Are we over engineering this simple form of cooking?

[stealthchef]

That is a truly sweet car. 

 

[rabbithutch]

Because this started out with reference to Aaron Franklin, I'm gonna tell you what I've observed in his vids and what I've read in his book.

1) He started young in a Texas BBQ restaurant and learned from masters.
2) He left the business but came back to it as a calling because his friends raved about his Q.
3) He has a love for it and
4) he has a genius for it.
5) He works hard.
6) He pays attention.
7) He learned many years ago that it's the fire that's most important and he stresses that in his vids and book.
8) He can read a smoker better than I can read English.

Aaron wrote that his first smoker was one he picked up at the curb and put to use. He also said that he learned a lot from that experience and translated what he learned into his next smoker purchases.

I recently watched a vid of his setting up an Old Country Brazos pit. This is a 30" by 19" pit made from 1/4" steel sold by Academy Sports. It's not a Shirley but it's the top of the line for this size pit by Old Country. The only mod he made was to place a thermometer in a place of his choosing at about grate level or little above and where he figured the point of his average brisket would be, just to the right of the handle, explaining the why and where of it as he went. I watched his vid of smoking a turkey for Thanksgiving on this pit from prep to taking it off and carving it. He is a MASTER!

Now, to tell you about my journey. I started about 5 years ago after a bad illness and a long hospital stay that had me thinking about things not checked on my bucket list. I was 69, near 70 then. I came here with questions that led to purchasing an MES 40 because the finance department said I was too old to tend a stick burner and needed a set and forget. Well, I never learned the MES well enough to set and forget because I didn't like meat without a smoke ring. Yeah, call me stupid or obsessive or whatever and you're probably right! I didn't get the confidence I needed with the MES; so I found a Weber OTG on CL for cheap (practically brand new) and began reading about smoking on a kettle. Over time, I've gotten what I think is competent with that 'pit.' In the meantime I read a lot about the mini-WSM here and already had a Smokey Joe. IMUSA tamale steamers are easy to find in Texas. I made a mini-WSM and learned a lot more about controlling heat and fire and smoke. Still I wasn't satisfied. In my head you can't be a 'real' pit master if you can't cook on a wood burner - or a block pit for roasting pigs (from my NC roots). I happened to mention to my daughter and son-in-law (THE GREATEST KIDS IN THE WORLD) that my next step would be to get an offset stick burner from CL and learn to use it. They gave me a Brazos for Christmas. I have a lot to learn about stick fires and offset temp control and whatever, but I sure am gonna enjoy the process.

Now during this journey I bought my share of gadgets and geegaws. I already had a Maverick for cooking in the oven but it only had one probe. With the MES I didn't trust the built-in probes (for good reason) so bought another Maverick. Then I started cooking multiple pieces of meat and didn't have but one meat probe, so I bought a cheap probe unit. Then Thermoworks came out with one that I bought (don't remember the model offhand). I also started using rubber gloves for prep and bought some insulated long sleeve ones for taking meats off the smoker. Along the way I picked up skewers for shrimp on the bar-bee and some good tongs and forks and poultry shears as need arose. So you can see that I have the fascination with the hobby and like to stay in touch with it as was said above.

Other than the mini-WSM the only mod I've made was to put a thermo in the lid of my OTG. I use it as an indicator, not to get anal about 10 degrees (which I have done, but that's a different story). The Performer comes with a thermo which I use the same way. I haven't seasoned my Brazos yet. the finance department is keeping me busy with holiday decoration take down and put away. Plus, I don't have any firewood yet.

I've shared this tale by way of trying to answer what I understood your question to be. Yes, I've learned that the process is a lot simpler than I thought it would be. I over thought and over reacted a lot in the last 60+ months, but not so much lately. Along the way I found a Performer on CL and a bought a Jumbo Joe for grilling and another OTS and a junk Performer for parts. (Obsessively acquisitive? Moi?) I'm gonna build some fires in my Brazos and use my digital thermos to try to figure out how the heat dissipates as it travels across the cooking chamber. When I feel comfortable with being able to recreate, approximately, my temp control, I'll probably start tinkering with diffusion plates to see what more I can learn. (The Brazos comes with a baffle plate.) I found over the last couple or so years that I don't like fiddling with the Maverick and the other thermos, relying on the relative information from my OTG lid thermo and a Thermopop that I picked up along the way; so I'll probably start thinking about how many, and where to put, some River Country 3" or 4" thermos in the lid of the pit.

Yes, we smoker hobbyists might be called obsessive. I have been and with reason. Yes, we might be called gadget freaks. I have been and with reason. The thing that I've learned that I think is most important is that you can smoke well and produce good food with simple and inexpensive gear (a $25 CL OTG) if you take the time to learn some basics and try new things.

HTH