Smokers (BBQ - not grilling)

[Fred W]

I actually prefer the dark meat to the breasts on turkey. The dark meat always come out more moist.

Still passing time while my new hip heals, Ive been perusing higher end offset smokers on-line. Man, there are some great options out there but they are all made down south somewhere, and shipping those beasts is a killer. I mean, I can see laying out ~$1200 for a good smoker with 1/4 inch steel, but they want between $300 and $500 to ship it to me. Paying that much for shipping rubs me the wrong way.

The $500 shipping was what Lang quoted me on their 36 inch Original which goes for $1300. Plus shipping. For $500 I could drive down to Georgia to pick it up, although the gas would cost me a couple hundred in my truck.

The Yoder Witchita is a nice basic heavy duty 36 offset, but it goes for $1600 and isnt even a reverse flow design like the Lang.

One pit that has my eye is the Old Country Brazos. They only want $1000 for them from Academy Sports, and its made from 1/4 steel. They will ship it for $300, but... they are made in Mexico and the quality control is reportedly not that good. The people that are happy with them looked at it in the store and bought it if it looked half way decent. Unfortunately, no Academy Sports stores anywhere nearby. Id have to try and round up an accomplis that lives near one.

Old Country also sells some other pits from their web site. (https://bbquepits.com/). The All-American series are all built from 3/16ths, so not quite as heavy duty. I like the 20 All American which is $1350. shipped. It has a nice big square firebox, which I like, but is probably not really needed for such a small pit. Id only have a couple of logs in it at a time anyway.

The other one that catches my eye is the Old Country 20x48, which is 1/4 inch steel and only goes for $1195 shipped. Its all 1/4 steel and has the traditional round firebox on the side, but only a 30 cooking chamber. In reality, that is probably plenty big enough, especially with a 20 inch diameter since It comes with an upper grate.

That one is the best deal of the bunch, but its still $1200 freakin, dollars! And how much better is it going to be than my Okie Joe Highland?

So after depressing myself with my internet shopping, I went out and cut another piece of flagstone to fit the end wall of the OKJ fire box. I noticed that the paint is overheating down there but the bottom is holding up good where I already had the flagstone liner. Then I went to the local supermarket and scored a nice boneless center cut pork loin roast and some lamb shanks to cook up later this week, weather permitting.

 

[Knifemaker]

"That one is the best deal of the bunch, but its still $1200 freakin, dollars! And how much better is it going to be than my Okie Joe Highland?"

I think that's kinda it. I doubt any BBQ you do on it is going to taste better than the same cooked on your OKJ. Those pits are nice, but I believe their heavy duty build mostly gives them a better lifespan, and doesn't really add much to the quality of the Q. If you were 30 years old it be a good investment. But I'm sure if you take care of it that OKJoe will last the rest of your life time. They have BBQ competitions here each summer, and one year some "rookie" won for best ribs using an old Charbroil offset.

As Meathead says "know your instrument", so not sure what real advantages you'll find buying a big buck pit. But if you have your heart set on it, I'd say go for it, as you only live once

You can also contact the guy that built my pit, and see what he'd charge to build you what you want....a little closer than driving to Texas.

https://m.facebook.com/ManofSteelFabrication/

Anyway.. still not sure about using a water pan or some kind of diffuser for my butt cook. Have thought about just putting a few bricks underneath on a lower rack. Likely will just skip it and flip the meat through the cook.

 

[Fred W]

Okie Joe and I had a good day together yesterday. Got started in the AM and made another mod to the firebox based on something similar I saw online.

These pits come with a heavy steel wire charcoal grate for inside the firebox. A lot of people advise turning the grate 90 degrees so the long direction is against the rounded sides of the firebox. This causes the grate to sit up higher and allow better airflow under the fire. Because my firebox is lined with the flagstone, the inside diameter of the lined pit is less than the unlined box, so the grate sits higher than normal anyway and can be used in the "normal" orientation.

The pits also come with 2 of the identically same grates in the bottom of the cooking chamber, for those who want to use direct heat under the cooking grates. I never saw the point of that and had previously just kept them out of the cooker as backups. Yesterday I installed those two grates in the firebox making a Vee shape, on top of the normal grate. This is what is known as a "clean burn" grate configuration for stick burning. This seemed to work out well.

Here's the clean burn grates installed with some lump charcoal just lit to get the wood fire going. You could just a dump a full chimney of coals into it, but yesterday I used a propane weed burner that I picked up from Harbor Freight a while ago.

Again, the lump is just to get the wood fire burning. This was probably too much charcoal.

Here's the view of the grates looking in through the end door.

I had jammed a small grate I had laying around into the end to block the coals from falling out of the open door, but in retrospect that probably wasn't needed. To get the pit up to temperature I laid a single good sized oak split on the coals and let it make a lot of smoke with the firebox lid wide open.

Once the smoke subsided, I closed things up but left the side door on the firebox open. When the pit temp reached 225F I dropped a couple of Lamb Shanks on and kept feeding the fire some of the smaller splits I had collected from various trees cut or pruned on the property years ago. Temps ranged from 225 to 275 at times, only had to feed fresh splits about every 30 to 45 minutes.

A couple of hours in...

Left the shanks on for ~ 5 hours, then wrapped them in heavy foil with a couple of cloves of garlic sliced up and about 1/2 cup of beef broth. Moved the foil wrapped package over to my gas grille with the front and rear burners running on low and the meat centered over the center burner which was left off. Temps were about 300-325 in the grille and I kept them on the heat for about two hours. Unwrapped them and checked them with my instant read digital thermometer and they were above 210F!! Removed from the heat, re-wrapped tightly in the foil and covered with a heavy towel to rest for about 45 minutes.

Just before carving

Attempted to carve them, but its a lot like "carving" a pork shoulder, as the meat was so tender it shredded like pulled pork.

It was quite delectable. I highly recommend trying some if you are looking to try something a little bit different.

 

[Knifemaker]

Those look great. Kinda hard to tell how big they are.

Surprised you just didn't finish them in the Joe.

Edit- picked up two pork butts. 7.75 and 7.54 pounds. Dry brine tomorrow and smoke on Sunday

 

[Fred W]

Could have left it on the Joe and kept feeding it wood, but it was unseasonably hot and humid here this week, I mean in the 90s and Florida levels of humidity. Plus I had already stripped my sweat soaked clothes and showered once that day after getting the pit up and running and things on an even keel. The gas grille was a set it and forget it deal, and once the meat is in the foil it doesnt matter where you get the heat from. Could have brought them inside to the kitchen oven but SWMBO suggested it wouldnt make things any cooler inside. I think the gas grille was pretty much genius. They didnt need any more smoke, thats for sure.

They were not that big, but the two shanks went a long way. My eldest came over with her kids and hubby because she loves lamb. Everybody got their fill. We did eat some other stuff along with them so nobody got the meat sweats.

Whats the plan with the butts? On the drum I imagine?

 

[Knifemaker]

Drum yes. Think I get can get both hunks of meat on one rack. Going for anything from 225-250, but hoping to stay on the low side.

I got a bunch of hickory chunks and 1/2 bag of Royal Oak lump...and I plan on mixing in a small bag of hickory chips in there too, just to make sure there is wood burning through out.

Hear you about the heat. It's supposed to be pretty hot here Sunday (mid 90's) with the humidity going up. My only concern is not drying them out. I like a nice bark, but it's likely I'll foil them up at some point.

Photos later...

 

[Fred W]

My best pulled pork efforts have been without any wrapping, just leave them on there and leave them alone. Only flip them every 2 or 3 hours. Its the rendered fat that makes the meat moist. The water is long gone by the time you get above 200F internal. And you do want to get above 200F.

Ive done two at once no problem on the drum.

 

[Knifemaker]

Yeah, target temperature has been 203 on other cooks. Was just concerned about the more "direct heat" they would be exposed to in the UDS. The other ones I've done in the reverse were finished in the oven, partially wrapped and came out well. I do want to do the whole cook in the UDS, but will just have to monitor overall time and temp. Luckily both the shoulders I picked up seem to be on the "fatty" side, so hopefully will survive undressed for the whole cook.

 

[Fred W]

Are they butts or picnics? With butts I will trim any big chunks of fat away, and the picnics I always remove the skin and about half of the thick fat layer under the skin.

The fat you want is the stuff that runs through and between the muscles. You dont want a lot layered on the outside. Dont worry about it drying out. I dont think thats even possible on pork shoulder. Thats what makes it so much easier than brisket. Plan on 12 to 16 hours on the drum. I keep my temps a bit north of 225. 235 to 250 is good. The meat doesnt suffer and the darker the bark the better in my books.

Have fun!

 

[Knifemaker]

They are bone in butts. When I said "fatty" I didn't mean a thick layer of fat on the outside, I meant there was more visible layers of fat running through the meat (compared to previous butts I've done) Which I'm guessing is a good thing.

Everything set up ready for tomorrow morning:

I had this bottomless plastic bucket thing that I use to create a pocket for the hot coals...this time l

won't put in too many, per your suggestion using the bottom of the chimney.

Hope to start it up early (6-7) tomorrow

 

[Fred W]

You gotta swing by Harbor freight and pick up one of their $20 propane weed burners.

Makes starting the charcoal into some flame-throwing fun.

 

[Knifemaker]

You gotta swing by Harbor freight and pick up one of their $20 propane weed burners. Makes starting the charcoal into some flame-throwing fun.

I actually have one that fits on 20 gallon propane tanks I've never tried out. Got it to melt snow off the driveway....

 

[Fred W]

Oh, try it. It’s fun

 

[Knifemaker]

Maybe I will.

The twins getting dry brined.

 

[Fred W]

I think you just wanted to show off 3 different forms of flooring and your pedi.

:lol:

That looks like some good pork. Not too fatty in my opinion. That will render out no problem in 12 hours of cookin

 

[Knifemaker]

Two different floorings (the checker pattern is the other side of the bag) Foot in shot to give scale. Both boys on the grate at 6:40am:

Had to use the gap in the lid for the probes again. Didn't realize the mandrel for the 3/4 inch hole saw didn't fit the 1-1/4 holesaw. Assumed they all used the same size, so, couldn't install the rubber probe thingy

Will be outside cutting logs and grass today, so can keep an eye on things

Big bummer for my wife Eyvonne, she's going in for a colonoscopy tomorrow, so can't eat

anything until tomorrow evening....am sure there will be leftovers for her

 

[Knifemaker]

Got my wood cut, and did the front lawn..

About 7 hours in, still chugging away. Going through the stall. Oddly one chunk is about 9 degrees higher than the other (168 and 159)

Pit temp has varied between 241 to 269. Was at 244 for a few hours..

At about 7 hours in.

At 11hours. Charcoal a bit anemic, internal temp 191. Finishing in the oven..

 

[08FJR4ME]

Got my wood cut, and did the front lawn..

I am more interested in the wood. Cedar? What do you do with it?

Dave

 

[Fred W]

Yeah, I was thinking red cedar. Too bad you didnt get that cut into boards. That would be useful for a lot of things.

Oh, and your pork roasts look great! I bet if you used briquettes you would have been able to finish on the pit, but theres no shame in finishing in the oven or on a gas grille, at least in my books.

 

[Knifemaker]

Took about 13 hours. Last hour in the oven. I figured for 12 hours of charcoal and hit that. Only filled the basket 3/4 full. Nailed the time but the meat was about 9 degrees short. Oddly the two hunks o'meat were 9 degrees apart for most of the cook but were both right at 194 when I pulled them. When they got placed in my oven they fell back some, being about 4 degrees different. This was OK with me as I pulled the first one that hit 203 and it gave me time to do that while the other one came up to target about 9 minutes later.

Meat was in my opinion better than my other butts. Very tasty, juicy and tender. The crunchy parts really made the difference.

Photo of second butt:

Now have A LOT of meat to divey up into bags for dinners and lunch this week...

Poor wife had to deal with the smell in the house. She already bagged up her favorite parts for later.

So, very happy with the whole cook, and the performance of my new UDS.

As for the cedar. 1/3 of my garage is filled with 5 foot long , three inch thick ,10-12 inch wide cedar boards that will be used for a stairway later. These "smaller" logs will be coupled with larger slices to make stools and plant stands my wife sells. Again, I have a lot of wood. Also have a bunch of black walnut cut the same size, which will become cutting boards, coffee tables, and shelves. Have a freind that has a sawmill, and everyone around here who cuts down a tree comes and asks us if we want it. Haven't said no yet.