Does anyone have some can't miss cooking instructions for a brisket on an acorn? I haven't had time to smoke anything on it, I've just used it as a grill. Thanks.

Not sure exactly what kind of details you're looking for. My smoking set up is a 17 inch grill grate above the fire. there are 3 posts under the main cooking grate for it to rest on. on that I use a pizza stone as heat deflector, then I put a water pan on top of that.

I use an Auber Instruments temp controller to maintain the temp for me.

Ideally I try to start the fire, keep the vents almost closed until the Akorn temp guage gets up to smoking temp. then I toss my wood chunks on the fire. then place the lower grate, stone, water pan, main grate, meat w/ probe. close. hook up my temp controller and leave it alone.

There really isn't "can't miss" instructions for brisket, it is more difficult than other meats. My recommendation is to start with a pork butt and make pulled pork. That is almost idiot proof and gives you practice controlling the fire.

If you are set on brisket - above is the right advice with heat deflector, drip/water pan. Also, start the fire slow and let it build up to about 250 degrees and stabilize it. It is a lot harder to bring a hot fire down to 250 in a ceramic cooker.

Let the smoke run almost clear before you put the meat on. White smoke gives the bitter taste. I usually let the temp stabilize and smoke clear for at least an hour before putting meat on for smoking.

You can wrap in foil or pink butcher paper if you want to after 4 hours or so. In a ceramic cooker, wrapping or a drip pan with liquid is not needed.

Cook until internal temps is about 190 degrees, then start checking it. You want the thickest part of the flat (the middle of the brisket) to probe with minimal resistance. You will notice, both ends of the brisket will probe smooth first, then the middle will start to probe easier. Could take up to 205-210 degrees internal temp or so to be done. Each brisket is different, usually 195-205 is the range I finish in.

slice brisket across the grain. Properly cooked brisket should be sliced 1/4" thick on the flat and a little thicker from the point. If it is undercooked and tough, slice it thinner. If it is overlooked and falls apart, make chopped beef sandwiches.

There is no such thing for cooking can't miss brisket on any cooking device, hardest cut of meat to do well that I've ever attempted. Agree to start on cooking pork butts, way more forgiving, ribs aren't too hard either. Make sure you get a good probe, best tool for getting good results as the temperature is key for when you pull it from the smoker.

I would recommend getting some cheap briskets to smoke just to learn. No point in spending big money your first several times when you're figuring out how to cook one of them. Cheap briskets are also good for learning how to trim them. You'll feel pretty bad hacking up a nice prime brisket, or even choice honestly.

My BGE brisket has gotten to the point of ALMOST foolproof. I use a full bowl of hardwood lump charcoal, and add maybe a dozen chunks of mesquite sprinkled throughout.

I use a plate setter, cook fat side down, and smoke at a GRATE level temp of 225 degrees.

Watch Aaron Franklin's youtube videos for how to trim prior to and slice after the cook.

I smoke my briskets to an internal temperature of 195, and then start moving the probe around. If it goes in like a hot knife through butter everywhere, I pull it off, wrap in foil, and rest in a cooler until time to eat. Some briskets are done at 195, some at 200+.... you just have to get a feel for when it's "done". You can tell after you do a couple, trust me.

I use a 2 channel K-type thermocouple meter to monitor grate level temp and meat temp

meter:

http://thermoworks.com/products/handheld/therma_q.html

Probes:

Smokehouse penetration probe for meat temp

http://www.thermoworks.com/products/probe/tc_penetration.html

Crocodile clip oven probe for grate temp

http://www.thermoworks.com/products/probe/tc_hightemp.html

Here is my brisket methodology. This is for an offset smoker so not sure how it would be different for an acorn. The key is to base your cook on internal temp and not a set cook time. Everything varies from meat to cook to weather to smoker so say cook for X.X hours may not be correct. Good rule of thumb at 250 is 1.25 hrs per lb, but get a meat thermometer and go by internal temp.

Night before
Season the brisket with only salt and pepper (about 3 TSB each)
Inject the brisket with beef broth (about 1 oz per lb)
Let sit in the fridge

Day of cook
Build your fire with charcoal and add wood
Take the meat out and let sit while your temp stabilizes at 250 and smoke burns clear/blue (about an hour)
Put the meat on the fire and keep the temp at 250. Add medium chunks of wood as needed to maintain your temp
When the meat hits 165 wrap in foil or butchers paper and return to cooker
Let meat go on the cooker until it hits 195
Remove the meat and wrap in an old beach towel or two and place in an empty cooler for at least an hour. It can go as long as you need it until your ready to serve but make sure it's at least an hour.
Cut across the grain and serve

As AC stated this video is a great way to start. Watch this one and go from there.

The Brisket

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You can wrap in foil or pink butcher paper if you want to after 4 hours or so. In a ceramic cooker, wrapping or a drip pan with liquid is not needed.

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Why do you say that?

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You can wrap in foil or pink butcher paper if you want to after 4 hours or so. In a ceramic cooker, wrapping or a drip pan with liquid is not needed.

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Why do you say that?

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the egg style cookers don't have as much air flow as an offset. So it stays moister inside. I still think a water pan is a good idea. I've had my water pan go dry during a cook.

thanks for the thoughtful replies

I have an Acorn and use this method to start my fire. I use dryer lint soaked in oil and alcohol.

Full bag of oak lump charcoal with mesquite chunks added in.

Trim my brisket per Aaron Franklin, and use a rub of 80% coarse salt and pepper and 20% paprika and turmeric (I like the grease to be a reddish yellow)

I have the smoking stone and use an empty foil pan to catch the grease. I do not use a water pan or wrap.

I smoke fat side up since it does not squish the deckle and the fatty side sticks to the grates. If I am cooking other things with the brisket, then I will cook fat side down to protect the meat from over cooking on the bottom.

I cook between 225 and 250 at grate level to an internal of 203 in the flat. Foil and cooler since I am always finishing a few hours early.

It always comes out with a nice bark, very juicy and never lasts. Only complaint is since the airflow is way less than an offset your smoke ring will be very minimal.

I love how consistent my briskets and really everything is on the Akorn.

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You can wrap in foil or pink butcher paper if you want to after 4 hours or so. In a ceramic cooker, wrapping or a drip pan with liquid is not needed.

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Why do you say that?

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the egg style cookers don't have as much air flow as an offset. So it stays moister inside. I still think a water pan is a good idea. I've had my water pan go dry during a cook.

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Above is the reasoning I don't use a drip pan filled with Liquid or wrap beef or pork. Roasting a whole turkey is the only time I have noticed a little difference when I used a water pan. Pulled beef I will wrap in foil or a covered pan and let it simmer with vegetables or peppers.

Chicken I do at higher temps so it is quick and doesn't need the liquid pan either.

Ribs I will wrap and braise them in liquid during the middle of the cook.

Pretty much anything else, I just set it on the grill and forget about it until it is ready. Using wireless thermometers for grate and meat temps makes it a lot easier.

Pressed for time once I did hot and fast with great results. I also ramp the heat up the closer I get to temp. Seems to help with the bark. No rhyme or reason to when to crank it up. Im usually chasing kids and a buzz when cooking.

How do you guys maintain these grills? Do you stir the charcoal around before a use to knock the ash off and then clean out the bottom? It seems to cook differently at times and I think it's because I haven't been doing a good enough job of removing the ash.

Question #2.

From what I've gathered, to smoke in one of these things, I'm going to start a small fire in one place, restrict the air and keep the fire from growing much over the 12 hour cook.

When I've grilled (rather than smoked), it seems I have a hot spot in the center and it doesn't cook evenly. Do you stir the coals around after the fire is lit so the heat is more evenly distributed or is there some other method you use to keep an even temp up on the cooking surface.

The brisket is on.

How do you tweak your fire? When I first put it on, I was adjusting as soon as it would pass the mark I was aiming for which resulted ing the temp bouncing around like a yo yo.

I decided to let it stabilize and make minor adjustments and it seems to be working much better. It has even changed diections on its own and has ranged from 266-259 for the last 40 minutes. I've been logging temps to keep from confusing the time and temps.

The grill is currently 264, the brisket is at 138.

Thanks again for the help.

I knock the ash out and empty the bottom after every cook. I break the whole thing down and clean it out 2x per year probably. When I have a lot of weird stuff happening with my temps I know it's time. I start a very small fire in the center and let the temp gradually build to where I want it for a smoke over about an hour. When grilling, I start a small fire in the middle then open it wide open until my coal bed it raging lava.

Grill is 261, brisket is at 174

Meat temp

830 - 90
900 - 131
930 - 149
1000 - 160
1030 - 162
1100 - 163
1130 - 160
1200 - 165
1230 - 167
0100 - 169
0130 - 171
0200 - 171
0230 - 172
0300 - 174

It hit 195 at about 4:50 and the probe seemed to go in easy enough. Now it's wrapped in a towel and is sitting in a cooler.

Probably eat in an hour. Hopefully it came out as good as everything else has on this contraption.

Thanks for the help.

Well?

It was a little dry, but pretty damn good for a 1st try. I'll post a picture.

The pink/orange thing is about s 3'x3' cutting board that I got for Christmas. I usually buy whole ribeyes or pork loins at Sam's/Costco and cut them up at home. It's nice to have a cutting board that is large enough to do the job instead of the little crappy ones that I've been making do with. I think my wife found it at a restaurant supply store.

Clearly it smells delicious. Or like butthole

yeah, I get some attention when the meat comes off the grill

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It was a little dry, but pretty damn good for a 1st try. I'll post a picture.

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Was it just a pre-trimmed flat? It's a challenge to keep those moist.

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It was a little dry, but pretty damn good for a 1st try. I'll post a picture.

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Was it just a pre-trimmed flat? It's a challenge to keep those moist.

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no, it was a full brisket, but it was pretty lean to start with

For starting fire and controlling temp:

1) smoking - it is overkill, but I clean all the ash out before a long cook. Make sure all the air holes are not clogged, and get all the small pieces of charcoal out. I fill the fire bowl up completely with large pieces of lump and chunks of wood. All of this helps your airflow throughout the cook.

I light the middle, and keep the vents opened until I get near my temp and let it slowly rise. Slowly closing the vents more and more as the temp stabilizes where I want to. Let the ceramic heat up and your temp get more consistent through out the cooler while the white smoke burns off.

When temp is where you want it and the smoke is burning clean. Put the meat on and let the temp stabilize again. At that point, you will pretty much but control the fire with the bottom vent, moving it about 1/8", maybe 1/4" at a time. Let it sit for 20-30 minutes after each adjustment to see what it does, if not you will keep overshooting your goal and get the yo yo effect.

2) direct grilling - I just move the existing charcoal around so small pieces fall through. I use whatever pieces of charcoal come out of the bag for this, I don't just pick out big pieces.

put a thick layer of charcoal enough to cover the bottom. Light 3-4 spots, and leave the lid open until the coals are red hot, the vi spread them out across the bottom and direct grill.

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It was a little dry, but pretty damn good for a 1st try. I'll post a picture.

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Was it just a pre-trimmed flat? It's a challenge to keep those moist.

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no, it was a full brisket, but it was pretty lean to start with

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I prefer trimming my own for this reason. Tough to tell if it was you or te meat though. Getting meat at the grocery store can be inconsistent. It is frustrating. You can make a perfect brisket one time, so the same thing, and not be as good the next time. It is an expensive piece of meat that is hard to learn to cook. You just have to keep cooking them. Worst case, you have some good chopped BBQ sandwiches.

For Reasons above, I have a pork butt on right now that will be lunch tomorrow.

Could also be the grade of beef. And did you use a water pan?

I also try to get briskest that are fairly uniform in thickness. Watch Aaron Franklins video on selecting a brisket

Or it could just be that cooking brisket consistently is tough. I've done 5 or 6 and I'd say a couple of them rivaled the best I've had anywhere, a couple were damn good, and a couple were just ok. But all got rave reviews and we're certainly better than all but the best brisket joints.

Anyone ever used Myron Mixon's high and fast brisket method? I did once when I couldnt get the temp down and it turned out amazing.

Just finished h&f on the acorn. I probe and then go by feel past 190. I split point and flat. No crutch and no,injection though. Spritzed alot because flat was larger than normal.

Thanks op for getting me going. Knew it would be a bluebird day and had a bottle of dripping.

No crutch or injection for me either, just probed and felt and prayed. Turned out well though.

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Could also be the grade of beef. And did you use a water pan?

I also try to get briskest that are fairly uniform in thickness. Watch Aaron Franklins video on selecting a brisket

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It was labeled as USDA Prime and I did use a water pan. It did run out one time, which caused the temp inside the grill to spike very suddenly. I finally figured out what caused the spike, but I just closed it up to get the temp back down.

The brisket was uniform. I think the problem was that it was fairly thin for a brisket and it got too hot. Anyhow, it's still good, just not as good as places known for brisket.

I didn't trim a lot off, just the big hunk of fat that Franklin calls the deckle.

There was still enough charcoal left in the bottom to grill today. It's amazing how much less is needed with these grills.

Went out and bought an Akorn after following this thread: so far I've done two cooks. Some filets at 700 to a perfect medium rare, and just did low and slow all night on a pork butt. Both turned out phenomenal and has been a life changing experience. Thanks, TexAgs!