Pits - Aaron Franklin

SloppyJoe · November 2015

So I was watching Aaron's episode regarding Pits and he mentioned Kamado Cooker's just being a glorified oven. He said "If you choke it down it just becomes a glorified oven at that point. You can't refresh wood and keep flavor coming through. Doesnt have good air flow"..... Your thoughts???

SGH · November 2015

SloppyJoe said:

Your thoughts???

I can just about write a book on this if you really want to hear it.

tarheelmatt · November 2015

SGH said:

SloppyJoe said:

Your thoughts???

I can just about write a book on this if you really want to hear it.

I think he does....

SloppyJoe · November 2015

SGH said:

SloppyJoe said:

Your thoughts???

I can just about write a book on this if you really want to hear it.

Do tell. Based on the Units you cook on, I presume you agree with Aaron. By the way I miss seeing pictures of your cooks. Where have you been?

theyolksonyou · November 2015

tarheelmatt said:

SGH said:

SloppyJoe said:

Your thoughts???

I can just about write a book on this if you really want to hear it.

I think he does....

I concur, he does, I'm pretty sure.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · November 2015

Ay-Ayron is pretty much correct. A komado style cooker is not particularly adept at doing bbq. It's a great all around cooker though.

tarheelmatt · November 2015

SloppyJoe said:

SGH said:

SloppyJoe said:

Your thoughts???

I can just about write a book on this if you really want to hear it.

Do tell. Based on the Units you cook on, I presume you agree with Aaron. By the way I miss seeing pictures of your cooks. Where have you been?

He's 89 damn years old. Let the man slow down. He don't even care about his unit anymore.

DoubleEgger · November 2015

I was reading his book on a plane today. Pick up a copy. It's a good read and he explains it in more detail.

tarheelmatt · November 2015

DoubleEgger said:

I was reading his book on a plane today. Pick up a copy. It's a good read and he explains it in more detail.

True dat... I need to get back into my book.

Thatgrimguy · November 2015

They are the most versatile cookers. Not necessarily the best smokers. They still make good enough bbq that it's the cook not the cooker 99% of the time.

SGH · November 2015

SloppyJoe said

Do tell. Based on the Units you cook on, I presume you agree with Aaron. By the way I miss seeing pictures of your cooks. Where have you been?

Brother I have been working night shift since July 28th on the KODIAK Deep Water project in the Gulf of Mexico. Been working 12-14 hour nights and haven't had a single day off. Sadly I'm at work as we speak. If I'm counting correctly, tonight is my 118th night straight. With all that said, if you will bear with me until later tonight when things slow down, I will gladly offer some insight to reverse flow, side drafted once through, and totally draft dependent smokers. I'm certainly no Franklin, nor do I pretend to be. But I have used the said designs in excess of 40 years. I will gladly offer what I can.

HeavyG · November 2015

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Ay-Ayron is pretty much correct. A komado style cooker is not particularly adept at doing bbq. It's a great all around cooker though.

A classic jack-of-all-trades and master of none.

I think if someone is going to only have one grill it is tough to beat a kamado.

But it really asking too much of a kamado to be the perfect cooker in every application.

Cookinbob · November 2015

From what I have learned, our Kamado grills are the most versatile outdoor cookers. You can smoke a butt or brisket, roast a chicken, sear steaks, cook a prime rib, a pizza, an apple pie or peach cobbler, vegetables, a pot of chili or beans, or bake a loaf of bread. It is not necessarily the very best at all of those, but can do them all very very well. I have no personal experience with a stick burner, and probably never will, but I have learned for that for bbq, it is probably the best tool.

With that said I am a very happy egger. I have done all of the above and more on my eggs, and gotten pretty good at it.

DoubleEgger · November 2015

@SGH just think of how many people you are supporting with the taxes you're paying on that OT work.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · November 2015

HeavyG said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Ay-Ayron is pretty much correct. A komado style cooker is not particularly adept at doing bbq. It's a great all around cooker though.

A classic jack-of-all-trades and master of none.

I think if someone is going to only have one grill it is tough to beat a kamado.

But it really asking too much of a kamado to be the perfect cooker in every application.

I would say among grills, it would be hard to beat. I think there are some weak spots in most other applications. I guess that only weak spot about it being a grill is that it weighs 200 lbs and is fragile to move. If you are in one spot, not sure what would be better.

SGH · November 2015

DoubleEgger said:

@SGH just think of how many people you are supporting with the taxes you're paying on that OT work.

Kind of sad isn't it brother Double.

texaswig · November 2015

Sometimes you just gotta ask yourself when close is good enough. Kinda like a hot rods. you have nice cars. And then you have show cars. 98% percent of people walking around couldn't tell the difference if they had to. Nothing wrong with trying to get something perfect we don't have to get obsessed over it. I started with offset stick burners about 12 years ago. I hardly ever cooked on it. It was just too much of a pain in the a**. Even if Mr. Franklin thinks I'm crazy...I'll never go back. Maybe a vertical cabinet someday. I haven't really been that crazy over the last couple of brisket I've cooked. Mine are nowhere as good as some on here. @Thatgrimguy and @JohnInCarolina at brisket camp were better then any I've ever had.

Lit · November 2015

I have really enjoyed running my vertical as a stick burner. No more chasing smoke rings. The egg is nice when I don't have time to hassle with it though.

Foghorn · November 2015

Yeah. I've got an XL egg and a Klose stick burner. I do 80% of my briskets on my egg just because of how easy it is. After visiting Franklin's and talking to the general manager for a while about fire management I realized that to optimally manage the fire I needed to work even harder than I had been working at it. Smaller logs/splits keeping a small fire that burns free and never encumbered by an oxygen limitation is the goal. On a home-sized offset that means tending the fire very frequently and essentially never using your airflow control vents. It's a lot of work but it can be a lot of fun on occasion if you really like playing with fire. I run with a pretty discerning crowd when it comes to BBQ but they have a hard time telling the difference between my egged brisket and my offset brisket. All they know is (as I was recently informed) an annual work event that we have had Rudy's cater for us for 20+ years is now being reevaluated because people have gotten spoiled by my brisket ... So for the future we're trying to sort out logistics for me to provide the brisket while Rudy's continues to provide sausage, cream corn, tables, servers, utensils, etc.

On a 1-10 scale, Franklin's was an 11 compared to what I knew before I went there. Now it is a 10 as I have redone my scale. On that scale I've made some 9.7s on my offset and some 9.5s on my egg - meaning I'm making briskets better than I knew existed until a few months ago. Most people can't tell the difference. For the difference in effort it is usually not worth it. Which brings me back to 80 (maybe 90)% of the time I do brisket on the egg.

I learned 90% of what I know about cooking brisket on this forum or related links like amazingribs.com. My trip to Franklin's mostly reinforced what I already learned here. Anybody who reads this who hasn't yet mastered the brisket on the egg - give it a shot and keep trying. The devil is in the details, but it is worth it when you finally pull it off and can (largely) do so consistently.

Im looking forward to @SGH's manifesto on this topic. I hope to take my game up another notch.

HendersonTRKing · November 2015

DoubleEgger said:

@SGH just think of how many people you are supporting with the taxes you're paying on that OT work.

Here, fishy fishy fishy fishy . . .

Black_Badger · November 2015

Bookmarked for future contribution from @SGH.

I've recently been thinking about a couple of different (crazy) options, and maybe this has even been done before; why couldn't you port the smoke out of the egg and use it as an offset?

I remember a while back there was a big debate on a thread about using dryer conduit to remove smoke from a garage (???) to facilitate 'indoor egging' during bad weather. What if you ported the smoke from one egg to a different cooking vessel for cold smoking and/or more offset like results?

Anyway, just riffing on an idea; very interested to hear more comments from @SGH when he is inclined to comment (and not before!).

Cheers -
B_B

Acn · November 2015

Black_Badger said:

Bookmarked for future contribution from @SGH.

I've recently been thinking about a couple of different (crazy) options, and maybe this has even been done before; why couldn't you port the smoke out of the egg and use it as an offset?

I remember a while back there was a big debate on a thread about using dryer conduit to remove smoke from a garage (???) to facilitate 'indoor egging' during bad weather. What if you ported the smoke from one egg to a different cooking vessel for cold smoking and/or more offset like results?

Anyway, just riffing on an idea; very interested to hear more comments from @SGH when he is inclined to comment (and not before!).

Cheers -
B_B

Didn't @nolaegghead do something like that for cold smoking cheese or something?

xfire_ATX · November 2015

Just switched from a side smoker to the egg so far-
I have only done chickens on both and the Side Smoker definitely has a smokier flavor. I think the egg was juicier though. My neighbor the New Orleans Chef always takes the carcasses and makes his base for Gumbo, they thought the stock was the same.
Using the Side Smoker is a lot of work, add fuel, add fuel.

theyolksonyou · November 2015

Acn said:

Black_Badger said:

Bookmarked for future contribution from @SGH.

I've recently been thinking about a couple of different (crazy) options, and maybe this has even been done before; why couldn't you port the smoke out of the egg and use it as an offset?

I remember a while back there was a big debate on a thread about using dryer conduit to remove smoke from a garage (???) to facilitate 'indoor egging' during bad weather. What if you ported the smoke from one egg to a different cooking vessel for cold smoking and/or more offset like results?

Anyway, just riffing on an idea; very interested to hear more comments from @SGH when he is inclined to comment (and not before!).

Cheers -
B_B

Didn't @nolaegghead do something like that for cold smoking cheese or something?

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/coldsmokingcan/coldsmokingcan.htm

Chef_Hobo · November 2015

I prefer having sleep when cooking a brisket overnight. Used to have a stick burner as well, setting the alarm every hour and a half sucked ass. The egg style is just as good and having a temperature regulator comes in handy to ensure proper temp throughout the night. If you include enough wood chunks in your lump (I usually use 1/3 wood chunks to 2/3 lump), you still get a great smokey flavor.

Thatgrimguy · November 2015

This is where you see lots of people who never learned their cooker claim the egg is better because it's SO much easier and they got better results on the Egg.

The key to a Stickburner is slow feeding small sticks and having a variety of sticks at different points of cured. So you have some green wood that will put off lots of smoke and burn slow but leave lots of ember and on the other side of the scale you have real dry wood that burns hot, fast and puts nearly no smoke out. A great pitmaster knows how to balance stick size, thickness and curedness to get the exact flavor profile they want. This is what Arron Franklin claims is his secret over and over in his book.

It's the only cooker I know of with COMPLETE control over temp, smoke, and chamber climate. You have more control, which is a good thing, but for most people thats the problem. More control gives more opportunity to do something wrong. So it has a higher rate of failure for the average pitmaker. Where the Green Egg is pretty simple to get great consistent results. But for an excellent pitmaster you can reach heights on the stickburnere that just can't be achieved with a Green egg or IMO any other cooker. (maybe running a vertical as a stickburner but I have a feeling you will never get the kind of draft a stick burner does)

SloppyJoe · November 2015

Chef_Hobo said:

I prefer having sleep when cooking a brisket overnight. Used to have a stick burner as well, setting the alarm every hour and a half sucked ass. The egg style is just as good and having a temperature regulator comes in handy to ensure proper temp throughout the night. If you include enough wood chunks in your lump (I usually use 1/3 wood chunks to 2/3 lump), you still get a great smokey flavor.

I'm with you. Perhaps when I retire some day but for now I really enjoy getting sleep.

Thatgrimguy · November 2015

SloppyJoe said:

Chef_Hobo said:

I prefer having sleep when cooking a brisket overnight. Used to have a stick burner as well, setting the alarm every hour and a half sucked ass. The egg style is just as good and having a temperature regulator comes in handy to ensure proper temp throughout the night. If you include enough wood chunks in your lump (I usually use 1/3 wood chunks to 2/3 lump), you still get a great smokey flavor.

I'm with you. Perhaps when I retire some day but for now I really enjoy getting sleep.

Unless you need it for lunch, you can sleep a full night no problem on a stick burner. Light it up at 6am and have brisket or buts done by 2 and resting till dinner. I have even heard of people cooking the brisket for a couple hours say, 9-midnight, throwing a big log on and going to bed and picking it back up at 7 or 8am. (I have never done this, but will be experimenting when my Shirley is finally built)

At most comps I go to, the stickburners aren't lit till 3am. And that's with brisket due for turn in at 1:30. So it's off the smoker by noon in most cases.

Lit · November 2015

like stated above you can cook anything if you start early. Since I got my vertical for Christmas I don't remember using my xl even once. I still use the mini and MM for quick cooks though. I use kiln dried wood to keep a hot fire and put chunks of different woods for added smoke. One small split usually last an hour or a little longer holding 250 with water or 350-400 if I drain the water. I like that I can cook chicken with water in the pan the first half of the cook and drain it mid cook to finish the skin. Will get a true stick burner in the future when I have $3500 for the one I want.

4Runner · November 2015

My Q turns out really good on my Egg.

DaveRichardson · November 2015

I think I have the title picture and wording for you, Scottie @SGH .....

Pits - Aaron Franklin

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