I have never been a cook. My wife is Southern, her mother taught her everything she knew, we met when we were teens and so I have always let her handle 99% of the cooking. I will make a mean homemade pizza, the occasional spagetti and meatballs and once in a while I will grill some hamburgers and dogs. But it just wasn't my thing. However, lately it has interested me. And knowing friends who have ceramic cookers and reading SigForum, I took the plunge.

On Thursday I picked up the Louisiana Grill Kamado Joe from Costco for $599. I assembled it on Thursday and Friday, burned a fire in it early on Friday and started cooking in it on Friday evening.

The first attempt was steaks.



Prime grade NY Strip from Costco, just shy of 2" thick. I coated them with olive oil, salt, pepper and Montreal steak seasoning. My goal was a reverse sear cook. I kept the temp low, about 250 and slowly brought the internal temp up to 110. I then removed the steaks, pulled out the racks, pulled out the diffuser, dropped the racks low, brought up the temp and seared the steaks.

My first mistake was bringing the temp to 110. The video I watched this was done with a 3" steak and mine was not that thick. My second mistake was not being patient enough as the grill temp rose and putting the steaks back on just a little bit too early. I ended up with a medium well rather than my target of medium rare, but I nailed the crust and sear. Grade of D on doneness, but an A on sear and char.

My next attempt was a brisket, over 8 lbs, picked this up at Costco also.



I trimmed the fat, coated it in salt, pepper and Butt Rub and threw it on. I did my best to keep the grill temp between 225-250, but I did hit 215ish on one occasion and up to 260 on a few occasions. I sprayed it with water 3 times during the cook. After 5 hours, my internal temp was 165ish. I pulled it off, splashed some beef broth on it and wrapped it in foil. Then I brought the grill temp up to 270-275 and let it cook for a while longer until my internal temp hit 187. Then I pulled it off, wrapped it in a towel, placed it in a cooler and let it sit for 2 hours.



I would have preferred a little pink inside. I need to control the temp a little better next time and keep it closer to 225. While this will increase the cook time, it should yield favorable results for tenderness. I also need to grab some course salt and pepper, my rub was good, but did not leave as much crust as I prefer. I will also skip the beef broth, it kept things juicy, but I wasn't a huge fan of the flavor.

Overall, not tender enough to fall apart in my hands, but could still be pulled apart with my hands. I give myself a B- grade on this brisket. And for the first time ever making brisket, I'll take that and apply my lessons to the next one.

That looks great!!!

Looks great. The ceramics take a little practice so don't get discouraged if you don't hit a home run every time.

quote:

Originally posted by holdem:

My next attempt was a brisket

I would have preferred a little pink inside.

I’m not following?

Pink? Are you referring to the smoke ring or doneness? A low and slow cooked brisket is never going to be pink as in medium rare pink inside.

An 8 lb brisket really should be on a smoker for 12-15 hours in reality.

That is a hellva first effort. Nice work. That looks delicious. I am starving with envy. Congrats buddy. You done good.

Yeah, I’d eat that. Brisket? Oh yes.

Enjoy your new grill, looks like you’re well on your way.

Not bad. Some tips though…
Brisket should be cooked to about 205. It was likely undercooked. But don’t go by temp alone. It should be probe tender. Meaning when you put the temp probe in it should go in like butter. Brisket can handle being cooked at 275.

You will have great fun with a smoker and your family will appreciate it. For temperature control, I strongly recommend a Digi-Q controller from Barbecue Guru, it will vastly improve your smoker experience.

I also cook brisket at 225, usually about 13-15 hours to internal temp of 195 before I seal in a plastic bag and into the cooler for an hour. The nice thing about the cooler method, it will stay hot in there for hours until you are ready to serve. How you slice it is also an important step. Once you find the grain direction slice the flat across the grain, but the point is going to run 90 degrees from the flat.

Adam Perry Lang's book, Serious Barbecue, and the Big Green Egg cookbook are my barbecue bibles.

Write down your settings and results every time until you dial in just what you want so you can repeat, and enjoy the experience.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
I’m not following?

Pink? Are you referring to the smoke ring or doneness? A low and slow cooked brisket is never going to be pink as in medium rare pink inside.

An 8 lb brisket really should be on a smoker for 12-15 hours in reality.

I watched a video that had some pink (screenshot below), but you are correct it was the smoke ring.


Yes, next time I will plan better and cook it for way longer.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
Not bad. Some tips though…
Brisket should be cooked to about 205. It was likely undercooked. But don’t go by temp alone. It should be probe tender. Meaning when you put the temp probe in it should go in like butter. Brisket can handle being cooked at 275.

Yeah, I will plan better next time, cook slower and longer and bring the internal temp a little higher. I was a little paranoid after overcooking the steaks the evening before. It did get way more tender, the difference between when I inserted the temp gauge to start and then when I pulled it off was night and day. However, it wasn't like butter.

I’d recommend watching the free Aaron Franklin brisket videos on YouTube. They taught me and I’m pretty proud of my brisket. He uses an offset but the basics will be the same on a ceramic cooker.

quote:

Originally posted by holdem:

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
I’m not following?

Pink? Are you referring to the smoke ring or doneness? A low and slow cooked brisket is never going to be pink as in medium rare pink inside.

An 8 lb brisket really should be on a smoker for 12-15 hours in reality.

I watched a video that had some pink (screenshot below), but you are correct it was the smoke ring.


Yes, next time I will plan better and cook it for way longer.

It’s all about learning as you go!

You mentioned spraying it with water a few times during the cook. Instead of that, can you employ a water pan? Then you don’t have to open it ever and lose your temps, when I’m doing a pork butt or brisket I use a disposable foil pan with 2 inches of boiling water poured in and then I try not to open the lid on the Weber kettle at all. Not sure if you can do a water pan in the ceramic type smokers but if you can, I’d recommend that.

Aaron Franklin’s method of wrapping brisket in butcher paper after the initial few hours of smoke is also really good. It keeps them from drying out but let’s them breath a bit; with foil you’re just steaming it.

You done well,

Brisket is the one cut that takes patience time an practice, that wasn't far off, looks like you pulled it too early really need to get temps up to 200+ internally, did the same thing myself, got impatient an pulled the first brisket too soon.

Did the same with lamb, both need long low cooks and you'll find the same when you do a boston butt, you want pulled pork go 210, under 200 will be sliced pork.

Aside from doing 225-250F, when grilling on my KJ I leave the bottom vent fully open or majority of the way open, the majority of the time and control temperature from the top vent, it's very important not to overshoot the temperature as they and the ceramic take a long time to come down in temp.

quote:

Originally posted by holdem:

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
I’m not following?

Pink? Are you referring to the smoke ring or doneness? A low and slow cooked brisket is never going to be pink as in medium rare pink inside.

An 8 lb brisket really should be on a smoker for 12-15 hours in reality.

I watched a video that had some pink (screenshot below), but you are correct it was the smoke ring.

Well you seem to have caught the bug.

As far as the smoke ring, there is a real smoke ring and a cheater smoke ring. The cheater smoke ring is make by adding celery (celery seed, celery salt, etc) to the rub. It's really easy to make your own rubs and much cheaper.

Some great advice on here on watching the Aaron Franklin free videos. I'll add two more:

BBQ Grand Champion Harry Woo has some great YouTube videos. I've linked his brisket series.

Amazingribs.com . It's not merely recipes, but also include theory and technique along with everything being tested by professional chefs. It's not just ribs, but it includes brisket, pulled pork, tri-tip, etc.

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

*drool* that looks fantastic! To get pink/red in my tri tips, I smoke to 142-145 internally, smoker at 225 (or as close as this idiot can get to that). Heavy smoke to make up for shortened cook time. Salt and pepper rub for me.

Well done! No pun intended

Not all briskets are created equal

Cook until it probes like soft butter everywhere. I typically start checking when IT is about 187. I cook them at 275-300

Brisket is ussually ready between 203-210

Have fun with the experimenting!!