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Will this indirect rig work?

Black_Badger
Black_Badger Posts: 1,182
edited June 2012 in EggHead Forum
Okay Eggheads, I need some words of wisdom. I do not yet have a plate setter or alternative, but I really want to try a slow cook. I'm thinking pork shoulder for the first try. I've attached a couple photos of the ghetto rig I've come up with. It's basically an inverted cast iron frying pan to act at the heat diffuser and a hand bent raised "grate" that I will cover with foil. I'm thinking I can put a drip pan on top of the cast iron pan as well.

Does this have any chance of working? (i.e. producing a good shoulder)

My biggest worries are that the welds on the grate might melt. Other thoughts?

There's one picture of the overall rig and another down through the chimney to get some idea of clearance. I think it's worth a shot but if you all say I'm crazy I'll pull the plug. Planning on firing it up this evening and letting it roll overnight.

Cheers -
B_B
Finally back in the Badger State!

Middleton, WI

Comments

  • bdub60
    bdub60 Posts: 31
    I don't think you'd have to worry about any melting doing a low and slow cook.  Wouldn't think you'd be hot enough to worry about it. 
    Guns Up! Roll Tide!
  • jay75
    jay75 Posts: 153
    wow, welcome aboard, I have to say if your shoulder will fit, as in if it won't get any direct heat, why not. I would ask tho if the hand bent grill was up to grilling before you bent it, if so yea! Just wondering if you had another grill and a pizza stone coz you could jerry rig it with that maybe.
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    No law saying you have to do butts indirect. Main thing is having something to catch the fat drippings which is in and of itself indirect I guess

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • jay75
    jay75 Posts: 153
    No law saying you have to do butts indirect. Main thing is having something to catch the fat drippings which is in and of itself indirect I guess

    lil Steve, Have you been enjoying a few adult beverages?
  • Brownie
    Brownie Posts: 1,023
    My first indirect cook I simply took a disposable aluminum pan and curled the edges around the grid. ( it will end up hanging off the bottom of your grid)

    But I see one huge problem with my solution for you. The amount of juices a shoulder would produce during a low n slow would most likely cause the disposable aluminum pan to collapse and fall off the grid, dumping about a gallon of meat secretion all over your lump, which would absolutely ruin your cook.

    So your ideas are looking pretty good for your application. 
    :)
  • jay75
    jay75 Posts: 153
    My first indirect cook I simply took a disposable aluminum pan and curled the edges around the grid. ( it will end up hanging off the bottom of your grid)

    But I see one huge problem with my solution for you. The amount of juices a shoulder would produce during a low n slow would most likely cause the disposable aluminum pan to collapse and fall off the grid, dumping about a gallon of meat secretion all over your lump, which would absolutely ruin your cook.

    So your ideas are looking pretty good for your application. 
    :)

    +1
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    No law saying you have to do butts indirect. Main thing is having something to catch the fat drippings which is in and of itself indirect I guess
    lil Steve, Have you been enjoying a few adult beverages?

    Jay,

    Not yet but soon. I just confuse my own self sometimes. Should have reworded I guess

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • Brownie
    Brownie Posts: 1,023
    Use what you have there, but exchange the frying pan with a baking dish larger than the meat you want to cook.  If you don't have a disposable aluminum pan you can use a metal pan lined with aluminum foil, or even a pyrex baking dish lined with AF.............or use a pan large enough for your second rack to sit in.
  • Fishlessman does all his butts direct and they look awesome. Look him up and check it put. By the looks of them, I'd eat it :))
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • Ragtop99
    Ragtop99 Posts: 1,570
    before I got my set-up, I put a pizza stone on the grate, a v-rack on top of that, and a grate from an old BBQ on the V-rack.  Worked fine. 
    Cooking on an XL and Medium in Bethesda, MD.
  • Black_Badger
    Black_Badger Posts: 1,182
    Set everything up at 2:15pm (260 F), watched the temp hold steady for half hour, left for a gathering and came back to find temp at <100. Looks like fire went out on me. Fired things back up and it's going again now. Meat was golden, smelled delicious and quite warm when I returned. Pretty sure I'm going to give it a go no matter what since this is my fist foray, but I'm not sure why my flame died. It was pretty windy when I left and all that died down while I was gone, so maybe that changed the airflow?

    When using a chimney starter should all the coals (all the way to the top) be white hot before going into the Egg? I think all my lit coals burned up and the remaining fuel never caught and took over. Is that an unrealistic expectation?

    Still optimistic (and taking lots of pictures) but hoping things go better from here on out.

    Cheers -

    B_B
    Finally back in the Badger State!

    Middleton, WI
  • Ragtop99
    Ragtop99 Posts: 1,570
    When using a chimney starter should all the coals (all the way to the top) be white hot before going into the Egg? I think all my lit coals burned up and the remaining fuel never caught and took over. Is that an unrealistic expectation?

    I leave them in the chimney until I see fire out the top.  I don't worry about the color like I did with brickets.  When I pour the hot coals into the egg, I make sure I've cleaned out an small area of any old coals so I know that some (maybe 1/4) of what I pour into the egg from the chimney lands on the fire grate and has access to air.  That seems to guarantee the fire will not go out.
    Cooking on an XL and Medium in Bethesda, MD.
  • njl
    njl Posts: 1,123
    Before I got my plate setter, my indirect rig was a V rack sitting inside a disposable aluminum baking pan.  Simple, cheap, and worked fine...as long as what you're cooking fits in the V rack.
  • Black_Badger
    Black_Badger Posts: 1,182
    Yesterday evening I'd fired the chimney up again and got things going, but neglected to fill up to the top of the box. The end result was another cold Egg at 3 am when I woke up and checked it. I decided to persevere and fired up a third chimney. This time I waited until flames were licking out of the top and ALL the lump was burning. I poured this into the Egg and mixed it with the extinguished but warm lump from before. I also topped up the box with virgin lump and let it all burn for ~5 minutes wide open on top and bottom. By that time everything was blazing and the dome temp was ~700. I damped everything down and waited, and waited, and after ~30 minutes I'd got it to drop to about 400. By this time I was falling asleep so I put the rig and pig back on and damped everything WAY down hoping it would drop. It never did drop as low as I'd have liked. I tested internal temp at 6am and found ~195, so I decided to call it done. The meat had pulled back from the bone quite a bit and I had a very thick, crisp, dark crust. In the end I had to trim more bark than I'd have liked, but the overall cook was delicious. It's a testament to the versatility of the Egg that a potential disaster like this could be edible, much less quite good. Meat was very tender but not terribly overcooked. For now I think I've learned my lesson on long cooks. Getting things set up properly from the get go will take long, but will yield better results in the end. All in all I'd give this cook a C- but the resulting pulled pork a B+.

    Thanks all, look for more coming soon.

    B_B

    Finally back in the Badger State!

    Middleton, WI
  • gte1
    gte1 Posts: 379
    Set everything up at 2:15pm (260 F), watched the temp hold steady for half hour, left for a gathering and came back to find temp at <100. Looks like fire went out on me. Fired things back up and it's going again now. Meat was golden, smelled delicious and quite warm when I returned. Pretty sure I'm going to give it a go no matter what since this is my fist foray, but I'm not sure why my flame died. It was pretty windy when I left and all that died down while I was gone, so maybe that changed the airflow?

    When using a chimney starter should all the coals (all the way to the top) be white hot before going into the Egg? I think all my lit coals burned up and the remaining fuel never caught and took over. Is that an unrealistic expectation?

    Still optimistic (and taking lots of pictures) but hoping things go better from here on out.

    Cheers -

    B_B



    If you use a chimney just put a small amount of lump in it then dump into the center of your lump pile. Then close the lid and get the egg to temp. Your fire will slowly burn from the center out and should go for many hours. I start with MAPP gas and for low and slow only light one spot right in the middle.

    George
    George