Weekend Brisket Questions

[Vaison]

I'm sure some of the more experienced folks can help me out.  I already smoked a brisket once and it came out okay.  Upon reading some of the posts here, it appears that I did quite a few things incorrectly.  I think I have the rub done the way I want and I plan on experimenting.  I have an order for a 14 lb. brisket - untrimmed and cut in half making two 7 lb. briskets.  I plan on putting one in the freezer while I go to work on the other half.  Now for my questions:

1.  I did not use water in my smoker last time and was not aware that I am supposed to put some in the bowl.  Is this necessary?  Is this suggested?

2.  I cooked my last brisket for about 6 hours at 180F and then just put it on a cutting board and sliced it up.  It was okay.  Should I cook this longer?  I want to avoid using my kitchen oven if possible.  I was hoping to cook everything right in the BS.  I wouldn't mind doing it overnight as I have seen others do - however my next question-

3.  Can the smoker be left outside in the weather?  Everything that I have read suggests that it not get wet.  I worry about all of the dew overnight and the possibility of a rain shower while I am sleeping.  The last time I used my smoker, I left it near the open garage door with a floor fan blowing the smoke out of the garage.  Now that it is getting cold at night here, field mice tend to try to get into the garage.  Can the smoker be left out in the elements at all?

Thanks for any assistance!  I hope I can have this nice and juicy this time around.  I screwed up my first shot at baby back ribs and that will come after I figure out how to do a brisket.

[begolf25]

Vaison, welcome to the forum! There are plenty of guys on this forum that can give you a lot more complete information that I can provide but this should get you started.

1. You should always use water in your bowl. This extinguishes the pucks once they are pushed off your burner plate. After you have completed the smoking phase of cooking and all of your pucks are used, dump the burnt pucks and water and replace with fresh water.

2. Cooking times vary depending on a number of factors (outside temps, wind, amount of food in smoker, etc.) I would use some type of thermometer to check your foods internal temps to gauge when it is done. I use the Maverick ET-73 as a lot of others do and it works great.  The ET-73 will also give you accurate readings on the smoker temps since the door thermometer has been known to be off by 10-15 degrees.

3. I leave my smoker outside to cook overnight if I know there isn't a chance of rain or snow. Some on here have built some outdoor shelters for their smokers so they can leave them outside to cook in all types of weather. My last smoke I had to do inside because of the rain and I taped an 8 ft. long dryer duct to the top of my smoker and ran it outside a window in my garage.

Hope this helps.

Bryan

[kiyotei]

ITs an electric smoker and is not sealed against wet weather so don't leave it uncovered in bad weather.  I smoke when its raining (I live in Seattle and have no choice) but I cover it with a tarp to keep it dry.  Make sure you leave room for the smoke to escape thru the vent.  I think 180 seems off cool to be cooking a brisket.  I would go over 200.  I prefer the 220 mark.  The weather here is cool so I always have the temp set high in my smoker.

[Duster]

vaison, welcome to our family, The others seemed to have answered you questions. There are a few things that I would like to elaborate on from Bryan though,

You should always use water in your bowl. This extinguishes the pucks once they are pushed off your burner plate. After you have completed the smoking phase of cooking and all of your pucks are used, dump the burnt pucks and water and replace with fresh water.

This is very true but the water dose more than that. Like Kiyotei said, most people like to smoke around 200 to 220 F, water boils at 212 F so when the water boils it creates steam witch aids in cooling the cabinet temp down and helps (but dose not prevent) cooking at too high of a temp. Personally I prefer 200 F because I do not want excess steam/water inside my cabinet. Also I would recommend dumping your water bowl more than once during a large smoke. I have heard of the burnt bisquetts piling up higher than the water level in the bowl and not getting extinguished then fat and grease dripping onto them and creating a fire inside the cabinet.
As far as pulling an all nighter, I wouldn't worry about any dew that may settle, usually the little bit of  radiant heat off of the cabinet seems to keep this at bay for me. However I would not recommend leaving your Bradley outside if they are calling for a rian shower. Again like Bryan mentioned there are several post on here about temporary and permanent shelters that others have come up with for there smoker. Get creative and if you want to do it you'll find a way, just remember do not block off the vent on top this causes smoke to not flow through the cabinet and back up into the generator. When this happens your generator will not last long. There are vents on the side of your generator, watch for smoke to come out of them or out around the cabinet where the generator hooks into it. this is a srue sign that you do not have enough air flow. Good Luck and we love pic's of food porn here.

[Ontrack]

Vaison-Unless it's really cold when you smoke the brisket, a 7 pounder should be ready to FTC in 12 hours or less. The last 3  I smoked were 7-8 pounds, and cooking them at a box temp of 200-210 on a 50-60 degree day took an average of 11 hours. I pulled them at an IT of 190. I only had one brisket in the smoker with nothing else, and had the smoker pre-heated and ready at 6:00am. I've done a couple of overnight smokes, but I do get a little scared of not hearing a rain shower. On a weekend night full of adult beverages, it could rain in my face and I wouldn't wake up, and the wife sleeps like that with or without the beverages. Hope this helps.

[dakota57006]

Vaison,

I had the same questions.  My last brisket turned out absolutely perfect.  I did the following.  I like a strong smoke so I used mesquite.  I used a steak rub from the grocery store.  Covered with a good coating of yellow mustard all around.  I then smoked until the internal temperature was at least 140.  Smoke flavor in meat after 140 doesn't happen.  I continued cooking until the internal temperature was at 195.  I wanted to be able to slice and/or pull the brisket.  Depending on the size, weather, etc. this can take up to 24 hours to complete.  Be patient, leave the door shut and watch your temperature.  You really need to invest in a Maverick as it will tell you the oven temperature and meat temperature.  That is how I found out that the temp will swing as much as 30 degrees when a new puck starts to smoke.  The temp will climb and if your oven temp is too high you will run with an average temp of too high.  I set my oven on 180 to 190 depending on the weather.  Winter is coming so I will adjust to compensate but you need that information to smoke properly.  Once the internal temp hits your mark the final step is crucial and that is to wrap the brisket in foil (shiny side in), wrap several towels around the brisket and leave set for at least one hour.  I left mine for four hours last time and it was still hot inside and that was just sitting on my counter.  You can put it in a cooler if you want.  If you follow those basic steps you will have a brisket that your friends will be begging for.  I am not an expert but I do believe if you follow those basic steps you won't have a problem.