Smoked Cheese, Smoked Brisket, Smoked Smoker!

westexasmoker · May 10, 2009, 09:01:44 AM

We've had almost 100 degree days here of late, but yesterday we had a cold front move through and brought the temp into the low 60's. Figured this was my last chance to get some cheese done before summer sets in.

11 lbs cheddar, colby jack and firejack

And after 2 hours of smoke

All vac sealed and into the fridge to rest. Threw in 3 briskets

Now heres where thing go afoul, instead of doing my normal routine I decieded to smoke/cook these overnight in my OBS. Checked on it before bedtime, looking fine. Woke up at 6 this morning to smoke pouring out of the well house and a very nice fire within the smoker (thankfully the well house is not burnt down) unplugged and poured 2 pitchers of water through the top vent to put the fire out. Heres the outcome.......not pretty! :o

You can see it even melted the SG

Not exactly sure what happened, and needless to say WTS is out of business for awhile!

C

Mr Walleye · May 10, 2009, 09:06:53 AM

Holly Crap WesTex! :o

Man, does that suck. Thank God it contained the fire and didn't burn the well house.

Very sorry to hear this WesTex. :'(

Mike

NePaSmoKer · May 10, 2009, 09:10:27 AM

OUCH

I never do an overnite smoke.

WTS this sux. Glad to hear your well house is still intact.

nepas

westexasmoker · May 10, 2009, 09:23:48 AM

Quote from: NePaSmoKer on May 10, 2009, 09:10:27 AM
OUCH I never do an overnite smoke.

WTS this sux. Glad to hear your well house is still intact.

nepas

I hear ya Nepas....Won't be making that mistake again, not anytime soon at least!

C

Mr Walleye · May 10, 2009, 09:37:31 AM

WesTex

I'm sure you did because you have a lot of experience but was the spent pucks dumped and the bowl filled with fresh water?

When I do over nighters I always use a large tin foil roaster full of water to ensure it doesn't go dry over night.

The only thing I can think of is with the size of the brisket the grease was dripping down the back of the cabinet and possibly/somehow onto the heating element.

Sorry...

Mike

westexasmoker · May 10, 2009, 09:51:33 AM

Yep waterbowl was good, kinda thinking the same thing Mike, with the grease. Oh well it sure could have been worse! I think those briskets are done! ;D

C

Up In Smoke · May 10, 2009, 10:26:33 AM

WTS,
sorry about the smoker, at least the well house is still standing.
kinda says something about the safety of the bradley....i mean containing the fire and all.
hate that it happened though.

pensrock · May 10, 2009, 10:52:56 AM

Wow, glad the fire did not go any further. Sorry for the loss.

seemore · May 10, 2009, 11:49:25 AM

Well, at least the cheese looks good! SERIOUSLY, glad that the fire did not do any further damage.
Sorry, WTS, this truly SUCKS. I am so sorry.
Hang in there,
seemore

deb415611 · May 10, 2009, 12:05:37 PM

Wow WTS,

that is one scary picture. Glad it was in the well house & not near the house.

I have only done one overnight smoke in the OBS and could not sleep the entire night. At first it felt like "cheating" when I moved what I was making to the house oven but this just reaffirms that it's the right thing. Plus............. the house smells awesome in the morning.

I hope you will be up and running again soon!

Deb

Gizmo · May 10, 2009, 12:44:15 PM

Sorry to see that happen WTS. I do believe with 3 briskets, that is a lot of fat dripping down and think with that much of a load, a larger foil pan replacing the small water bowl would have worked better.

westexasmoker · May 10, 2009, 12:55:49 PM

I have done 4 briskets at once before, but have always pulled and finished in the house oven....I don't know what possessed me to finish outside, oh well once again live and learn!

C

Habanero Smoker · May 10, 2009, 02:17:16 PM

Sorry that happen, but as others have stated; it's fortunate it was contained to only the smoker. It looks like the fire was more intense on the right side.

Gizmo · May 10, 2009, 10:06:24 PM

I just noticed that the high temp screens, at least on the edges, are still looking in tack. I suspect the center area was crispy though. Maybe the high temp screen company will pay you the cost of a new BS for the use of picture showing how well their product holds up to the most demanding of situations.

ExpatCanadian · May 11, 2009, 04:57:17 AM

Whoa.... just spotted this thread... and just did an overnight smoke myself, albeit only a single Butt for pulled pork. Damn, that's gonna get me real paranoid now! Perhaps an oven finish is gonna be the way forward.... but then again, how many thousands of briskets/butts/whatever have been done overnight with no problem. I think this one was down to bad luck...

...sorry to see that! But hey, you get to buy a nice shiny new one, and new gadgets are always good right. Too bad you can't buy the years of "seasoning" for the inside, you gotta do that the hard (easy?) way again!