How to smoke in the Egg

Unknown

Due to my confidence in the Egg, I recently challenged a fellow griller to a brisket smoking challenge. The winner was determined by a group of objective friends/family taste testers. I lost MISERABLY.[p]What the other guy had was a basic smoker/grill combo, with the smoke chamber as a little offset "minigrill" looking thing, where he would burn the smoking wood chunks, and the smoke would pass from this chamber through the main chamber (where the brisket sat) and up through the little chimney on the main grill. From a few steps away, it looked like a grill barrel with a little small grill barrel attached to one side.[p]I tasted his brisket and yes, he was the definite winner. Tender, soft, all the things you wouldn't expect from a brisket.[p]My question: How do you use the Egg as a true smoker? This guy's secret appeared to be that the heat was completely indirect, and the only thing touching his brisket was smoke. I can't see how I can accomplish this with the Egg, since all the heat is directly below the grate, there's no way to JUST smoke something.[p]I won't let this loss diminish my love of the Egg, but I'd like to know how I can battle a smoker with this guy's setup. How can I just SMOKE something without worrying about the heat? This guy was able to add smoking wood chunks to the little side-grill whenever he wanted, without disturbing or adding heat to the main barrel. He smoked it for about 11 hours.[p]Can anyone help me win a rematch?[p]A desperate Egg User

The Naked Whiz

EggLover,
Do you have a plate setter or did you use some type of indirect setup? You can definitely cook indirect in the egg. Also, here are some hints and tips I've collected on cooking brisket in the Egg:[p]TNW
[ul][li]Cooking Brisket in the Egg (LINK)[/ul]

thirdeye

EggLover,[p]Please describe your set-up and details of the cook. Briskets are very difficult to master. There are many Brisketeers that hang out here, I’m sure you will get some good pointers on technique.[p]~thirdeye~

Wise One

EggLover, if you had a taste contest on brisket and the other guy's was declared better, I bet there were no losers. I bet everyone involved (you, the other guy, and especially your panel of judges) is ready for another go at it. My brisket has turned out good but I have tasted other (done..sniff, sniff.. on a metal contraption) that was much, much better. getting a great brisket is apparently based on selecting good meat, seasoning it well, cooking it properly, pulling it at the proper time and then slicing it properly. [p]But like others said, there may be some room for improvement on that Egg-cooked brisket. Tell us what temperature, what set up, what smoking wood, what rub, how you decided when to pull it off, and how you sliced it. Maybe we can each find one small detail to help you outcook this metalhead. :-)

WooDoggies

<p />EggLover,[p]By somehow deflecting the heat from directly hitting the meat, the egg becomes a smoker.
You can use aluminum foil, a pizza pan or a pie pan.... just about anything that's heat resistent. [p]We've been using Old Dave's setup .... steel crossbars bought at Lowes for a couple bucks, cut with a hacksaw and bent to fit in about ten minutes... that hang from the fire ring and hold a steel 9" pie plate.[p][p]
The setup allows the air to circulate around the meat and it works pretty good![p][p]As for adding charcoal or wood, if you mix chips or chunks in with your lump, fill the firebox up to the fire ring, you wont have to add anything during the whole cook and you won't run out of lump before the meat is finished.[p]Good Luck!

fishlessman

EggLover,
you need to cook inderect with a platesetter, or firebricks, or a pan between the brisket and the meat. ive only done a few, and have found i like to cook with a picnic shoulder above the brisket that does some basting while it cooks and adds flavor. the dizzy pig coarse grind mixed with lots of turbinado sugar and a little applejuice pasted to the meat for a day before cooking also adds lots of flavor. im still experimenting with cooking temps, the last cook was brisket over brisket with a butt on top, cook was at 235, however the bottom brisket that was closest to the pan i assume cooked at a lower temp. the lowest brisket was definately better than the upper brisket. been cooking fat side down with pork dripping on top

Smoked Signals

WooDoggies,
What is the round thing that appears to be a temperature gauge down in the fire ring area ... straight down from the A on Chris's shirt.[p]Also, why take the temperature on both sides of the brisket? Do you get that big of a temperature difference? And why isn't there a probe in the brisket?[p]Also, with a brisket that big and a drip pan that small don't you get drippin's all over the fire?[p]BTW that sliced brisket looks great.[p]You should also recommend that they buy some Cowlick (Dizzy Pig) for that brisket ... mmmmmmm[p]I just do my brisket with the platesetter and a drippan. This set up looks a little more complex. But then again, you guys are winning grand champions and I'm finishin in the pack.[p]Thanks,
Doug[p]
Doug

WooDoggies

Smoked Signals,[p]The round things are washers connected to the carriage bolts that make up the legs for the raised grid.[p]You can get an good idea of the meat level temp with just one probe but two or three on a big cut of meat will give you a very good idea of where the fire might be burning hotter or cooler... which will tell you if you need to occasionally rotate the meat to compensate.[p]There's no real need to put a probe in the meat until it's much further along in the cook as it can just be another wire to get in the way. However, if you do, it's a great way to monitor just how fast the meat temp rises and stalls in the plateau. [p]Drippings on the fire don't seem to be a problem or one that I've ever noticed.[p]The platesetter and drip pan are a combination that work really well. The steel bars and pan are something I just used prior to getting the ceramic platesetter and it's what I'm accustomed to cooking with. Besides, they're lightweight, pack easy for travel and none worse for wear if they get jostled around a bit.
Also, the lip of the pie plate hangs below the fire ring by a good inch... so you can cook indirect at fire ring level and still have air circulating around your food.[p]Thanks!.... that brisket was good and yes, we used Dizzy Pig Cow Lick on it. :~)[p]John

Nature Boy

What is the round thing that appears to be a temperature gauge down in the fire ring area ... straight down from the A on Chris's shirt?[p]That is the head of the bolt Woo has to extend the height of the grate.[p]Also, why take the temperature on both sides of the brisket? Do you get that big of a temperature difference? And why isn't there a probe in the brisket?[p]More information is better. Sometimes a big difference front to back. Sometimes not. But I want to know. As far as no probe in the brisket, it was just put on the cooker, and I really don't care what temp the meat is for another 8 hours. [p]Also, with a brisket that big and a drip pan that small don't you get drippin's all over the fire?[p]Not really.[p]You should definitely do what works for you, Doug. This is just how we do 'em! And we can be funny sometimes![p]Cheers man
Chris

Shary

EggLover, I haven't tried a brisket on my egg, but I've done a lot of them in my kitchen. It has been my experience that brisket needs moist heat (such as wrapping it in foil) or industrial strength tenderizer, or both, in order to become fall-apart tender. I agree that you need to use a platesetter, but I seriously doubt that smoke alone would tenderize the meat. Maybe this other guy marinated his brisket for a couple of days with a heavy-duty tenderizer prior to smoking it. Why not ask him if he will part with his secret?