Offset for a beginner

roxy · Posted: Mar 25 2007 Post subject:

Good to see ya back Hogwild..

Love that asshat pic, just saved that one for future reference.. Wink

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Chargriller Akorn
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Do not rely on a rabbits foot for luck, it did not work out too well for the rabbit...

allsmokenofire · Posted: Mar 25 2007 Post subject:

vtbbq · Joined: 16 Mar 2007 Posts: 24 Location: Vermont

I ended up doing some ABTs and short ribs. I have been eating a lot of chicken lately, so I wanted to try something else. I went into the butcher sop and asked him what he had for a really meaty ribs. He told me he had just packed up some beef short ribs that were pretty meaty, so I got 'em. When I got home and unwraped them I realized he had already seperated them, but they were very meaty. I cooked with lump and wood chunks thrown in for smoke. I may have overdone the amount of woodchunks, or maybe I should have wrapped the ribs in foil sooner cuz they were a little heavy on the smoke flavor. They were still mighty tasty though. Since my wife and I both really like the smoke flavor it worked out great actually, just have to think ahead for if I have more mixed company. I need to rig up a charcoal cage for the firebox since the coals were sliding every which way. I did do the entire cook on one big load of lump without having to refill the firebox though. The cooker held its heat pretty steady throughout the cook and leaked smoke far far less than I expected. Overall I am very pleased with my first smoke. Here are some pics:

After letting the fire burn for a while to "season" on went the ribs and some hickory chunks:

A little more than an hour later I was done prepping the ABTs and on they went:

About an hour later off came the ABTs. Dang these things are good. I made mine with mozerella instead of cream cheese. As you can see there are some empty toothpicks because I couldn't get the camera fast enough. You should have seen the dirty look the wife gave me when I suggested I should save some to bring in for my co-workers:

After about 3 1/2 hours on here are 3 of the done ribs, as you can see they are pretty meaty:

A little bit of a smoke ring:

BoilermakerFan · Posted: Mar 25 2007 Post subject:

roxy · Posted: Mar 25 2007 Post subject:

BoilermakerFan · Posted: Mar 25 2007 Post subject:

roxy · Posted: Mar 26 2007 Post subject:

I guess so...

Idont think mine was out out of the box 2 hours before I have some food on it. I couldnt stand the suspense. I waited to get mine all winter so by the time the snow was gone and my wife finally got around to ordering it for me, (it was a birtday present)... I was a bit fire up to try it.
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Chargriller Akorn
WSM
LIAR #100
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Do not rely on a rabbits foot for luck, it did not work out too well for the rabbit...

BoilermakerFan · Posted: Mar 26 2007 Post subject:

Did a 6+ hour seasoning session today.

For my no-weld basket I bolted the formed basket together with SS hardware and used SS s-hooks to hang the basket on the 1/4" rods I ran through the SFB. Worked like a charm! We'll see how long it lasts, but I think the expanded metal will give out first.
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My highly tweaked Char-Griller Smokin' Pro died many years ago... my Weber Kettle gave us 20 years of great food... Now i'm rocking an Oklahoma Joe's Bronco!

roxy · Posted: Mar 26 2007 Post subject:

Not sure if the chargriller really needs a seasoning as it is painted metal inside and out though I did season mine as well just to be on the safe side.
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Chargriller Akorn
WSM
LIAR #100
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Do not rely on a rabbits foot for luck, it did not work out too well for the rabbit...

BoilermakerFan · Posted: Mar 26 2007 Post subject:

The destructions recommend a 3 hour burn, but I needed to do a six hour to see how much fuel it was going to use (for Rock's BBQ) and to tweak the tuning plates location. I ended up flipping them over just like you do with the charcoal tray because it seemed to even out the smoke flow. I'll have to really tweak it later with a couple of biscuit tests after I trim down the exhaust stack and add the inner extension.

Funny part was though, the neighbors came out looking for the source of the hickory smoke. Smile

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My highly tweaked Char-Griller Smokin' Pro died many years ago... my Weber Kettle gave us 20 years of great food... Now i'm rocking an Oklahoma Joe's Bronco!

WBOGGS · Posted: Mar 26 2007 Post subject:

vtbbq, now ya got to fix that thing so it cooks right. Take a bean can and cut the lip off and stick it in the bottom of that chimney so the heat has a chance to be at the grate level. Right now it goes across the top and out the chimney above the food. Also, get a big drill bit and drill a hole for that thermometer just to the right of the cook chamber handle (right above the grate) so you know how hot it is where the food cooks, not at the top (heat rises remember). Then get some wire coat hangers and fashion some hangers so you can hang foil cookie sheets right under the grate so you can block the heat from going straight up and across the cooker above the food. The cookie sheets will force the heat under them and will come around the sides where the food is. You have to butt the cookie sheets right up to the wall with the fire box on it so the heat cant rise. See Pictures:

I also fashioned a charcoal basket out of wire fencing:

Any questions, PM me.

roaster · BBQ Fan Joined: 04 Oct 2006 Posts: 252 Location: vermont

welcome to the forum VTBBQ. Glad to have a neihbor in vermont that enjoys smoking also. I started with a brinkman smokin n pit. Then i biult my own reverse flow last fall. Still learning how to do a fire management. I have purchased 800 lbs of wicked good lump charcoal. Used about 50 lbs today on a cook. Cooked two racks of ribs, two 3 1/2 lbs shoulder roast, ABTS & sausage.

http://usera.imagecave.com/roaster/snow/100_2093.jpg

Roaster

WBOGGS · Posted: Mar 26 2007 Post subject: Re: Anither vermonter to the forum

roxy · Posted: Mar 26 2007 Post subject:

Does seem like a lot.
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Chargriller Akorn
WSM
LIAR #100
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Do not rely on a rabbits foot for luck, it did not work out too well for the rabbit...

adolpho · Posted: Mar 26 2007 Post subject:

Not really. When I decide to use lump in my trailer offset, I use a twenty pound bag at a time. It burns for 2-3 hours with the intake closed almost all the way and has a controlled temp of around 250 degrees. It gets me some snoozing time and does not oversmoke the meat. The most I've used in a cook session is 3 bags of 20 lbs. to cook for about 8 hours and I was able to not worry about fire tending and able to do other prepping and sleeping while I didn't have to worry about the fire. The whole cooking session was 12 hours, so I burned sticks for the first 4 hours. Yes it was expensive, but it did what I wanted at that time and the expense was passed on to the customer Very Happy

.

I only say this because roaster's pit in the picture was an offset trailer, but I did cook a lot more than roaster described. Even so, sometimes more fuel needed for bigger smokers no matter how much food you put into it. Don't knock the guy unless you have the same cooker!
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roxy · Posted: Mar 26 2007 Post subject:

Not knocking him at all adolpho. Just seems like a lot of fuel and you are right, I have not cooked on a unit like he has...

If roaster ever gets tired of it, I know where he could find a good home for it... Wink

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Chargriller Akorn
WSM
LIAR #100
_________________
Do not rely on a rabbits foot for luck, it did not work out too well for the rabbit...