What makes a better BRISKET? An offset smoker or a drum smoker? Steve Gow from @smoketrailsbbq conducts an experiment to find out, comparing two briskets on the #OklahomaJoes Longhorn offset smoker and the Bronco drum smoker in both reverse flow setup and direct flow setup. Let’s find out if there’s a difference!
Drum Smoker Brisket Recipe
Ingredients:
Meat
10-15 lb brisket (Choice grade or higher)
Rub
Quarter cup course black pepper
Quarter cup kosher salt
Tablespoon Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
Wrap liquid
1/3 cup beef tallow
1/3 cup clarified butter/Ghee (or substitute with normal butter):
Technique
Trim brisket
Mix rub ingredients in shaker bottle, add small amount of vegetable oil to help mixture stay consistent
Apply rub to brisket, starting with back and sides, and finishing with fat cap
Remove grill grate and deflector plate from Bronco. Load Bronco charcoal basket with 4 chunks of wood, then fill with charcoal, and finally add 4 more chunks of wood to the top of the charcoal pile.
Light the center of the charcoal basket with a charcoal lighter, fire starter, or light a few chunks of charcoal in a chimney and dump them into the center of the charcoal basket.
Replace deflector plate and place a large water pan on top of it. Then replace the grill grate.
Place brisket on the smoker and foil the edges of the point and flat
Leave intake and exhaust damper wide open
When temperature is approximately 50 degrees lower than target temperature of 275, shut intake damper to almost closed (position 1). Exhaust damper should stay wide open.
Smoke at 275 for 12 hours or until all areas of the brisket probe at least 190 internal, replacing charcoal and wood chunks as needed if temperatures start to dip.
Wrap brisket in butcher paper with beef tallow and clarified butter
Place wrapped brisket in aluminum pan with quarter cup water added, foil top tightly. If aluminum pan is unavailable, wrap brisket with aluminum foil, ensuring liquid cannot leak from bottom.
Place brisket into holding device (holding oven, electric smoker, regular oven etc.) at 150 and hold for 15-20 hours. If using oven, check manual for instructions on how to adjust temperature down to attain 150 degrees – recommend confirming actual oven temps ahead of time with remote-graphing probe thermometer placed in a pan of water in the oven to ensure oven can hold meat at a steady 150 indefinitely.
Remove brisket from wrap, slice against the grain and serve.
