Pulled Pork or Beef Brisket

[moose24]

Just purchased new Bradley Smoker.  I am looking for the easiest or best method/recipes to use for the first time smoker regarding Pulled Pork or Beef Brisket.
Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi Moose24;

Welcome to the forum.

You can check the Recipe Site ; check the recipe site after 2 PM, and another brisket cooking method (for multiple briskets) will be posted.

Others will be along to relay their experiences.

[westexasmoker]

Welcome to the forum moose!

Lots of good info and people here!

Pachanga has an excellent write up on brisket....Heres the link

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?t=532

And a link to my take

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?t=525

I don't do alot of pulled pork, but when I do I basically go the same route as doing a brisket.  Not to worry someone with much more experince than I will be along shortly!  Good luck and keep us posted!

C

[Wildcat]

Welcome to the forum.  I am not aware of your experience, so please forgive me if I am giving too much information.  Pulled pork, although time consuming, is probably the easiest and most forgiving thing you can smoke in the Bradley.  The brisket is easy as well, but not as forgiving.  On brisket I like to rub with olive oil, then apply kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder.  With the pork, I coat with olive oil and apply Iceman's oinker rub.  If this is your first, try it with oil, then apply the salt, pepper, garlic and onion.  This way you will know how it tastes with just the basics.  Butt and brisket I smoke for 4 hours at a cabinet temp of around 205.  After the smoke period I change the water in the bowl and continue to cook in the bradley without smoke to desired temp.  For me it is around 175 to 190 for pork and brisket.  With both cuts of meat, keep the fat cab up.  Try not to open the door anymore than you have to.  Have the top vent about 1/3 to 1/2 open.  You will find the door temp gauge is seriously lacking.  I would recommend getting a Maverick ET-73.  It has dual probes (one for the meat and one for the cabinet).  Put the cabinet probe to the side of the meat but do not let it touch.  You will find that the meat will go through a stall stage.  Do Not rush it.  This is the stage that everything comes together.  It will seem like you are not cooking at a high enough temp.  Take my word - you are.  It will take anywhere from 12 to 24 hours to cook at this rate.  The wait is worth it.  Let us know how it turns out.

[FLBentRider]

W E L C O M E  to the Forum moose24!

There is not much for me to add that Habs and Wildcat have not covered. I would echo that pulled pork is the easier of the two.

[Consiglieri]

both are tasty, but pulled pork is as close to set it and forget it as you can get.  Overnight cooking technique (thanks Icerat 4) is one I've adopted.  I like cooking brisket too, but there's a big learning curve on that cut.

I'll let West Texas tell you about brisket (and hope he's surviving the weather well!).

For pulled pork, I use this technique although I use a different mustard slather and a sweet/hot rub.  With as much meat as you'll typically cook (a pork butt) you can rub a whole bunch of slather and rub on-- it doesn't season the entire cut till you pull and toss the meat.  Check out these instructions:  http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=4528

Good luck and welcome to the Bradley experience, Moose! 

One last suggestion, which has nothing to do with anything other than owning your free time:  The Bradley is a pretty user friendly machine that doesn't require a lot of babysitting.  The temp readings are not as precise as I'd like them, so I use the Maverick ET 73 as suggested (a good value actually).  But you don't have to add fuel every 45 minutes, or adjust the coals, or open/close air vents, like you'd have to do with a charcoal or wood smoker.  We're not against this hard work, or technical knowledge, but we bought this fine machine because it frees up time.   It only frees up time if others don't know it frees up time, so frequently visit this rectangular box, scratch your head, cross your arms, frown a bit... walk away, open a beer (now you're getting it), walk back over and check the settings.... Open the door (provided sufficient hours have passed) and baste the meat..... frown some more.  Express doubts to the significant other and sit down in your favorite chair, shaking your head.  Turn on the game to console your doubts, refresh your beverage and sigh.   

I think that covers Bradley 101. 

[FLBentRider]

Well said Consiglieri!

[KyNola]

Nothing more to say .  Wildcat and Sig have given you valuable advice.  Have fun and let us know the outcome.

KyNola