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Nice-looking setup, and that shoulder looks great! It's also good motivation for me to fire mine up. :D

Looks good... nice color inside and out! Is that a tenderloin there? If so, good job on maintaining the juiciness. I drilled a dozen or so holes in the top of my ECB, and never saw a need to cover them during the cooking process. Whether you do the rope mod is up to you, but the more smoke you...

I do a 24-hour dry brine (just a salt & pepper rub) then add a secondary rub an hour or two before it goes on.  I've had success with pulling it at 135 then letting it rest for 20 minutes.

Maybe try a pork loin for a first smoke? They only take 2.5-3 hours, as opposed to a longer pork shoulder smoke. I've never done a brisket. I always shoot for 225. With charcoal, you're going to get some fluctuation, so maybe try to keep it in the 220-250 range for your first few smokes. When...

I still use my ECB about once a month.  I converted it to gas a few years ago, and I never went back to charcoal. I try to get a little fat dripping onto the wood chunks and the small cast iron skillet that holds them.  It adds some nice grill flavor. Have fun, LV!  Modding the ECB is almost...

Curious... could you post a link?

Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but I saw this recently on an old episode of America's Test Kitchen and decided to give it a try. I live in Japan, and most of the raw pork I get is pre-sliced, so I figured it'd be a prime candidate for this. I mixed about 1 teaspoon of baking soda in about 1...

I have a small frying pan, not even cast iron.  I place it on a 1500W hotplate set at half-power, place a chunk of cherry on there, and it smokes just fine.

I can't be sure, but I think what bill1 is getting at is whether you can keep the cooking temp low (say 225) and steady.  With a high-output burner it seems like it might be tough to keep it low enough, especially in warm weather. I usually use gas on my ECB, and sometimes an electric hotplate...

I haven't used charcoal with my ECB in a while (I've converted it to gas), but as I recall, it can be done.  The water pan is a bit of an obstacle, though, and placing the coals where you want them can be difficult.  You'll need some very long tongs.

The yen is pretty weak these days, and pork and beef prices are up 20-30% from last year.  I was at Costco (yup, even in Japan) last week, and decided to pick up a pork loin.  I prefer cooking (and eating) pork shoulder, but I'm trying to go a little leaner these days, and the loin seems to be...

The yen is pretty weak these days, and pork and beef prices are up 20-30% from last year.  I was at Costco (yup, even in Japan) last week, and decided to pick up a pork loin.  I prefer cooking (and eating) pork shoulder, but I'm trying to go a little leaner these days. Our family is just me, my...

I've read from several sources that the exhaust vent (the top vent) shouldn't be used for temp control.  That should be done at the air intake source, under the charcoal.  I don't know much else about it, but I'm happy with ten 1/4" holes on the lid of my ECB, with no cover, just always open...

I drilled ten 1/4" holes near the handle, and that's all the venting I've needed on top.  Propane should work fine.  I use a portable burner that takes butane canisters, and it's much more convenient than charcoal.

I'd recommend some vent holes.  The issue isn't so much starving the fire of oxygen (that'll probably come up through the bottom) but rather having stale smoke on your food.  Stale smoke can leave a bitter, acrid taste.

I just gave it a whirl.  With ambient temp at 10C/50F, and a moderate breeze, I set the electric burner at max (1500W).  In an empty ECB, after 10 minutes, it was up to 110C/230F.  At 15 minutes, it would get up to about 118C/245F, but when the breeze picked up, it would drop back down to 110 or...

I've done something similar (I'm in Japan).  I wanted a setup that would let me use charcoal, gas, or electric, depending on the situation.  I don't have any photos of the finished electric conversion, but here's most of it: I bought a thin aluminum disc from a restaurant supply company.  The...

I've found that I can fit two racks per grate, so if you use the upper and lower grates, you shouldn't need to roll them.  I've never tried rolling, though, so I shouldn't comment on that.  If you go flat and use two grates, I would suggest switching racks about an hour into the smoke, though.

Looks nice... thanks for the Q-view.  An occasional temp spike up to 250 is no big deal. Keep up the good work.

So does the portable grill have an upper grate, a lower grate, and a pan under the lower grate?  If so, I would remove the pan under the lower grate.  It should give you better control of the airflow.