Stick Burners Better?

SonVolt · February 2020

speed51133 said:

https://www.bbqguys.com/texas-barbecues/500-stainless-brick-in-barbecue-pit-smoker

check this one out

A row of hot-dogs takes up 1/3 the space of the main rack. Also since you're dealing with an active live fire, it looks like a great way to burn down whatever structure it's inset into.

speed51133 · February 2020

A bit dramatic....

hard to burn down a concrete block table with a ceramic facade that is secured with mortar and a stone top.

Ever hear of a fireplace? Sounds like another great way to burn whatever structure it's inset into, right???

I also think your your space analysis of hot dogs is a gross exaggeration. You can say the same thing to any Egg user....

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/s3/nj2urohdgymt.jpg

I also highly disagree with your statement that if you care about aesthetics, stick with a gas insert.

You are just full of gross exaggerations, aren't you?

SonVolt · February 2020

Nice looking hot dogs. Plenty of space there for a couple buns and a full packer.

jtcBoynton · February 2020

speed51133 said:

does anyone make a built-in stick burner that doesn't look so...ugly and industrial?

There are plenty of brick stick burners that look great and do a fine job. Issue is that they are not off the shelf purchases - need to build them yourself or have custom built.

GregW · February 2020

I recommend a commercial-grade pellet smoker. They are not in the same league flavor-wise as a stick burner, but they do a really good job and are far easier to operate. They always burn in the thin blue smoke sweet spot.
I have a Cookshack FEC-120 that I really like.

lkapigian · February 2020

Don't have to spend a lot of money to play with wood fire, I paid $99.00 have since modified it to reverse flow and these are all over Craigslist used

I still use this

littlerascal56 · February 2020

Cookshack is good equipment. I had one of their electric smokers before I bought my egg. One of our locals uses nothing but pellet smokers for his catering (and comps) business. He makes a living at it.

GregW · February 2020

littlerascal56 said:

Cookshack is good equipment. I had one of their electric smokers before I bought my egg. One of our locals uses nothing but pellet smokers for his catering (and comps) business. He makes a living at it.

Nice looking trailer. I would love to have one.
A trailer like that with a big Cookshack FEC 500 would be a money-making machine. I've priced one out, it's around 50k

littlerascal56 · February 2020

Ryan was one of our journeyman lineman, making over $85k/year. He quit the utility to build this business. His dad worked in our gas division, and retired in 2018 (age 62) to help with the catering, as it is busy as can be. They are doing very well. Wife’s office just hired them to cater lunch for 30. It was good Q and all the fixings.
You can see the Traeger ads on it. They sponser him for the KC bbq comps.

QDude · February 2020

SciAggie said:

QDude said:

if the food quality is only marginally better with a stick burner, why go to the expense?

Work was cancelled today due to icy roads so I have time to piddle on a food forum...

I think your above question is a good one. Just how much difference is there and is it worth the effort? We have to take a step back and consider an average consumer and what their definition of good bbq may be.

I was watching “Worst Cooks in America” the other night and Anne Burrell was demonstrating a tailgating recipe. She BOILED spare ribs then grilled them on a CI grill - made me want to cry. Ok, it’s TV and she’s teaching folks that can’t cook - but that’s my point. Many folks might think it’s great. I’m sure the ribs were tender, had caramelized bits, and tasted good. But were they “great”?

Ribs, butts, and briskets off my egg are good. I’ve always had compliments from guests. I think that’s why pellet grills are the rage right now. They make really good smoked foods without as much work. I have a friend with hunting business. He has a huge custom made smoker he adapted to use pellets. He doesn’t have the time to tend a stick burner so the pellet “set and forget” is good for him. People in town rave about his smoked foods. It’s definitely good enough for a lot of people. I’ve had his food too - it’s good.

So if eggs and pellet smokers are so good why do Franklin and Valentina’s and others still use offset smoker? There IS a difference. I come back to this because frankly it is just marginally better. Marginally better though is the difference between good and excellent.

Pizza ovens like my full size or a Roccbox illustrate that difference as well. My egg makes really really good pizzas. They were way better than any I made before getting the egg. Pizzas out of my wood oven though are just better. Are they worth the trouble and expense of a dedicated cooking device? Each person has to answer that for themselves.

I really like playing with wood fire. I enjoy tending the fire and cooking over wood. It’s no trouble because it’s fun for me. That makes it worth the effort. Adding wood every 20 minutes? No big deal - I had to get up for a beer or a snack or to let the dog out anyway.

I don’t know how much any of this adds to the discussion. As I mentioned I’m just at home enjoying an easy day so I thought I’d make another comment.

I am nearing retirement and I don't mind the extra work to use a stick burner. With age has come a desire to get the better things in life - like excellent food! It sounds like a stick burner would be worth it.

In reading thru the "Franklin" thread, NOLAEgg reviewed the KBQ. I would like to consider that unit but here in Colorado we have lots of wind and I worry about the open flame possibly causing an unfriendly fire. The specific moisture requirements of the wood will also be a problem here as we don't have a good supply of hardwood. I will likely drive to Kansas, OK, or TX to get a truckload of wood which I hope would last me a long time.

I will start looking for a used stick burner on Craigslist and if I'm not successful, then I'll order a new one.

Thanks for everyone's advice!

HeavyG · February 2020

QDude said:

SciAggie said:

QDude said:

if the food quality is only marginally better with a stick burner, why go to the expense?

Work was cancelled today due to icy roads so I have time to piddle on a food forum...

I think your above question is a good one. Just how much difference is there and is it worth the effort? We have to take a step back and consider an average consumer and what their definition of good bbq may be.

I was watching “Worst Cooks in America” the other night and Anne Burrell was demonstrating a tailgating recipe. She BOILED spare ribs then grilled them on a CI grill - made me want to cry. Ok, it’s TV and she’s teaching folks that can’t cook - but that’s my point. Many folks might think it’s great. I’m sure the ribs were tender, had caramelized bits, and tasted good. But were they “great”?

Ribs, butts, and briskets off my egg are good. I’ve always had compliments from guests. I think that’s why pellet grills are the rage right now. They make really good smoked foods without as much work. I have a friend with hunting business. He has a huge custom made smoker he adapted to use pellets. He doesn’t have the time to tend a stick burner so the pellet “set and forget” is good for him. People in town rave about his smoked foods. It’s definitely good enough for a lot of people. I’ve had his food too - it’s good.

So if eggs and pellet smokers are so good why do Franklin and Valentina’s and others still use offset smoker? There IS a difference. I come back to this because frankly it is just marginally better. Marginally better though is the difference between good and excellent.

Pizza ovens like my full size or a Roccbox illustrate that difference as well. My egg makes really really good pizzas. They were way better than any I made before getting the egg. Pizzas out of my wood oven though are just better. Are they worth the trouble and expense of a dedicated cooking device? Each person has to answer that for themselves.

I really like playing with wood fire. I enjoy tending the fire and cooking over wood. It’s no trouble because it’s fun for me. That makes it worth the effort. Adding wood every 20 minutes? No big deal - I had to get up for a beer or a snack or to let the dog out anyway.

I don’t know how much any of this adds to the discussion. As I mentioned I’m just at home enjoying an easy day so I thought I’d make another comment.

I am nearing retirement and I don't mind the extra work to use a stick burner. With age has come a desire to get the better things in life - like excellent food! It sounds like a stick burner would be worth it.

In reading thru the "Franklin" thread, NOLAEgg reviewed the KBQ. I would like to consider that unit but here in Colorado we have lots of wind and I worry about the open flame possibly causing an unfriendly fire. The specific moisture requirements of the wood will also be a problem here as we don't have a good supply of hardwood. I will likely drive to Kansas, OK, or TX to get a truckload of wood which I hope would last me a long time.

I will start looking for a used stick burner on Craigslist and if I'm not successful, then I'll order a new one.

Thanks for everyone's advice!

My KBQ is operated just a few feet from a wooden fence and while I wasn't too concerned about sparks being blown around and igniting my fence or house I did make a coupe of "spark arrestors" from some stainless steel mesh. They simply hang on a lip on each open side of the firebox to use during very windy days. They work well and are easy to remove when I need to "work the coals".

The firebox has a lid so as long as you don't overfill the firebox the lid will completely enclose the top of the firebox so that is not an area of concern.

Here's a pix of the spark screens. These were originally just going to be a trial to see if the mesh was tight enough to stop most sparks (it is but if you wanted to stop 100% of sparks a tighter mesh would be needed). I was going to eventually make a nicer finished version with bends on the ends of the screens to close that little gaps but I've never had a spark pop or get blown out thru there yet so I still haven't bothered (and probably never will).

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/va/bxlkadzoru7c.jpg

As far as firewood I wouldn't be too concerned - you just don't want freshly cut wood or wood that has been drying in a pile for a coupe of years. The recommendation is that wood aged 3-12 months and a moisture content of 20%-30% is ideal.

Acn · February 2020

At that the end of the day, as people mention above, anything you do on the egg you can probably do better on something else. The greatest strength of the egg is that it is very good or better at pretty much everything.

Lit · February 2020

I was running a backwoods fatboy vertical as a stick burner. 1 split would keep it around 250 for a good 45 minutes and it had (4) 20” shelves so it held a lot. It was actually cheaper to run than an egg and it held way more food. It still a lot more work though and not like oh my god better. It was fun for a couple years but ended up getting rid of it due to time and space constraints.

rifrench · February 2020

Retired, live on 100 acres mixed woods and pasture, plenty of fuel and time to get it up. Love my Karubecue, and my eggs!

tannehillkid · February 2020

I have a Klose stick burner and the Q that comes off it is far better than what I can do on the Egg. Because the stick burner takes so much attention I usually do several brisket flats and butts at one time them vacuum seal. I really like my Eggs but use them mostly for grilling. I have a XL and a Mini Max egg.

lousubcap · February 2020

@tannehillkid welcome aboard and enjoy the journey. Continue to have fun!

YukonRon · February 2020

Just use Rockwood.

GregW · February 2020

@tannehillkid , are you by chance located in Alabama?

tannehillkid · February 2020

GregW said:

@tannehillkid , are you by chance located in Alabama?

I'm in Louisiana

tannehillkid · February 2020

lousubcap said:

@tannehillkid welcome aboard and enjoy the journey. Continue to have fun!

I use to post on this forum a few years ago. Have no idea why it says 1 post. Thanks anyway!

thetrim · February 2020

rifrench said:

Retired, live on 100 acres mixed woods and pasture, plenty of fuel and time to get it up. Love my Karubecue, and my eggs!

Glad to hear you have time to get it up. @RRP is probably really jealous.

rifrench · February 2020

LOL

Stick Burners Better?

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