Had a curious happening last Saturday. I planned to smoke a brisket to feed us through the weekend. This was going to be my first smoke attempt in almost a year, due to our move. I got the smoker all cleaned and set up and ready to go. Even set up the fire starting kindling, so I'd be ready to roll at about 7 am. This is the offset smoker that I have been cooking on successfully for the last 40 years or so, so I had it all pretty well planned. Fired it up and all went very well. Had a pretty nice fire going in about 30 minutes. So as soon as I got some coals working, I'd be ready to put on the brisket. Got a pretty good bed of coals in about another 30 minutes. Ready?? Almost. Checked the grill temp. and it was about 145. OK, we'll just wait about another 30 minutes. Another 30 minutes, a pretty good bed of coals and a roaring fire, grill temp is now 170. Anyway, to make the long story short, by now we are approaching 12 noon, and the temp. was hovering around 180.

Should have been up to 250 or 300 by now. So, the brisket went in the oven. Turned out pretty good, everything considered. Just not what I had planned by a long shot.
This was a new situation for me. NEVER had this kind of problem before. Checked and double checked every possibility, and the smoker was set up exactly like it has been for the last 40 years. Burning well seasoned post oak splits.
Has anybody ever had something like this happen? Any ideas as to what may have happened? I have to admit, I am completely stumped. Soon as it gets warm enough to get outside, I'm going to do a test burn and see what happens. Maybe I'll be able to figure something out.
