50 & 60 people). We'll be smoking pork shoulder and brisket. Both will be pulled. Anyone know how many pounds of meat I should plan on smoking?  My thought was to put two pork shoulders on the ECB top rack and two brisket flats on the bottom rack. I have access to an electric ECB if I need a second smoker. 

Thanks!


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## bomftdrum (Sep 26, 2012)

Figure 2 sandwiches a person.  2 of each depending on the size should do.  I have fed 8 people with 5 lbs of pork and everyone had at least 3 sandwiches.  Hope that helps.


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## bill r (Sep 26, 2012)

That's about the direction I was leaning.  I am estimating approximately 1 pound of meat for every 2 people (aka 1/2 pound of uncooked meat per person)  I am hoping that 2 6 to 8 pound briskets and 2 6 to 8 pound pork shoulders will feed the masses.


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## deanoaz (Sep 26, 2012)

I am about to try a pork butt (6-8 pounds), with the assumption of 2 hours per pound.  Any opinions on that?


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## bomftdrum (Sep 26, 2012)

That is what I would figure on. Just go to temp not time.  Good luck.


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## bill r (Sep 26, 2012)

My last one was an 8 pounder and it took about 16 hours. After 13 or 14 hours I pulled it off the smoker and put it in the oven to finish. When the alarm on my temp gauge went off I knew it was done.


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## deanoaz (Sep 26, 2012)

That I understand, but I am not yet a smoker with digital alarms that go off at 2:00 AM in my bedroom when the meat is done.  If I go on the smoker at a specific time, I would like to at least know about when it might reach temperature, so t that I can plan a starting time.

.


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## bomftdrum (Sep 27, 2012)

I would give myself 16 hours to be safe.  If you want to start feeding at 5pm, I would start about 11pm.  If you get done early you can wrap in foil and then in towels and put in a cooler.  Each butt ail smoke differently.  I cooked 2 3 pound roasts and one got done one hour before the other one. Better done early than late.


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## flash (Sep 27, 2012)

deanoaz said:


> I am about to try a pork butt (6-8 pounds), with the assumption of 2 hours per pound.  Any opinions on that?


Last 8 1/2 lber took me 9 1/2 hours. But I increase the heat once I have the butt wrapped in foil.


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## bill r (Sep 27, 2012)

The weekend I did brisket and pork shoulder together I cooked them Friday evening into the wee hours of Saturday morning.  When they were done I did as Bomftdrum suggested--I double wrapped them in heavy duty foil and put them in a cooler with some old pillows on top of them in the cooler and went to sleep.  When I got up 5 hours later they were still reading 165 degrees on my digital thermometer.  At that point I shredded/pulled the meat apart and put it in disposable aluminum pans (which I just wash and reuse over and over again) and put them in the fridge until Sunday evening.  On Sunday I heated the oven to 270 degrees and put the pans covered in foil in the oven for about an hour.  When it was time to eat the meat was perfect.  

I didn't have a digital thermometer with an alarm that would go off at 2:00 am in my bedroom .  .  .   until this smoke---while putting the meat on the smoker I managed to drop my cheap digital thermometer in the bucket of water I was soaking wood in.  I ran down to Wally World and they only had one model of Taylor digital thermometer (which happened to be a really nice one with a remote alarm that I could keep with me on the couch).  :)  I think it was about $30. 

On the same trip I picked up a couple bags of Royal Oak lump charcoal for the first time.  It burns WAY better then the Cowboy junk I have been buying at Home Depot!  

I agree with Bomftdrum, plan on about 16 hours, maybe give yourself an hour or two extra on the back end just in case your meat plateaus for an extra long time.  If you don't want to be up ALL night don't be afraid to finish the meat in the oven for the last few hours.  I've done this a time or two and it has always worked out well, just lay a heavy smoke on the meat early if you plan to finish it in the oven. 

Good Luck!  Let us know how it turns out!


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## deanoaz (Sep 28, 2012)

Forum responses that said to plan on 2 hours per pound seem to agree all around, so I guess that is my yardstick.

Thanks for all the help!


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## flash (Sep 28, 2012)

deanoaz said:


> Forum responses that said to plan on 2 hours per pound seem to agree all around, so I guess that is my yardstick.
> 
> Thanks for all the help!


Really there is no real problem with that. If it does end up done early, just leave it wrapped up in foil for its resting period.


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## bomftdrum (Sep 30, 2012)

So how did it turn out?


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## deanoaz (Sep 30, 2012)

I was just prepping for it.  My butcher is supposed to call me when he gets one of the size I want.


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## golfpro2301 (Oct 1, 2012)

I am currently in the process of doing my first minion method smoke. I have the masterforge charcoal pretty much the same as the Brinkmann. The mods I have done was sealed the lid and door to prevent leaks. Drilled (4) 3/8" hole on top for smoke to escape. Installed a BGE vent on the front of the charcoal area to regulate air flow. raised the charcoal grate up from the bottom 2" and attached a piece of expanded sheet metal to the outer edge of the charcoal grate that stands 6" high to create a basket. I was really excited to try out the minion method because of all the babysitting I was doing before. I didnt have a can to put in the center so I just filled up the basket and removed about half a chimney out of the middle. Lit the coals and dumped them on top. I foiled some Peach and Pecan wood and put them on top. After about 1 hour the temp was up to 210* so I put on my 5# boneless butt. This is where the problems start. The temp kept climbing all the way to 300*. I checked and there were no flare ups. I had an extra ketchup bottle I use for my sauce so I filled it with water and poured it over the outer coals to put them out. after this the temp has settled in around 260-270. This is still a little too hot but I am tired of messing with it so I am hoping it will go down. I feel like I have done everything the same as everyone else on here but you all are getting better temp control. can anyone let me know where I went wrong? I know you want pics but I currently have a BUTT on there and like an idiot I didnt take pics at the start (sorry).


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## deanoaz (Oct 1, 2012)

GolfPro2301 said:


> I am currently in the process of doing my first minion method smoke. I have the masterforge charcoal pretty much the same as the Brinkmann. The mods I have done was sealed the lid and door to prevent leaks. Drilled (4) 3/8" hole on top for smoke to escape. Installed a BGE vent on the front of the charcoal area to regulate air flow. raised the charcoal grate up from the bottom 2" and attached a piece of expanded sheet metal to the outer edge of the charcoal grate that stands 6" high to create a basket. I was really excited to try out the minion method because of all the babysitting I was doing before. I didnt have a can to put in the center so I just filled up the basket and removed about half a chimney out of the middle. Lit the coals and dumped them on top. I foiled some Peach and Pecan wood and put them on top. After about 1 hour the temp was up to 210* so I put on my 5# boneless butt. This is where the problems start. The temp kept climbing all the way to 300*. I checked and there were no flare ups. I had an extra ketchup bottle I use for my sauce so I filled it with water and poured it over the outer coals to put them out. after this the temp has settled in around 260-270. This is still a little too hot but I am tired of messing with it so I am hoping it will go down. I feel like I have done everything the same as everyone else on here but you all are getting better temp control. can anyone let me know where I went wrong? I know you want pics but I currently have a BUTT on there and like an idiot I didnt take pics at the start (sorry).


Not  a crusty old-timer at this, but my ideas would include:

1. Holes in the top, in my opinion, should have a damper over them to close down when the temperature gets too high.  On my ECB, I took a damper off my old Weber and put it on the top of the lid.  My temp starts dropping when I close it down.  That in combination with the BGE vent at the charcoal basket might help control your temp's.

2. You might be using too much charcoal if you are filling a 6" basket.  My charcoal pan is only 4" deep and I just barely put the chunks to the top, around a gallon paint can (new from Lowes) into which I dump my burning chimney chunks after well lit.  If the temp is starting to climb over that much time, it sounds like an over-abundance of charcoal is starting to become lit and you have more than you need.  I keep my soaked smoke-wood, mini-chunks in banana-shaped foil packets (holes in the top), but also put a few on the burning chimney chunks after the dump in the can and its removal.  My theory is that this helps create smoke until the foil packets start smoking.

Just my ideas.  Good Luck!


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## bomftdrum (Oct 1, 2012)

I'm thinking too much charcoal to start as well. On my ecb if temps start rising I just open my door and usually will bring it back down.


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## golfpro2301 (Oct 1, 2012)

Yeah I took out a lot of the lit charcoal and waitied until it got down to 255*. Once it got down I put the body back on and closed the door. It maintained 250-275* for the next 9 hours with very little babysitting. I was really impressed. I think next time I will only fill it about 4 inches. I am having a hard time getting my wood chips to burn. I am putting them in foil canoes with the top part open. It smolders for about 30 minutes but produces very little smoke. any ideas on how I can improve this?


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## deanoaz (Oct 1, 2012)

I'm not sure how you are setting up your charcoal pan.  Here is a picture of my pan, where I put the empty can in the middle, chunks around that, then my smoke packets on top of that (I think the canoes need to be on top of charcoal chunks).  It shows what the charcoal pan looks like after filling the paint can with lit chunks from the chimney and removing it.  I am now sprinkling a few smoke wood mini-chunks on the lit middle to get some early smoke before the packets start putting out smoke, since they take awhile.  When they do start putting out smoke, it is sometimes hard to see as it is a very thin, blue smoke.













Setup #1 Brisket.JPG



__ deanoaz
__ Aug 25, 2012


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## gotsmoke80 (Jun 22, 2015)

I am going to have to try this . I have been using Briquetts  for my last three smokes and it seems the temp goes thru the roof,  I also think I need to add a  vent to the top , I did all the basic mods to my new ECB , outside legs two thermometers  I think I am using to much charcoal in the beginning which is why my heat gets so high.


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