OT - Bill Karau’s Quest for the Perfect Barbecue Smoke

HeavyG

Interesting little article from a few days ago regarding Bill and his invention of the Karubecue. I know a few of us here have one and others might be interested. Glad to hear that he has sold about a thousand of these things...

https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/bill-karau-kbq-smokers/

JohnInCarolina

I so want one of these... 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

I read that too. Such a fun smoker. 

GregW

The larger model is interesting, however it is not listed on the KBQ website

The Cen-Tex Smoker

GregW said:

The larger model is interesting, however it is not listed on the KBQ website

He does not build that model- he outsources it to someone else. He’s always been pretty quiet about it. It does look pretty cool but not sure what his actually plans are for that one. 

HeavyG

GregW said:

The larger model is interesting, however it is not listed on the KBQ website

http://nu-meat.com/products/friedrich/kbq-400

I don't recall rxactly what they sell for but I think it was in the $20K-$30K range.

Botch

I've never heard of it, but the article was fascinating and I need to read it again tomorrow, tidbits like this:

“Restricting combustion air through the use of a damper does not change the rate at which smoke is being generated,” Karau said. In other words, the temperature of the cooker might go down when you stifle the fire, but only because the smoke has stopped burning, and smoke that is burning tastes better.

I do agree with him about wood being a fuel source, but not a fuel per se.  A parlour trick I used to enjoy was, after blowing out a candle that's been burning awhile (so its hot), you can see a thin single whisp of smoke rising away from it (this doesn't work under a ceiling fan or if Uncle Vince is wheezing).  Touch a lit match to the whisp of smoke, 5 to 6" above the candle, and the flame will zip down the smoke and re-light the wick!  It's cool.
Another cool experiment from my Chemistry Set (yes, I've been a nerd since 1st grade) was heating some sawdust in the bottom of a stoppered test tube, with a thin glass tube inserted thru the stopper, and the fumes from the sawdust exiting the glass tube could be lit; cool to watch the sawdust slowly go to black at the bottom of the test tube, while the flame was out on the tip of the thin glass tube.  
 
Its also got me wondering about the lump in our Eggs.  Mr. Karau mentions that wood, when burned, becomes two fuels: the volatiles that are driven off and burned immediately, and the charcoal (lump) that's left behind.  We have to initially "burn" our charcoal to drive off the rest of those bad-tasting volatiles, and apparently the remaining fuel is just the "sweet smoke" he speaks of.  ( @stlcharcoal please jump in at any time!)  Would like to see a taste comparison between the Karubicue product, and that off an Egg that has allowed its smoke to clear.  
Again, fascinating article!  

GregW

HeavyG said:

GregW said:

The larger model is interesting, however it is not listed on the KBQ website

http://nu-meat.com/products/friedrich/kbq-400

I don't recall rxactly what they sell for but I think it was in the $20K-$30K range.

That's an impressive machine. Based on it's capacity, I could easily see it in the

25K range.

I imagine, based on the smaller version, it would require pretty close attention to keep it running.

stlcharcoal

Botch said:

 We have to initially "burn" our charcoal to drive off the rest of those bad-tasting volatiles, and apparently the remaining fuel is just the "sweet smoke" he speaks of.   

I disagree that you must burn off charcoal to get rid of "bad-tasting" volatiles.  If it's good American-made oak, hickory, maple, and/or pecan charcoal that's properly carbonized, the smoke producing volatiles in it are going to be minimal to begin with (and the ones that do remain give a nice smoke with a wood you're probably using already.)

But if you're cooking with South/Central American stuff, whether or not it's underkilned, you might be getting some wood you can't even pronounce.  A lot of that stuff is related to walnut, cashew, and other hard nut woods that are very bitter.  So, burning those off until the "bad smoke" is gone is a must, because if you're adding apple, cherry, etc, you'll never taste it.

I skimmed the article, but from what I got out of it, the "creosote" problem is with big smokers burning a ton of wood (i.e. stick burners).  Just like a fireplace, there are things you can do to minimize creosote build up.  In a kamado, we are lucky enough to be able to clean burn.  The bad side of the kamados is that it's in a sense, a kiln.  You are turning smoking woods into charcoal.  So it's tough to get a lot of smoke into the meat.  Very little air goes through them, and a lot of the moisture is retained.  We cannot run a hot wood burning fire like the big drafty metal cookers can, and still keep a 225F grid temp.

But when you do get it ripping hot, and the smoke goes away, if you cool it back down right away, you'll see the smoke come back.  You were burning the smoke, but with some more time, it will burn off anything that produced that smoke.  With all of these good smoke / bad smoke articles, you always have to pull the Kamado out of the equation, because they don't really fit into these articles.

HeavyG

GregW said:

HeavyG said:

GregW said:

The larger model is interesting, however it is not listed on the KBQ website

http://nu-meat.com/products/friedrich/kbq-400

I don't recall rxactly what they sell for but I think it was in the $20K-$30K range.

That's an impressive machine. Based on it's capacity, I could easily see it in the

25K range.

I imagine, based on the smaller version, it would require pretty close attention to keep it running.

Not really, just need to check the coal bed and toss in some more splits every 20, 30, 40 minutes or so. Keeping a nice thick and active coal bed is key.

GregW

HeavyG said:

GregW said:

HeavyG said:

GregW said:

The larger model is interesting, however it is not listed on the KBQ website

http://nu-meat.com/products/friedrich/kbq-400

I don't recall rxactly what they sell for but I think it was in the $20K-$30K range.

That's an impressive machine. Based on it's capacity, I could easily see it in the

25K range.

I imagine, based on the smaller version, it would require pretty close attention to keep it running.

Not really, just need to check the coal bed and toss in some more splits every 20, 30, 40 minutes or so. Keeping a nice thick and active coal bed is key.

The 20,30,40 minute addition of splits would surely interfere with my sleep at some point.

It would be fun to do occasionally, but for me I don't think I have the strength to make it a every weekend cook. Who knows though, the food may be so good off it to make it very worthwhile.

WeberWho

GregW said:

HeavyG said:

GregW said:

HeavyG said:

GregW said:

The larger model is interesting, however it is not listed on the KBQ website

http://nu-meat.com/products/friedrich/kbq-400

I don't recall rxactly what they sell for but I think it was in the $20K-$30K range.

That's an impressive machine. Based on it's capacity, I could easily see it in the

25K range.

I imagine, based on the smaller version, it would require pretty close attention to keep it running.

Not really, just need to check the coal bed and toss in some more splits every 20, 30, 40 minutes or so. Keeping a nice thick and active coal bed is key.

The 20,30,40 minute addition of splits would surely interfere with my sleep at some point.

It would be fun to do occasionally, but for me I don't think I have the strength to make it a every weekend cook. Who knows though, the food may be so good off it to make it very worthwhile.

The BGE is a fantastic grill. Especially the low work it takes to run it. Hard to hate the BGE. 

I picked up an offset smoker a few years ago without knowing anything about them other than they take a bunch of work. It's been a really positive experience thus far. Yes it's much more work than a BGE but it can almost become therapeutic and a craft in a way. It kind of forces you to slow things down in your everyday life. It keeps me here at the house where I can actually get things done. It also doesn't need to be all night cooks. I think stick burners get this persona where you need to stay up all night and hate every minute of it. You don't necessarily even need to do overnight cooks with them. With stick burners you can cook at higher temps and have better air flow. Making cooks finish in shorter times over other grills/smokers. Plus you can use stick burners for your average basic cooks. It doesn't need to be used for only low and slows. So they can be really beneficial.

The flavor itself is what sets stick burners apart from other types of smokes. They make you work for that flavor. Most people probably couldn't tell you the difference from one smoke profile to the next. It's night and day difference for someone who knows barbecue. It really is a game changer.

littlerascal56

This is why I built a gravity feed smoker.  The wood chunks burned under the briquettes, or were mixed in with them.  Either way, the smoke has to go thru the fire and then to the cabinet with the meat in it.  Then out the chimney. Clean light blue smoke out the stack for 12 hours or more, and no tending it (Flameboss 300) for the entire cook.  The smoke profile was great, and I can understand why they use these in comp’s!

Botch

stlcharcoal said:

Botch said:

 We have to initially "burn" our charcoal to drive off the rest of those bad-tasting volatiles, and apparently the remaining fuel is just the "sweet smoke" he speaks of.   

I disagree that you must burn off charcoal to get rid of "bad-tasting" volatiles.  If it's good American-made oak, hickory, maple, and/or pecan charcoal that's properly carbonized, the smoke producing volatiles in it are going to be minimal to begin with (and the ones that do remain give a nice smoke with a wood you're probably using already.)

Agreed.  We only started getting Rockwood locally recently, so I've burned a few bags of RO, Cowboys, and other ilk....

TexasisBestest

Jealous devil and the fogo quebracho both fall into the "odd taste" smoke. They ABSOLUTELY burn hot and long but anyone that has accidentally  added 4 chunks of pecan wood vs oak can tell you the smoke flavor and quantity are very different. This is why I use  like 4 different brands of lump. They all generate different profiles, have different ideal temps, etc. Lump, like any thing,  is not a one size fits all.