Hope everyone had a nice holiday. For our Passover meal, it is traditional to service brisket so it was my pleasure to do a smoke. Got a 15 lb beauty from Rest Depot and did a dry brine overnight with a simple dusting of Montreal Steak Seasoning, Adobo (Latino version of Montreal) and some Chinese 5-Spice powder. Usually i do a 50/50 salt-pepper rub but Mama Smokin does not like the course pepper bits, thus a change. I placed a rectangular tin below the grate using 4 hooks to catch the drippings and act as a heat shield. This worked incredibly well as it was easy to maintain an average 250F pit temp, while accumulating about 8 ounces of fatty liquid that otherwise would have fallen over the coals. About 8 hours later, this was done then rested for 3 hours in a cooler and served. It was delish. I have been using Royal Oak briquettes for the last few years but something has changed recently. They take longer to start in the chimney, don't last as long and leave a lot of ash. It was time to try something new. Not being a fan of original Kingsford, I was hesitant to take advantage of the Costco sale for Kingsford 100% Natural briquettes. I give this product thumbs up. Started quickly and burned nice and long with minimal ash. I'll be stocking up at Costco
