Big Lump Chunks __ Whole Brisket __ Almost Lost It !!

Unknown

I probably missed posts on this previously, but ...
I just smoked a large ..~15#.. whole brisket for Christmas dinner. Wouldn't fit on the Lg BGE so I rolled the thinner end back as far as needed and tied it lengthwise with kitchen cord. Rubbed and frig for 12 hours ... 6:15 pm on the BGE at ~200*F. Temp held, went to bed at ~11:00 pm. Got up at 1:00 am and dome temp was at ~170*F. Wiggle rod thru all the grate holes but almost no red embers. Got out the MAPP torch and pushed it in the lower damper opening to apply to the lump. Got going quickly, temp came up and got things settled down around 240*F. Monitored every hour (dang, I guess I need a GURU) and all stayed OK. Total cook was 19 hours until 'point' hit 190*F. Foiled, cooler'd for 3 hours and sliced the 'flat' for dinner. Probably the most tender, moist, brisket for me so far. [p]Long story to get to the issue ....... I thought I built the best fire ever for this cook. I had both Royal Oak lump and Sonoran Mesquite lump available. Used the largest pieces (5 to 7 inch, thick lump chunks) and many nice pieces of cherry and hickory wood. The morning after the cook, I checked the cooled lump. CRUD! ... huge hole in the center, many large pieces all holding themselves UP around the edges of the BGE. That's why the temp went down. With past brisket cooks, I have used a clean cooker, new lump, but never more than one or two 'LARGE' pieces of lump. Those cooks were always very temp stable as the lump burned down and the upper pieces settled on the fire. In all cases, I have used the Plate Setter and filled the lump clear up to where it was touching the bottom. [p]
Lesson learned ... I guess ... and will use only a few large pieces of lump in future. Has anyone else had this experience? Have you come to the same conclusion? I feel really fortunate to have not 'lost' a $40. piece of meat and spoiled Christmas dinner in the process! [p]Regards,
Tom B

Unknown

Q_Egg,
I just did 2 10 lbs pork butts on my large and did the same thing large in middle. I used the guru and after 13 -14 hrs noticed guru was running 90 percent of the time. I noticed that the charcoal up the sides of the egg. Did quick stir added more charcoal and up and going. I use BGE lump and filled to top of fire ring. I don't know how people get 24 hrs+ with filled to this level. Next time I am going half way up fire ring

Buster Dog BBQ

Q_Egg,
For long cooks I light the fire in three different places to prevent a burn down like that. You don't need to fill to where the platesetter is touching the lump. Just slightly over the top of the firebox. Also make sure you have good airflow around.

Unknown

Thanks Gentlemen:[p] I expect a lot of variation with different sources of lump, etc., but will be much more careful loading future long cooks to try to encourage lump 'caving in' evenly as the lower lump burns. I will definitely light the next long cook in multiple areas.[p]Regards,
Tom B[p]

Grandpas Grub

Buster Dog BBQ,[p]Same here, start in three places. I fill to the top of the fire ring.

Haggis

Q_Egg,[p]Large lumps are great once they catch but they don't spread as easily because the space between them is further and they have less surface area than the same weight of smaller pieces. My approach has to use mostly large but then partially fill the gaps with smaller pieces, taking care not to clog anything.

Unknown

Haggis,

Thank-you for adding a 'solid' compromise thought. I hate extremes and really want to use the large lump when I can. The 'filling-in' approach makes lots of sense and lets me make good use of my broad range of lump sizes.[p]Regards,
Tom B