First Auber Smoke

[SmokinTrojan]

My first smoke with the Auber in my #3 is a complete success. Started a 14# packer brisket at 4pm yesterday with injection, rub, and 6oz cherry wood. Outside air temperature 38F. Set CO1 box temp 235F and probe temp 190F. Set CO2 box temp 140F and time 30hrs. At 5.5hrs in, box temp was 234F and meat temp was 165F. Outside air temp was 28F. I pulled it and double wrapped with 1/4 cup beef stock added over the top, then put it back in to continue cooking. Went to bed after Auber stabilized box at 235F (+/- 1F) and meat temp continuing to rise slowly. At 8am today outside air temp was 25F.  Box temp was 141F and meat temp was 143F.  I can only assume that meat temp went to 190F and then the Auber turned the box off until it reached 140F and stayed that way until I shut down Auber 17hrs later. Meat is moist and pulls apart easily with ones fingers. Bob's a happy guy.

 

[cwshiles]

Congrats!  Sounds like it was a success!  I can't wait to try brisket. 

 

[DivotMaker]

Great job, Bob!  Try one sometime without the Texas crutch (foiling at the stall).  I've used both ways, and prefer the no foil method.  Takes a bit longer to get through the stall, but makes the bark incredible!

 

[SmokinTrojan]

I will try without wrap next time out Tony. Do you place fat side up or down?

 

[DivotMaker]

Fat side up, definitely!  All that great fat renders down into the meat, so it's like it's self-basting!

 

[old sarge]

Another successful weekend!  Congratulations!!!

 

[SmokinTrojan]

You are so right Old Sarge David! The smoke, carve and intrigue was great. Meat is packed and shrink wrapped in the freezer. For me the biggest realization is that there is a lot of cleanup...really glad I did this on a weekend. Any of you smoking friends still running a business at 67...looking forward to having lots of time to fiddle with #3 and Auber.
Sarge are you retired military?
Bob

 

[old sarge]

1970-1995.

 

[SmokinTrojan]

CMSGT Dave,
Buddy if you are not you should have been. I was a B-52 (1969-73) pilot who never flew in VN. Today I design a lot of military projects, some going in at Joint Base Lewis McChord. My Dad was an AF POW in WWII and lives next door. Life and associations are special.

 

[old sarge]

I had a good run.  Here hoping Smokin-it has a much longer run.

 

[DivotMaker]

CMSGT Dave,
Buddy if you are not you should have been. I was a B-52 (1969-73) pilot who never flew in VN. Today I design a lot of military projects, some going in at Joint Base Lewis McChord. My Dad was an AF POW in WWII and lives next door. Life and associations are special.

Thanks for your service, Bob!  4 years as a buff pilot, during that time frame, with no VN?  You must have led a charmed life!  I spent a lot of time working with buffs during my 9 years as a targeteer, all on the nuke side, though.  Glad to have you on the SI team now!

 

[SmokinTrojan]

Smokin' Friends,
Weather is much better now than it was in January when I first fired new #3. Tomorrow a 14#brisket and a 9#p.butt going in at the same time. I'm taking ICBM Tony's advice and not using the Texas Crutch. CMSGT Dave or Tony, any advice about doing these two stacked at the same time? Beef fat drip down on pork or visa versa? Drip pan between? Best combo wood (thinking Smokin-it hickory plus apple)?

 

[DivotMaker]

Sounds like some good smokin' fun, Bob!  I think stacked either way would be good, but I wouldn't put a drip pan between them (causes some weird heating issues).  Hickory is always a good choice for beef or pork, but I'm not an apple fan for beef.  Just probably me, though.  Cherry is excellent on both, though.  Due to the size difference, on second thought, you might want to put the brisket on the bottom.  Let us know how this one goes!

 

[rickne]

Interesting question.  Let us now how that turned out.

I, too, would have put the brisket on the bottom.  Although I may have tried a small drip pan right above it with a little distance between it and the butt in the top.  Those butts drain a lot and I wouldn't want it on my brisket.  But Tony is right.  Sometimes they create more havoc than good.

I wouldn't rule out a crutch.  Surely one piece will finish before the other.  Might as well do something with it to ensure it doesn't dry out while the other piece is finishing.

some use the method for everything.  Some not at all.  But nobody will disagree that it is very affective when coking multiple cuts of meat.

 

[DivotMaker]

I agree with Rick on the crutch.  Due to the size difference, you may want to speed-up the briskie by foiling, and leave the butt unwrapped.  Maybe that will help even-out the cook time, also.

 

[SmokinTrojan]

Rick and Tony,
This was an experiment for me...using #3, I wanted to fill it because prep and cleanup is same for partial load as my first trial and this one where thickness of brisket and butt left about 3" above to hang box temp probe. Butt on top and brisket 2" over burner. Two plus hours in Auber says 235F box temp. Brisket temp is 165F! Butt has another probe and it is 135F. I didn't do the wrap on the brisket at four hours, but I decided to do a mop. At 4 hours brisket was 175F and butt was 153F. At that point I decided to switch racks, placing butt above burner and brisket atop. I flipped the brisket and mopped the top. An 1.5hour later I flipped the brisket again and mopped. I went to bed at 10:00pm, 9.5hours after I started. The brisket was sitting at 185F and the butt was at 178F. I had the Auber set to 195F for the brisket. When it reached that temp it would throttle back to 140F until morning. End result...butt is pretty moist...brisket will need juice to rejuvenate. There was nothing in drip pan that I would salvage. I have a lot of chewy bark that I'm taking with me ocean fishing this next week. Much better than jerky. Your last comments are spot on. I will wrap brisket and maybe butt after smoking is done next time. Drip pan probably good to separate mixing flavors.