Gauntlet... thrown!! Bring out ALL of your cookers!!

SciAggie

Parts are gathered for the mini asado cross...

caliking

We’ve been waiting @SciAggie ...

SciAggie

I’m on it...

gotta drill some holes and do a bit of welding. Ima be back in a while...

Foghorn

SciAggie said:

I’m on it...

gotta drill some holes and do a bit of welding. Ima be back in a while...

I'm with @The Cen-Tex Smoker.   I'm having impure thoughts about this.

Well, I'm not WITH him, I'm just...

...forget it...

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Foghorn said:

SciAggie said:

I’m on it...

gotta drill some holes and do a bit of welding. Ima be back in a while...

I'm with @The Cen-Tex Smoker.   I'm having impure thoughts about this.

Well, I'm not WITH him, I'm just...

...forget it...

Me: turn off lights, closes the blinds and locks the door. 

Also me: hides behind couch. 

SciAggie

I have to finish the base. This project may run into tomorrow. 

caliking

I’m happy to see that I bet on the right guy this time...

SciAggie

Here it is propped in the hearth. 

I think this just might be an idea that works. 

caliking

SciAggie said:

Here it is propped in the hearth. 

I think this just might be an idea that works. 

Oh,  I think it will do quite nicely 😊 

From what I can tell, you need some kind of wall to reflect heat back to the meat leaning over the fire. You've got that with the hearth  setup. 

I'm guessing you already have a cook planned for this? Otherwise, I'll be disappointed in myself...

SciAggie

caliking said:t

SciAggie said:

Here it is propped in the hearth. 

I think this just might be an idea that works. 

Oh,  I think it will do quite nicely 😊 

From what I can tell, you need some kind of wall to reflect heat back to the meat leaning over the fire. You've got that with the hearth  setup. 

I'm guessing you already have a cook planned for this? Otherwise, I'll be disappointed in myself...

I want to cook a simple spatchcock chicken. If it works then turkey, maybe beef ribs, - smoked fish maybe?

caliking

Per @20stone ‘s request, I pulled out his KBQ, which is currently in my foster care. I didn’t include it in my “arsenal” initially, as I didn’t want to abuse the privilege of providing it a safe home. 

My wood source is possibly sketchy, but the product is good. 

Big rack of spares. Dusted with DP Dizzy Dust, Peking , and fennel pollen. Smoked about 5ish hrs, temp was all over the place. Drizzled with honey when they were done. 

Caliqueen rustled up some zukes and cous cous indoors. 

And I was again reminded why I have wet dreams about owning a wood fired smoker. Nothing else quite compares. But, I’m not at a point where I’m committed enough to get one . Yet...

The Cen-Tex Smoker

caliking said:

Per @20stone ‘s request, I pulled out his KBQ, which is currently in my foster care. I didn’t include it in my “arsenal” initially, as I didn’t want to abuse the privilege of providing it a safe home. 

My wood source is possibly sketchy, but the product is good. 

Big rack of spares. Dusted with DP Dizzy Dust, Peking , and fennel pollen. Smoked about 5ish hrs, temp was all over the place. Drizzled with honey when they were done. 

Caliqueen rustled up some zukes and cous cous indoors. 

And I was again reminded why I have wet dreams about owning a wood fired smoker. Nothing else quite compares. But, I’m not at a point where I’m committed enough to get one . Yet...

Possession is 9/10ths of the law. Just sayin’ 

Botch

SciAggie said:

The first Santa Maria-style barbecue setup I ever saw was buried in the interior grounds of a Spanish mission in, iirc, San Juan Bautista, CA.  It was partially grown over with weeds, and all I could figure out what it might be used for, was to convert local natives by the spaniards; it creeped me out.
This is kinda the same, and I hope you can post a cook very soon so I don't have any more nightmares!    

Gulfcoastguy

A rack for chickens “confess witch!”

20stone

caliking said:

Per @20stone ‘s request, I pulled out his KBQ, which is currently in my foster care. I didn’t include it in my “arsenal” initially, as I didn’t want to abuse the privilege of providing it a safe home. 

My wood source is possibly sketchy, but the product is good. 

Big rack of spares. Dusted with DP Dizzy Dust, Peking , and fennel pollen. Smoked about 5ish hrs, temp was all over the place. Drizzled with honey when they were done. 

Caliqueen rustled up some zukes and cous cous indoors. 

And I was again reminded why I have wet dreams about owning a wood fired smoker. Nothing else quite compares. But, I’m not at a point where I’m committed enough to get one . Yet...

Crushed it!  I’m tickled that they turned out so well. 

Foghorn

Great cook.  With that said, I'm curious about the temp being all over the place.  Was it that it wouldn't get up to the set temp due to large logs that didn't fall down into the fire easily.  Or did it go to high?

thetrim

Foghorn said:

Thanks all.  We washed it down with Westmalle Tripel and Chimay Cinq Cents.  It was a great meal and family experience.

Those are great beer choices!

Foghorn

thetrim said:

Foghorn said:

Thanks all.  We washed it down with Westmalle Tripel and Chimay Cinq Cents.  It was a great meal and family experience.

Those are great beer choices!

Thanks @thetrim, I may not always cook well, but I will always wash it down with a good beverage.  Life is too short for mediocre beverages.

caliking

Foghorn said:

Great cook.  With that said, I'm curious about the temp being all over the place.  Was it that it wouldn't get up to the set temp due to large logs that didn't fall down into the fire easily.  Or did it go to high?

the temp fluctuation was entirely due to operator error  

In my experience, based on a grand total of 3 cooks, temp depends on how much wood is burning in the hopper. The hopper is small, so you have to pay some attention to making sure your wood is cut down  to mini splits that’ll fit. Also, you have to feed it every 30mins or so. 

My temps ranged from 180-310F, but mostly ran at about 220ish. One of the chunks of wood I started with should have been split, but I was lazy. About halfway through, I split the pieces of wood, and had a better bed of coals, more stable temp etc. 

Foghorn

That's what I would have guessed based on seeing Cen-Tex cook on his KBQ.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Foghorn said:

That's what I would have guessed based on seeing Cen-Tex cook on his KBQ.

It does take a little practice to get the fire management down. It’s definitely not a “set and forget” process like a bge but once you understand the basics it’s not a difficult cooker to operate. 

caliking

Foghorn said:

That's what I would have guessed based on seeing Cen-Tex cook on his KBQ.

 I usually attribute the difference between Cen-Tex's cooks and mine to operator error. Not just the KBQ cooks

20stone

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Foghorn said:

That's what I would have guessed based on seeing Cen-Tex cook on his KBQ.

It does take a little practice to get the fire management down. It’s definitely not a “set and forget” process like a bge but once you understand the basics it’s not a difficult cooker to operate. 

All true. The box has no insulation so it does swing easily, but in my limited experience, it doesn’t hurt the product, as it doesn’t ever seem to run away too high,

HeavyG

caliking said:

Foghorn said:

Great cook.  With that said, I'm curious about the temp being all over the place.  Was it that it wouldn't get up to the set temp due to large logs that didn't fall down into the fire easily.  Or did it go to high?

the temp fluctuation was entirely due to operator error  

In my experience, based on a grand total of 3 cooks, temp depends on how much wood is burning in the hopper. The hopper is small, so you have to pay some attention to making sure your wood is cut down  to mini splits that’ll fit. Also, you have to feed it every 30mins or so. 

My temps ranged from 180-310F, but mostly ran at about 220ish. One of the chunks of wood I started with should have been split, but I was lazy. About halfway through, I split the pieces of wood, and had a better bed of coals, more stable temp etc. 

When you said the temp was fluctuating I thought you were just referring to the  +/-15°F swing due to the cycling of the fan. That is normal. What you are describing is not normal.

As long as you keep a decent bed of coals the temp should not fluctuate in the range you describe. The temp (assuming a decent coal bed) is thermostatically controlled so if it was set and running at say, 225°F building a bigger fire is not likely to cause a huge jump in the cook chamber temp as the fan will just cutoff once it registers about 250°F.

The first thing I noticed in your pix was that you had a bunch of wood sticking up above the top of the firebox. There is no real need for that and that actually just wastes wood. You might also consider using the lid of the firebox. That will lessen the wood burn a bit.

Again, the key to using the KBQ is maintaining a good coal bed. Wood selection can make a big difference. I see that you used a bag of peach that apparently fell off the back of an international aid truck.

Peach is not one of the better coaling woods and while not the best wood to use, it still burns and may just require fluffing the coal bed more often. The job of the fluffer is very important in a couple of situations and the operating of a KBQ is one of those.

Here's a link to the KBQ page that lists various woods and their respective burning/coaling qualities. You might want to consider seeing if those aid trucks ever have any oak or hickory fall off them.

https://kbq.us/bbq-edu-blog/wood-selection/

The Cen-Tex Smoker

HeavyG said:

caliking said:

Foghorn said:

Great cook.  With that said, I'm curious about the temp being all over the place.  Was it that it wouldn't get up to the set temp due to large logs that didn't fall down into the fire easily.  Or did it go to high?

the temp fluctuation was entirely due to operator error  

In my experience, based on a grand total of 3 cooks, temp depends on how much wood is burning in the hopper. The hopper is small, so you have to pay some attention to making sure your wood is cut down  to mini splits that’ll fit. Also, you have to feed it every 30mins or so. 

My temps ranged from 180-310F, but mostly ran at about 220ish. One of the chunks of wood I started with should have been split, but I was lazy. About halfway through, I split the pieces of wood, and had a better bed of coals, more stable temp etc. 

When you said the temp was fluctuating I thought you were just referring to the  +/-15°F swing due to the cycling of the fan. That is normal. What you are describing is not normal.

As long as you keep a decent bed of coals the temp should not fluctuate in the range you describe. The temp (assuming a decent coal bed) is thermostatically controlled so if it was set and running at say, 225°F building a bigger fire is not likely to cause a huge jump in the cook chamber temp as the fan will just cutoff once it registers about 250°F.

The first thing I noticed in your pix was that you had a bunch of wood sticking up above the top of the firebox. There is no real need for that and that actually just wastes wood. You might also consider using the lid of the firebox. That will lessen the wood burn a bit.

Again, the key to using the KBQ is maintaining a good coal bed. Wood selection can make a big difference. I see that you used a bag of peach that apparently fell off the back of an international aid truck.

Peach is not one of the better coaling woods and while not the best wood to use, it still burns and may just require fluffing the coal bed more often. The job of the fluffer is very important in a couple of situations and the operating of a KBQ is one of those.

Here's a link to the KBQ page that lists various woods and their respective burning/coaling qualities. You might want to consider seeing if those aid trucks ever have any oak or hickory fall off them.

https://kbq.us/bbq-edu-blog/wood-selection/

That’s actually post oak in a USAID food bag. Looks like it was peas at one point. 

SciAggie

I’m kinda proud of me. I got it finished. Don’t any of you welders judge my welding...

Should I cook a chicken or beef back ribs for the maiden cook? What say you? It will probably be Tuesday before I have a afternoon to light ‘er up. 

HeavyG

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

HeavyG said:

caliking said:

Foghorn said:

Great cook.  With that said, I'm curious about the temp being all over the place.  Was it that it wouldn't get up to the set temp due to large logs that didn't fall down into the fire easily.  Or did it go to high?

the temp fluctuation was entirely due to operator error  

In my experience, based on a grand total of 3 cooks, temp depends on how much wood is burning in the hopper. The hopper is small, so you have to pay some attention to making sure your wood is cut down  to mini splits that’ll fit. Also, you have to feed it every 30mins or so. 

My temps ranged from 180-310F, but mostly ran at about 220ish. One of the chunks of wood I started with should have been split, but I was lazy. About halfway through, I split the pieces of wood, and had a better bed of coals, more stable temp etc. 

When you said the temp was fluctuating I thought you were just referring to the  +/-15°F swing due to the cycling of the fan. That is normal. What you are describing is not normal.

As long as you keep a decent bed of coals the temp should not fluctuate in the range you describe. The temp (assuming a decent coal bed) is thermostatically controlled so if it was set and running at say, 225°F building a bigger fire is not likely to cause a huge jump in the cook chamber temp as the fan will just cutoff once it registers about 250°F.

The first thing I noticed in your pix was that you had a bunch of wood sticking up above the top of the firebox. There is no real need for that and that actually just wastes wood. You might also consider using the lid of the firebox. That will lessen the wood burn a bit.

Again, the key to using the KBQ is maintaining a good coal bed. Wood selection can make a big difference. I see that you used a bag of peach that apparently fell off the back of an international aid truck.

Peach is not one of the better coaling woods and while not the best wood to use, it still burns and may just require fluffing the coal bed more often. The job of the fluffer is very important in a couple of situations and the operating of a KBQ is one of those.

Here's a link to the KBQ page that lists various woods and their respective burning/coaling qualities. You might want to consider seeing if those aid trucks ever have any oak or hickory fall off them.

https://kbq.us/bbq-edu-blog/wood-selection/

That’s actually post oak in a USAID food bag. Looks like it was peas at one point. 

Well that certainly makes more sense than "lit yellow peach".

Legume

@SciAggie this project has me stuck somewhere between 



 and

SciAggie

@Legume Lol - I hope no torture is involved - during cooking or eating...

I’m channeling Francis Mallman...

Foghorn

@SciAggie, I’m thinking a chicken would be the safer and easier way to go. Therefore, if it were me I’d go with the beef ribs.  😀