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str8smokin
BBQ Fan
Joined: 29 May 2005
Posts: 185
Location: San Diego
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 Posted: Mar 03 2006 Post subject: Home Made ceramic cooker? |
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I was watching the food chanel today and Alton Brown did a show on how to q a boston butt. I won't get into the things that bugged me about the show, but one thing that interested me was that he cooked it in a home made cooker.
Here's how he did it...
One large terracotta plant pot propped up on a couple of 2x4's to get air underneath (the pot has a hole in the bottom).
Put a round grill great in the pot.
Top it with a shallower terracotta pot (has a hole on the top for air).
For heat (don't get mad yet), he put a hot plate in the bottom of the bottom pot, put a pan on top of that with wood chips for smoke.
NOW. What I want to know is how you could build this same contraption, but use charcoal instead. I was thinking you could make a charcoal basket for the bottom instead of the hot plate, but controlling the heat seems like it'd be tough this way though.
Thoughts? I'd really like to try this out!
Joe
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Jeff T
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Joined: 08 Mar 2005
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str8smokin
BBQ Fan
Joined: 29 May 2005
Posts: 185
Location: San Diego
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| Posted: Mar 03 2006 Post subject: |
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The ceramic smoker Alton made was basically the same deal. I'm racking my brain trying to figure out how to control the heat if I use charcoal instead of a hot plate.
I'm thinking you could use one of those big green egg vents for the top. Might work pretty well. They're around $40 though.
Joe
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Thomas P.
BBQ Pro
Joined: 27 Jul 2005
Posts: 596
Location: Texas
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| Posted: Mar 03 2006 Post subject: |
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Wow, it's a cheap, electric-powered Big Green Egg!
I'm sure it worked if he did it, but would still taste much more better with a real fire.
I guess the problem with doing this yourself would be finding an actual decent pot. With my luch, I would get some cheap piece of @$&% and it would collapse and ruin the food 
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Bigbo
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Joined: 21 Feb 2006
Posts: 34
Location: Somers, MT
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| Posted: Mar 03 2006 Post subject: |
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I'm gonna make this, this weekend.....just to see.
I have not bought anything (off the shelf smoker) .....yet.
There are so many choices....  my head is swimming in 10 different directions.
I laughed the first post a few weeks back, when I saw people mentioning frustrations of making a decision on "Which one"?
Now look at me....down to eating outta a trash can.
this ought to make for some good campfire stories.
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DawgPhan
BBQ Super Pro
Joined: 12 May 2005
Posts: 3444
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| Posted: Mar 03 2006 Post subject: Re: Home Made ceramic cooker? |
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| str8smokin wrote: | I was watching the food chanel today and Alton Brown did a show on how to q a boston butt. I won't get into the things that bugged me about the show, but one thing that interested me was that he cooked it in a home made cooker.
Here's how he did it...
One large terracotta plant pot propped up on a couple of 2x4's to get air underneath (the pot has a hole in the bottom).
Put a round grill great in the pot.
Top it with a shallower terracotta pot (has a hole on the top for air).
For heat (don't get mad yet), he put a hot plate in the bottom of the bottom pot, put a pan on top of that with wood chips for smoke.
NOW. What I want to know is how you could build this same contraption, but use charcoal instead. I was thinking you could make a charcoal basket for the bottom instead of the hot plate, but controlling the heat seems like it'd be tough this way though.
Thoughts? I'd really like to try this out!
Joe |
what bothered you about the show? You dont see AB make many mistakes... |
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mding38926
BBQ Super Pro
Joined: 24 Jun 2005
Posts: 2244
Location: Lake Ridge, VA
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| Posted: Mar 03 2006 Post subject: |
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| str8smokin wrote: | The ceramic smoker Alton made was basically the same deal. I'm racking my brain trying to figure out how to control the heat if I use charcoal instead of a hot plate.
I'm thinking you could use one of those big green egg vents for the top. Might work pretty well. They're around $40 though.
Joe |
water pan...........try using two different grates....set a water pan on top of the lowest one............
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Grateful Q. Dawg
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Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 110
Location: Douglas, GA
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| Posted: Mar 03 2006 Post subject: |
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I've seen this before as well....I just wondered if it would make a difference that the can is galvanized?....you wouldn't wanna smoke your self stoopid |
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Alien BBQ
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Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 5426
Location: Roswell, New Mexico
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| Posted: Mar 03 2006 Post subject: |
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Just to throw cold water on the fire, the trashcan should not be galvanized and many imported terracotta pots contain lead. Both of these could cause harm to your brain and kidney because they bioaccumulate in the body, and build up in the target organs.
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skinsfan.06
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Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 81
Location: Fort Washington, MD
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| Posted: Mar 03 2006 Post subject: |
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| Alien BBQ wrote: | | Just to throw cold water on the fire, the trashcan should not be galvanized and many imported terracotta pots contain lead. Both of these could cause harm to your brain and kidney because they bioaccumulate in the body, and build up in the target organs. |
Now that's just beautiful.  |
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Bigbo
Newbie
Joined: 21 Feb 2006
Posts: 34
Location: Somers, MT
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| Posted: Mar 04 2006 Post subject: |
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aughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!    
All right, alright....(and thank you by the way) I am going to buy me a bullet smoker and get this over with.....I'm going nuts ....going back and forth.
sometimes ya just gotta do something.
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DawgPhan
BBQ Super Pro
Joined: 12 May 2005
Posts: 3444
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| Posted: Mar 04 2006 Post subject: |
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| Bigbo wrote: | aughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
All right, alright....(and thank you by the way) I am going to buy me a bullet smoker and get this over with.....I'm going nuts ....going back and forth.
sometimes ya just gotta do something.
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get a bullet smoker..you might find that you dont care for this and you wont have this huge monument to failure sitting on your deck...hell get an electric bullet smoker...there really is nothing too those... |
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Alien BBQ
BBQ All Star
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 5426
Location: Roswell, New Mexico
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| Posted: Mar 04 2006 Post subject: |
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| DawgPhan wrote: | | Bigbo wrote: | aughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! :shock: :x :? :roll: :o
All right, alright....(and thank you by the way) I am going to buy me a bullet smoker and get this over with.....I'm going nuts ....going back and forth.
sometimes ya just gotta do something.
8) |
get a bullet smoker..you might find that you dont care for this and you wont have this huge monument to failure sitting on your deck...hell get an electric bullet smoker...there really is nothing too those... |
Dawg,
Aren’t you the guy that was complaining about his electric for the past 6 months?
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Thomas P.
BBQ Pro
Joined: 27 Jul 2005
Posts: 596
Location: Texas
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| Posted: Mar 04 2006 Post subject: |
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| Bigbo wrote: | All right, alright....(and thank you by the way) I am going to buy me a bullet smoker and get this over with.....I'm going nuts ....going back and forth.
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I was just glancing at a Charbroil bullet that only costs $35, and seems to be a little better constructed than the ECB, well, the floor model was at any rate...
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Leading the quest to abolish propane from Que'dom...
Big Tom, Hillbilly Ambassador to flatlanders everywhere!
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str8smokin
BBQ Fan
Joined: 29 May 2005
Posts: 185
Location: San Diego
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| Posted: Mar 04 2006 Post subject: |
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Dawg,
I'm a huge AB fan, don't get me wrong. But he was talking about "real" bbq the entire show and ended up cooking with an electric hot plate! Little stuff like that punched a few of my buttons, but nothing major.
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DawgPhan
BBQ Super Pro
Joined: 12 May 2005
Posts: 3444
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| Posted: Mar 04 2006 Post subject: |
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| Alien BBQ wrote: | | DawgPhan wrote: | | Bigbo wrote: | aughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
All right, alright....(and thank you by the way) I am going to buy me a bullet smoker and get this over with.....I'm going nuts ....going back and forth.
sometimes ya just gotta do something.
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get a bullet smoker..you might find that you dont care for this and you wont have this huge monument to failure sitting on your deck...hell get an electric bullet smoker...there really is nothing too those... |
Dawg,
Aren’t you the guy that was complaining about his electric for the past 6 months? |
I had an electric for a while...it was my first hand-me-down smoker. I didnt have any problems with it other than the element broke on me during a smoke. Oh and you can get a smoke ring when using it, but I did enjoy it. and it was super easy to use. I have a WSM now and enjoy the hell out of it...but as a first smoker I think that an electric ECB is a great choice...it lets you worry about the rub, slather, times, and injections before you have to worry about the fire management part...I could pull my EECB in and just let it run for 16 hours and never even worry ahout it other than tossing in a couple of piece of wood every once and a while... |
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DawgPhan
BBQ Super Pro
Joined: 12 May 2005
Posts: 3444
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| Posted: Mar 04 2006 Post subject: |
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| str8smokin wrote: | Dawg,
I'm a huge AB fan, don't get me wrong. But he was talking about "real" bbq the entire show and ended up cooking with an electric hot plate! Little stuff like that punched a few of my buttons, but nothing major. |
oh I thought that you might have had issues with the brining or something like that...
hell it was a lot closer to "real" bbq than those folks cooking stuff in the oven or boiling ribs...atleast there was smoke involved...
I also think that he gave a nod to the big offsets, but just said that they were great, but expensive...
he did cheap "real" bbq basically... |
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