# ( smoking Pork shoulder and a Brisket ) help needed



## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 29, 2019)

Hi guys the Wife and I want to try something a bit more challenging, We have a Nice Pork Shoulder and a Beef Brisket flat with no point end.
I will post pictures of them.
We were thinking we could put the pork Shoulder on the upper rack and have it drip down on the Brisket for added flavor. Or should we do it the other way around?
We are aiming for a 30 hour dry rub session on the Shoulder but we are unsure how long the brisket should resting with the rub on it. ( Our First Brisket ever )
Also we have a Vacuum sealing system Should both the brisket and shoulder be vacuum sealed once the rub is applied and put back in the fridge. or will wrapping them with foil or plastic wrap be OK also? We will not be in any rush to eat either the pork or beef.
Normally people wrap a brisket with butchers paper during after a certain point or sometimes use aluminum foil. I was hoping to not wrap it at all and just let it ride in the smoker since the Brisket is kind of on the thin side compared to what I have seen online.

So I am looking for tips and suggestions, we want to do both at the same time to conserve on propane and wood chunks while being able to freeze much of this food for later dates.


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 29, 2019)




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## tropics (Oct 29, 2019)

If you are looking to make PP their is no problem,they both need to get up to around 200*
Richie


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 29, 2019)

BTW I am pretty sure there is not point on this brisket But since I have never done one I am not certain. Any other advice on smoking- cooking times would be appreciated along with advice if we should just smoke them on separate days since our smoker is a smallish Vertical upright one would have to be over the other unless we hung them some how.


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 29, 2019)

tropics said:


> If you are looking to make PP their is no problem,they both need to get up to around 200*
> Richie


Yes we are making pulled pork ( the brisket we plan on slicing and eating as is with sides and later in sandwiches etc.


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## tropics (Oct 29, 2019)

I use meat probes in all my cooks temp is the only way to go.Put the probe in at the beginning you never have to look inside.
Richie


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## motocrash (Oct 29, 2019)

Richie has you tuned-butt over brisket,insert probes at beginning of cook and let'em roll.


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 29, 2019)

Thank you guys so much.

Next possibly controversial question I use our needle tenderizer on steaks ribeyes porkchops chicken, Is it ok to use on Brisket and pork Shoulder? or should I just leave well enough alone and let the smoker do its magic.
I ask because everything I have used this tenderizer on cooks faster and seems more juicy plus tender. If it is OK or even good to use on both should I do both sides? Like I would a thick steak or roast? BTW I was planning on using our water pan and filling it every 2 hours plus spritzing the pork butt through the smoke stack every hour and really good on all sides while topping off the water pan.
any tips on this would be appreciated.


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## tropics (Oct 29, 2019)

Leave them alone! If for any unknown reason smoker stops if the meat is stabbed like that an does not hit 140* in 4 hrs you could have a problem. Unstabbed the outside would help make it salvageable.
Richie


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## SmokinVOLfan (Oct 29, 2019)

A lot of people are going the hot and fast method now a days which would be 275 or higher but I would shoot for a temp of 225-250 during this cook. Probes in both meats.

Another option is to put foil pans under each meat and let the juices drip down into them. Makes cleanup easier and that rendered fat is tasty. Take the butt to 205 then let it rest for an hour or more before pulling it to let the juices settle. Start probing the brisket around 195 to see if a toothpick goes in with no resistant. Could be anywhere from 195-210.

As far as seasonings and timing goes that's really a personal preference. I usually rub mine down while the smoker is heating up and I cant tell a difference in a long sit or a short one personally. I don't know about the tenderizer. I use it on London broils but maybe someone who has more experience could be of help. Afraid if you leave it sitting on there too long it might make the meat kind of mushy but then again I could be very wrong.

Yes on the water pan. Sounds like a good time and a good smoke!


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 29, 2019)

I normally use my iGrill2 for ambient smoker temps but for this session both the probes I have will go into the meats right when I put them in the smoke chamber.  
My instinct is to not use the tenderizer on either because once cooked properly they are already tender meats. I was planning on 225f But since I will not know for sure what the temperature is with my digital probes I was planning on using all my gauges as a guide to get the smoker to 225 If I remember correctly if the OEM door gauge read 225 it was 20-30 degrees hotter at the upper two grates where my food will be and at the added on upper side temperature gauges.


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## seenred (Oct 29, 2019)

The guys have you covered very well...I'll just add my thoughts on your question about how/when/how long to add the dry rub.

Opinions will surely vary, but my experience is that extended dry marinating makes only negligible difference to the final product.  I've rubbed a brisket the night before and wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge...and I've applied rub right before going in the smoker...and I have to admit I don't notice much difference either way - they both come out great.  So it's mostly about your preference and what you decide works best for you.

Looking forward to seeing/reading how your's turns out!

Red


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 29, 2019)

seenred said:


> The guys have you covered very well...I'll just add my thoughts on your question about how/when/how long to add the dry rub.
> 
> Opinions will surely vary, but my experience is that extended dry marinating makes only negligible difference to the final product.  I've rubbed a brisket the night before and wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge...and I've applied rub right before going in the smoker...and I have to admit I don't notice much difference either way - they both come out great.  So it's mostly about your preference and what you decide works best for you.
> 
> ...


After reading more added to our desire to get started smoking My Wife and I decided to abandon our 30 hour rub soak and just rub them both once defrosted and start smoking them in the morning.


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 29, 2019)

One thing left, is it OK for my brisket to stay unwrapped in the smoker the entire time? or should it get Wrapped in foil or Butchers Paper? ( because of the so called stall I keep reading about ) We do not have the paper and I was hoping they would get done just fine and stay moist with the pork shoulder dripping on them and the water pan doing its thing. Again I do not mind these taking along time to cook. ( low n Slow = Yummy in my book )


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## Danno44 (Oct 29, 2019)

Wrapping is a personal preference.  I wrap in unwaxed butcher paper once my bark is where I want it.
I’ve used foil as well but prefer the butcher paper.
Being it’s just the flat, it’s likely going to be done before the butt, so wrapping and holding in a cooler maybe what you’ll have to do.  You won’t know until you start cooking and see what the meat “tells” you.


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## seenred (Oct 29, 2019)

EaOutlaw1969 said:


> One thing left, is it OK for my brisket to stay unwrapped in the smoker the entire time? or should it get Wrapped in foil or Butchers Paper? ( because of the so called stall I keep reading about ) We do not have the paper and I was hoping they would get done just fine and stay moist with the pork shoulder dripping on them and the water pan doing its thing. Again I do not mind these taking along time to cook. ( low n Slow = Yummy in my book )



This is one of those debatable issues that gets discussed often...there are plenty of folks in each camp (wrap or no-wrap).  Again, my experience is that both are good...although most of the time, I wrap my briskets in foil to push through the stall.  Most people who go the whole cook without wrapping do so because they like a nice heavy bark.  Since the bark is not all that important to me, I prefer to foil wrap because it helps push the brisket through the stall a bit faster.

There's really not a wrong answer to the question, so again, it comes down to your own preference and what you decide works best for you.

Red


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 29, 2019)

seenred said:


> This is one of those debatable issues that gets discussed often...there are plenty of folks in each camp (wrap or no-wrap).  Again, my experience is that both are good...although most of the time, I wrap my briskets in foil to push through the stall.  Most people who go the whole cook without wrapping do so because they like a nice heavy bark.  Since the bark is not all that important to me, I prefer to foil wrap because it helps push the brisket through the stall a bit faster.
> 
> There's really not a wrong answer to the question, so again, it comes down to your own preference and what you decide works best for you.
> 
> Red


My Concern is the bark from the blind taste test I have seen ( and personally tasted ) I think I would like the bark that comes with a no wrapped Brisket. yet I wonder if I will even get a nice bark if the Pork is Dripping on it the entire time.


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## bregent (Oct 29, 2019)

EaOutlaw1969 said:


> yet I wonder if I will even get a nice bark if the Pork is Dripping on it the entire time.



Shouldn't be a problem.


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 29, 2019)

bregent said:


> Shouldn't be a problem.


Thanks


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 29, 2019)




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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 29, 2019)

We started defrosting the pork shoulder first so it was ready for the rub down session first. My Wife opted to put it in a foil covered pan rather than wrapping it in plastic wrap for fear of the rub getting rubbed off of the shoulder, I did not see any reason to argue so that is how it is in the fridge.


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 30, 2019)




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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 30, 2019)

Let the fun begin!! Today's smoke session I will have to lean on the temperature gauges that I installed and the OEM larger door gauge because my digital temperature probes are in the meat.  I am shooting for 225 degrees. From past sessions I know the temperature at the food in the center of the smoker seems to run a shade hotter than my gauges at the food zone. So I will be trying to keep all three gauges around 220ish


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 30, 2019)




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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 30, 2019)

A few shots of my back yard ( what a view I have to put up with )


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## SmokinAl (Oct 30, 2019)

Love that smoker!!
Al


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 30, 2019)

SmokinAl said:


> Love that smoker!!
> Al


Thank you for the modest price of the smoker plus modifications I made so far I couldn't be happier with it.


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 30, 2019)




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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 30, 2019)

3 hour updated pictures above, The smoker has been a steady 225 +or- 5 degrees. at the 2 hour mark I added more water to the water pan via the small access door in the back of the main chamber ( I used a 2 liter coke bottle which fit in the opening great ) Every hour I have been spraying the pork Shoulder down with the Wife's homemade solution.
I was kind of thinking the Brisket would be wet with drippings from the Pork shoulder yet at this 3 hour mark when I opened the main chamber both pieces of meat were dry looking so both got a nice soaking with the solution.
Temperature of the pork is 127 the beef is 141,I think things are going great so far. I was worried the beef would look a bit soggy but my worries were unfounded.
 Does anyone think I should have been more aggressive with the smoke? to me it looks like oven baked food with not a lot of smoke coloring. I thought it would be darker and redder by now.


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## gmc2003 (Oct 30, 2019)

Your fine especially at 225* the color will come. Grab a few sixers as your probably in for a very long day. Relax now, and if were me I'd lay off on spritzing so often. Each time you open your smoker(depending on its recovery time) you may be adding a half hour or more to the cook. 

Let it ride and keep us updated.

Chris


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 30, 2019)

gmc2003 said:


> Your fine especially at 225* the color will come. Grab a few sixers as your probably in for a very long day. Relax now, and if were me I'd lay off on spritzing so often. Each time you open your smoker(depending on its recovery time) you may be adding a half hour or more to the cook.
> 
> Let it ride and keep us updated.
> 
> Chris


Thanks I forgot to mention I only have been spritzing through the smoke stack and only getting the top of the pork shoulder. I opened it up at the three hour mark to inspect the brisket The Pork I can see clearly through the smoke stack.
I do not plan on opening the smoker at all for the rest of the cook, but every two hours I do add hot water to the pan through the very small pan access door. which cools it off slightly but it recovers quickly.


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 30, 2019)

8 hour update the pork shoulder has past the brisket in temperature at 155 the Brisket which is on a lower rack than the Pork is 151.
Until I got close to the stall period the Brisket was at a higher temperature. I am thinking this has happened because the juices from the pork are dripping on the brisket making the stall worse for the brisket.  
I am still very happy with the Smoker and the propane conversion it has been very steady this whole time. once I got the temperature dialed in I have not had to mess with it at all. It is looking like this is going to be a 10-12 hour cook.


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## motocrash (Oct 30, 2019)

EaOutlaw1969 said:


> It is looking like this is going to be a 10-12 hour cook.


Yep,at least.
Good to hear you're diggin' your setup man


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 30, 2019)

Close to the 12 hour mark with no crutch both the pork and brisket are close to the same temperature the brisket is back in the lead by one degree at 164 what a torturous smoke this has been the smell is killing me.


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 30, 2019)

just over 13 hours and the meat is still on the smoker, the smell is amazing torture that I have endured all day long.
The sad part is I see no end in sight, target temperature of the brisket is 203 and it is just now up to 170 We decided because it has taken so long that we would use the Texas crutch and just wrap both the Pork shoulder and beef brisket in aluminum foil. I wanted to save the bark on both but to do this without wrapping it in foil would take way too long considering how long both have to rest then cool off enough to refrigerate.
Time for some coffee it is going to be a long night.
It was late and we were not prepared to wrap these so I did not have any broth warmed up so i just stuck both in the foil and will be hoping they still turn out OK. I was in a hurry to get these back in the smoker cause my Wife was ready for bed and she needed to help me get these out of the smoker. I can handle the wrapped meat by myself which another reason we opted to cheat some. Below is a picture of the pork butt I did not have time to get a picture of the brisket but it also looked amazing.


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 30, 2019)




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## motocrash (Oct 30, 2019)

If it'll make life any easier,since they're wrapped,just put'em in the oven.


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 30, 2019)

motocrash said:


> If it'll make life any easier,since they're wrapped,just put'em in the oven.


I have the smoker set and going steady so I do not mind finishing off in the smoker. I did pull the water pan thinking that would help things along. I just pulled the beef brisket when the temperature was at 203 I wrapped the brisket with a towel and now it is in a cooler. The Pork Shoulder is at 179 and slowly climbing. 
I was planning on letting the pork rest for 1 hour then I was going to pull it to help speed up cooling it down ( plus I can get a nibble or two in without the Wife knowing). :) 
What is driving me nuts is why this brisket took so long I only opened the door at the 3 hour mark and the temperature recovered quickly. 
My Wife used to cater BBQ and she said she never smoked a Pork Shoulder longer than 12 hours and never had to use a temperature gauge setup like we have now. I have had her pulled pork before and maybe once or twice did we pull it too soon where it was hard to pull. (probably opening the smoker too much for basting back then )   
I am wondering if my wife trimmed down the fat or removed any silver skin from the brisket if she didn't could that account for the extra cook time? ( I never saw it when she was prepping it thinking to myself mistake number one ) All I can say what I have seen here everything looks crazy good but the time line is throwing me off.


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## tallbm (Oct 30, 2019)

EaOutlaw1969 said:


> I have the smoker set and going steady so I do not mind finishing off in the smoker. I did pull the water pan thinking that would help things along. I just pulled the beef brisket when the temperature was at 203 I wrapped the brisket with a towel and now it is in a cooler. The Pork Shoulder is at 179 and slowly climbing.
> I was planning on letting the pork rest for 1 hour then I was going to pull it to help speed up cooling it down ( plus I can get a nibble or two in without the Wife knowing). :)
> What is driving me nuts is why this brisket took so long I only opened the door at the 3 hour mark and the temperature recovered quickly.
> My Wife used to cater BBQ and she said she never smoked a Pork Shoulder longer than 12 hours and never had to use a temperature gauge setup like we have now. I have had her pulled pork before and maybe once or twice did we pull it too soon where it was hard to pull. (probably opening the smoker too much for basting back then )
> I am wondering if my wife trimmed down the fat or removed any silver skin from the brisket if she didn't could that account for the extra cook time? ( I never saw it when she was prepping it thinking to myself mistake number one ) All I can say what I have seen here everything looks crazy good but the time line is throwing me off.



Hi there and welcome!

Honestly this all sounds about right to me.  You just put about 11 pounds of meat in your smoker.  At a smoker temp of 275F running unwrapped and not opening the door at all I experience just over an hour a pound before brisket or pork butts are tender and therefore done. You are smoking at a smoker temp around 225F so yeah it would still seem to me that you things are about on track with a while to go.

Another thing you have going on is that you have the meat on 2 different racks.  The temp at the different racks is likely different.  It could be that the brisket on the lower rack is absorbing most of the initial heat and doing some deflecting of airflow and heat so that the pork butt doesn't get as good of a blast as the brisket is getting.

This kind of smoke will tell you a lot about your setup and is unfortunately just one of those learning lessons we all kind of encounter at some point or another.
You picked 2 cuts of meat that actually don't care what temp they are smoked at so in the future you can definitely bump up the temp to 275F or higher even if you wanted and you will get the same or even better results.

Once you get this kind of smoke figured out and what a rough timeline looks like, start planning a smoke like this to END at least 4 hours earlier than when you plan to eat.  If it ends 4 hours early then you just double wrap in foil, wrap in 3 bath towels, and leave on the counter and 4 hours later it will be piping hot to serve and eat!
If you don't actually finish 4 hours early then you have 4 hours of buffer time to hopefully finish the smoke before becoming late.  Either way you generally come out a winner :)

I hope this makes sense and the info helps some :)


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 30, 2019)

tallbm said:


> Hi there and welcome!
> 
> Honestly this all sounds about right to me.  You just put about 11 pounds of meat in your smoker.  At a smoker temp of 275F running unwrapped and not opening the door at all I experience just over an hour a pound before brisket or pork butts are tender and therefore done. You are smoking at a smoker temp around 225F so yeah it would still seem to me that you things are about on track with a while to go.
> 
> ...


Yes what you said made a lot of sense. 
I would consider ramping up my smoker to a higher temperature for future smoke sessions but it will require more tweaking perhaps a different burner or regulator, I can get to 225-250 and have a reasonably nice blue flame with some orange tips to the flame and no black soot on my cast iron pan for the wood chunks with the current setup, going higher temperatures the flame wraps around the cast iron pan, the flame is still blue but I will get some yellow tips and it will leave a little black soot on the pan. at higher temperatures I think it is starving for air a little.


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## tallbm (Oct 30, 2019)

EaOutlaw1969 said:


> Yes what you said made a lot of sense.
> I would consider ramping up my smoker to a higher temperature for future smoke sessions but it will require more tweaking perhaps a different burner or regulator, I can get to 225-250 and have a reasonably nice blue flame with some orange tips to the flame and no black soot on my cast iron pan for the wood chunks with the current setup, going higher temperatures the flame wraps around the cast iron pan, the flame is still blue but I will get some yellow tips and it will leave a little black soot on the pan. at higher temperatures I think it is starving for air a little.



Sounds like you get to do some tweaking if you want to smoke hotter.  There is nothing wrong with 250F but it is nice to be able to go higher.
If you can go to 325F that would be awesome because you can then defeat the "rubbery chicken skin" issues when smoking chicken/turkey.
Poultry skin likes to be smoked/cooked at like 315F+ and when under 300F often comes out with a rubbery texture.  At least at 325F you will end up with edible poultry skin and often crispy skin.

So working with your setup to produce higher heats up to 325F will REALLY give your smoker setup the upper range to easily tackle and perfect those hotter smokes/cooks.
The only thing you will be missing at that point is being able to effectively mange smoker temps  from 100F to 180F to do bacon, sausage, and jerky :D


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 30, 2019)

tallbm said:


> Sounds like you get to do some tweaking if you want to smoke hotter.  There is nothing wrong with 250F but it is nice to be able to go higher.
> If you can go to 325F that would be awesome because you can then defeat the "rubbery chicken skin" issues when smoking chicken/turkey.
> Poultry skin likes to be smoked/cooked at like 315F+ and when under 300F often comes out with a rubbery texture.  At least at 325F you will end up with edible poultry skin and often crispy skin.
> 
> ...


Yeah when I did a second seasoning with the current propane conversion I was able to get it to 380 degrees for 2 hours and I only noticed a little of the black soot on the cast iron pan. ( but black soot is black soot ) I am not sure just how high I can go without any black soot but from what I read any yellow flames even on the tips is a result of too rich of a mixture. Low temperatures is no problem I can run the burner flames to where they are less than a 1/4 inch tall and have no flame out even on a windy rainy day. 
I was looking at a burner the other day that could give me three zones of flames each zone can be turned on one by one to run all three or any one of the three zones. For now I want to get our moneys worth our of our current setup so I will stick to recipes that can get done in 6 hours or less


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## rc4u (Oct 30, 2019)

. and if ya want want juicy bark do it this way. I found best for me is thaw in fridge n then salt little first then put rub on thick n no wrap for one to two days in fridge n smoke 'er. or if ya want shiney bark use a rotisserie on grill or modded smoker. n chunks on the burner for smoke. takes 7 hrs.


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 30, 2019)

I finally got done with this smoke session, The Pork Shoulder came out great the meat mass broke in half while taking it out of the foil and the bone just slid out. The pork was delicious and perfectly seasoned and had nice smoke penetration ring . I ended up pulling the pork at 197 and only let it rest for 1/2 hour wrapped in a towel in a cooler. ( I did not see a need for a longer rest time especially since I wanted to go to sleep sometime soon )  
The sad part is the brisket while is was super tender ( probe tender ) and looked great it is just flat out too salty. The recipe my wife used called for the rub and injecting it with beef broth which left it too salty for our taste. while it is delicious neither of us will be able to handle that much salt flavor (and I salt everything).  I am hoping BBQ sauce will tame down the salt flavor if not I may have to cut the bark off of it to make it something we can eat. We will be searching for a different recipe the next time we do a brisket. I will post pictures in the morning


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## EdP (Oct 31, 2019)

EaOutlaw1969 said:


> Yes what you said made a lot of sense.
> I would consider ramping up my smoker to a higher temperature for future smoke sessions but it will require more tweaking perhaps a different burner or regulator, I can get to 225-250 and have a reasonably nice blue flame with some orange tips to the flame and no black soot on my cast iron pan for the wood chunks with the current setup, going higher temperatures the flame wraps around the cast iron pan, the flame is still blue but I will get some yellow tips and it will leave a little black soot on the pan. at higher temperatures I think it is starving for air a little.




I'm curious about your propane mod, do you have any pics of the burner in the firebox?  


I converted a WSM18 to a 15000btu propane burner a while back.  I've done smokes at 225, 250, and 275+.  It's hit 325 when I run it wide open to warm it up.


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 31, 2019)

EdP said:


> I'm curious about your propane mod, do you have any pics of the burner in the firebox?
> 
> 
> I converted a WSM18 to a 15000btu propane burner a while back.  I've done smokes at 225, 250, and 275+.  It's hit 325 when I run it wide open to warm it up.


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## EaOutlaw1969 (Oct 31, 2019)

As you can see on the bottom of my cast iron pan I have a small amount of black soot, I am not sure if that happened when I was dialing in the flame to get ready for yesterdays smoke session. The session before that I had a little more soot but with the wind and rain I had that day it took a little more time to dial in the temperature.  I am positive I can go to much higher temperatures but i think my burner may be too close to the cast iron pan. because when I turn it up with nothing on top of it the flame sounds like a jet engine with nice blue flames and slight orange tips but when my pan is in place the flame will wrap around the pan and I see some yellowing in the flame which tells me there will be black soot. 
My next change will be using a larger square cast iron pan and raising it up away from the burner 6 to 8 inches. but I will suspend it with mechanics wire or small chains rather than support it with one of the cooking grids. if that does not work I will look into getting a better burner this one was just a cheap one I bought off of Amazon.


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## tallbm (Oct 31, 2019)

EaOutlaw1969 said:


> I finally got done with this smoke session, The Pork Shoulder came out great the meat mass broke in half while taking it out of the foil and the bone just slid out. The pork was delicious and perfectly seasoned and had nice smoke penetration ring . I ended up pulling the pork at 197 and only let it rest for 1/2 hour wrapped in a towel in a cooler. ( I did not see a need for a longer rest time especially since I wanted to go to sleep sometime soon )
> The sad part is the brisket while is was super tender ( probe tender ) and looked great it is just flat out too salty. The recipe my wife used called for the rub and injecting it with beef broth which left it too salty for our taste. while it is delicious neither of us will be able to handle that much salt flavor (and I salt everything).  I am hoping BBQ sauce will tame down the salt flavor if not I may have to cut the bark off of it to make it something we can eat. We will be searching for a different recipe the next time we do a brisket. I will post pictures in the morning



Well it wasn't a smooth ride but you had some success and learned a lot!
Briskets and especially brisket flats can be over salted a lot more easily than people think.
You can simply do a Salt, Pepper, Garlic (granulated or powder), Onion (dehydrated, minced, granulated, or powder) for a great brisket rub.  No need to inject.   A lot of people just go plain Salt and Pepper for briskets but I like the onion and garlic flavor, it is out of this world!
Pork ribs are SUPER EASY to over salt as well so be sure to keep that in mind when seasoning them.

An easy way to avoid over salting a cut of meat is to:
1. Shake on each seasoning SEPARATELY so you can control the amount of salt
2. DO NOT use salt PLUS any seasonings, injections, or mixes that already have salt in them (garlic salt, onion salt, a rub mixture that has salt plus salt and other seasonings).  A simple rule of thumb is that if a mix/rub already has salt then do NOT add anything else that has salt in it.  Let the mix/rub act as your salt component.


I'm pretty sure you can save the brisket.  You might have to carve off some of the bark that has the salt but an easy way to save brisket is to throw it into a crock pot with some BBQ sauce and if it is salty add a little water.  This will give you shredded/chopped BBQ brisket (chopped bbq brisket with bbq sauce mixed in is actually my favorite way to eat it).
The nice thing about doing this is that you can use water to dilute the salt and as long as you don't turn the thing into a soup you will have anything from lightly sauced BBQ brisket to heavily sauced BBQ brisket that you can even out to make great sandwiches or put on a backed potato, or put in a tortilla with pico de gallo and squeezed lime wedge juice for brisket tacos!  Lots of options with brisket :)

I hope this info helps :)


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## zosick (Nov 8, 2019)

Ok so here is what you do figure out the smoke profile you like. Rub the meat put it on the fridge for 24 hours take it out and let get close to room temperature I keep my house @ 68f put it on the smoker at 235 until you hit 200 meat temp put it in butcher paper with a towel wrapped around and let it rest for 45 min or so. Don't over think things. It's meat wood and fire. Play around to find what you like.

I had a hell of a time getting  duck to come out correctly. Had to throw 3 away before I figured it out. Each duck cost me around $1.75 as I have been using bismuth. Experimenting is fun


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