My first Case of Briskets on my FEC120

Let me know when the ribs are just about done, I will be over!

Glad it's working out. How did you prep the briskets, what temp, how long?

There aren't enough FEC120's out there, certainly in a commercial capacity that there is enough experience with them to help with some of the finer points you had.

I don't think people were being negative when they discussed the code responsibility. After all the post is now in the Pros forum, and after 16+ years in this forum, the issue is mostly about code.

Keep in mind (this is for all the forum) that not everyone replying will be a Pro and they may not even have the unit, they are just trying to be helpful.

Believe me, as moderator, the truly negative posts never see the light of day as they get moderated per the rules of our forum.

You solved the problem and appreciate you putting your fix in hear and maybe it will help someone.

I trimmed the fat to about 1/4 inch and I scored the fat side. I used a dry rub that I make and rubbed it in on both sides. Placed four 12 pound Briskets one per rack on the middle racks. Put the meat probe in the thickest Brisket. Closed it up and set the temp to 220 deg. f. Set the time to 10 hours and the probe temp to 195 deg. f. and the hold temp to 140 f. Hit the start button.
that's about it.
As soon as I can figure out how to upload photos to this I will add them.

Let's see if this works!

More pics

Looks really good. Great knife skills (or a slicer)

I would like to be able to slice with a good knife like that. You have to give Hobart credit for that one. Most valued tool in my kitchen.

quote:

Originally posted by freebee:
I would like to be able to slice with a good knife like that. You have to give Hobart credit for that one. Most valued tool in my kitchen.

Nice job on the install, and Brisket looked tasty - nice uniform cut.
Glad your liking the FEC-120, and if your allowed to operate without it under a hood, then winner winner chicken dinner! I like the plenum you installed - and the high temp silicone makes it a nicely sealer system. If draft ends up a problem, which I would doubt (the FEC-120 is already a positive flow convection system), you could always add a damper in line on your flu pipe.

One thing we do when preparing ribs on our FEC-120 is to supplement the pellets with additional 'log' of hickory or whatever preference. Adds a lot more smoke taste to the ribs, which our customers love. Ribs tend to finish quicker than other smokers, due to the convection air movement. It makes the FEC-120 the most versatile 'log smoker' available. Perfect temp control and lots of smoke as needed. Also, like the FEC-100, the lower rack tends to cook a bit quicker, likely because it's closest to the air vents on the side of smoker. We've learned to use that to our advantage. :-)

Something else to be aware of with the FEC-120, is it likes a big load. If you want to smoke a few racks of ribs at 225 degrees, you may find the smoker sometimes puts itself out. Reason being the FEC is such an efficient smoker, that it will go to over 225 degrees easily, and stop feeding pellets until temp comes down. Sometimes the fire pellets will be burned up, and when the smoker decides it's time to feed pellets again, the fire isn't there. This has happened multiple times, and Cookshack concurs with my experiences - either raise temp up a bit or increase the load.

As an example, we smoke a full prime for our Ribeye sandwiches early in the week. I like to smoke it low and slow to rare. TO keep the smoker going around 230 to 235, I load a full pan of ice on the lower shelf to keep the smoker producing smoke and fire - if not, it would put itself out.

Just passing along some experience, enjoy your FEC!
Rick

Any chance of some close up photos of the sheet metal solution? I really like what I see.
Any issues with the temp stability?
How smokey does it get when you open the door?

The smoke isn't that bad when I open it it smokes a little when I first start it. Put after it warms up it doesn't smoke at all. It's settinf in a pretty big room with a 12 foot ceiling.
I'll take soon more pics of the duct adaptor (actually it's called a square by round transition).
One thing I have to do yet is cut a clean out panel in the back of the transition to be able to clean it of any ash build up.

What a great looking set up! Kudos on pushing through the negativity and getting it done. But I do not understand how you can do this without a hood and fire suppression. Did you check with local inspections? I seriously would do this if allowed.

Yes I did, all I can say is different state different county and township. Can't we get passed that and talk about meat. It is not installed in my restaurant if it was I would need a hood. It's installed at home same as a wood stove in my privet butcher shop.

Ah hah, at home. I connected shop to restaurant. I call my new place the shop sometimes. At any rate, that is some good looking brisket. Nice job.

Nice set up, I bet it smells good in your garage!