First lowish and slowish cook on the Akorn...

[worktogthr]

Well...as many of you know, I am a degenerate grill/smoker purchaser. Craigslist, clearance sales, if it's something I don't have and the price is right... I'm buying it.

So a few weeks back I got a chargriller Akorn with the cart for just $80 brand new and already assembled. Home Depot clearance of 75% off. Yesterday I seasoned her up and learned some of the temp control. Also grilled some sausages for dinner:

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• worktogthr
• Mar 5, 2016

So today I started a fire for low and slow cooking...

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• worktogthr
• Mar 5, 2016

Once the maverick was reading around 175 I put he deflecting stone and a drip pan in place:

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• worktogthr
• Mar 5, 2016

Rubbed a small hunk of butt, maybe 4-5 pounds with Big Bald BBQ rub from Jeff's book.

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• worktogthr
• Mar 5, 2016

Got the Akorn settled in at 268 and I threw the butt on:

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• worktogthr
• Mar 5, 2016

Some nice blue smoke and the sweet smell of hickory:

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• worktogthr
• Mar 5, 2016

Usually cook butts around 300 but I'm not eating this for dinner so there's no rush. Going to let it do its thing at 270. If I get impatient and feel like learning the vents a little, I might tinker and raise the temp up. I'll be back!

-Chris

 

[SmokinAl]

Great start Chris!

I'm in for the ride.

Al

 

[worktogthr]

Well of course I had to tinker with the vents for fun so now she's running around 300 for hours without me touching a thing. Really cool how well insulated these are. Butt is at about 165 IT but no wrapping today, just going to let it ride.

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• worktogthr
• Mar 5, 2016

Had a turkey breast brining so I figured why not throw it on the akorn!

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• worktogthr
• Mar 5, 2016

I'll be back!

 

[worktogthr]

Well I started this cool at around noon and its 5:30 and the butt is don. About an hour a pound at 300 or so. Here she is:

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• worktogthr
• Mar 5, 2016

Not the best picture because it was smokey in there! Got lucky and the turkey was done just a few minutes later :

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• worktogthr
• Mar 5, 2016

Had to steal a piece of crispy deliciousness from the butt:

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• worktogthr
• Mar 5, 2016

I will be back with the pulled pork later. Wasn't supposed to eat this for dinner, but I might have to have just a bit!

 

[worktogthr]

So here it is pulled:

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• worktogthr
• Mar 5, 2016

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• worktogthr
• Mar 5, 2016

Good results for my first cook. Nice smoker flavor, great bark and I barely had to mess with the vents at all. This will make some good sandwiches, burritos, omelettes, maybe even tamales. Thanks for looking!

-Chris

 

[pc farmer]

Great cook. But I knew it would be. You know what your doing with any cooker.

 

[GaryHibbert]

Hey Chris.  Glad you're happy with your new smoker--you stole it!!!  The butt looks great and looks like it pulled no problems at all.

Gary

 

[tropics]

Nice job on the cook both look good.I am going to do a test run on my WSM later with some RO lump

Richie

 

[worktogthr]

Great cook. But I knew it would be. You know what your doing with any cooker.

Thanks so much. My cooker count is getting into the digits where the wife is thinking about an intervention. And even still I'm checking Craigslist every day haha

 

[worktogthr]

Hey Chris.  Glad you're happy with your new smoker--you stole it!!!  The butt looks great and looks like it pulled no problems at all.

Gary

Thanks for the kind words Gary! I think I lucked out as far as this Akorn goes. Some reviews said that you can get one that's not sealed so well and temps just continue to climb and then you have to mod it. With this one, I just gradually brought it up to the temp I wanted and it was smooth sailing from there!

 

[worktogthr]

Nice job on the cook both look good.I am going to do a test run on my WSM later with some RO lump
Richie

Thanks so much Richie. I don't have much experience with lump myself but I have to say, I love the way it a crackles haha music to my ears!

 

[tropics]

Thanks so much Richie. I don't have much experience with lump myself but I have to say, I love the way it a crackles haha music to my ears!

I am using this because I have it Smoking a Pork Shoulder tomorrow. Started the burn at 10 AM and adjusted the vents at 10:40 holding 275* now

Richie

 

[seenred]

Looks great Chris!  Love the new cooker!  I couldn't help but chuckle about your wife thinking you might need an intervention...that has a familiar ring to it!  

   

  

Nicely done Brother!

Red

 

[sfprankster]

Thanks so much. My cooker count is getting into the digits where the wife is thinking about an intervention. And even still I'm checking Craigslist every day haha

Someone's going to get an IP ban from Craigslist soon.

Nice pulled pork!!!

 

[disco]

Great smoke and qview. I would like some of that pork.

Points for a great smoke on a new rig.

Disco

 

[worktogthr]

I am using this because I have it Smoking a Pork Shoulder tomorrow. Started the burn at 10 AM and adjusted the vents at 10:40 holding 275* now
Richie

Can't wait to see it! I love the WSM for butts! Pretty much set and forget with awesome results.

 

[worktogthr]

Looks great Chris!  Love the new cooker!  I couldn't help but chuckle about your wife thinking you might need an intervention...that has a familiar ring to it!  :wife:    :biggrin:   

Nicely done Brother!

:points:

Red

Thanks for the points and the kind words Red! Hahaha I was rearranging my deck this afternoon and my wife starting asking questions like "So how many do you have? What's the difference between all of them? If you had to keep just one, which would it be?" Hahah so just like when she goes shopping and shaves a few dollars off what she actually spent, I left out a few that I have hidden in different parts of the yard. And went on to explain that I couldn't live without any of them haha.

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• worktogthr
• Mar 6, 2016

That's what she could see from the kitchen window... But there are many more haha

 

[worktogthr]

Someone's going to get an IP ban from Craigslist soon.

Nice pulled pork!!!

Hahaa thanks. Currently have Craigslist opened in another tab.

 

[worktogthr]

Great smoke and qview. I would like some of that pork.

Points for a great smoke on a new rig.

Disco

Thanks Disco! You're going to get tired of these new cooker cooks of mine in the next few months... Spring cleaning is upon us and you know what people do when they're cleaning up their yard and realizing how they never use that MES 40 they got last Father's Day haha

 

[rvial]

I picked up an Akorn with the cart from home depot a few weeks ago myself...soon as I get antoher nice weekend that I'm home I'm gonna do a test run with some lump in it and see if I can't keep the temps low and stable..maybe toss a butt on it.. :D