Smokers (BBQ - not grilling)

[Knifemaker]

So here’s the set up. “Pit Viper” fan with adapter on ball valve (lower right) Control box on stool on the left. Set temperature for  245 F. So far is holding temperature within 6 degrees of that. Oddly my other grate probe is reading about 27 degrees less than the controller probe, so not sure if the controller was calibrated. 

But that’s OK as that puts the reading on my other unit around 225, which is my “normal” smoking temperature. Am not really too concerned about the discrepancy, as either target temperature should be fine.    I did place a water pan under the meat this time. 

   Meat in at 7:30 am. Will see how it goes

 

[biknflyfisher]

My 4.22lb pork shoulder hit Smoky Joe at 6:45am.

Rubbed up with Salt N Peppa, and Honey BBQ rub (from a cool place called The Spice Tin in Murphys, CA).

 

[Bounce]

Is that the newer stuff from BBQ Guru? I have had a wifi (don't bother) controller from them that looks a lot different. It looks more like their CyberQ but without "cloud" stuff (ugh).

 

[Knifemaker]

The “pit viper” fan, (10 CFM) is a new design, all plastic case and supposedly waterproof. The control unit is homemade.

So far, holding temp 245 within 8 degrees. At the stall right now at 158.

 

[biknflyfisher]

You said you were going to cook through the stall and not “wrap” the brisket.

Is that still the plan?

 

[Knifemaker]

Yep, that’s the plan. It’s been at 163 for about an hour now.....

Oddly the grate temperature went up to 265. Not going to do anything, just let it go. Reset the controller for 250. Still putting out smoke, but the fan hasn’t kicked in at all. Did sneak a peak:

 

[BigOgre]

I'm hungry.

 

[BigOgre]

Besides, bad timing.  One of my (now) local barbeque places was on the short list for a visit.  I've eaten their offerings a couple of times but someone else picked up the orders.  Was looking forward to making the trip myself soon but that's scrapped since Sunday morning.

 

[Knifemaker]

Yikes^  but it smelled good.

Anyway... here’s the finished product:

took exactly 12 hours. Won’t know how it tastes until tomorrow. 

 

[Bounce]

The “pit viper” fan, (10 CFM) is a new design, all plastic case and supposedly waterproof. The control unit is homemade.

So far, holding temp 245 within 8 degrees. At the stall right now at 158.

Home made?!!  Do TELL...

 

[Knifemaker]

Home made?!!  Do TELL...

Yes the PID controller was built by my son in law. He had already made one for himself to use for brewing beer, and to use it for his homemade Sous Vide cooker (hot water heater element and an aquarium pump) 

  You can find information online how to make one  by googling “DIY PID controller box”, several should show up.

e.g.  https://www.luckybelly.com/diy-bbq-temperature-controller/

 

[Knifemaker]

Well, cut the brisket in half. Here's on of the halves: 

This one going into the oven with some potato quarters to roast, other half in the fridge for later. Cut off a bit of the end, tastes great. Rub definitely a bit spicy, but really like it. Much more tender than the flat cut I did before.

 

[Fred W]

What temperature did you cook your brisket to?  Seems like maybe it came off a little soon.  Mine usually have all of the internal fat rendered down more.  I usually pull mine at 203-205F.  But I usually wrap mine with some beef stock after 7-8 hours.

I cooked a couple of big Butts on my UDS earlier this year with the BBQ guru.  Set it up after dinner and let it run all night.  I did get up once to look out and make sure none of the local bruins had messed with the pit, but didn’t touch anything.  It ran for over 16 hours without doing a thing to it.

On another note, I’ve been Jonesing for a bigger offset pit for a couple of years now.  The OK Joe turns out some great BBQ, but it is on the small side, and the steel it is made from is pretty thin (3/32”) which means you have to feed it very small wood splits pretty often (15 to 20 minutes).  Finally pulled the trigger on an Old Country Brazos DLX from Academy Sports.  It will be a few weeks before I see it here but they only charged me $300 for the delivery.  Most other companies wanted $500-600 and the pits are much more expensive than the Old Country is.  

The Brazos is a 20” x 40” made from 1/4” steel.  It has some nice design features.  I like the big 6” chimney at grate level.  Hopefully I get a good example.  Reviews say the build quality can be suspect.  Full review of the new cooker when I get it.

Oh, one more thing:  Cooked a hunk of flat and a hunk of point a couple weeks ago.  Had some of the point end leftover after dinner.  Cubed it up small and made a big mess of beef hash with some diced potatoes and sliced onions.  Mmmm...  BBQ beef for breakfast!

 

[Knifemaker]

The photo of the brisket is after 22 hours in the fridge. I didn’t trim any of the fat off after I cooked it. So there’s some thicker sections on the exterior. Normally I cut those off (before I heat and eat) 

   I pulled it at 203 and put it in a cooler for two hours before refrigerating it. The interior fat you see liquified as soon as it was reheated. 

  My “guru” set up seemed to work fine, the only thing I learned on the way was to close the dampener a bit (had it full open to start)  near the end it stayed within 2 degrees of the set temperature. I was told it would take awhile for it to “learn” my pit.

  Only thing I am not sure about was the discrepancy between the PID controller’s temperature probe and my Thermoworks grate probe. There was about a 27 degree difference to start, but oddly about 3 hours in it was only 7-8 degrees. Then later, it spread to around 20 again. 

   I assumed the controller probe was calibrated. My only thought here is that the metal mount I made to hold the probe 2” above the food grate was transferring heat to the probe from the grate itself. I plan on testing both against each other before I use the controller again.  

Fred, Will expect to see photos of your new smoker , looks like you win the award for owning the most cookers...

 

[Fred W]

Well, that certainly explains the look of that brisket.  Wasn’t thinking it had been refrigerated already.

Never take for granted that anything has been “calibrated”.  For instance, the oven in the Samsung electric range of the house we moved into last year is off by 25 degrees at 450F.  I was wondering why everything was cooking too fast in it so checked it with a thermo that I trust (Thermoworks smoke).  But once you know how far off it is, it’s pretty quick and easy to make mental adjustments.

Assuming I’ll be moving forward with the Brazos, knowing full well that, like any bike I have ever owned, it will require some farkling.  I’ll probably clean up and sell off my fully modified OK Joe. Someone will get one that has all the bugs worked out on it.  It actually looks quite presentable considering its age and use.  I got the pit on closeout at Walmart one fall.  Spent some time figuring it out, fixing the problems, and especially learning to cook on an offset.

While I’m typing this I just got a pop-up message about the Brazos shipping.  How exciting!

As for number of smoker cookers, I will have 3.  UDS, pellet burner, and the offset.  Well, unless you also count the Weber gas grille on our front deck.  But I hardly use that one anymore.  Once you get the taste for wood cooking, the old gas grille loses all of its prior luster.

 

[Knifemaker]

Watched a video on the Brazos. Looks really nice. Saw there were a few other videos on mods for the pit, (some discussion on timing plates, sealing the door better, etc) Am sure you’ll be happy with it. 

   Watched this one too.... on cooking biscuits to see where the temperature zones are.

 

[Fred W]

Yep, I’ve seen all of Jeremy’s YouTube videos.  If you wade all the way through his comments you’ll read that he eventually discarded the idea of the tuning plates in favor of increased smoke convection through the pit, which improves the left to right temperature difference.  Sealing the cook chamber lid will be on my to-do list, and some sort of chimney extension, but most of the other mods people do aren’t needed.  It’s more about learning to maintain the fire, which should be a lot easier than it was on the smaller, lighter mass OK Joe.

On a tastier note, cooked up a dozen ABTs yesterday for apps...

 

And smoked some Beef Back Ribs for dinner.  

Just a Dalmatian rub on them.  Removed the back side membranes and smoked for 7 hours on the Pit Boss.  
 

Cooking on that pellet burner is great.  Lets me get other stuff done while dinner is cookin’.   One thing I’ve discovered is that not all pellets are created equal.  I’ve found that the Lumberjack brand of pellets gives much more smoke flavor than Pit Boss or Traeger brand.  I’ve read that the Kingsford brand of pellets are the smokiest, but haven’t found anyone nearby selling them, and not going to pay shipping cost on pellets.

 

[Knifemaker]

Those ABT’s look great (as do the ribs) Oddly haven’t found any good looking beef ribs around my area, I think the local BBQ joints buy them all up

  Speaking of fuel.... I normally buy Royal Oak All Natural Lump Charcoal for use in my offset and my UDS. However, the last two bags I bought seemed to be mostly composed of tiny pieces and quite a bit of dust. Last bag had maybe 4-5 fist sized lumps, perhaps 20 golf ball sized pieces and the rest was all smaller. 

   I have a large plastic bin I dump the charcoal in, so I can filter through for larger pieces, so have been disappointed in what I’ve seen. I noticed Walmart sells a 30 pound bag of Expert Grill branded lump, so do to the “lumpy” look of the bag, I bought one. Spilling it out into my bin I was pleased to see many very large pieces, and most were in the 2-3” range, with few tiny pieces (that would fall through my expanded metal charcoal grate)

   I realize the issue with the Royal Oak might just be a handling and storage issue, but if this bag of Expert Grill is a true representation of what you get with the product, I’ll be buying it again.

   I did look around for some of the higher rated lump, like Fogo or Cowboy, but no one close sells it. I plan to do a pork butt this week, so will let you know what I think of the Expert Grill product. (They also sell a regular “ridged” charcoal briquette that I hear has good reviews )

 In my offset, the charcoal is mostly used to just make a hot bed of coals to catch the wood I toss in on fire,  so how long they stay hot is important to me. Tiny pieces burn up quickly, meaning I end up having to add more later into a smoke, which I’d prefer not to do.....

 

[biknflyfisher]

In my OK Joe, I use Kingsford briquettes to start a base of coals, but after that I’m using oak chunks for heat and smoke. I may accentuate with pecan  mesquite or hickory chunks, but the bulk of the smoke flavor is oak.

In the fall I bought a large fruit bin full of oak for $40 - what a bargain. The bin was probably 4x4 and 3ft deep. 
 

 

[Bounce]

I quit using briquettes of any kind because their filler (for compacting) or some sort of chemical in them changes the flavor of the food.