Smoking on a Brinkmann Charcoal Smoker

 Walking around Home Depot in Auburn over the weekend thinking about what I wanted for Fathers Day and there it was, a Brinkmann Charcoal Smoker. At that point I didn’t own a smoker. I’ve been smoking in my Weber Kettle per Steven Raichlen’s instructions in the Barbecue Bible book. So I thought it was fine time I invested in a Smoker. There wasn’t a huge selection at Home Depot, actually they only had three and two were Brinkmann’s and the other was a grill slash smoker. The Brinkmanns were a gas smoker for $139.00 and a Charcoal/Wood smoker for $69.00.  Not being a big fan of gas grills and since I was already smoking on a grill I went for the Charcoal one.

Being a believer in you get what you pay for, I knew this smoker was not going to be full of a lot of extras and maybe I wanted a smoker with thicker walls, but I never owned one before and didn’t want to spend a ton of money so for 69 bucks lets find out what I get. Once I got home I ripped into the box and took every thing out

Not a ton of parts to put together, simple instructions and it only took me 15 minutes to finish. I read up on the instructions. Can’t remember the last time I read instructions but I didn’t want to make any mistakes. Plus I was looking for sample recipes or any first time smoker suggestions. There were none. I seasoned the smoker that night and planned out my Fathers Day menu with new toy to play with.

I decided on a rack of spare ribs and some 2.5 pound of the Cali Cut aka tri-tip. Looking in my collection of cookbooks there was nothing that just hit me, so I went into my cabinet and found a Weber Herd seasoning pack and good old Pappy’s seasoning. Rubbed the ribs with a thick layer of Pappy’s and dropped the tri-tip into the wet Weber marinate over night.

In researching about smoking I found that ribs need to be cooked for 4 to 6 hours at a constant temp of 225 to 240 degrees and Tri-Tip about 3 to 4 hours at the same temp. I soaked apple wood chucks and started up some Kingsford Competition Briquets. This is what I had on hand at the time and thought why not give it a try. Once everything was ready to go, I added a couple of the wood chunks and the coals to the smoker, added the water from the wood chucks and close the door to get the temp up before I dropped the meat inside. First thing I notice was the door didn’t close tight. I wanted if that would make the temp to drop later. Smoke was pouring out the smoker and the temp hit the 225 mark.

Added the ribs at 10:30am and the excitement hit me, I’m smoking meat in a smoker. In my reading I found you need to had a chunk of wood and some coals every hour or so to keep the temp going. This was a constant problem once I added the meat. I could not get the temp to stay or even hit the 225 mark. I jumped online and found this is a problem with the Brinkmann low end smokers. It was suggested to use Natural Wood Chunks Charcoal instead of briquets and to add bricks to the bottom of the smoker to help maintaining the temp. Both tips I will use in my next smoking experiment.

At about 12:30 I added the Tri-Tip and flipped my ribs to the bottom rack so the tri-tip would drip over the ribs. I was adding more and more charcoal to keep the temp up. On average I was smoking at about 180 to 200 degrees. I was careful not to let it drop past the 180 mark and to not let the water evaporate. So after both meats hit their cook times, I pulled them out and got the test on.  

The Tri-Tip was cooked a little longer then I needed. I could have pulled it out about 30 or 40 minutes early. I ended up cooking it an hour long then I wanted because I was cooking at a low temp then suggested. It was still very tasty and tender. The ribs looked wonderful and award winning. After my taste testers tried them it was agreed I put to much Pappy’s on them. They ended up a bit salty, but still enjoyable. When I put the Pappy’s on I did put it on thick. Next time I’ll just put enough to cover and not to smoother.

Over all the first smoker test was good. Weber Herb seasoning was a one for Tri-Tip and everyone suggested that it was a keeper. It added to the flavor of the meat and didn’t mask it. The ribs were very tender, smoky and just needed less Pappy’s. Next ribs I do will be wet style. The Brinkkmann Smoker did the job. It’s a good smoker to start out with and for around $65 to $75 bucks it’s not a ton of money to toss down.  My plan is to smoke every weekend to perfect my ribs. Smoke is On!