UPDATE: Several people have called me out for attempting to claim credit for this idea. That was not my intention. For context, I've been doing this for a long time and many ideas come and go over the years. After my steam injection video, no fewer than 10 people mentioned this idea to me, an idea I and many others out there already had. It's not a unique idea, and it's definitely not uniquely mine. That being said, I did watch this video again and I agree that I should have mentioned that viewers also brought up this idea with me. My bad and my apologies! I will be more thoughtful in the future.
I recently found your channel and I feel (sort-of) confident now to cook on my husband's offset smoker for Father's Day. No matter how it turns out, you're a rockstar and I really appreciate your videos and I have learned so much!
Dude. I love how you still rock your low tier smokers. Just goes to show that a chef will make a delicious meal despite their tools. I just bought an OkJs longhorn and I’m still figuring it out. Right now I can get 15ish minutes of clean fire until I have to throw in another split.
I definitely appreciate your videos! you bring a perspective from angles I would never have thought of and the data points whether expressed in voice or graphs is very INFORMATIONAL.
I criticised you previously for being obsessed with creating a Franklin's brisket, I am very pleased you have departed from that in recent weeks and have made videos that I find interesting and enjoyable again.
Thanks for your videos- I actually reference your videos and Mad Sci BBQ during each of my cooks, almost like Cliff Notes, because I still don't have a log book yet or have my temps fully memorized.
One thing to consider is the steam wand creates alot of convection in the cook chamber compared to water pan in firebox. That could be whats driving the strong results with the steam wand.
I sent the steam injection video out to everyone I know in the New School BBQ community and they all thought a water pan would do the same, but I would have to say that this once again proves your steam injection technique is a game changer. Great stuff!
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ I hope you patent the process at the very least. Products for it can come later. I did a little research on this and no one has done what you are doing on this scale. The closest was a company back in 2015 that had steam injection for industrial sized restaurant smokers and a single discussion out on a forum back in 2021 with someone wanting to try it on a reverse flow smoker.
Awesome video! I have a outdoor gourmet smoker from academy. I leave the ash tray at the bottom, cover it with foil. Then put a water pan on it close to the hole where the smoke comes in and it has made my smoker run same temps throughout it.
Awesome video! If you were looking for more steam compared to the steam injection version I would suggest decreasing the water levels in the pans. That way you can get less heat absorption. Maybe worth a try? Thanks for the video!
Another great video. I again can't thank you enough for helping me develop the best brisket cooking method ever. Every brisket every time. Amazing taste, tenderness, bite, pull, and bend. I know you got a channel to manage and always need new content, but you developed the perfect brisket awhile ago. Lol. Good job. Keep up the good work. I can't wait till you discover bullion.
I've found that water pan above fire really shines on vertical stickburners (not offset) where fire is directly underneath the food. As you were saying, it helps supress and even temp that can be tough to do on direct stickburner which tend to run hotter
I can't wait to try this technique on my LSG 20x42" because it virtually refuses to run below 270. When I can get it down to 250 or lower it's almost always white smoke. You may have just stumbled onto a game changing BBQ hack! Thanks!
Outcome of this cook has more implications for other meats. Your control is basically my smoker setup for briskets. Your experiment gave me insight into another approach of smoking lake trout and whitefish. Flatter, lower temp for thinner protein. If it isn't a consumer product already, some one should design a humidity gauge same as aftermarket temp guages for offsets. It be nice to know the humidity ranges we're dealing with.
Try smoking the brisket with mesquite wood. I know all the professional cooks use oak, but an average Texan uses mesquite wood. Mesquite is a very bold and flavorful smoke and it can be challenging to find the balance but well worth it. Now it could be that we average Texans use mesquite because it is readily available and relatively cheap here, but we love it all the same.
Mesquite requires a different cooking strategy. One must run very clean fire, using small logs and wrap briskets early, in order to avoid kerosene like flavor. I have smoked with mesquite, other times ran mesquite for couple hours before switching to post oak. I prefer doing the latter, cause most of the time I prefer not to wrap.
Mesquite typically has a big, bold, intense, and earthy flavor. It burns quickly and produces plenty of smoke. So yes like I said you have to find a balance, but that's true with all the wood you use the first time. But there is a reason we Texans like it, but then again maybe we Texans just do things bigger and better. 🤣 It could also be that we grew up with it so it could be an acquired taste. 🤔 It's still worth a try in my book.
Thx again Steve. I'm the one who tried steam in my pellet smoker and it didn't shorten the cook. Seems like boiling water would work as well as steam, so i am wondering if the steam machine short cook time was a fluke. Would you consider a repeat of that experiment? And perhaps a variation in your pellet smoker? Thanks again, Scott
Hi Scott, I also tried it in my pellet smoker and didn't get any different results. I have another video coming out soon where I steam injected with ribs. Others who are trying the steam injection on their offset smokers are reporting the same results I had, so it may only work with the high convection of an offset.
It seems as though the lower temp longer help to render callogen in the brisket better; allowing it to pull apart easier. I've noticed I get more steam in my smoker when my water pan is close to empty. Maybe less water to create more steam?
How about a kettle that would boil on top of the fire box, and then use copper tubing to route the steam into the same port that you made for the steamer?
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ Interestingly the steam it generate seems to suppress the heat... I think this method has potential to be develop. Potentially lowering the pot of water closer to the fire might bring the boiling more rapidly, maybe. But what I've seen here, it definitely need more charcoal/wood to generate more heat in order to match the usual smoking temp. I can't wait to see how you develop and try it out myself too
Nice experiment.. i like tinkering with my cookers as well.. anywhaaay.. ur thoughts on supressing the heat in the box an eye opener .. i wonder if the difference between this and the steamer setup is where in the cook chamber U introduce the water or could it be the finer mist much like a carburetor atomizing fuel into the system... Hmmmm.. more experiments pleez.. hehe.. thanks again on another thought provoking video
It would be an interesting experiment, after wrapping in butcher paper, to wrap in cling film which would keep all moisture in, and one wrap of aluminum foil to protect and long hold. Like all the testing you do! Thanks for another good video.
Your hat says “bbq freak” I’d say from your videos it’s more of “brisket freak”! How maybe different brisket cooks have you done? Definitely the most I’ve every seen on any other RUclipsr!
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ your crazy but in a good way! Haha how much left over do your have or how much to you give away! Family/neighbours. You could have a bbq food bank and feed the homeless lol
13:52 Were you opening the control firebox as often as the test? Because if you're topping off the water every 15 minutes, that might've contributed to the experimental smoker's temp staying lower. Thanks for the video!
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ any more attempts with the steamer? Seems it’s the same concept but on steroids… I have it in my amazon cart but haven’t pulled the trigger yet.
Just came across your channel as well. Excellent video here! I have wondered about this technique but didn't want to waste time, money, meat and effort on an experiment as such... Great review of the techniques and I learned a good trick to help keep pit temp lowered! Keep up the great work!
easier temp control makes sense. same thing as a cast iron skillet. Same with the steam injection, steam is already at 212, water phase change takes a Lot of energy. Wonder what you would get using apple juice or something.
I noticed smoking salmon at really low temps 160°-180° that on my pellet grill, with a water pan full of boiling water, I am getting really steady temps- lower than what I would get without a water pan. Oddly I am getting water coming out into my drip pan.
Wait, why did the steam injection help but the boiling water have no difference in result, not intense enough? Would this help in a WSM18? I don't understand why everyone doesn't use their water pans. Is it because offset has much more airflow and so the environment benefits from a water pan?
Interesting that the boiling water did not improve in the bark formation. Your concoction of pushing steam into the cook chamber was miles ahead. Great work.
I have a couple theories. The steam cleaner pushes a higher volume of water through the system in general. It's also heated separately and all the moisture is directed over top of the brisket. But my gut feeling is it is just the sheer volume of water going through it. Higher humidity than just a pan of boiling water.
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ Maybe with the steam you are just getting way more BTUs of heat into the cooking chamber? Also, the moisture is going to transfer more energy/BTUs to the meat as it condenenses on the meat (latent heat of vaporization?)
Maybe, I'm not sure how much of the flavor carries through the steam or just ends up as a crusty solid on the bottom of the pan after the water evaporates.
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ thanks for the quick response. I wonder if it did raise the air moisture content in the smoker? You are an inspiration. I have an Oklahoma joes offset.
Thoughts on somehow using a stainless steel tube coming out of some sort of water vessel that is on TOP of the fire (like where you usually put your wood) so that the steam gets into the smoker that way? I feel like that wouldn’t make the temperatures be so low in the cook chamber since the water is not directly above the fire, instead you’re relying on the radiant heat of the fire. You can still add wood from the air vent on the side. Just don’t open the lid anymore.
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ if I find an older smoker that I don’t care about drilling into, I might try to see if I can emulate this. Your videos really helped me go from 0 to hero here on the BBQ side. I started watching your stuff since your videos on firebox management when I was given a hand-me down offset smoker. It’s super cool to see the evolution of your videos and while I don’t have the time to devote to experiments, I’m happy to watch you go through them. Thank you so much!
So out of curiosity, and I was hoping you were going to touch on it at the end of the experiment, what do you think made so much of a difference in smoke flavor, juiciness, and cook time when you injected steam directly into the cook chamber vs the way you did it in this video?
Hi! I love your videos. In the experiment with boiling water there was more than one variable since the temperature decreased the cooking temperature. The lower temperature increased the cooking time and the higher humidity probably decreased it for a roughly same cook time. You might want to cook at the same temperature and have just one variable being the humidity. I live at sea level very neat the ocean and the humidity from weather variations seems to impact my cooks.
Another good video. I always use a water pan, either under or to the side. But never put it right over the fire like that. How many times did you have to refill the water?
I unfortunately cannot afford to kill a chest freezer for a steam holding chest, but I did keep two briskets in my Sous Vide for an event and it turned out great. Bark did not fall off like I thought it might, and that long hold made sure ALL the fat was rendered. I probably would have just thrown them into a cooler if it had not been for your videos. Thank you.
You can use a cooler with a sous vide device aswell. I have used this method with a heating element and a PID controller for over a decade for steaming Pastrami.
I'm thinking the quantity of water was the major factor here. Those pans were kinda simmering, which probably didn't yield a ton of steam, but still poached the lions share of the heat from the fire. I'm wondering if you can make a feeder bottle setup into a smaller pan that gets screaming hot without sapping too much heat from the fire box. Thinking like a self regulating dog water dish setup which maintains 1/2" in a modest size pan all the time so its at a rolling boil. More steam, less heat absorbing. I still think you're on to something here!!
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ I put an forced air injection system on my 22” WSM and I haven’t touched my offset since. Its basically set it and forget it now but with that real wood smoke flavor.
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ the 22 is frickin awesome. Pitmaster IQ, way better door system. Mounted the lid with a hinge. I can run it for 20hrs with one load of fuel and I add big chunks of whatever wood I’m using throughout the cook. Best part is, I can get it to maintain 150° for the long rests too. Dammit, now I need to smoke a brisket this weekend.
too much of the energy of the fire was being used to heat the water and acted as a giant heat sync where the steamer was an outside source. i also think that the convective properties of the offset werent as useful to carry the steam into the cook chamber with the smoke with these giant pan changing the air flow, where with the steamer its pumped into the airstream and carried with it. but ultimately id be curious if you could even guesstimate the amount of water user in each experiment. Maybe one of the experiments will be getting a humidity sensor and seeing what % humidity works best. Question about the steamer, is it a steamer or is it diffusing, id be tempted to put some fluids through it like soy sauce, hot sauce or Worchester sauce
It's a steamer. Yea I think you are bang on. Exactly what I was thinking. I think I used alot more water in the steamer than in the water pan experiment. So sheer volume of water. And yes, it was already heated steam injected into a hot convective current whereas here the current may have been changed by the heat sink. I'll set up my wet bulb and dry bulb next time to measure humidity.
Yes. There's something called the Orion cooker which kind of does that. Problem is to pressure cook you need a sealed environment which is not great for smoking.
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ perhaps a brisket could be done in the smoker then finished in the pressure cooker then smoked again to give it bark? seems like the steam thing is along the lines of pressure cooking. If you can break down the briskets fibres quickly then perhaps we don't need to smoke for many hours and can achieve the same result in 2 or 3.
I couldn't helped but notice, there was a dramatic color diffrence between the water in the water pans, the control was dark orange brown and the extra streamy was yellow, another thing I was thinking the color must be smoke! So you might actually be losing quite a bit of smoke. Whatcha think?
Interesting video. I have a Weber Smokey Mountain, would putting water in the water pan have the same effect as your putting the boiling water in the fire box? Also, I have a AAA Harmony Beef brisket from Costco, is that the same as the briskets you're using in this video? Thanks. Love your videos!
What do you do with this much brisket? I eat mine for 3 days but I can never finish one I’m always giving some away but I might cook a brisket once a month not 4 a week 😂
Soo.....the takehome message is: get a steam injector and drill a hole in your offset??! How did these compare to the steam injected brisket a few weeks ago?
Some save there fat trimmings and render in the smoker. This is likely to enhance the tallow (rendering) with the smoke flavor. I haven't tried it, but I cringe with the amount of trim coming off a brisket. I'll try rendering my own next brisket cook.
I want to thank you for buying all this meat and trying all these experiments so we don't have to. Im lucky if i can smoke 2 briskets a year. You're smoking these things 2 at a time every week! What do you do with all that cooked meat?
Can we stop doing juiciness tests while adding extra grease? How the hell can you tell whether the juice is caused by the steam when you have it swimming in a pool of tallow and ghee? Its like bragging about how moist your tres leches cake is.
Lol literally took my idea and didn’t give any credit. Which makes sense the bbq community is all about stealing other people’s ideas and passing them as your own like you’re a hero or genius.
I’ve been doing this for years, so you actually stole my idea. But seriously, you act like this isn’t an obvious, logical thing to do. Literally get over yourself.
Im assuming you commented with your idea on a prior video but let me know if we had some other exchange. To put things in perspective, over 20 people asked me to do an experiment with this idea or something similar. It was such a widespread idea that i didn't even think to credit any one person, nor do i honestly recall who had what idea or when. I'm sorry you feel ripped off. That was not my intention. Thank you for watching my videos and being part of the community as always!
UPDATE: Several people have called me out for attempting to claim credit for this idea. That was not my intention. For context, I've been doing this for a long time and many ideas come and go over the years. After my steam injection video, no fewer than 10 people mentioned this idea to me, an idea I and many others out there already had. It's not a unique idea, and it's definitely not uniquely mine. That being said, I did watch this video again and I agree that I should have mentioned that viewers also brought up this idea with me. My bad and my apologies! I will be more thoughtful in the future.
I recently found your channel and I feel (sort-of) confident now to cook on my husband's offset smoker for Father's Day. No matter how it turns out, you're a rockstar and I really appreciate your videos and I have learned so much!
Dude. I love how you still rock your low tier smokers. Just goes to show that a chef will make a delicious meal despite their tools. I just bought an OkJs longhorn and I’m still figuring it out. Right now I can get 15ish minutes of clean fire until I have to throw in another split.
Thanks! Yea I've learned it's definitely not the cooker that matters, it's the cook!
I definitely appreciate your videos! you bring a perspective from angles I would never have thought of and the data points whether expressed in voice or graphs is very INFORMATIONAL.
Thanks!
I criticised you previously for being obsessed with creating a Franklin's brisket, I am very pleased you have departed from that in recent weeks and have made videos that I find interesting and enjoyable again.
Glad you enjoyed!
Really happy to see our brief comment exchange turn into a video!!🎉 Love what you're doing!!
Thanks for the idea!
Thanks for your videos- I actually reference your videos and Mad Sci BBQ during each of my cooks, almost like Cliff Notes, because I still don't have a log book yet or have my temps fully memorized.
Haha! Good plan!
One thing to consider is the steam wand creates alot of convection in the cook chamber compared to water pan in firebox. That could be whats driving the strong results with the steam wand.
I sent the steam injection video out to everyone I know in the New School BBQ community and they all thought a water pan would do the same, but I would have to say that this once again proves your steam injection technique is a game changer. Great stuff!
Water pan doesn't hold a candle to steam injection unfortunately
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ I hope you patent the process at the very least. Products for it can come later. I did a little research on this and no one has done what you are doing on this scale. The closest was a company back in 2015 that had steam injection for industrial sized restaurant smokers and a single discussion out on a forum back in 2021 with someone wanting to try it on a reverse flow smoker.
@@NorthernThaiGardenGuy maybe one day!
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ Just thought of something for the steam injection method. What about testing it out with as many Briskets as you can get on your pit?
@@NorthernThaiGardenGuySteam injection of ovens isn't new
Well done 👍
Thanks James!
Awesome video! I have a outdoor gourmet smoker from academy. I leave the ash tray at the bottom, cover it with foil. Then put a water pan on it close to the hole where the smoke comes in and it has made my smoker run same temps throughout it.
Awesome video! If you were looking for more steam compared to the steam injection version I would suggest decreasing the water levels in the pans. That way you can get less heat absorption. Maybe worth a try? Thanks for the video!
I'll try it!
Another great video. I again can't thank you enough for helping me develop the best brisket cooking method ever. Every brisket every time. Amazing taste, tenderness, bite, pull, and bend. I know you got a channel to manage and always need new content, but you developed the perfect brisket awhile ago. Lol. Good job. Keep up the good work. I can't wait till you discover bullion.
Love that you're willing to experiment! You're gonna change BBQ!
And it's fun!
I've found that water pan above fire really shines on vertical stickburners (not offset) where fire is directly underneath the food. As you were saying, it helps supress and even temp that can be tough to do on direct stickburner which tend to run hotter
Underrated channel
Thanks!
I’m glad you are one of the very few people who experiment with bbq. It’s great stuff.
I agree! Actual bbq mad science going on around here.
I can't wait to try this technique on my LSG 20x42" because it virtually refuses to run below 270. When I can get it down to 250 or lower it's almost always white smoke. You may have just stumbled onto a game changing BBQ hack! Thanks!
It could help alot!
Just bought offset. Videos will help for sure😊
Outcome of this cook has more implications for other meats. Your control is basically my smoker setup for briskets. Your experiment gave me insight into another approach of smoking lake trout and whitefish. Flatter, lower temp for thinner protein.
If it isn't a consumer product already, some one should design a humidity gauge same as aftermarket temp guages for offsets. It be nice to know the humidity ranges we're dealing with.
It's a good idea. You can measure relative humidity with a wet and dry bulb thermometer and a mathematical formula.
Try smoking the brisket with mesquite wood. I know all the professional cooks use oak, but an average Texan uses mesquite wood. Mesquite is a very bold and flavorful smoke and it can be challenging to find the balance but well worth it. Now it could be that we average Texans use mesquite because it is readily available and relatively cheap here, but we love it all the same.
I'll try it if I can get some!
Mesquite requires a different cooking strategy. One must run very clean fire, using small logs and wrap briskets early, in order to avoid kerosene like flavor. I have smoked with mesquite, other times ran mesquite for couple hours before switching to post oak. I prefer doing the latter, cause most of the time I prefer not to wrap.
Mesquite typically has a big, bold, intense, and earthy flavor. It burns quickly and produces plenty of smoke. So yes like I said you have to find a balance, but that's true with all the wood you use the first time. But there is a reason we Texans like it, but then again maybe we Texans just do things bigger and better. 🤣 It could also be that we grew up with it so it could be an acquired taste. 🤔 It's still worth a try in my book.
A great experiment mate, thank you, your experiments save me $, and time cheers and G’day here in Australia mate
Thanks 👍
Thx again Steve. I'm the one who tried steam in my pellet smoker and it didn't shorten the cook. Seems like boiling water would work as well as steam, so i am wondering if the steam machine short cook time was a fluke. Would you consider a repeat of that experiment? And perhaps a variation in your pellet smoker? Thanks again, Scott
Hi Scott, I also tried it in my pellet smoker and didn't get any different results. I have another video coming out soon where I steam injected with ribs. Others who are trying the steam injection on their offset smokers are reporting the same results I had, so it may only work with the high convection of an offset.
Dude, the quality of your videos has skyrocketed since the early days. Well done!
It seems as though the lower temp longer help to render callogen in the brisket better; allowing it to pull apart easier. I've noticed I get more steam in my smoker when my water pan is close to empty. Maybe less water to create more steam?
That's an idea others have mentioned as well. I could try a flatter water pan with less water and refill it more often
How about a kettle that would boil on top of the fire box, and then use copper tubing to route the steam into the same port that you made for the steamer?
I was thinking about exactly that!
So glad you tried this idea! And it does work!
Kind of! I need to do some more testing
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ Interestingly the steam it generate seems to suppress the heat... I think this method has potential to be develop. Potentially lowering the pot of water closer to the fire might bring the boiling more rapidly, maybe. But what I've seen here, it definitely need more charcoal/wood to generate more heat in order to match the usual smoking temp. I can't wait to see how you develop and try it out myself too
Nice experiment.. i like tinkering with my cookers as well.. anywhaaay.. ur thoughts on supressing the heat in the box an eye opener .. i wonder if the difference between this and the steamer setup is where in the cook chamber U introduce the water or could it be the finer mist much like a carburetor atomizing fuel into the system... Hmmmm.. more experiments pleez.. hehe.. thanks again on another thought provoking video
Could be something like that!
It would be an interesting experiment, after wrapping in butcher paper, to wrap in cling film which would keep all moisture in, and one wrap of aluminum foil to protect and long hold. Like all the testing you do! Thanks for another good video.
Great idea, that would certainly ensure it is 100% sealed
Your hat says “bbq freak” I’d say from your videos it’s more of “brisket freak”! How maybe different brisket cooks have you done? Definitely the most I’ve every seen on any other RUclipsr!
Great idea! I do about 4-6 briskets a week.
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ your crazy but in a good way! Haha how much left over do your have or how much to you give away! Family/neighbours. You could have a bbq food bank and feed the homeless lol
@@chriszinn7143 full briskets leftover! I give them away to friends and family
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ nice 👍 I love briskets but all that time cooking it. It’s fun to give it to others! Keep up the vids
13:52 Were you opening the control firebox as often as the test? Because if you're topping off the water every 15 minutes, that might've contributed to the experimental smoker's temp staying lower. Thanks for the video!
Making videos and eating briskets.
Great life! 😄
🍻
You got that right!
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ any more attempts with the steamer?
Seems it’s the same concept but on steroids…
I have it in my amazon cart but haven’t pulled the trigger yet.
Thanks for your experiments! I wonder if the results would have been much different if you only used one pan rather than two.
Maybe!
Just came across your channel as well. Excellent video here! I have wondered about this technique but didn't want to waste time, money, meat and effort on an experiment as such... Great review of the techniques and I learned a good trick to help keep pit temp lowered! Keep up the great work!
When did you switch to a fire basket? As i recall, you used to be a pretty big endorser of the v-grate method
actually looks good
It was good!
So not really comparable to injecting steam into the chamber? I'm still waiting on you to try the steamer in your pellet smoker.
Based on this experiment no. I'll need to do more testing.
I cook my briskets for 16 hrs unwrapped and dont get the dark black bark like your. Using an oakjoes offset with mostly charcoal beads. Cheers
Try burning more wood
Got a video on your sous vide resting cabinet?
Its in my "texas secrets" vid from last year and there's a full tutorial on patreon
Thanks!
easier temp control makes sense. same thing as a cast iron skillet. Same with the steam injection, steam is already at 212, water phase change takes a Lot of energy. Wonder what you would get using apple juice or something.
Yep! Apple juice would be interesting
Have you thought about smoking the point and flat separately before? I find the flat cooks faster, which is why I separate them.
I noticed smoking salmon at really low temps 160°-180° that on my pellet grill, with a water pan full of boiling water, I am getting really steady temps- lower than what I would get without a water pan. Oddly I am getting water coming out into my drip pan.
Awesome experiments! Love it all!
Thank you 🤗
Wait, why did the steam injection help but the boiling water have no difference in result, not intense enough?
Would this help in a WSM18? I don't understand why everyone doesn't use their water pans. Is it because offset has much more airflow and so the environment benefits from a water pan?
Interesting that the boiling water did not improve in the bark formation. Your concoction of pushing steam into the cook chamber
was miles ahead. Great work.
I have a couple theories. The steam cleaner pushes a higher volume of water through the system in general. It's also heated separately and all the moisture is directed over top of the brisket. But my gut feeling is it is just the sheer volume of water going through it. Higher humidity than just a pan of boiling water.
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ Maybe with the steam you are just getting way more BTUs of heat into the cooking chamber? Also, the moisture is going to transfer more energy/BTUs to the meat as it condenenses on the meat (latent heat of vaporization?)
Would you get more flavor if you filled the pans with something like broth, beer, apple juice, apple cider vinegar, or beef stock?
Or what about putting in those liquids in the steamer?
Maybe, I'm not sure how much of the flavor carries through the steam or just ends up as a crusty solid on the bottom of the pan after the water evaporates.
Darn, I was hoping you would get the same results as the steam inclusion test. Is the steam still superior?
So far, Steam injection is better for sure.
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ thanks for the quick response. I wonder if it did raise the air moisture content in the smoker? You are an inspiration. I have an Oklahoma joes offset.
Talking with Myron M. He says just buy his H2O water smokers.
Haha maybe one day!
Love your channel,do you have a vid on how to make your holding chest??
Thoughts on somehow using a stainless steel tube coming out of some sort of water vessel that is on TOP of the fire (like where you usually put your wood) so that the steam gets into the smoker that way? I feel like that wouldn’t make the temperatures be so low in the cook chamber since the water is not directly above the fire, instead you’re relying on the radiant heat of the fire. You can still add wood from the air vent on the side. Just don’t open the lid anymore.
That could work!
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ if I find an older smoker that I don’t care about drilling into, I might try to see if I can emulate this. Your videos really helped me go from 0 to hero here on the BBQ side. I started watching your stuff since your videos on firebox management when I was given a hand-me down offset smoker. It’s super cool to see the evolution of your videos and while I don’t have the time to devote to experiments, I’m happy to watch you go through them. Thank you so much!
So out of curiosity, and I was hoping you were going to touch on it at the end of the experiment, what do you think made so much of a difference in smoke flavor, juiciness, and cook time when you injected steam directly into the cook chamber vs the way you did it in this video?
I suspect it's just the sheer volume of water going through the system with the steamer. More than boiling water could produce.
i literally am doing this on some beef ribs as I watch this video… we shall see how it goes
Let us know how it goes!
Almost done and like in your video I think it just helps with the radiant heat and control the temp spikes
Hi! I love your videos. In the experiment with boiling water there was more than one variable since the temperature decreased the cooking temperature. The lower temperature increased the cooking time and the higher humidity probably decreased it for a roughly same cook time. You might want to cook at the same temperature and have just one variable being the humidity. I live at sea level very neat the ocean and the humidity from weather variations seems to impact my cooks.
Yep I'll have to think about how to control for that.
Another good video. I always use a water pan, either under or to the side. But never put it right over the fire like that. How many times did you have to refill the water?
Like every hour or so
When you wrap, do you wrap point side down on top of the tallow or flat side down on top of the tallow? Or does it matter?
Do you let your brisket cool down to a certain temp before you wrap and put to hold? Or do just pull it off the smoker and wrap then rest
I unfortunately cannot afford to kill a chest freezer for a steam holding chest, but I did keep two briskets in my Sous Vide for an event and it turned out great. Bark did not fall off like I thought it might, and that long hold made sure ALL the fat was rendered. I probably would have just thrown them into a cooler if it had not been for your videos. Thank you.
You can use a cooler with a sous vide device aswell. I have used this method with a heating element and a PID controller for over a decade for steaming Pastrami.
Can you measure relative humidity in the cook chamber in real time by having a dry probe and wet probe?
Yes I can
I'm thinking the quantity of water was the major factor here. Those pans were kinda simmering, which probably didn't yield a ton of steam, but still poached the lions share of the heat from the fire. I'm wondering if you can make a feeder bottle setup into a smaller pan that gets screaming hot without sapping too much heat from the fire box. Thinking like a self regulating dog water dish setup which maintains 1/2" in a modest size pan all the time so its at a rolling boil. More steam, less heat absorbing. I still think you're on to something here!!
Yea I think you may be right. I'll think about how I can rig something up.
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ I'm sure it can be done, It just needs the reservoir to be remote so the heat isn't wasted.
Watch and learned a lot from you. Thanks a.bunch
I would love to try Goldees brisket rub but shipping almost doubles the price to the east coast where I’m located!
genius: a horizontal WSM
Pretty much! With ALOT more airflow
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ I put an forced air injection system on my 22” WSM and I haven’t touched my offset since. Its basically set it and forget it now but with that real wood smoke flavor.
@hugh3284 nice! I want a 22 I only have an 18
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ the 22 is frickin awesome. Pitmaster IQ, way better door system. Mounted the lid with a hinge. I can run it for 20hrs with one load of fuel and I add big chunks of whatever wood I’m using throughout the cook. Best part is, I can get it to maintain 150° for the long rests too. Dammit, now I need to smoke a brisket this weekend.
I just picked up a 22 from the Facebook marketplace. I've never had a pork tenderloin cook in 1.5hrs and pull apart like a brisket. Damn good!!
I wonder if the steamer increased the pressure in the cook chamber?
I'd love to see a collab with you and Mad Scientist Barbecue. If you haven't already lol.
Maybe one day!
great vids as always, thank you.
too much of the energy of the fire was being used to heat the water and acted as a giant heat sync where the steamer was an outside source. i also think that the convective properties of the offset werent as useful to carry the steam into the cook chamber with the smoke with these giant pan changing the air flow, where with the steamer its pumped into the airstream and carried with it. but ultimately id be curious if you could even guesstimate the amount of water user in each experiment.
Maybe one of the experiments will be getting a humidity sensor and seeing what % humidity works best.
Question about the steamer, is it a steamer or is it diffusing, id be tempted to put some fluids through it like soy sauce, hot sauce or Worchester sauce
It's a steamer. Yea I think you are bang on. Exactly what I was thinking. I think I used alot more water in the steamer than in the water pan experiment. So sheer volume of water. And yes, it was already heated steam injected into a hot convective current whereas here the current may have been changed by the heat sink. I'll set up my wet bulb and dry bulb next time to measure humidity.
Is there a way to pressure cook with smoke too?
Yes. There's something called the Orion cooker which kind of does that. Problem is to pressure cook you need a sealed environment which is not great for smoking.
There are smokers called Cajun Express Smokers that pressure cook.
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ perhaps a brisket could be done in the smoker then finished in the pressure cooker then smoked again to give it bark? seems like the steam thing is along the lines of pressure cooking. If you can break down the briskets fibres quickly then perhaps we don't need to smoke for many hours and can achieve the same result in 2 or 3.
@@CoolJay77 will check it out thanks
What warmer do you use for the overnight rest?
I couldn't helped but notice, there was a dramatic color diffrence between the water in the water pans, the control was dark orange brown and the extra streamy was yellow, another thing I was thinking the color must be smoke! So you might actually be losing quite a bit of smoke. Whatcha think?
Yes the coloration is from the smoke. Maybe one of the pans was dirtier than the other when I filled it. I re-use the pans so that could be it.
Nice hat!
Thanks! Texas monthly bbqclub!
ear bud loud warning with the foil. wow.
Sorry!
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ worth it to find out if boiled water in the fire makes a better brisket.
After watching so many videos of yours, I've still never figured out why you wrap end-on-end. It just looks incredibly awkward. Great content though!
Interesting video. I have a Weber Smokey Mountain, would putting water in the water pan have the same effect as your putting the boiling water in the fire box? Also, I have a AAA Harmony Beef brisket from Costco, is that the same as the briskets you're using in this video? Thanks. Love your videos!
It helps immensely in a wsm to suppress temps and add humidity. My briskets are costco AAA packed by excel beef
For that check out the experiment by Cookout Coach Boiling Water In A Smoker?
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ the ones I get from costco are normally AAA Excel ones, but I just bought a couple yesterday that were AAA Harmony Beef ones.
@@glenm5679 interesting. Never got one before.
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ this was at the Tsuut'ina Costco. They actually mislabeled them as boneless pork blade, and I got them for $3.84/lb.
Good info👍
Never seen someone use a spray bottle as a "binder."
Works great!
Gloves please
Good stuff
What do you do with this much brisket?
I eat mine for 3 days but I can never finish one I’m always giving some away but I might cook a brisket once a month not 4 a week 😂
I give it away!
Should I send you my address? LMAO
How was the flat?
Really good !
Soo.....the takehome message is: get a steam injector and drill a hole in your offset??! How did these compare to the steam injected brisket a few weeks ago?
Never really needed butter or tallow on the brisket, like to taste the smoky beef, might bland it out, should be definite.
Some save there fat trimmings and render in the smoker. This is likely to enhance the tallow (rendering) with the smoke flavor. I haven't tried it, but I cringe with the amount of trim coming off a brisket. I'll try rendering my own next brisket cook.
I want to thank you for buying all this meat and trying all these experiments so we don't have to. Im lucky if i can smoke 2 briskets a year. You're smoking these things 2 at a time every week! What do you do with all that cooked meat?
I give it away!
Damn! Have you ever considered moving to Buffalo NY? I can use some free Brisket!
no paper towel pat down ?
Nope!
you created creosote.
I didn't notice any more build up than normal
Or the fact you kept opening the firebox every 15 minutes. Just saying
Maybe! It doesn’t drop chamber temps that much though. Just opening it for a few seconds. The temp recovers almost instantly
Cant say I agree with all the fat you removed
Different strokes!
@@SmokeTrailsBBQ find its juicier when ya do. But could be my own bias. Still looks amazing tho. Nice flintstone sized steaks
Can we stop doing juiciness tests while adding extra grease? How the hell can you tell whether the juice is caused by the steam when you have it swimming in a pool of tallow and ghee? Its like bragging about how moist your tres leches cake is.
Moist LOL
First.
Yes!
almost didnt watch because of the click bait title
Lol literally took my idea and didn’t give any credit. Which makes sense the bbq community is all about stealing other people’s ideas and passing them as your own like you’re a hero or genius.
I’ve been doing this for years, so you actually stole my idea.
But seriously, you act like this isn’t an obvious, logical thing to do.
Literally get over yourself.
Im assuming you commented with your idea on a prior video but let me know if we had some other exchange. To put things in perspective, over 20 people asked me to do an experiment with this idea or something similar. It was such a widespread idea that i didn't even think to credit any one person, nor do i honestly recall who had what idea or when. I'm sorry you feel ripped off. That was not my intention. Thank you for watching my videos and being part of the community as always!