Oh yeah, I wanted to comment on my brisket hold at Corolla. This was in late Sept. Since the beach house oven didn't hold below 170, and holding it at 170 the year before didn't work as well as I hoped, I figured I'd just hold it in my drum - my Oklahoma Joe Bronco. Should work, right? Just get it to stabilize at 150 F and hold the brisket in the smoker as if it was a holding oven.
It worked but not like I had hoped. I had smoked the brisket all night. That went fine. Then I wanted to hold it all day at 150. That didn't go quite according to plan. I would get it at 150 F, but I couldn't get it to stabilize. The cooker temp would always move up or down, one way or the other. Stabilizing at 225 or 250 or 275 is easy! But 150? Not so much. If a cloud came overhead, the temp would drop. If the sun was out, it would rise. So I was constantly making micro-adjustments to the air intake, which would reverse the direction of the cooker temp, but then it would go past the 150 mark. Wouldn't stabilize. So bottom line is, yes, it worked in the long run, but no it never stabilized. I had to constantly adjust it all day long. So I pretty much sat there in shorts and bare feet, reading my book, shucking live oysters with lemon slices, and watching the smoker. I can think of worst ways to spend the day.
The brisket cook came out great. Everybody loved it.
Next time I'll try using my Billows with the Thermoworks X4. That should work perfectly. I hope.
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