Hey, CJ here from Long Island NY

[cjd82187]

Just got my #2 in the mail.  Got my kids birthday this weekend and lots of family coming over.  We're all going to be having brisket or pizza if I screw it up =)

Never smoked anything before, but I wanted an electric smoker now that I own a home, read some reviews and smokin-it seemed the best.  Got the #2 which was all I really wanted to spend.  It was just delivered today.  All unpacked and ready to season later.  Going to pick up what I hope will be a packer brisket in a little while.  First butcher only had flats and I had just missed the delivery.  Called another one and explained what I wanted and they said to come on down!

I'm going to try the Texas-Style Wet Brisket Rub from the Lazy-Q book as my first one, unless anyone thinks thats not a great first smoke.  Defiantly doing brisket though.  Plan to start around 10pm Friday night, company is coming over around 1pm the next day. 

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[swthorpe]

Welcome from Delaware, CJ!   You will love the #2...I know I do.   I think you will be eating brisket this weekend and your plan sounds spot on.    Be sure to allow some time for resting the brisket after smoking, but I think if you start at 10pm it should all work out.  Cheers

[old sarge]

Welcome CJ from SE Arizona. Enjoy the smoker.

[EFGM]

A Big Welcome from Texas! You bought the best smoker from the best smoker company! Now your fixing to enjoy some excellent grub?

[cjd82187]

Well, I was successful with my brisket purchase.  This thing was just over 15 lbs!

Added some pics, banana for scale.

[1stlink]

 Welcome aboard CJ and I agree with the others you’re gonna love your SI 2

[barelfly]

Welcome and enjoy the brisket smoke!

I wonder how smoked banana would be???😁

[cjd82187]

So its been set to 250 for an hour now for the initial season.  No smoke and not really felling any heat coming out. Power light not on yet either.  Tested the outlet and it has power.  Does it take a really long time?

EDIT: My GFCI Switch had tripped on that outlet.  Just pressed the reset button and the light went on right away.  Hopefully smooth sailing from here!

[JustChillin]

Welcome aboard and good luck with the brisket!! it's always safe to try the first smoke with family

[cjd82187]

So, I did the initial seasoning. From the looks of the box, there doesn't seem to be a hot part on my heating element.  The wood looks like they all burned even to me.  Does that area of more rainbow coloring mean it was hotter there, or just random based on the metal?




Also got the brisket trimmed and rubbed and "getting happy" in some plastic wrap.  I used the "Basic Southwest Brisket Rub" from the Lazy-Q since I had all those ingredients.

[LarryD]

Welcome to the family, CJ!  I am strictly hypothesizing, but I think your hottest spot is actually right in the center.  I suspect the rainbow spots are actually cooler spots.  Hopefully someone with actual knowledge will answer your question definitively.

Are you planning to cram the brisket in whole or cut it in half?  Both give good results...  Lots of brisket posts on here to give you options galore.

[cjd82187]

Interesting on the hotspot.  I'm not actually sure of what the significance of the hot spot is, I just read that you would notice after the seasoning.

Not sure on the brisket.  I didn't realize cramming it in was an option!  I was going to make a post about where to cut it later if I didn't see any examples.

[LarryD]

As for the hotspot significance...  if you look at your 'wood', you can see that it is pure ashes now which means it probably caught on fire at some point.  That is perfectly fine for the seasoning process, but generally speaking you don't want the wood to catch on fire for an actual smoke.  Knowing where your hotspots are can let you put the wood in places where it doesn't get quite as hot.  I actually put a double layer of foil in my smoke box and poke smaller holes in it.  This works equally well to prevent combustion.  I end up with charcoal after a smoke.

Whole or cut, I've had excellent results with both.  My strict preference on such a large brisket would be to cut it so that it's easier to arrange in the smoker and easier for me to locate the probes.  I don't know how much of the terminology you know on briskets yet...  that looks like a 'full packer' brisket you have.  A full packer will have a 'flat' and a 'point'.  I do the cut vertically just after where the point ends and it becomes just the flat which is relatively close to the mid point of the brisket.  If you look at the thickest end of brisket from the side you'll see that there is a fat layer separating the the top and bottom.  The entire bottom is the 'flat' and that more rounded lump on the top of the separating fat layer is the point.  Do some google text and image searches and you'll get plenty of information.

[TX Gent]

Howdy from Texas CJ and welcome to the forum ... Great first smoke!

[JustChillin]

CJ, I have a #2 and have had good luck bending it enough to fit it in whole. Works great when it fits but cutting has never been a problem. It will shrink when cooking.