Offset vs Reverse Flow Brisket | Smoke Lab with Steve Gow | Oklahoma Joe's®️

What makes a better BRISKET? A direct-flow offset smoker or a reverse flow smoker? Steve Gow from ‪@SmokeTrailsBBQ‬ conducts an experiment to find out, comparing two briskets on the versatile #OklahomaJoes Longhorn Reverse Flow in both reverse-flow setup and direct flow setup. Let’s find out if there’s a difference!
Reverse Flow Smoker Brisket Recipe
Ingredients:
Meat
10-15 lb brisket (Choice grade or higher)
Rub
Quarter cup course black pepper
Quarter cup kosher salt
Tablespoon Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
Wrap liquid
1/3 cup beef tallow
1/3 cup clarified butter/Ghee (or substitute with normal butter):
Technique
Trim brisket
Mix rub ingredients in shaker bottle, add small amount of vegetable oil to help mixture stay consistent
Apply rub to brisket, starting with back and sides, and finishing with fat cap
Configure the Oklahoma Joe’s Longhorn Reverse Flow in reverse flow setup
Place large water pan directly on the baffle plate closest to the firebox
Place brisket on far-left side of smoker with point facing left (toward the direction the smoke comes from)
Smoke at 250 for 5 hours (Note: Temperatures can be +/- 25 degrees of target temp)
Increase temperatures to 275-300 for around 7 hours or until the brisket probes at least 190-195 everywhere in the brisket
Wrap brisket in butcher paper with beef tallow and clarified butter
Place wrapped brisket in aluminum pan with quarter cup water added, foil top tightly. If aluminum pan is unavailable, wrap brisket with aluminum foil, ensuring liquid cannot leak from bottom.
Place brisket into holding device (holding oven, electric smoker, regular oven etc.) at 150 and hold for 15-20 hours. If using oven, check manual for instructions on how to adjust temperature down to attain 150 degrees - recommend confirming actual oven temps ahead of time with remote-graphing probe thermometer placed in a pan of water in the oven to ensure oven can hold meat at a steady 150 indefinitely.
Remove brisket from wrap, slice against the grain and serve.

[@Oi40ozCasualty]

I always start my reverse flow fat cap down. Then flip after a few hours. Then wrap when I like the bark I have. Comes out perfect every time.

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

Great method!

[@mark929rr5]

interesting! can you give a bit more info on your method?

[@smokescouts]

Great video, thank you! This is a common comparison question I frequently see. Now there’s a perfect video to explain it.

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

Cheers man!

[@BabyDiego10599]

Another great video! Thanks for continuing to make content for those of us who have the Ok Joe Highland. Maybe some videos for the Bronco too. Just fun to watch! 👏🏽

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

Coming up!

[@ryangies4798]

Great video Steve! Super informative.

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

Thanks!

[@motuknight5569]

Reverse flow on the Lang cooks much faster due to the radiant and convective cooking combo. Direct flow on the Primitive Pit does exactly what you mentioned in terms of bark and smoke flavor. I like the options on the Primitive where one can cook brisket,ribs, and pork butts on the cooler end and simultaneously cook chicken on the hot side for that crispy skin.

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

Primitive pitts look so cool!

[@Floridaman457]

Thanks for all the tips . Loving my new reverse flow. One thing I noticed was you placed the water tray right next to the stack, upwind of the brisket with the reverse flow. That moisture is going straight out . Mine came with grill grates for the bottom of the smoke chamber and that’s where I place water. It catches grease and the steam smells great because of it. I imagine it helps keep temps from dropping so quickly also .

[@brianmichael8032]

You missed an easy opportunity to do an Anchor Man quote. "I love Scotch. Scotch-y scotch scotch. Here it goes down. Down into my belly"

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

I will not eat cat poop!

[@mark929rr5]

@@SmokeTrailsBBQ or white dog poop!

[@Floridaman457]

I thought he was gonna go for it too. disappointing😂

[@1970Roka]

Great video!

[@Dontbeadumbass2024]

Great video. Exactly what I needed as I try to decide which OKJ to buy. Thanks. Also, Glendronach 12 is very good and pairs well with smoked beef.

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

I'll check it out!

[@wmrrock]

The baffle plate on your Longhorn is very thin metal and is much closer to the brsket than the plate on my Lang. Its nice that you can do this on the Longhorn , however you should compare a true reverse flow to a direct flow. These cheaper hybrids wont compare at all to a reverse flow pit like a LANG.

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

Wish I had one!

[@wmrrock]

@@SmokeTrailsBBQ So come to FL and do a video with mine and we will make a true comparison.

[@mark929rr5]

would something like adding fire bricks draw heat from the baffles and keep the heat lower in the cook chamber at the baffle height? keeping the baffles from getting too warm? I hear this theory thrown around a bit.

[@mbadolato]

It seems like every comparison I've seen has the same sort of results. Reverse-flow making great food but not as smokey, and needs to be cooked a little bit differently because of the radiant heat from the baffle plates. Great comparison, especially because it was the exact same smoker just set up differently

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

Thanks!

[@BartlowsBBQ]

Great comparison! I'm getting a reverse flow in the coming month!

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

Nice!

[@robertbinford8740]

The people I know that use reverse flow all smoke fat side down because that’s where the heat is. The other advantage to fat side down is the fat drips on the baffle and you get that grill smoke as well.

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

Love that grilled flavor!

[@mikemayer6608]

I built my own reverse flow out of a 60 gallon air compressor tank with a 1/4 inch baffle plate with enough room to fit water pan under the grate l love the results l love watching your videos my next project is making a sous vide holding chest

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

That sounds awesome! Good luck on the chest

[@SmokedReb]

Nice video! I now know what BBQ I need to get now ;)

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

Yes!

[@derekreed8366]

Bend over on my finger😅. Wow. Things said in BBQ! LOVE IT!!!

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

Thanks! Haha!

[@CoolJay77]

Highly informative comparison. Did the brisket cook faster in the reverse flow smoker? I suppose some of the smoke sticks to the walls of the tunnel, in the case of the reverse flow. I wonder whether a second set of baffles with an air gap separation would resolve the radiant heat issue coming from below. I hear reverse flow is desirable for larger catering size offset smokers, one advantage being, it takes significantly shorter time to get the pit to temp..

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

I can't recall but I think it might have due to the radiant heat. It's great for cooking a ton of ribs or butts but when it comes to brisket my preference is just a traditional direct flow offset.

[@dirtmag]

so what do you think what would happen on a 500 gallon reverse flow. I'm in the market for one and was thinking it would be a more even cooking enviroment, But I'm also interested in the tried and true smokers. Great video and I have new thoughts. thank you

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

I've never used a 500 gallon reverse flow but I would speculate it would be more of the same just on a larger scale. You'd get more even cooking but still have radiant heat from below to deal with. I personally like direct flow offsets because they deliver maximum convection to the top (fat cap) of the brisket and I like the way they cook. But reverse flows are amazing if you're not just cooking brisket because you can fit more meat on them. Here's a good video on the differences from Smoker Builder: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pILCg2OFd9x1p6c

[@Jeffdoeswhat]

Great video

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

Thanks!

[@timmorris5413]

Do you have a link on constructing the diy warmer?

[@franklinbrooks7490]

Thanks for the review! I’m looking to buy a new smoker and I usually smoke turkey breast, chicken breast, ribs and seafood. Which one do you think for my needs?

[@s9tpepper]

I have a RF Highland and my bark ends up looking about the same as the one in this test. I wonder if wrapping the baffle plates in some aluminum foil might help reflect some of that radiant heat away from the bottom of the brisket. But still poke some holes in it to allow the smoke to pass through the baffles and get that bottom area of the brisket exposed to smoke. Maybe combining that with some cooling grates to raise the brisket a bit off the grill grates as wel… hm… 🤔

[@donaldhazlett2475]

Couple of quick questions. 1. Isnt the hotspot on reverse flow on the other end? 2. On reverse flow should you cook the brisket fat cap down?

[@dilliandenman7209]

On the reverse flow cant you turn down the heat a tad to keep from the flat getting to hot.

[@patwaldrip3774]

How do you get the black bark shown on this video?

[@Berachyah_Yisrael]

So when using your Aligator chainsaw, what do you do withthe saw dust?

[@jonbuettner270]

Could you elevate it with the reverse flow? Maybe that would help? Idk. The direct flows bark looked a lot better.

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

Maybe!

[@williambuzzabelson2462]

I have a longhorn reverse flow, recently saw this video, was going to move my stack to the far side, away from the firebox. Do I want to remove the tuning plates?? Or leave them in?

[@chrishabgood8900]

How are you getting 20-30 mins between splits? I have a pecos and I have to add e ery 5-10 mins.

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

I close the firebox door to slow down the burn and sometimes add two splits at a time.

[@jasonkirby2016]

Would fire bricks over the baffle plates absorb some of the radiant heat in the reverse flow setup?🤔🤔

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

Yep it would definitely absorb more radiant heat, just like a big ceramic heat deflector in a kamado smoker. But that energy needs to go somewhere and it would still radiate into the meat, potentially making the radiant heat issue even worse. That's why water is so great as a heat sink. It can only get up to 212 degrees and excess energy is converted to water vapor/steam, provides humidity in the cook chamber and exits out the stack.

[@mark929rr5]

@@SmokeTrailsBBQ how could you put fire bricks over the baffles? I thought you would put them in the bottom to absorb heat from below to keep the baffles cooler.

[@cesaraguilarramos2314]

Hi, Just found your channel and I loved it, Can you please smoke some pork ribs or smoke butt with mezquite? I always wanted to test that but everyone tells me that I shouldn't. Greetings from Mexico

[@lyleswavel320]

Was the brisket, choice, black angus choice, prime or waygu, your local store/butcher or bought online like creekstone

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

Choice

[@lyleswavel320]

@@SmokeTrailsBBQ thank you

[@shaunjay6040]

I’m buying an Oklahoma smoker really soon!

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

YES!

[@aaronanderson6892]

The snorkel, maybe try extending it inside lower towards the bottom. Better radiant heat control and pretty much forces the smoke to roll around in there longer rather than rising and exiting, essentially giving it more smoke flavor with the

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

I am always calling it a snorkel from now on lol.

[@s9tpepper]

What’s the snorkel?? 😂

[@aaronanderson6892]

@@s9tpepper it's quite obvious

[@s9tpepper]

@@aaronanderson6892 I was thinking inside the chamber and now I get it lol - now every time I look at my smoker I'm going to think of the Snorks

[@edwardkhader2137]

I get fat side up on a traditional offset, but why not fat side down on a reverse flow and take advantage of that radiant heat to render the fat cap?

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

It messes up the slices. Fat side up is really the only way I cook.

[@lyleswavel320]

​@Smoke Trails BBQ can you expound on messes up the slices, what does that mean?

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

@@lyleswavel320 It creates grill grate marks on the fat cap and when the brisket is moved during the cook the rendered fat can tear and mess up the bark. The fat cap also isn't exposed to the high convection and heat/smoke that flows from the top in an offset so it doesn't form that nice perfect black bark with rendered fat underneath. So when you slice it, it just doesn't look or taste right.

[@lyleswavel320]

@@SmokeTrailsBBQ that makes sense, just wondering, I like my fat cap on top also

[@TheJerrydon575]

What if you do reverse with fat cap down??? I wonder if that would even work.

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

It would work but I find it messes up the bark

[@denisemccormick1907]

Hey Steve let's do ox tails!!!!

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

Good idea!

[@jamespayne8687]

Im fully convinced that you just really like eating brisket and you made this page to justify it to your wife 😂. Great content. Huge fan. that stack extension vid you did made my life waaay easier.

[@OrbyWells]

Steve I have a request. The way you move from top exhaust to grate height exhaust can be done cheaper. I made the mistake in buying an Oklahoma joe's longhorn combo so I can't test this myself . My thought is to take a large round shallow pan (like a Costco pie tin) and cut almost half of it off. Like an unbalanced pizza. Using high temp silicon glue, it over the exhaust port inside the cooking chamber with the cut part down. And Ta Da we now have a draw from grate level with a collector to ventilate the whole grate.

[@masterchief7521]

Where does one get a heating chest?

[@BarHRanch]

Oklahoma joes, listen, if your guys say link in the description, please put a link in the description.

[@tyg1434]

Try mixing hickory smoked salts and pepper with a pellet grill. Win Win 🏆

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

That sounds good!

[@perniciousprogressive8333]

Just found your channel, but it already fits like an old pair of boots. Scotchy Scotch lovin' vet smokin' meat, doesn't get much better. Maybe a comely wench fetching me adult beverages? 😉 I was just looking at replacing an old as hell 30 gal. I've had for almost 30 years I think. Never particularly well cared for, paid about $125 way back when, so I think I got my money's worth. Saw the Longhorn at Lowes (eff HD, Lowes has a much better veteran discount program) and your presentation convinced me that it'll do everything I need for our small family. I love all of the different ways you can baffle the heat path and smoke, and it got me thinking about just how hot you might be able to get it, for cooking other stuff. Never did much brisket in my old one, but lots of whole & cut up chickens, tri tip, and tons of pork (we raise Kunekune pigs). We have a Cajin Cooker/pig roasting box that can do a lot with indirect heat and up to 150 lb. pig, but they're not built for smokin' (you can add a smoke element to it, but it ain't BBQ). Anywho, got me wondering, 'cuz I also cook a lot of home made pizza and had briefly considered one of those new fangled outdoor pizza ovens... I wonder what kind of bake I could get by placing a big pizza stone in there and jacking up a really hot fire. It looks like it wants to jump up out'a the fire box already when you really stoke it, and I'm guessing it wouldn't take much to get it up to 650-700 F. Just a thought on trying to get double duty out of another appliance that wife number last will probably not approve of. Thank God for Scotchy Scotch. 😊 Love your channel btw. 👍

[@RAYRAY69DRC777]

I have a 20 pound brisket that I plan on cooking everything i read says i need to cook it for 14 hours. or until the internal temp is at 190 degrees. Is that correct or should the cook last longer? Thank you for the helpful tips on the water pan to reduce the bottom pan heat!

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

A 20 pounder will take 12 to 14 hours to get to probe tender (around 203+). It also depends if you wrap it.

[@RAYRAY69DRC777]

@SmokeTrailsBBQ I definitely will be wrapping the brisket for sure in butchers paper. I was thinking around the 10-12 hour mark depending on color and internal temperature. Thanks for the reply. I love that. Your food also looks awesome.

[@briancarey8752]

What's the idea with the orange on the smoker?

[@m9105826]

Protects the bits of the thermocouple that shouldn't be exposed to direct heat (in the case of the Meater) and keeps them elevated above the grate by a couple of inches for a more accurate reading

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

Need it to protect the one side of the meater

[@jmantwild9373]

Bourbon Whiskey!😜

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

I like my bourbon too!

[@jmantwild9373]

@@SmokeTrailsBBQ I'm just busting your chops.😁 If you like scotch whiskey you should try the Johnny walker blue label. It's a blended scotch but it's the only scotch whiskey that I'll drink.

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

@@jmantwild9373 I think I've tried black label. Blue is pricey!

[@jmantwild9373]

But you get what you paid for.

[@BarHRanch]

Hey Steve. You love Texas. Why dont you move here?

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

Family!

[@BarHRanch]

@@SmokeTrailsBBQ cmon man what’s more important, family or BBQ?

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

@@BarHRanch haha!

[@duanehenicke6602]

He would melt down to a puddle right now. 100° + every day where I'm at. No relief in sight. Not sure you could pay me enough to manage a fire right now. This is one of those times pellet grills shine. Make sure it has pellets and get back in the water or a/c as quickly as possible....

[@BarHRanch]

@@duanehenicke6602 same here. I’m in San Antonio

[@roscocsa]

Every time i see that nipper thing, I think, Graboid!

[@nachonad]

Now do the same test but cook fat cap down.

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

I'm not a huge fan of cooking fat down but it's a good idea!

[@razeunit69]

Great idea Nachonad. Have you tried this yourself? I would also think reverse flow smoker could cook 25F less than standard flow and cook in similar times.

[@nachonad]

@@razeunit69 I haven't. Just theorizing.

[@nachonad]

@@SmokeTrailsBBQ Sure. I just know that those that cook fat down do it to avoid the issue you had with the reverse flow.

[@razeunit69]

@@nachonad Some guys have heat deflector plates built in their RF setups. I have ordered a RF with deflector so I am keen to see how it goes. It is from a local guy who competes and has won some comps so super keen to get into it :)

[@Meat_Stories]

Дякую за відео, привіт з України. Я намагаюсь навчитися готувати BBQ та деякі секрети готування по відео Вашої кухні) Смокер уже збудував реверсивний ~ 400 фунтів вага.

[@chuckhansen5325]

Them plate you are putting in to make it a reverse flow are very then so I don't believe you are gonna get a good comparison. I have a true reverse flow offset. It has a 1/4" plate under the grates

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

Do you get any radiant heat from the baffle?

[@chuckhansen5325]

@@SmokeTrailsBBQ you know as well as I do that any and every kind of baffle is gonna give radiant heat. But I get my smoker really hot for a good little bit then let the temp come down to where you want it and the baffle will adjust too and help keep temp stable. And don't have any problems with the bottom of my meats over cooking or burn and hard. I cok my briskets fat side up. It has great convection too. I built my smoker myself. I cooking chicken quarters on it today and from the stack side to the otherside is 5° difference

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

@@chuckhansen5325 5 degrees is amazing!

[@chuckhansen5325]

@@SmokeTrailsBBQ I was just rewatching this video and I have to tell you I have enough space between my baffle plate and grate and I can put a big water pan in there and not get alot of the radiant heat directly on the meat. I built it that way for that reason. It's a 75 gallon cooking box with a 24x24 fire box and I use like 12" splits and it hold temp great and I'm not putting a hole bunch of splits in it. A split about every 30 minutes or so. My bottoms on my briskets are not crusty or over done and my smoke stack is directly over the fire box and grates are in center of the fire stack. I get smoke all around what I'm smoking. Really liked video. Keep up the good work buddy

[@razeunit69]

​@@chuckhansen5325Hi Chuck, I have a custom built pit RF in 1/4" steel and today I am experimenting with a large water pan on top of the RF plate up close to the firebox. I did this to try and improve the underside bark of my meat by avoiding to much steam directly under the meat and using the water pan closest to the firebox to absorb the heat off the plate to remove some radiant heat and send it straight out the stack. Where do you like your water pan?

[@BigChuck525]

Cook fat side down.

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

That works too!

[@lmpeed]

Get yourself a lava lock baffle plate and throw the ones that come with the OKJ smoker away they are garbage. You will get much more consistent heat throughout the smoker.

[@rodrigocordova3896]

PIT master … not a pit Master 😂😂😂😂

[@ericgordon4746]

Another Texas non-binany using a Prime.

[@SmokeTrailsBBQ]

It's a choice grade my man. Thanks for watchinq!

[@Red8675309666]

Howd you make that heating chest

[@williambuzzabelson2462]

I have a longhorn reverse flow, recently saw this video, was going to move my stack to the far side, away from the firebox. Do I want to remove the tuning plates?? Or leave them in?