My new smoker setup.

Im planning to make the trip of a lifetime out of it when I finally do it. It will be a while, but will happen.  Probably spend a month and a half or so driving, and eating.

      I picked up a small half brisket today, from a local meat dealer (who Ill be dealing with 95% of the time)  He gave it to me for $3.99 a pound, grass fed.  I've read grass fed can be funky tasting, but the fat is nice and white, feels really pliable, seems like a good one.  My regular price for whole briskets is going to be $2.99- $3.49 across the board, average of 15-22 lbs.   He has a lot of good looking meats, and is a really nice guy to deal with.  Cant wait to buy some big orders from him!      I went to our local grocery store, and they wanted $7.99 a pound for a whole one...hmmm    Tough decision. Local Meat, or grocery store drugged-up cow factory meat?     Might cook the brisket up tomorrow, should only take 7 or 8 hours, its a 5.7 pounder.  Going to try 50/50 Maple and Cherry wood.  Might work on some killer bean recipes Ive been writing up too.  Ill get some pics when I open it up.

    So my back has gone really bad. MRI tomorrow night.  Ive been pretty much out of commission for the last couple weeks.  But, im going to try and get some food on Saturday morning.  Planning a 12 pound Brisket, 2 Butts, some store bought Sausage, and maybe a couple Chickens.  Im really staring to understand the workings of Big Boy, and now know he is going to need the firebox insulated soon. The smoker was built in Georgia, where the temps probably are higher than here. Prob-ab-ly.....  its 32 and snowing hard here right now....

  Im also figuring out, im not a huge fan of the Backwoods unit.  I have only used it a couple times, but it just doesn't "seem" right. Cheating, I guess.  But, once Im doing this more as work than for fun, Im sure cheating will be looked upon differently..haha... the Guru and a 6-8 hour run time will probably be my best friend..

   I didn't get any pictures of the last cook, its really easy to say I will, then forget all about it once I get going. I guess I got a couple, but its hard to take them at 4 am with the flash.

  I did a grass-fed 5.7 or so pound Brisket, which Ive heard may not be as good as grain fed.  Well, I've heard wrong.  That was the most flavorful piece of meat I have ever eaten.  I almost cried when I had to slice it and hand it out to everyone who showed up for another one of my free-to-eat practice runs.  I got 3 slices, plus the ends, and wished I had a pound for myself. As it was, we ended up with about 3.5 pounds after cooking, which wasn't much when 16 people showed up.  So I've reserved a 12 pounder from the same batch for this weekend. $3.99 a pound.  The grocery store is now up to $8.99.

   Also the wood mix ended up being equal Oak, Maple, and Cherry to start the coals, then down to 75% Cherry 25% Apple for the rest of the cook.  Kept it nice and clean, and WOW!  What a flavor that has!  The Cherry smoke is strong, but the Apple comes thru nicely. As long as my wood guy keeps me supplied, this will be my go-to mix.  The color is hard to believe.

 Ill keep updating as we go.

I know I'll like the Backwoods once I get used to it.  Should have used it this morning, then I wouldn't be sitting here typing at 2:54am....  Probably be in bed.  But, im going to crack open Sam Adams can #1 in 6 minutes, its 3 o'clock somewhere!   Then play with fire til 5pm, rest 30 pounds of meat, and wait for the vultures to show up...haha.

  Well, I haven't been on much lately.   Had the MRI, showed the nerve still being compressed, just today got an automated call from the doctor, got to schedule a spine injection for late next week.  That should be lotsa fun.....   but anyway,   I have a small cook going now, found 3lb brisket flats at the grocery store for $1.99 a pound.  Bought 8 or 10, they actually cook up nice.  I have 2 on there now, plus some boneless pork butt (all they had, unless I wanted a 15 pounder, which would be great, but we were at the store at 8:30am today, with no fire yet), and 2 half racks of baby backs.  Should be pulling it all around 4:30/ 5 o'clock,  got to open a beer I guess....

  So the next plan is to try and get a big cook going, hopefully they can figure my back out a little better soon, and I can get doing something

BBQWillie said:

 
I bought my little Backwoods back around 2001-2002 and it's served me well. It's looking a little ragged around the edges now; these NE Winters do take their toll. I'm going to try and refurbish it this Summer. I picked up a Dyna Glo 47" offset that I'm playing around with, so the WSM is my  go to right now. But it's looking a bit tattered around the edges (bought it in 2003). I think I'm gonna pick up a 22.5" WSM to replace it. I've certainly got my money's worth out of the the 18.

As for the "vultures" showing up..... we should all have those problems. Family, Friends and Food.... don't get no better.

Click to expand...

And yes, Ive used the Backwoods a couple times in the last 2 weeks, and it does a really nice job, now that the temps are getting better outside, everything comes up to temp way quicker, esp the BW unit.  My big one was ready to cook in less than 45 minutes today.  Plus Ive used less than a half of the wood I did at 32-40 degrees, now that its 80.

It was MADE of wood though... It does look like nice rig...   Anyway, I'm doing what I am hoping is one of my final practice runs this weekend. My wife called me and said the grocery store had brisket flats for $1.99 a pound again.  So my instant response was "Buy them all."  So now our freezer has 10 or so 4 pounders, with a few left out for this weekend.  Picking up some pork butts later today, and might do a turkey again if the prices are right.. These little cheater briskets are spoiling me.  5-6 hours and out....

  Ive been burning an Oak/ Cherry/ little bit of Apple combo, and its working great. I think this will be my standard mix.  Now if they can figure my back out, things will be pretty good.  Im hoping to get some fresh paint and stain done on the trailer soon, but the weather here pretty much is terrible til July.  It stops snowing so the black flies and mosquitos can kill us, then the pollen starts in so I cant see or breathe without sneezing, then it rains for a month.  Its early, and my back was bothering me last night, so I drank too much beer.  Now im done whining.

  Back to the smoker...   Ive been looking at insulating my firebox.   Im thinking of a 1/4" plate lining, with a 1" air gap, and maybe some hi temp insulation in there. Cant hurt I guess.  My big problem is not lifting heavy things.  I do have an engine crane though....

 Im going to try and get some pictures of this cook, and maybe the mini car show we'll be having in the yard.  If I don't get back before then, wishing everyone a safe and happy Memorial day!

Its been a while.   Dr. says the only option to fix my back problems is more surgery.  Now I don't know what to do.  But anyway....   I've done a few more smallish cooks, the hard part is not being able

to sit or stand for any amount of time.  I'm thinking about mounting a hammock hanger right on the side of the trailer. I did get the water hooked up, and ran all the RV antifreeze out of the system. Talk

about nice, having 4 sinks and hot water 10 feet from the smoker! Everything works as it should, so when my health inspection finally happens, it should be somewhat easy...

      I have been working on designing a smaller scale rig, based on a 2 axle, 16' trailer that I picked up for $100.  I have the 300 and 100 gallon propane tanks for the smoker, if I can find another 100

pounder, that will be my warming unit, mounted right over the firebox. Ill add a charcoal/ wood grilling pit, probably an old oil tank, laid down.  Expanded stainless grilling racks, pretty much like

Big Boy has.  Once this one's done, Ill be able to use it for smaller parties, just a couple EZ up tents, and my catering tables should do it. Plus, I've been seeing them rented for pretty big $$$ around

here.     I should add the grilling setup to my big trailer as well.  Now if someone had a good back I could buy.....

Well, its been quite a while. My back has gotten quite a bit worse, and I think the trailer is sold. Not what I had hoped for, but Im not sure what else to do. I did a mini brisket for my birthday on my small smoker, and had quite a time with it. When my back acts up bad, I can barely stand. Muscle relaxers seem to help out a bit, but they make the brain mush for hours. Thanks to all the heroin addicted scumbags here in Maine, we cant get any pain pills for anything short of death. But anyway, Ill still be looking around on here, and hopefully I can find a procedure that doesnt have a good chance at making me worse off than I am now.

Yeah, its been hard.  Things were seeming to be going OK, but I just wasn't getting better very fast.  The last doc I saw thinks the scar tissue basically un-did what the surgery tried to do, or at least that's how he explained it. The quick improvement seemed to get worse, and now, honestly, Im feeling worse then I did before the surgery.  Ive gotten somewhat used to my left leg being "dead" most of the time, but I still cant justify going and getting cut again, in case it does come out worse again.  But enough belly (or back) aching.

 Moral of the story I guess is: if there something you want to do, do it now while you can.  I was going to do my trailer on weekends at first, to feel it out, while I kept a real job.  Now I cant do either.  A guy from Ga. is getting a pretty good deal on a turnkey trailer though, and he sounds like he knows what he is doing.  Like I said last time, Ill keep lurking around here, and maybe someday, they will figure out a new procedure that wont kill me. Or at least try to.