Hey all! Newbie here with Char-griller from Lowes!

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Thanks Jeramy!
 

Guys I wanted to take a second to tell you all how my cook came out!

Aside from it going in the trash lol.  I took the time to cook it through and check it out and pull it like i would to see the cook.

Holy crap, this was my first time smoking anything and it was amazing!

Pulled very nice, the smoke penatrated very well and it had a nice pretty bark, super moist in side, just real great shoulder! Aside form my mishap with the firebox and bad fumes, the cook was perfect i think!
 
Glad you had some good parts to the cook. What temp did you pull it from the oven? Most say 205 is the magic number, but if you allow the meat to carry over cook for a bit, you can actually pull at 195 and have a bit more of a firm texture in the meat. I find the 205 the meat gets to be too mushy and falls apart to much. But that again is a personal thing.

Like I said before you will get a lot of opinions when you post a question or concern. You saw that on your other thread. Some say eat it and some say don't. Both sides will put up why their way is the best, you just have to make the best descission you can for your guest/family.
 
Nice work. There's nothing quite like the delayed gratification of a well-executed smoke.

Plan on losing a little more paint each smoke off your SFB. It's unavoidable. And as jarjar said, just hit it with some vegetable oil when it's hot (not too got bc it will flash. Don't ask how I know).

Now that you've had success in a smoker, you'll never want to go back to your oven.
 
I have a CG and have made a couple of mods for it and will be making more in the near future. The 1st time I used it as a smoker was last weekend & I was able to control the temps fairly easily. Maybe it was beginners luck or something. I have a charcoal basket and I used the minion method. I flipped over the charcoal grate in the smoker to act as a baffle. To help control the amount of heat coming through the SFB, I blocked the gap between the top of the flipped over charcoal grate and the opening to the SFB. I later read that blocking that gap could cause more heat to escape through the lid of the SFB and make me use more fuel. Sounds reasonable to me so I am going to raise up the charcoal grate so that its over the gap. I also have 2 thermometers installed in the lid, 1 on each end, & I have the Maverick ET732 and I put the probe in the middle towards the front of the smoker. 

I still need to seal around the lid of the smoker to keep more smoke from escaping and extending the inside of the chimney using the aluminum dryer vent. I will also be changing the plastic tires to pneumatic ones so I can move it around easier on gravel.



Here is my charcoal basket. I wanted to make it as big as possible to hold as much fuel as it could. It works pretty good and I can remove the ash drawer if the ash gets too deep during a long smoke without removing the charcoal basket. 


I need to close that gap to keep too much heat from coming in through the SFB.


I had cut an old cookie sheet in half to close that gap but think the end result was heat ecsaping through the SFB and using more fuel. I have some metal bars that I am putting in the bottom for the baffle to sit on. It will raise it up to cover the gap while also creating a small gap along the front & back of the baffle to allow smoke to flow up. Currently the only opening for the smoke was at the far end of the baffle.


I've installed a thermometer at each end of the lid. I tested them for accuracy before installing them and they're pretty close. There is almost a 25 degree difference from one end to the other.



Finished product. 6.5 lb pork butt smoked at 240-250 for about 9.5 hrs to an internal temp of 203. Gonna do a brisket over labor day weekend, maybe some ribs, mac & cheese, a fatty or 2, & beans as well.
 
Doing a cook tomorrow night. I couldn't find some metal to make a charcoal box but I cut those chincy grates down to fit just above the fire and am running it now. It holds a good amount of fuel like this.

I'm also re-seasoning it. I'm gonna get it as hot as possible and run a bag of coal through it. No more bs. I didn't want to change to much before a big smoke. Since I was able to get a handle on control at the end. And the finished product came out good.

This weekend is a few racks of ribs and a 12lb shoulder. Probably need a bit more time now. So for lunch at 1pm I'll start it at 11pm night before and tend all night.

I'll be sure to post pics of the product through out. I tend to check it every hour anyway to see if I need to spin it like o did last time.

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Oh yeah. Also decided to out this together after it sitting in corner for a few months. Lol. Trying to figure it out as well. Cut charcoal holder bottom out and added 13" grate. Drilled hole in the side for an air valve.

Think the stupid ass hole in bottom needs closed up and a couple more adjustavke valves need added. Full closed it held like 550* for a few hours. Lol

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I just mixed up a batch of rub for tomorrow & Mondays smoking & I'm gathering all of the ingredients I need for my BBQ sauce. Gonna do a brisket, a sausage fatty, and smoked beans tomorrow & a couple racks of ribs on Monday.
 
I have a CG and have made a couple of mods for it and will be making more in the near future. The 1st time I used it as a smoker was last weekend & I was able to control the temps fairly easily. Maybe it was beginners luck or something. I have a charcoal basket and I used the minion method. I flipped over the charcoal grate in the smoker to act as a baffle. To help control the amount of heat coming through the SFB, I blocked the gap between the top of the flipped over charcoal grate and the opening to the SFB. I later read that blocking that gap could cause more heat to escape through the lid of the SFB and make me use more fuel. Sounds reasonable to me so I am going to raise up the charcoal grate so that its over the gap. I also have 2 thermometers installed in the lid, 1 on each end, & I have the Maverick ET732 and I put the probe in the middle towards the front of the smoker. 

I still need to seal around the lid of the smoker to keep more smoke from escaping and extending the inside of the chimney using the aluminum dryer vent. I will also be changing the plastic tires to pneumatic ones so I can move it around easier on gravel.



Here is my charcoal basket. I wanted to make it as big as possible to hold as much fuel as it could. It works pretty good and I can remove the ash drawer if the ash gets too deep during a long smoke without removing the charcoal basket. 

I need to close that gap to keep too much heat from coming in through the SFB.

I had cut an old cookie sheet in half to close that gap but think the end result was heat ecsaping through the SFB and using more fuel. I have some metal bars that I am putting in the bottom for the baffle to sit on. It will raise it up to cover the gap while also creating a small gap along the front & back of the baffle to allow smoke to flow up. Currently the only opening for the smoke was at the far end of the baffle.

I've installed a thermometer at each end of the lid. I tested them for accuracy before installing them and they're pretty close. There is almost a 25 degree difference from one end to the other.


Finished product. 6.5 lb pork butt smoked at 240-250 for about 9.5 hrs to an internal temp of 203. Gonna do a brisket over labor day weekend, maybe some ribs, mac & cheese, a fatty or 2, & beans as well.


When I would flip my ash pan like you did. I actually reversed the top two bolts and hung the edge of the ash pan on them. I would the run some foil between the firebox and under the ash pan. I did not get much heat escape that way. There is not real much you can do about the heat loss from the lid of the fire box. Just thin metal and with the heat that is generated it distorts.......
 
Interesting post -interesting suggestions as use a char-griller and deal with same issues.  I heard that shoot for 20 over your ideal temp and cut it off. What I found works is that once am about 275, I have the side vent open 1/4 and the top vent open all the way.  I tend to overshoot. So long as temp in 225 to 275, it works [so far]
 
Well it came ok. Very juicy. My bark did not get hard this time. Kind of soft. Bit the flavor is ridiculous.

Its been about 14 hours and I'm getting ready yo start pulling. Its been resting for about an 1.5hours.

Wonder why the bark didn't get hard. To much moisture??

Oh well. Its still really good. Just means all pulled this time. Wanted some cubed but it'll be ok.

a8ume2eh.jpg


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Thanks man. It was amazing good.

Good call on the bark. Didn't think about it. I wrapped last time though and it was crispy. I wonder if it makes a difference on right wrap around meat itself vs. Wrapping while it sits in a pan with space around it. That was the difference this time. Think??

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That could effect it very much. If the wrap is up against the meat vs. covering it. The moisture has other places to go to if just covered vs wrapped tightly. If you are wanting a crisp bark for service you can try using foil to wrap the pan the meat is in and making a hole in the top so the excess steam can release. We will use warming boxes to keep our prime ribs and other items hot for a length of time. They will build up some steam, but the bark for the most part stays in good shape. You can do the same with you oven, just keep an eye on it so it does not dry out.
 
Thanks jarjar. I think I may try to do one this weekend again same way only wrap it tight and sdd the difference.

This is actually pretty damn fun learning how changes at different stages affect the overall outcome.

I really wanna try a brisket but it def intimidates me.

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Enjoy the experiments!!! I love being able to play with food. Your right with some foods you can greatly effect the outcome at different stages.

I would like to say brisket is not hard. But it can be tricky. It all comes down to the tenderness and not really the IT....

Here is the link to my process. The seasoning is just like any other, season to taste.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/133524/brisket-aus-jus-w-pics-and-recipe
 
Good deal. Thanks jarjar. Maybe I'll give that brisket a shot this weekend. It looked real good! Got me hungry. Haha

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