# Help! Is my brisket ruined?



## taylor83 (Apr 4, 2021)

I have a Kamado smoker and threw on my brisket last night at about 9pm. For some reason my smoker never came up to temp and when I checked it this morning at about 6am the smoker was just below 150f and the brisket IT was 111. I fully opened up the vents on the smoker and got it up to 225-250 and within about an hour the brisket was at IT 140. Is it safe to finish or should I toss it? Thanks in advance!


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## noboundaries (Apr 4, 2021)

When in doubt, toss it out.

Personally, I'd toss it and change my technique so it never happens again.


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## JLeonard (Apr 4, 2021)

And while buying that next brisket get a remote thermometer you can set low and high temp alarms on. 
Jim


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## noboundaries (Apr 4, 2021)

taylor83 said:


> I have a Kamado smoker and threw on my brisket last night at about 9pm. For some reason my smoker never came up to temp



The above quote needs a bit of clarification. Did you load the meat before the Kamado failed to reach the desired temp? Or did the temp drop and never recover after you loaded the meat?


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## taylor83 (Apr 4, 2021)

noboundaries said:


> The above quote needs a bit of clarification. Did you load the meat before the Kamado failed to reach the desired temp? Or did the temp drop and never recover after you loaded the meat?


Loaded it before it reached the desired temp, so pretty sure it was doomed from the start.


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## noboundaries (Apr 4, 2021)

taylor83 said:


> Loaded it before it reached the desired temp, so pretty sure it was doomed from the start.



Not necessarily. I often load meat before I reach my desired chamber temp, but I will have my vent's set for 225F and see the chamber temp progressing nicely.

I don't have a Kamado but use a WSM which is basically the same concept as your smoker. I set my vent's where they will be for a 225F fire before I add the hot coals. The chamber will get to temp more slowly, but burn cleaner.

Loading the meat early isn't a temp killer as long as you don't mess with your vents. Cold meat will absorb available heat at the grate level causing the lid therm and grate probes to show a temp drop, but the fire will still be smoking along toward 225F. The chamber will eventually reach 225F as long as you don't mess with the vents.

Every manufacturer instruction I've read says vents full open, start fire, then close vents down as you near your desired temp. That's a recipe for either chasing temps, too hot a chamber, or inadvertently snuffing the fire. Yes, it can be done, but it is more frustrating than accurate.

Think of it this way. If I told you "bring me exactly one cup of water that weighs 8 ounces," you'd put a measuring cup on a scale, zero the weight, and slowly add water to reach exactly 8 ounces. No way would you dump a bunch of water in the cup, see where you were, taking water out or adding more until you eventually reached 8 ounces. That last instruction is basically what manufacturers are telling you to do with your start fire.

Patience is key in two area of smoking meat; the beginning and the end. How you started your fire and set your vents are the culprit, not loading the meat early.


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## Hamdrew (Apr 4, 2021)

noboundaries said:


> Not necessarily. I often load meat before I reach my desired chamber temp, but I will have my vent's set for 225F and see the chamber temp progressing nicely.
> 
> I don't have a Kamado but use a WSM which is basically the same concept as your smoker. I set my vent's where they will be for a 225F fire before I add the hot coals. The chamber will get to temp more slowly, but burn cleaner.
> 
> ...


this. i dont mess w/ my vents, either. if i happen to throw a few too many coals, going down from 275* to 250*F is a lot smoother than 350* to the same


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