So, I put on a 9lb brisket about an hour ago. Looking at RADAR, it appears I have 60-90 minutes until we get deutched by (another) thunderstorm. So, what are my options...my smoker is not under a patio or any type of covering...should I try to smoke through the storm? Cut my losses and put it in the oven? I should have known better but was suckered in by a beautiful morning sky.
Hang in there. As long as you don't mind getting wet it should not be a problem. You might have to be a little more diligent about monitoring the temp on your smoker, or meat probe a little later, but it shouldn't be a problem. I hope your wood is dry and under a cover, though.
Yep...wood is dry and protected...what about rain into the smoke stack...will that cause any problems? Currently, the brisket is almost directly under the smoke stack but I could move it...don't mind getting wet.
Dig, Yes the rain sucks, but you should be fine unless we get the all day down pour. I would move the brisket away from the stack if it will catch rain. I might even throw on an extra stick of wood right before the rain hits. Got any pics?
Does your pit have a grease drain? Any excess water should drain from that? This is when having an EZ-Up tent comes in handy.
It does have a grease drain that's clear. It's about 9:10...the storm still looks about 90 minutes away...I think I'll start drinkin'. At least that way I'll have the excuse of being drunk when my neighbors ask me what the hell I'm doing bbq'ing in a thunderstorm.
I'm about to fire my pit up for some ribs. I think I'll follow Digger's lead and have myself a drink.
A little rain down the smokestack isn't going to screw up your Q, but a big downpour could make you work harder to maintain temp. You might want to consider strapping an umbrella to the stack if the heavy rains are on the way. I did that once on my smaller trailer pit once when I didn't have my EZ-UP with me and although it looked ridiculous, it was effective.
Holy cow... ( ) it's like the storm parted for the greatness of hickory and beef. I'm humbled by the power of beef.
God knows that a man needs his Q on the 4th. Congratulations! It's been raining on and off all day in Austin so far. Fortunately, we are going to someone else's for the 4th later this afternoon and the Q is his problem. We were assigned appetizers and I don't need any smoked avocados for the guac or cheese for the queso. I guess I could have smoked the chiles for the queso, but I'm not sure chiles are worth the effort in the rain. Have fun.
wow what a lot of fuss for a little rain, I BBQ all the time in the rain, my pit is designed so that all rain does is raise the humidity inside the pit, stack comes out the end so any rain that gets in the 1/2 inch that is not covered by the damper drains right out the grease hole. The lid on the firebox and on the meat area both cover the hole so no rain gets in that way. I don't worry about the temp, cause my pit don't care what is going on it maintains temp within an acceptable range as long as I don't screw around with it. Since I'm in Florida, I thought ahead when I got my new pit.
I smoked a brisket last night, it is almost done now. It was a bit cold and slightly drizzling. Will post pictures when done.... It was at 165F internal temp earlier but I read that you want to try to get it to 185F to get even more moist (I would have thought the other way but read it below). link
Was busy working on a repair job today & then chasing after round bales of hay; ended up doing store Q 2x. SouthSide in Elgin - snausage & one beefer, then Riley's in Drippin' - bird & snausage. It were a good day, indeedy.
Put mine on at 8pm Friday night, took it off at 4pm Saturday. I also had a few beers Friday night, never really got it much greater than say 220deg consistently.... Wrapped it in aluminum foil around 1am. Rotated it 180deg a few times. Went to bed at 3am with the smoker at 200deg, woke up at 7am with it at 120deg.... got it back to 220, went back to sleep, woke up at 9am with it around 150deg, put some coals on, drank some coffee.............. Around the time of the OSU/A&M game, I checked the internal temp and it was at 165. I wanted to get closer to 180-185. I put another log on, took a nap watching the game. Woke up 10min into the 2nd half, the brisket was at 170. Watched OSU choke away a 1pt lead in the last minute into an almost total collapse while Sean Sutton looked like a preacher in a whorehouse.... Put some more coals on. Weather was great, went for a run in my neighborhood. Got back and it was finally where I wanted. Took the brisket off. Wrapped it a couple more times in aluminum foil (wrapped it around 1am originally), then wrapped it in a couple of towels.... put it in a cooler. Took a shower and got ready for the Tech game. Drank a couple of beers at Scholz before and afterwards. Got home and finally sliced the brisket. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I'll post the pics. The smoke ring was impressive especially for my 1st time. I only sliced the point. I appears that the point is the leanest part. I cut the other parts but left them in chunks to cut up later. I am thinking brisket tacos.