FireBoard Labor Day Contest

I started the fire around 5:15 Saturday morning and added the lump charcoal and logs around 5:50, the same time I plugged in my FireBoard 2 Drive. The entire cook was done with 50 percent pecan and 50 percent post oak.

The meat and seasoning for the day.

Prepped the Brisket the night before. Added a mustard binding which is new for me on brisket. This is my first brisket on my offset.

I used my own homemade rub for the brisket. Equal parts medium ground pepper and kosher salt. Also had cayenne pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.

First time making a breakfast log. I weaved 14 pieces of bacon together, covered those with a thin layer of breakfast sausage, and loaded the middle with scrambled cheese eggs. Seasoned with maple seasoning. All with the help of my wife Jordan.

The brisket went on at 7:03 AM, once my smoker was hot and stabilized at 250 degrees. Before putting it on the smoker I probed it with two full length FireBoard competition probes.

At 8:52 my wife had woken up and I put the breakfast log on the smoker. She started her first cup of coffee and I started my second.

At 11:18 the breakfast log reached an internal temperature of 160. I pulled it from the smoker and let it rise to 165. For my first breakfast log it was a huge success. There’s nothing like smoked bacon.

By the time my breakfast log was ready, my brisket had a really nice bark and I began to spritz with 50/50 apple cider vinegar every 30-45 minutes or when needed.

At 3:05 my brisket had made it past its first stall and I wrapped it in butcher paper and stuck it in the smoker point side to the fire fat side up. I cranked the smoker to 300.

The last hours were grueling. The brisket had been on the smoker 12 hours and I had been up since 5AM. The brisket had reached an internal temp of 201. I checked it for tenderness and wrapped it in a towel and put it in a cooler to rest for 2 hours.

At 9 o’clock everything was finally ready. I had taken a shower so I could smell my food and began to slice the brisket. Totally worth my 16 hour day. My wife made slaw and beans. My homemade rub is dialed in and the offset vs the pellet smoker is a world of difference.