Red's Newest Build: A Direct-Heat Smoker/Grill

[civilsmoker]

Thanks Brother! Yeah I learned that through making the mistake. Wasted a bunch of charcoal, and worked harder than I needed to to control the temps. I'll know better next time...

Red

you will find that a little goes a long way with a direct cooker like that, oh and since a little goes along way its efficient and low cost cooking, ie it also takes less to get going etc....its a different style of cooking but my absolute favorite way to cook, There is NOTHING better tasting than a in the flame seared Prime NY when it comes to steak in my book!!!!! PS if you can get some cherry to do this its pure $$$$$

 

[JLeonard]

Man thats a great set up......Now you got me to thinking of putting the set up on Tatanka to test.

Jim

 

[seenred]

Man thats a great set up......Now you got me to thinking of putting the set up on Tatanka to test.

Jim

When you do that Jim, I'll be hoping to see the cook thread on it here!

Red

 

[JLeonard]

When you do that Jim, I'll be hoping to see the cook thread on it here!

Red

It'll happen and will be duly posted for sure!

Jim

 

[civilsmoker]

Man thats a great set up......Now you got me to thinking of putting the set up on Tatanka to test.

Jim

Yes please many eyes want to see it!!!

When you do that Jim, I'll be hoping to see the cook thread on it here!

Red

Yes yes

It'll happen and will be duly posted for sure!

Jim

YES!!!!!

 

[JC in GB]

Today was test burn day!


First off, I'm kinda driving this thing blind...since I've never run a direct heat cooker like this before, I was really just wingin' it. I started with about half a basket full of lump charcoal. Used my weed burner torch to light up a good amount of the coal.

View attachment 716280


I didn't take any time at all and the temps had jumped to mid 500s. I placed 2 probes. Probe #1 in the back, over the hot zone, and Probe #2 in the front, over the cool zone.

Right off the bat, I learned a lesson here: I started with too much charcoal, and only should have lit one corner of it and let the fire burn from side to side and front to back. Would have been easier that way to manage temp control.


View attachment 716281


After fiddling with the dampers for maybe a half hour to 45 minutes, I began to get control of the temps. My understanding is, low-to-mid 300s is where most people cook on these. So I'm getting ready to throw on a rack of BB ribs.

View attachment 716282


I added a single small split of hickory to the coals.

View attachment 716283


On go the ribs.

View attachment 716284


She's humming along, making nice smoke!

View attachment 716285

This is pretty much the temp range she cruised in most of the afternoon.

View attachment 716286


Every 30 minutes, I turned the ribs and gave a spritz of apple juice.

View attachment 716294


It only took about an hour and a half until they probed at close to 200 IT between the bones, so I foiled them for about 30 more minutes - just to allow them to get a bit more tender.

View attachment 716295


That's all the pics I got. Late in the day, the boss lady got to rushing me. We have to drive over to Tulsa tonight to watch one of the grandson's little league baseball game.

But the ribs tasted great! My only critical comment is, I got them way to tender for my liking. They were definitely FOTB...which the women in my love, but I prefer firmer bones myself. I figure it'll take me a few cooks to figure out fire and time management for different meats. But I'm calling the maiden burn a success!

That's all for now...she's hollering at me to get in the car - time to get to that ball game.

Later guys!

Red

Finished unit looks great. Very professional looking job.

Your test fire also answered my questions about cooking temps and fire control for this type of unit. Thank you for that. I learn so much practical information on this site. Not sure my coconut is capable of holding it all.

Hope you get a plethora of good food out of that bad boy. Enjoy!!

JC

 

[seenred]

Finished unit looks great. Very professional looking job.

Your test fire also answered my questions about cooking temps and fire control for this type of unit. Thank you for that. I learn so much practical information on this site. Not sure my coconut is capable of holding it all.

Hope you get a plethora of good food out of that bad boy. Enjoy!!

JC

Appreciate the comments JC!

I've been intrigued by this style cooker for a while now. I started this project with very little real knowledge of direct fire cooking...but really wanted to try it. I'm definitely learning as I go!

Red

 

[JC in GB]

Appreciate the comments JC!

I've been intrigued by this style cooker for a while now. I started this project with very little real knowledge of direct fire cooking...but really wanted to try it. I'm definitely learning as I go!

Red

I hope you don't mind if I tag along for the ride? Thanks...

JC

 

[ifitsdeadsmokeit]

A burn barrel would work well with this pit and being able to control temps by only adding coals to it. Since it is now a used grill/smoker, I am gonna wait for the 70% off sale on FB marketplace. Probably less than a 3 hour drive for me. Awesome build. Wish welding was in my skill set.

 

[sandyut]

Wow! Amazing work! Speechless…. Man that’s just a thing of beauty, enjoy years of good cooks on it.

 

[JLeonard]

A burn barrel would work well with this pit and being able to control temps by only adding coals to it. Since it is now a used grill/smoker, I am gonna wait for the 70% off sale on FB marketplace. Probably less than a 3 hour drive for me. Awesome build. Wish welding was in my skill set.

Careful man, I made a similar joke and now have a monster smoker in my garage! As seen in my avatar.

Jim

 

[seenred]

A burn barrel would work well with this pit and being able to control temps by only adding coals to it. Since it is now a used grill/smoker, I am gonna wait for the 70% off sale on FB marketplace. Probably less than a 3 hour drive for me. Awesome build. Wish welding was in my skill set.

Definitely! A burn barrel and a shovel is how they do it in those traditional Texas hill country BBQ joints.

LOL the 70% off sale has already started! If you price a new Chud Box, you'll find they go for $2400 before sales tax and shipping. I can let this on go for $700 - which is just about exactly 70% off! But don't look for it on FB Marketplace...I don't have an account, and not likely to get one...

Thank you for the compliments!

Red

 

[seenred]

Wow! Amazing work! Speechless…. Man that’s just a thing of beauty, enjoy years of good cooks on it.

Thank you David!

Careful man, I made a similar joke and now have a monster smoker in my garage! As seen in my avatar.

Jim

Yep!! Here's Jim standing next to it in my shop on the day he picked it up!

Red

 

[DRKsmoking]

Handsome couple. You know they spend many happy hours together.

David

 

[realdocBBQ]

Awesome job, Joel! Looks like a great little cooker. I've been considering a direct cooker like that - but then, I've also been considering a cabinet offset, and a gravity feed and a whole bunch of other styles as well.

Definitely a nice smallish footprint on that thing, looks like it doesn't take up much more room than a Weber kettle, and that's even with a side shelf!

I'm kinda stuck and waffling on my current build and what I want to do with it. I'm leaning towards an insulated firebox, just 'cause that is what people seem to want in an offset these days, not because I'm convinced they're 'necessary'. At least not around here for 10-11 months of the year.

Anyways, great job, looks like a cool little cooker. I just picked up a few sheets of ¼" plate, I might think about building something like this as a neat 'new' project, since I haven't done one of these yet!

 

[seenred]

Awesome job, Joel! Looks like a great little cooker. I've been considering a direct cooker like that - but then, I've also been considering a cabinet offset, and a gravity feed and a whole bunch of other styles as well.

Definitely a nice smallish footprint on that thing, looks like it doesn't take up much more room than a Weber kettle, and that's even with a side shelf!

I'm kinda stuck and waffling on my current build and what I want to do with it. I'm leaning towards an insulated firebox, just 'cause that is what people seem to want in an offset these days, not because I'm convinced they're 'necessary'. At least not around here for 10-11 months of the year.

Anyways, great job, looks like a cool little cooker. I just picked up a few sheets of ¼" plate, I might think about building something like this as a neat 'new' project, since I haven't done one of these yet!

Thanks for all the kind comments Danny! I did a second test cook on it again today (update on that to follow). It ran like a champ!

Yeah, I doubt I'll mess with any insulated FBs, unless I get a custom order and that's just what the guy wants. Like you, I doubt there's much need for insulated FBs in our part of the country.

Thanks again Danny!

Red

 

[seenred]

I did a 2nd test cook today. One thing I've been excited to test with this type of cooker is Wings. I figured a direct cooker would slay some chicken wings! So that's what I cooked this afternoon.

Mrs. Red bought a 4 lb. bag of wings a couple days ago. These were really big wings! I started with around half the bag - which will be plenty for the 2 of us.

Took a paper towel and patted them all dry, then laid out on a cooling rack and into the fridge for an hour or 2 to air dry.

Learned some lessons from the last cook - started with much less charcoal. I have about 2/3 of a chimney of coal in the starter chimney...plus maybe nearly that much left in the coal basket from the last cook.

Once I got the hot coals dumped in the basket, she climbed quickly up to near 350*, and that's pretty much where we stayed the whole time. I added one double-fist sized chunk of hickory to the coals, then...

In go the wings! Rubbed with a homemade chicken wing rub and a little cooking spray to help them crisp up. I'm also cooking a couple chicken breasts for another day. Probably will make fajitas out of those some time later this week.

I flipped them at the 20 minute mark. This pic is about 40 minutes in, and they're already basically done. Time to mop them with some sauce!

I like spicy buffalo sauce on my wings, but Mrs. Red doesn't care for buffalo sauce. So I made 2 mop sauces. My standard spicy buffalo, and a sweet chili mop sauce for her wings.

Spicy on the left, sweet on the right.

I let them roll for about 10 minutes to set the sauce, then pulled them off. The breasts were probing at 175, so I pulled them at the same time. Total cook time was less than an hour.

My plate - half a dozen Spicy Buffalo Wings with a side of cheesy tots!

I did brush a little more of the buffalo sauce on mine after plating.

Verdict: Outstanding! The wings were juicy and flavorful, with just the right amount of smoky flavor to go with the spicy, tangy mop sauce.

And as a bonus, Mrs. Red raved about the sweet wings! A true compliment, because she won't say she likes something just to make me feel good lol. If she says it, she means it.

So with 2 successful test cooks behind me, I'll get this build wrapped up this week. Not much left to do: I have a few minutes of welding left do, on the side table and the coal basket heat shield...then get it prepped and ready for paint. Oh and I still need to go to the hardware store for a bolt and lock nut for the exhaust damper assembly.

Thanks for stopping by Friends!

Red

 

[civilsmoker]

I did a 2nd test cook today. One thing I've been excited to test with this type of cooker is Wings. I figured a direct cooker would slay some chicken wings! So that's what I cooked this afternoon.

Mrs. Red bought a 4 lb. bag of wings a couple days ago. These were really big wings! I started with around half the bag - which will be plenty for the 2 of us.

Took a paper towel and patted them all dry, then laid out on a cooling rack and into the fridge for an hour or 2 to air dry.

View attachment 716569

Learned some lessons from the last cook - started with much less charcoal. I have about 2/3 of a chimney of coal in the starter chimney...plus maybe nearly that much left in the coal basket from the last cook.

View attachment 716570

Once I got the hot coals dumped in the basket, she climbed quickly up to near 350*, and that's pretty much where we stayed the whole time. I added one double-fist sized chunk of hickory to the coals, then...

In go the wings! Rubbed with a homemade chicken wing rub and a little cooking spray to help them crisp up. I'm also cooking a couple chicken breasts for another day. Probably will make fajitas out of those some time later this week.

View attachment 716571


I flipped them at the 20 minute mark. This pic is about 40 minutes in, and they're already basically done. Time to mop them with some sauce!

View attachment 716572

I like spicy buffalo sauce on my wings, but Mrs. Red doesn't care for buffalo sauce. So I made 2 mop sauces. My standard spicy buffalo, and a sweet chili mop sauce for her wings.

Spicy on the left, sweet on the right.

View attachment 716573

I let them roll for about 10 minutes to set the sauce, then pulled them off. The breasts were probing at 175, so I pulled them at the same time. Total cook time was less than an hour.

View attachment 716575

My plate - half a dozen Spicy Buffalo Wings with a side of cheesy tots!

I did brush a little more of the buffalo sauce on mine after plating.

View attachment 716576


Verdict: Outstanding! The wings were juicy and flavorful, with just the right amount of smoky flavor to go with the spicy, tangy mop sauce.

And as a bonus, Mrs. Red raved about the sweet wings! A true compliment, because she won't say she likes something just to make me feel good lol. If she says it, she means it.

So with 2 successful test cooks behind me, I'll get this build wrapped up this week. Not much left to do: I have a few minutes of welding left do, on the side table and the coal basket heat shield...then get it prepped and ready for paint. Oh and I still need to go to the hardware store for a bolt and lock nut for the exhaust damper assembly.

Thanks for stopping by Friends!

Red

Dude, just a perfect home run!!!!! Its left the park and still climbing! That cooker is going to be a fav in your house for sure! Cooking with engaged coals like that doesn't have any flare ups and it just has flavor to die for.....

Now, next time put 2 - 1-2" cherry wood splits on top of your coals and when they are fully engage put the wings on and just let the flame burn out to coals..... the flavor tone will be next level!!!!

 

[Brokenhandle]

Awesome looking cook! And great smoker you built!

Ryan

 

[crazymoon]

SR, Awesome build and a successful first smoke !!