Since I have not set the backyard on fire yet, I think it works well. With firebox vent at half open and stack at half open my pit averages around 230F to 250F. I have had the pit for a year now. Time to grow up. Charcoal is for wimps. Real pit men use wood. Cave men use wood. I want to be a cave man.
The problem I have with wood is the wood. My firebox is limited by two support bars for grill. They are only about 13" apart. I have had little luck finding wood that will fit inside my firebox. I have managed to collect a lot of smoke wood too big for my pit. Without a chainsaw (birthday gift anyone?), I have not found a good way to cut it to size.
But wait, they have now started to sell mini logs at local groceries (H.E.B) and sporting goods stores (Academy). These babies are 8 to 10 inches long. Perfect!
They are not "seasoned" naturally so I have concerns about being too green. I found these at Academy. They are kiln dried. Good enough for me since no one has bought me a chainsaw for Christmas.
The wife bought me a guilt brisket while she took off to Galveston with her girlfriends for the entire weekend and left me with the 5 year old. It was a 6 lb trimmed brisket. Not a whole packer brisket but who am I to judge? I rubbed it with kosher salt and course ground black pepper. I have some fancy store bought rubs. I have made my own fancy rubs. When it comes to slow cooking for hours and hours. The only flavors that remain are salt and pepper. The rest are just.....fancy.
I am not interested in building a camp fire. I want the pit to heat up fast and I want the wood to catch fire fast. Therefore I used a full chimney of charcoal. I put the brisket on the pit and charcoal in the fire box. Pit temp reached 220F in 15 minutes. Once the coals started fading and temp started dropping (235F), I put the first mini log on. Temp reached 262F in 15 minutes and held for 30 minutes. I then flipped it and it flashed burned and temp hit 285 and died fast. I put another mini log on those smoldering coals and repeated for the next 9 hours. Finally the brisket hit the magic 196F and i pulled it off. Using the coals of the previous mini log to light the next mini log keptan average temp of 248F over 9 hours.
The trimmed brisket split at both ends. Weird. But hey, now I have more burnt ends!
Brisket: Very Good. 5/16 in smoke ring. Tested a little tough of tender. Did not hit that sweet spot and used a knife. Fat rendered well and was smokey good. Rub came through and added that extra zip to overall flavor. No sauce needed.
