2 points for vague Airplane! reference.

I have seen those Guru things on U Tube.

I doubt if I am ever going to run the Klose for that long again, as it is A LOT OF MEAT and effort to cook. I think it would be better to just buy the Point Cut and do that. The Flat by the nature of being lean is dry. So far I have only sampled a bit of the thinnest end, while falling apart tender, it is dry. Some Q'ers cut off the whole thin section of the Flat and chop it up with some sauce.

The question I have about the Guru's is does it moderate smoke from the fuel source? My biggest concern yesterday was to run a HOT AND CLEAN fire without putting out billowing smoke while maintaining temp. . My temp while I was writing the OP dipped to 160 and after I put one Oak stick on went to 300. To correct I simply put more fuel on (small chips of Lump for a quick shot in the arm) and opened the lid to get er down. All in all I was running between 200 and 250 all day. Mostly at 225. But there is that range.

After I put an Oak stick on I had to open the Fire Box door to let in alot of air so as to keep from billowing out smoke.* When the wood burned down a bit I could close down the dampers. So you can call it a skill set or even art to running one of those things. So yesterday was an exercise in running a hot clean fire while managing temp.

* There is a a lot creosote when you put on a fresh piece of wood.

I just added Lump and wood to the existing fire. I guess a lot of BBQ shacks have a secondary fire to get the stuff burned down so that it is already burning hot and clean. The lump because it is already chared does not put out a lot of billowing smoke. It is the wood that I was concerned about.The trick was to open the fire box door to create enough air flow to keep the fire hot and clean. As the night progressed it was easier to keep temp and the fire clean as I had a bed of glowing coals going.

I guess the way to do it is to burn down a big load of wood down to almost nothing and put another load in and let that burn down till it is running hot and clean before you put the meat on. That way you already have a bed of of coals going. That does eat up fuel though. Before this cook after the initial batch of wood had burned itself out I would use lump to the finish if necessary, so as to keep the smoke down. It is easier. This time I wanted to use a wood fire from start to finish. I backed it with Lump because I didn't have a lot of wood to burn.


On this fire I tried to keep my fire smaller to make it essentially a 225 fire. I did use almost 1.6 cu ft of wood and 20 lbs of Lump. Also I do like running Oak and if I can get it Oak Lump as it burns hot and clean while imparting an almost neutral flavor. If you want one can back up the Oak with another aromatic wood.

So was I successful.

I have never made a better rib, moist, tender, where the smoke flavor subtlety melded with the flavor of the meat. That is what you are looking for and the point of running a hot and clean fire. They didn't even need a sauce as the flavor profile was on the money. You would take away from the flavor if you added a sauce.

For the beans I used a Guilliao Red Chili sauce that I made which could be used as an Enchilada sauce as well. It gave a nice flavor profile that if you sat down and had a plate of beans you would say boy are those good. For me we will see...

I pan roast the chili's to get them burnt a bit before soaking in hot water to re-hydrate. I then put them in a blender with the liquid to puree. I then put it through a sieve to get out the skins and seeds. Add in a can of El Patio Tomato sauce, a dash of oil to bind, and salt to taste while bringing it to a simmer in a sauce pan. You now have a red chilli sauce.

I have only had a small sample of the Brisket so far. I am still full from last night and do not want to look at another rib right now. . Cutting off a small bite of the end and thinnest part of the Flat which is by nature lean and dry. If tenderness is a gauge than it is fall apart tender. The bites I had were a bit dry...As to flavor the burnt ends I had, had a full house salty,smokey flavor profile which complimented the meat. As I cut into the center of the Brisket that full house smoke flavor will not be as pronounced. I could have moderated the full house smoke flavor by wrapping the Brisket after about 5 or 6 hours. I also might have yielded a more moist ends of the Flat by doing that as well? To keep the meat moist I was running both an open bean pot and a water pan. All in all I am very happy that it turned out to be so tender and flavorful..I think I have it down and anything further is variations on a theme to tweek the process. This was the first time for a Full Packer Brisket.