brisket in wood fire oven

[mrchipster]

Re: brisket in wood fire oven

Chip,



How large is your oven? Do you feel that the heat from the small fire cooks your meat on that particular side and thus, unevenly?

I am completing my insulated door next weekend and I am undecided whether I am going to included a damper in the door for smoking. I don't know if having an intake and exhaust utulizing the same air source(damper) is going to work as I hope it will. Any thoughts? I would prefer not to use the crack the door method and that's why I am considering a damper.

42 inch heat from smoking is not really an issue I have done 200-220 f oven And feel I do not get a significant heat rise from the smoke pile.

I have also done smoking of cheese and nuts in a cold oven 70 f and no cooking is done to the food but the air temp does rise to about 120 I put them on pizza screens raised on wood blocks. Or my Tuscan grills. I am thinking of making some racks to allow mw to hang my meats in cheese cloth bags or on hooks as needed.

I would keep my insulated door and a vent door as two separate items. I think the insulated door should not be compromised. By a vent because it gives you the benefit of being able to cook for days off of a single fire.

I think you will be able to keep a smudge fire going with the door closed. Do. Not be concerned about the heat of the smudge. Fire because it does not need to be large to put off very dense smoke.

Mine is just a few small pieces of apple about 1 to 1.5 in diameter.
Chip

[Bravo]

Re: brisket in wood fire oven

Chip,

Build a very small fire on the side over a pile of charred coals from of the ovens prior fires, place this near the door, put some green or soaked apple wood on top of the embers.

How large is your oven? Do you feel that the heat from the small fire cooks your meat on that particular side and thus, unevenly?

I am completing my insulated door next weekend and I am undecided whether I am going to included a damper in the door for smoking. I don't know if having an intake and exhaust utulizing the same air source(damper) is going to work as I hope it will. Any thoughts? I would prefer not to use the crack the door method and that's why I am considering a damper.

[mrchipster]

Re: brisket in wood fire oven

I have been quite successful in doing beef brisket, ribs both beef and pork, and pork tenderloin by using the following.

Start with a heated (saturated) oven and do your normal cooking,

After a few days the oven will be down in the 200 - 220 F range.

Put a rub on your meat, and let it sit in fridge for 12-24 hours.

Put a raised grill in the oven, mine are about 7 inches off the floor.

Build a very small fire on the side over a pile of charred coals from of the ovens prior fires, place this near the door, put some green or soaked apple wood on top of the embers.

In my case I can close my door and maintain a good smoke but you may need to crack your door slightly to keep the embers going.

Put the meat on the grill for 8 - 16 hours.

It is a beautiful thing.

BTW I have not had a problem with meats drying out because there is almost no air circulating in the oven and steam even exits with the smoke when I open the door. I guess I could add a pan of water under or some bacon over, but have not seen the need.

Chip

[Loren]

Re: brisket in wood fire oven

This is another large flat brisket we got from Costco. We added a layer of bacon on top to aid with a slow drip of fat. I wish we could find a nice brisket with the point still on it but it is hard to find unless you want to pay a hefty price for it.

This attempt was much better as far as moisture. I would like to add a bread pan of water in my next attempt and place it in front of the sheet metal elbow in side the oven. I am also in the process of fabricating a door for the firebox that will have two vents so I can control the heat and smoke.

It is a work in progress so I will post on the forum once in a while to show any updates.

Enjoy folks!

Loren

[Loren]

Re: brisket in wood fire oven

I have been experimenting with doing BBQ in the oven for a while now. I will start a fire in the oven and move it to the fireplace below after about an hour. The pics attached are of one of the first briskets we did. It was very dry, it was not the best cut of meat so that is the way it goes. As you can see from the last pic it does have a nice smoke ring. A friend of mine at work is totally in to BBQ so he has been helping me try and perfect brisket and ribs.

It is hard to compare cooking because my oven is a bit different from the typical WFO, but it is close. I will continue in my next post with more pics. I'm not sure they would all fit on one post.

You can see my oven has a firebox below, then I direct the smoke and heat to the oven with a sheet metal elbow. The meat on the grill is one brisket and a rack of ribs cut in half.

Loren

[Tscarborough]

Re: brisket in wood fire oven

When I have done brisket, I have done it on day three, starting around 275-300 and letting it run down.

[Jim Bob]

Re: brisket in wood fire oven

Doug,

Thx for the quick response. Sounds like several good ideas. What struck me was, maybe waiting until the morning, then cooling the oven down, putting the brisket in and let it cook all day. That way the brisket will be ready by supper instead of breakfast~~!! Should have thought of that earlier. Just hope it will hold its heat that long.
Again, thanks for the imput.

Jim Bob

[Jim Bob]

Re: brisket in wood fire oven

i see most of these posts are from several yrs ago. But I have a big pizza gathering Sat nite(about 30 pizzas) and then I would like to put a small 4lb brisket trimmed flat in the oven for the rest of the nite to be ready sometime in the am. Obviously I will have to remove the coals to get temp down to 225 degrees. My questions are: If I start it at that temp, will it remain there overnite?? My stainless steel lid is double thick with a layer of highheat insulation(up to 1200 degrees) welded inside of it. But due to the roughness of the brick opening, it is not exactly airtight. Secondly, is that brisket too small to leave in overnite in the brick oven?? Most mornings after a pizza cook, my oven is still between 4-500 degrees by 10 am. So, not sure I can get it cool enough prior to midnite. Thanks in advance for any thoughts on the brisket cooking.

[wotavidone]

Re: brisket in wood fire oven

P.S. stone soup, would that be like granma's recipe for cooking galahs? you know the one, boil your galah up in a kerosine tin with a stone in the water, and when the stone is soft, throw the galah away and eat the stone?

[wotavidone]

Re: brisket in wood fire oven

Brickie, we take a cut off a sheep that we call brisket, too. Unfortunately, unlike beef brisket it really is a poor cut - more fat than meat. But I take that, and the neck, little bits and pieces from the rest of the forequarter, trim a fair bit of the fat off, and make lamb stew. I will probably use something like that for my first go at cooking something other than pizza. Before I risk the shanks from the last sheep we killed. I was in love with roast lamb shanks long before the TV chefs got hold of them.

[Tscarborough]

Re: brisket in wood fire oven

Cooking it in the WFO is more like sous-vide than smoking. I char it on the grill, then put it in a big lidded pot half full of liquid (fat up) starting it at 250-300 and letting it go all day. edit-I will leave the door off until it goes to 200 then door it back up.

[logman]

Re: brisket in wood fire oven

When I smoke a brisket, I put a pork butt on the shelf above, the fat coming off helps keep the brisket moist. I'm even newer to WFO, so i have no idea how to accomplish that here... but I will think about it. I generally smoke a whole brisket (14-16 lbs) at 200-205F and it goes about 20 hours.

[Tscarborough]

Re: brisket in wood fire oven

Yep, same as skirt steak, which used to be dirt cheap. Now Fajitas cost as much as steak.

[Gulf]

Re: brisket in wood fire oven

I second all the above descriptions.
In the old south the poorer cuts of meat were left for the "less fortunate" ie: slave or the vast majority of the free population. Workers toiled in the fields during the day. Smoked meats BBQ, "brisket" etc. were cooked low and slow while everyone was at work. This was done outside mostly due to the extreme heat of the summers. When the work was finally over for the day, the workers retired to a feast which (the enjoyment of which) was kept as treasured secret from the "more fortunate"

[brickie in oz]

Re: brisket in wood fire oven

It is a crappy, stringy piece of meat that you can turn into Heaven if you cook it right.

Like stone soup.....