Brisket: Offset Smoker vs. BGE

XLAggieEgger

For those that have smoked briskets on an offset and on a BGE, have you been able to achieve the same robust smoke flavor on the BGE that can be achieved on the offset? I've done a few on the egg now and just can't seem to get the smoke flavor I desire, however, the tradeoff in moisture and tenderness from the egg is second to none. 

WeberWho

Short answer no. I've done maybe 8 cooks on my offset smoker and smoke flavor can't be replicated on an egg. Hard to beat the smoke flavor of an offset. The offset is also much, much more work. The egg is set it and forget it. The offset makes you earn that smoke flavor. I'd sell the offset in a heartbeat if I could get the same smoke profile with the egg. The egg almost does everything perfectly. The smoke profile on them comes up a little short.  

I've been cooking/smoking on the egg 7+ years. It took me the 2nd or so cook with my reverse flow offset to realize what I've been missing when smoking with the egg. It almost a whole different ball game. Kind of hard to compare each grill with one another though.

XLAggieEgger

I agree. It seems that no matter how much wood I use, or how I arrange it, the egg just can't hit that offset smoke profile. Offsets are a lot of work, but we are fortunate to have both an egg and offset at our disposal!

The Cen-Tex Smoker

You can get a lot of smoke from a bge but you can't get a lot of clean smoke. 

I'm wondering if you are trying to cook at 225 or something since you are used to cooking on an offset. If you are, kick it up to 260-275 you'll get plenty of smoke. Whether you are happy with that smoke is a matter of preference. It's dirty compared to a offset (assuming the offset if being used correctly). 

Hans61

egg is plenty smokey for me, especially when I eat the leftovers 

XLAggieEgger

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

You can get a lot of smoke from a bge but you can't get a lot of clean smoke. 

I'm wondering if you are trying to cook at 225 or something since you are used to cooking on an offset. If you are, kick it up to 260-275 you'll get plenty of smoke. Whether you are happy with that smoke is a matter of preference. It's dirty compared to a offset (assuming the offset if being used correctly). 

I usually run the egg around 250-275 and let the smoke reach the "blue" color. I usually get about a good hour or two of smoke, then the egg just turns into a glorified oven. 

WeberWho

XLAggieEgger said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

You can get a lot of smoke from a bge but you can't get a lot of clean smoke. 

I'm wondering if you are trying to cook at 225 or something since you are used to cooking on an offset. If you are, kick it up to 260-275 you'll get plenty of smoke. Whether you are happy with that smoke is a matter of preference. It's dirty compared to a offset (assuming the offset if being used correctly). 

I usually run the egg around 250-275 and let the smoke reach the "blue" color. I usually get about a good hour or two of smoke, then the egg just turns into a glorified oven. 

Franklin breaks down a Kamado for smoking at 16:55

https://youtu.be/ZzzQu9Ba5VU

YukonRon

Perhaps my taste for smoked meat is shy of everyone's flavor barometer. I have no problem with the quality of the cook, flavor or smoke profile. Neither has anyone I have served food from the BGE for their taste preference. 6 fist sized chunks, 225F, great results, I think.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

XLAggieEgger said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

You can get a lot of smoke from a bge but you can't get a lot of clean smoke. 

I'm wondering if you are trying to cook at 225 or something since you are used to cooking on an offset. If you are, kick it up to 260-275 you'll get plenty of smoke. Whether you are happy with that smoke is a matter of preference. It's dirty compared to a offset (assuming the offset if being used correctly). 

I usually run the egg around 250-275 and let the smoke reach the "blue" color. I usually get about a good hour or two of smoke, then the egg just turns into a glorified oven. 

Ah- I think I may understand what's happening here. There is no blue smoke in an egg if you are using wood during a low and slow. It's an impossibility. If you are getting clear/blue smoke at 275 on a bge,  you are running out of wood before you start cooking or the wood is not in the lump that is burning. The only way to get wood to give off "blue" smoke is to run the fire hot enough to fully ignite the wood. Fully igniting wood (at over 700 degrees) burns off all the unwanted flavor components of wood that are acrid (creosote etc) and gives you that clean bluish smoke that you can smell but barely see.  That's where all the desirable flavonoids in wood are released (in the clear blue stuff). By the very nature of it, you can't do that with a Kamado and maintain temps low enough for bbq. To keep the temp low enough to do a low and slow on a kamado, you have to starve the fire of oxygen.  When you do that, any wood you put in will smolder instead of ignite. That's why kamado smoke is dirtier than a stick burner with fully ignited sticks. So if you want a lot of smoke from your bge, get your fire set up drop the wood in and start cooking right away. You may wait 10-15 minutes to let everything settle in but you are not going to get clean blue smoke at 275 on a bge. You can get all the smoke you want;  It will just be way less subtle than your stick burner running a well tended fire. This is one instance where the insulated properties of a bge work against it. It's too efficient to build a fire hot enough to produce clean smoke at low cooking temps. Sure makes it easier to "set and forget" and sleep through the night but it definitely comes at a cost.

XLAggieEgger

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

XLAggieEgger said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

You can get a lot of smoke from a bge but you can't get a lot of clean smoke. 

I'm wondering if you are trying to cook at 225 or something since you are used to cooking on an offset. If you are, kick it up to 260-275 you'll get plenty of smoke. Whether you are happy with that smoke is a matter of preference. It's dirty compared to a offset (assuming the offset if being used correctly). 

I usually run the egg around 250-275 and let the smoke reach the "blue" color. I usually get about a good hour or two of smoke, then the egg just turns into a glorified oven. 

Ah- I think I may understand what's happening here. There is no blue smoke in an egg if you are using wood during a low and slow. It's an impossibility. If you are getting clear/blue smoke at 275 on a bge,  you are running out of wood before you start cooking or the wood is not in the lump that is burning. The only way to get wood to give off "blue" smoke is to run the fire hot enough to fully ignite the wood. Fully igniting wood (at over 700 degrees) burns off all the unwanted flavor components of wood that are acrid (creosote etc) and gives you that clean bluish smoke that you can smell but barely see.  That's where all the desirable flavonoids in wood are released (in the clear blue stuff). By the very nature of it, you can't do that with a Kamado and maintain temps low enough for bbq. To keep the temp low enough to do a low and slow on a kamado, you have to starve the fire of oxygen.  When you do that, any wood you put in will smolder instead of ignite. That's why kamado smoke is dirtier than a stick burner with fully ignited sticks. So if you want a lot of smoke from your bge, get your fire set up drop the wood in and start cooking right away. You may wait 10-15 minutes to let everything settle in but you are not going to get clean blue smoke at 275 on a bge. You can get all the smoke you want;  It will just be way less subtle than your stick burner running a well tended fire. This is one instance where the insulated properties of a bge work against it. It's too efficient to build a fire hot enough to produce clean smoke at low cooking temps. Sure makes it easier to "set and forget" and sleep through the night but it definitely comes at a cost.

Interesting point, I will heed your advice on the next cook

xfire_ATX

I started with a total POS side smoker- worked great as long as I was watching and working it.  Made great brisket (once), great ribs, pulled the grates and engineered hanging sausage in it, and well it held a bunch of product.  It made terrible poultry- too much smoke.

Put that on the curb during a garage sale when I got the BGE- like @YukonRon I would have never noticed not enough smoke taste.  But it does great poultry, ribs and brisket but it cant do as much product or hang sausage for slow smoking.

Oh well I prefer the BGE.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

XLAggieEgger said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

XLAggieEgger said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

You can get a lot of smoke from a bge but you can't get a lot of clean smoke. 

I'm wondering if you are trying to cook at 225 or something since you are used to cooking on an offset. If you are, kick it up to 260-275 you'll get plenty of smoke. Whether you are happy with that smoke is a matter of preference. It's dirty compared to a offset (assuming the offset if being used correctly). 

I usually run the egg around 250-275 and let the smoke reach the "blue" color. I usually get about a good hour or two of smoke, then the egg just turns into a glorified oven. 

Ah- I think I may understand what's happening here. There is no blue smoke in an egg if you are using wood during a low and slow. It's an impossibility. If you are getting clear/blue smoke at 275 on a bge,  you are running out of wood before you start cooking or the wood is not in the lump that is burning. The only way to get wood to give off "blue" smoke is to run the fire hot enough to fully ignite the wood. Fully igniting wood (at over 700 degrees) burns off all the unwanted flavor components of wood that are acrid (creosote etc) and gives you that clean bluish smoke that you can smell but barely see.  That's where all the desirable flavonoids in wood are released (in the clear blue stuff). By the very nature of it, you can't do that with a Kamado and maintain temps low enough for bbq. To keep the temp low enough to do a low and slow on a kamado, you have to starve the fire of oxygen.  When you do that, any wood you put in will smolder instead of ignite. That's why kamado smoke is dirtier than a stick burner with fully ignited sticks. So if you want a lot of smoke from your bge, get your fire set up drop the wood in and start cooking right away. You may wait 10-15 minutes to let everything settle in but you are not going to get clean blue smoke at 275 on a bge. You can get all the smoke you want;  It will just be way less subtle than your stick burner running a well tended fire. This is one instance where the insulated properties of a bge work against it. It's too efficient to build a fire hot enough to produce clean smoke at low cooking temps. Sure makes it easier to "set and forget" and sleep through the night but it definitely comes at a cost.

Interesting point, I will heed your advice on the next cook

A couple of things you can do that will still be easier than an offset and get you some good smoke.


Start with a very cold brisket. 

Build a small fire- like half or less of the fire box.

mix in a fair amount of chips or split up some chunks to much smaller pieces

Use a water pan and keep water in it so the fire has to work harder to get up to temp (don't go more than half full or it can really steam up your bark on the bottom side of the brisket

cook at 300 for as long as that fire will last (try to get 4 hours out of it)- getting to 300 with a small fire and a water pan should push the fire hot enough to fully ignite most of the chips giving you some "good' smoke

Once that burns down, set up your egg for a low and slow to finish it up at 250-275 with either no more wood or maybe some chips scattered throughout if you want a little more smoke. 

you should get some good clean smoke this way and you can still "set and forget" the entire back half of the cook. 

blasting

The flavor of an offset cannot be duplicated by a Kamado, imo.  Not even close. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

YukonRon said:

Perhaps my taste for smoked meat is shy of everyone's flavor barometer. I have no problem with the quality of the cook, flavor or smoke profile. Neither has anyone I have served food from the BGE for their taste preference. 6 fist sized chunks, 225F, great results, I think.

I was right there with you for 12 years and I cooked some great bbq on my bge. Took me a long time to see, or frankly care about the difference. I think most people that would come to your house to eat would not notice or care about the difference. They are getting some damn fine food cooked with care and passion. Way better than they would most likely be able to produce or get anywhere at a restaurant. A lot of what I cooked on my BGE was as good or better than 90% of the bbq places here in Austin. When I did the ribs last week on the BGE I was shocked at how smoky they were. I had become used to the smoke profile of the KBQ and the flavor is just so different. If I never had them side-by-side, I probably wouldn't have picked up the difference as much.

I still love my BGE's- it's where I learned to really cook and to really understand how to BBQ.  I'll probably never be without one but I have other tools I like better for BBQ now. They are relegated to hot and fast cooks now- 350 and up

lousubcap

I wish I could add some profound insights to the above, but all the key points have been addressed and quite well.  @The Cen-Tex Smoker  has offered some great suggestions and comments above.  I will say that each rig that runs with a different fuel type will produce a different flavor profile.  
Given where most of us come from and land with the BGE you are definitely going to notice a better Q flavor with the BGE than a prior briquette or gasser cooker.  Any burning wood will do that.  
For me, I wanted to deal with the challenges of learning a stick-burner, knowing full-well the level of effort to crank out the Q.  I have now been using it for around a year and the smoke profile is different (better is in the taster's perspective).  There are those cooks where the difference (even through the adult beverage cloud) is quite noticeable.  
However, there is no question that if I am on the clock for big protein delivery around noon (brisket or butt)  I will default to the BGE.  Many laps of the sun will lead you to that conclusion.  Above all, have fun.

SmokingPiney

I bought my Assassin gravity feed smoker because the BGE, for all of its wonderful versatility, comes up short as a smoker. The Assassin is the hands down winner for smoking.

The combination of the BGE and Assassin is an awesome arsenal for cooking.  

westernbbq

I formerly had a pitts n spitts setup combo unit.  Produced some incredible brisky but all the soot i inhaled when trying to stoke or restart a fire wasnt worth it,  and after being up all night and tired and smoked out the next day, he last thing i felt like eating was anything smoked. BUT, I can say swmbo didnt care much for heavy smoke flavored food but has found bge smoked food !uch better has added to my culinary reach.   SHE likes it, i like it and anyone else i mIe brisky for likes it so we are all in great shape.   Plus when i s!oke brisky i can be absent..  ron popeil set it and forget it....

Theophan

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

... I'm wondering if you are trying to cook at 225 or something since you are used to cooking on an offset. If you are, kick it up to 260-275 you'll get plenty of smoke...

Strongly agree.  I don't have an offset smoker, so I can't compare, but I struggled at first to get a good smoky flavor from my BGEs, and I found that I get much better smoke and smoke flavor when I'm over 250°, and I'm usually closer to 275° on low-and-slows.  Different people swear by different approaches, but for me, I also get better smoke with several chunks than with chips.  I've tried scattering chips all through the lump and it just didn't seem to work well for me.  I bury one or two chunks, and put 3 or 4 (if I'm looking for a lot of smoke) sort of radially around a small, central fire, and I get all the smoke I want.  Again, I can't say I wouldn't like an offset smoker better, but I'm an old guy and I'm lazy and I'm not going to tend a fire the way you have to with a stick burner hour after hour after hour...  I'm happy with my BGEs.

XLAggieEgger

Well I took all the suggestion and seemed to have found the smoke production I want. Seems that the “sweet spot” on the XL is at about 275 on the dome. Thanks y’all. 

lousubcap

@XLAggieEgger - thanks for the follow-up.  Glad you have found your solution.  Enjoy the journey.  

Ladeback69

I have never used a stick burner and the only food I have had off of one is from some of the local BBQ places.  Some are good ,but some others are too heavy on the smoke and that is all I taste.  I have an XL BGE and a 22.5 WSM and have made great BBQ off both of them based on what my friends and family tell me.  My wife doesn't like a ton of smoke so the BGE is fine with her.  She also doesn't want me spending money on another grill as she say.  I would like to try a stick burner some day just to see the side by side difference.  

Now I have a lot of friends who have a Traeger and love that they can set it and forget it and like the food off it, but I have heard them say that my food has a little more smoke flavor then their Traeger.  I can't say for sure, because I haven't had any food off of a Traeger.  Funny thing is they have never invited me over to eat at there his when they cook.  Funny how I am nice enough to invite them over, but they never seem to return the favor.

lousubcap

@Ladeback69 -  You know why the invite road is one-way...  I'm sure they feel inadequate with their output when compared.  Perhaps you should invite yourself under the guise of exploring  another outdoor cooking rig and would like to try the flavor profile.  FWIW-

GoldenQ

I had a CLOUS offset which I gave away when I started cooking with the XL. My wife does not like the smoke flavor of the offset but loves the xl smoke flavor which I change depending upon what I am cooking and using for wood.   Personnaly I like a barrel smoker flavor  but the wife is demanding the XL flavor.  For chicken and ribs the offset was too much for both of us and the wife prefers chicken over beef.  Also for meatloaf or any ground meat item the offset was way too strong a flavor.  Each type has its place depending upon effort and level of smoke flavor and the product being cooked.  For chicken I prefer rotesserie flavor which is not smoke flavor.      Each to their own.

blasting

@SmokingPiney  Do you feel the Assassin gives you a comparable smoke profile to an offset?  

whldch

Hans61 said:

egg is plenty smokey for me, especially when I eat the leftovers 

My sentiments exactly.

SciAggie

I'm late to the party and it seems everyone has said everything intelligent there is to say. But - it's Friday and I'm at the in-laws...
For me - a good offset will make better brisket. It's a lot of work, but here's how I see it. If I'm going to put 12-18 hours of my life into a big piece of brisket that I intend to feed to family and friends I might as well do it right. To me that means buying quality beef and cooking it on an offset. The egg is a cooking machine but it's a Swiss Army knife of cookers. An offset shines for cooks like brisket. I think an offset makes superior ribs and pork butt but it's a less obvious difference. Most of the time I still do pork butt and ribs on the egg. Of course this is my opinion.