Well my weekend smoking is done already. I started at 7 PM Friday by placing an 8 lb brisket flat, a dozen ABT's, and 4 blocks of tofu in the BS. I used oak the first two hours, then a mixture of hickory and mesquite for the last two hours, set the guru at a temperature of 200ºF for the cabinet and 180ºF for the meat. I took the tofu out at the 2 hour mark, and continued to smoke/cook the brisket and ABT's. At the 4.5 hour mark I took the ABT's out, and changed the water. I then went to bed figuring I had another 5-6 hours to go.
At 3:00 AM the guru alarm woke me up; I'm not sure how long it was beeping. I looked out the window and saw that the meat temperature indicated it was done. At 3:00 AM, there was no way I was getting dressed and dealing with that brisket. Fortunately I did two things differently for this smoke. First at the 4.5 hour mark I took the brisket out and foiled it using a combination of Old's and Cook's Illustrated techniques. Second, and most important at the time, I had the guru in Ramp mode.
For those not familiar with the guru, the Ramp mode feature brings the cabinet temperature down, as the internal meat temperature gets closer to its set temperature. This begins when the meat is within 25ºF of being done, and it will continue to lower the cabinet temperature until it reaches the meat temperature, and then hold the cabinet at that temperature.
So I went back to be for 2.5 hours. My original plan was to set the meat probe at 185ºF, in the morning, and finish it off. Since it had been holding at 180ºF for at least 2.5 hours, at 5:30 AM I took the brisket out. I then drained most of the juice and reserved it, and placed the brisket in the microwave to rest until it can be sliced. If it is not tender, I can always place it in a pan, in its own juices, and finish it off in the oven.
