My offset smoker fell apart mid-cook on Saturday

I was doing a 12 hour brisket for a family thing and about hour 6 the weld on my firebox door just snapped clean off. Smoke started pouring out the side and I couldnt get the temp back up over 225. Ended up having to finish the whole thing in my oven at 250 for the last 4 hours. The brisket still turned out okay but the bark was way softer than usual. Has anyone else had a pit fail on them mid-smoke and had to get creative with a backup plan?

3 comments

3 Comments

grant_hart8d agoMost Upvoted

Read somewhere that a guy used a roll of heavy duty aluminum foil and some binder clips to patch a cracked firebox on his offset for a whole competition once. Your oven backup move sounds pretty solid though, I bet that bark would've been a bit better if you could've kept that smoke going.

anthonymurray8d ago

Binder clips and aluminum foil on a $2,000 offset smoker... that's some real hillbilly engineering right there, but hey, if it works it works. I bet that guy's firebox looked like a tinfoil hat by the end of the cook, probably had half the competition asking if he was cooking meat or intercepting alien signals. My oven backup move felt like bringing a water pistol to a gun fight, but at least I didn't have to explain to my neighbors why there was smoke billowing out of my garage like I was running a meth lab. Honestly, that foil and clip hack might've been more reliable than my "throw it in the oven and pray" strategy, especially when you're chasing that perfect bark.

xena_fox397d ago

Did you try wrapping the brisket in foil with a little beef broth before it went in the oven? I had a similar thing happen last year when my propane tank ran out halfway through a pork shoulder. I finished it in the oven at 275 wrapped tight with apple juice, and the meat came out super moist. The bark got a little steamed but it was still way better than wasting a whole butt. Sometimes you just gotta roll with what you got.