Electric Smoker----Professional Brisket Results???

5thwheeler, per Big Katuna's response.

Temp Controller

Big Katuna wrote:
I have never been happy with electric. Won't get to 225.
I use a WSJ DIY like above. 225 with smoke 4/6 hours then in foil in the oven at 225 until done another 4 or until it falls apart.

I think you have used the wrong electric. I have an electric insert for a Brinkman, the idea was that if I hit a campground that didn't allow burning I would be covered. It doesn't work very well. It's not really controllable and is dependent on the ambient.
I'm a smoking nut and have tried most of the reasonably priced smokers. I've come to the point where I don't want to stand over them anymore however. The masterbuilt has been perfect. It's insulated and maintains it's temperature in the winter. It will go to 275 and I don't smoke over that even with my charcoal or LP smokers. It will use any small wood chips or pellets for smoke and it will produce heavy smoke. I like to use a heavy smoke because I can add a lot of smoke before my meat can dry out. I can smoke heavily and then wrap to conserve moisture, this works for me.
The Treagers have a good reputation, but I'm not a competition smoker and they are to rich for my blood. I also worry about what holds the pellets together? I use some of their pecan pellets from time to time and they work fairly well, but they don't burn completely in the Masterbuilt setup. I'm sure they do in a treager.

Get a Cookshack.

SuperDave, any help appreciated. I have a Grill Dome, but essentially the same as Green Egg. I've tried so many briskets over so many years, but I will try to summarize.

Hard to keep heat close to 250 or so, fire goes out or gets too hot.
Can't keep a brisket unwrapped more than 5 or 6 hours; gets charred; even with pizza stone, foil, firebricks, etc below the grill. I suspect a brisket needs 18 hours or so, but the fire goes out, have to fish it all out, put in new charcoal. Have wrapped, cooked on a bed of onions in a pan, tried oven finish, but ends up tasting like it was boiled or just baked in the oven. Brisket usually ends up tough, or just mush. Oh, I use rub at the beginning, and baste with oil, water, vinegar, worchestershire, etc.

I've noticed a lot of the bbq restaurants have a pit with a ferris wheel like device that keeps the briskets moving and lets brisket juice drip on the ones below. Probably helps to prevent charring.

I think the problem with most smokers is holding the temperature. The pellet smokers, at least the ones I have, have a digital thermostat so you can set it as low as 180 and as high as 500. I know it sounds like I own stock in them but it should say how much I like them as I have 2, one for the deck and one to leave in the 5th wheel. I've cooked briskets, ribs, pork butt, pizzas, and a little bit of everything else. You can grill a burger or steak too but it won't give you the sear marks like a hot charcoal or propane grill will.

I prefer an LP smoker for temp control and thin blue smoke. I'm still using one of the old GSM smokers and it works great.

If you go to competitions you will see Weber Smokey Mountains ($250) and DIY Ugly Drum Smokers. I do great Brisket in my DIY Weber Smokey Joe/Walmart steamer smoker. Look at the the $150 temp controllers for your egg or Weber. They take the accidents out of the temperature. I made my own for $50. Do some Googling.

5thwheeler, if you learned how to control the cooking temperature of your egg, it would produce a great brisket. They are designed to retain their heat for a very long time due to their mass. Go to a Green Egg site and learn how to manage your equipment. It is doable, even at your age. Do you wrap your brisket to finish? Maybe tell us you technique and we can point out some problem areas for you.

Thanks for all the help. My problem is I spent around $500, I think, about 8 years ago on the ceramic egg. It was supposed to cook brisket, etc to perfection. I have ruined a lot of briskets and have to state that, for me, it is impossible with the egg.

Now, these pellet smokers sound great, but so did the egg. Don't know if I will lay out another $500 or so on a different technology. Might not turn out any better than the egg. Plus, my wife would kill me!

Maybe I should just spend the money in BBQ joints at my age. Wish they were as good as 50 years ago, or is it just the old taste buds?

I've tried electric and charcoal. I wish I would have bought my pellet smoker the first time around. Fill it with pellets, put the remote thermometer in and forget about it. I have a Traeger pellet smoker but recently saw this smoker at Menards. Looks very similar to my Traeger. Here's a ">couple pork butts from the pellet smoker I did