Brinkman smoker, need a little help

[tabasco]

Came across a used bullet type brinkman smoker. Cleaned it up and tried out a brisket on it. It shows on the temp. guage- low, ideal and hot. Or something like that. Never could get the heat into the ideal range. Never did get the internal temp of the meat to where it was supposed to be either. Started with a full pan of hot coals and added every hour or 2. Used soaked hickory chips for the smoking but not to excess. The only thing that I may have done wrong(that I know of) was that I put the pan of water up on the lower cooking rack rather than just above the coals.
Did not waste the meat though. Finished it off in a crockpot. It still turned out great just not sure what I may have done wrong. This brings back memories of why I discarded the same type of smoker years ago. Never could get the temp right.

Had been considering a horizontal smoker /grill with the fire box on the side. Any comments on one of these?

Thanks,
Randy

[StPeteBBQ]

The Brinkmann is a difficult cooker to master... in fact they are affectionately know as ECBs (El Cheapo Brinkmann). Temp is almost impossible to control, too much air leakage.

If you like the upright, the best you'll find is the Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM). I have one and love it. No smoker can do better than the WSM, only drawback is capacity. However you can easily smoke 4 8lb pork butts, or two butts and a large brisket, or two briskets. It has 2 18.5 in round grates, one over the other.

A WSM can easily go 18 hours with one load of charcoal (about 12 lbs). It doesn't come with a thermometer, but there are lots of options there. I use a remote with one probe for the meat and one for the cooker. Lets me get a good night's sleep, because there are high and low alarms to let you know if you need to adjust the cooker.

You can find all you ever wanted to know about a WSM at www.virtualweberbullet.com.

[tabasco]

Thanks for the info. Looks like the WSM might find another owner. Is online still the best place to get one? Capacity should be fine for me.

Still wondering about one with a firebox. Anybody got any suggestions.

[StPeteBBQ]

Yep, Amazon has the WSM for $199, free shipping... Used to be $179, but like all things, prices gotta rise...

There is a website that offers it for $169 with free shipping... don't know if they still have that deal or not: www.grillguys.net. Might be worth checking into.

[JackStack]

Yeah the ECB has chased many people away from smoking, I would start with a WSM before going with one with the firebox, mainly because the WSM is so forgiving and will do plenty of meat for the family and they will be marveled at your new found smoking talent. Your horizontal smokers take more work due to larger grill area, cold spots, etc. Start with the WSM and go from there.

[swamp smoker]

Hi Tabasco

I cooked on an ecb for years and suffered the whole time with it and miss bbq now i don't miss unless its a brisket.Thats my thorn in the side. As for the ecb its now a lightweight table to sit beside the wsm. I just took a piece of plywood and glued it on a painted the wholoe thing black. Works great cost almost nothing.

Seeyaaa
Jeff

[Duke]

IN DEFENSE OF the ECB;
I started out on the Brinkman in question... it made many nice ribs & chickens for
me & the family! I actually bought it on sale @ Menards to see if I would really
like smoking, it so inspired me, plus the lust my family developed for smoked goodies,
that I had a custom made trailer smoker made (earlier date, homemade smoker). I
still use my ECB when I just cook for the wife & myself. However Sat. is a attic
insulation & yard clean up party here, the dinner, to thank the workers, will be smoked
prime rib on the big smoker.
So, in all fairness, be nice to the little ECB, please......
duke

[swamp smoker]

Hey Duke

I'm not trying to get into a fight so please don't take this wrong.I also cooked on an ecb for about 8yrs. For chicken and ribs its fine for porkbutt and brisket which commonly need cooking time way past 10-15hrs your asking to much. I tried several times anything past about 8hrs your just fighting a dangerous uphill battle that could injure you.I've switched charcoal pans several times and would never want to do it again. I was missing my eyebrows after one time :D .

Seeyaaa
Swampsmoker

[Duke]

Hey Swamp Smoker;
WELL ***
after 22 years fighting wildfires as a vol. firefighter,
I HAVE NO EYEBROWS !
o-k I'm being funny here, and I look at everything as "opinions" and respect that.
YOU GOTTA HAVE FUN IN LIFE !!!!
I never tried a brisket yet, looking forward to it but the "family" keeps making
requests & purchasing meat for me to cook as they like the goodies I have made
in the past.
EVERYBODY *** remember to have fun with this, please, you never know
when your time is up.
THANKS ! I really appreciate this site & all your opinions......
duke

[TomKattt]

Randy

There are 2 moderately priced backyard smokers that perform well. One is the Weber Smokey Mountain, which is an excellent smoker for about $200. The other is the new offset model sold by Barbeques Galore (The new model has better flow design then all the other offsets.)

Brinkman makes cheap junk. So does CharBroil. I don't care if it's the bullet style or the offset style, they are cheap junk.

The problems you described with the Brinkman are common. They don't get enough ventilation and there's no way to control the air flow. Now, a Brinkman CAN be made to perform better. Not great, but better. Maybe even good enough to keep around and use for awhile. Here's a link to the modifications that need to be made. Click (http://www.randyq.addr.com/ecb/ecbmods.html) here to a page that will show you how to improve the performance of your brinkman. With these modifications, you should be able to get about 6 hours of stable cooking temps in the 'ideal' range.

Just for comparison, the BBQ Galore will get about 10 hours of stable cooking on a load of charcoal. The Weber will get over 20 hours of stable cooking on one load of charcoal. I highly recommend the Weber, but they do cost about $200 and I realize not everyone wants to spend that much on a smoker.

Unfortunately, these cheap bullet smokers are picked up by newbies who more often than not end up getting frustrated and giving up.

[TomKattt]

IN DEFENSE OF the ECB;
I started out on the Brinkman in question... it made many nice ribs & chickens for
me & the family! I actually bought it on sale @ Menards to see if I would really
like smoking, it so inspired me, plus the lust my family developed for smoked goodies,
that I had a custom made trailer smoker made (earlier date, homemade smoker). I
still use my ECB when I just cook for the wife & myself. However Sat. is a attic
insulation & yard clean up party here, the dinner, to thank the workers, will be smoked
prime rib on the big smoker.
So, in all fairness, be nice to the little ECB, please......
duke

Duke, ANY smoker can produce good tasting barbeque, even the ECB or the similar CharBroil H2O. But you cooked on your ECB long enough to know it's a frustrating battle to use one. My first smoker was the CharBroil H2O and I know what it's like to try to get the temp back up after 4 hours and the ash is smothering the coals. I don't care how cheap these things are, I do not recommend them to anyone. You're better off smoking with a Weber Kettle than one of these cheap bullet smokers.