Thanks for the information. I have learned something new today. Always a good day when you can do that. Hoping your first cook is a success. Can't wait to see the pics of your results.
JC
Red's Newest Build: A Direct-Heat Smoker/Grill
- Thread starter seenred
- Start date
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JC
Thanks David...and sorry for the enabling!
This style of cooker has had me interested for a while now too...ever since I finished Jim'sJLeonard smoker last year, with the extra coal basket for direct cooking below the cooking racks. Got me to thinking about that style of cooking, and watching lots of videos of Chud Boxes and other cookers like it.
Red
Ha Ha , don't ever worry about that. I'm a big boy and I can so no to myself, or tell Mona what I'm thinking so she can straighten me out. lol
You know I really love your build and the Chud Boxes we mentioned before. So no foul on you at all. Just really making me want one , sometime soon. I will see how the construction goes this spring and summer at the ocean property. Never know I might need a smoker / cooker down there while I am working.
David
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.
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.
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.
I added a single small split of hickory to the coals.
On go the ribs.
She's humming along, making nice smoke!
This is pretty much the temp range she cruised in most of the afternoon.
Every 30 minutes, I turned the ribs and gave a spritz of apple juice.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
I added a single small split of hickory to the coals.
On go the ribs.
She's humming along, making nice smoke!
This is pretty much the temp range she cruised in most of the afternoon.
Every 30 minutes, I turned the ribs and gave a spritz of apple juice.
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.
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
Did you know he delivers? Well he did mine anyway... and you're not too much farther away from me!
Just don't mention snow... make Joel,
seenred
turn and burn to not get stuck in that kind of weather!Ryan
Smoker/direct heat grill/pizza oven= AWESOME X10!!!
Add a flat piece of 1/4'' steel that could slide into that top rack slot, then you could make killer pizza in that thing as well, Red. 
Great to see. Plenty of time to play with heat control and get things dialed to your liking.
Question: did the ribs tend to dry out cooking that fast.? I have been tempted to do a hot and fast on a set of BB's but haven't yet, thought they would be dry.
Question: did the ribs tend to dry out cooking that fast.? I have been tempted to do a hot and fast on a set of BB's but haven't yet, thought they would be dry.
Good first run , Joel. Looks like I will have to grease up the axels on my Radio Flyer.
Its going to be a long heavy drag, and mostly up hill if i'm reading the Globe right. lol
Did you know he delivers? Well he did mine anyway... and you're not too much farther away from me!
Just don't mention snow... make Joel,
Ryan
Good to know Ryan, as I think I would have trouble at the boarder, I hear there is a little commotion going on in both our countries,, So I would sooner Red take the heat there instead of me , lol
That's what friends are for is it not.
David
I do B.B's hot and fast, pretty often, and they do not dry out at all, if anything they stay juicier. I crank my smoker up to 325-350, throw the ribs on, and when they have the right look/ color, I foil them (to render away the fat).
Then I add a little apple, peach, pear juice, beer or wine, reduced with a little H2o, so the ribs don't scorch. Then I cook them until they prob with a little resistance, or like butter if you're shooting for fall off the bone. When they prob the way I want them to, I open the top of the foil and glaze with a thinned down sauce and wait 15 minutes until the sauce is set.
I can make hot and fast ribs in less than 2hrs, which comes in handy at times.
I prefer to smoke then at 225* to 275* unwrapped when I have more time, I like the texture a little better, and it renders away more of the fat, which I like.
Definitely try some hot and fast, I think you'll be pleased with the results.
Sorry to hi jack your thread, Mr Red.
Dan.
Damn nice, unfortunately shipping to NY would kill it and If I brought another smoker home the wife would kill me...lol
Thanks Dan!
Since I just try to sell 'em for what I have invested in materials, it'd be considerably less than you might expect. Don't hold me to this exact number, as I haven't pulled all my materials receipts together and added them up yet...but I figure I can sell it for $700-ish and still break even.
And if you got serious about it, you and I could certainly work out a deal on meeting half way or something. It's a pretty good stretch from here to Northern Cali!
Red
Did you know he delivers? Well he did mine anyway... and you're not too much farther away from me!
Just don't mention snow... make Joel,
Ryan
You got service with a smile, Ryan!!
And yeah - I admit it...I don't do blizzards if I can help it! When there's snow coming in Northern Iowa, the smartest thing a Southern boy can do is get back in his truck and get the heck back South and off those Northern plains!
Smoker/direct heat grill/pizza oven= AWESOME X10!!!
Heck yeah! Thanks man! And the 1/4" plate could also double as a griddle!
Thanks Brother! Yeah, I'll get it dialed in after a few uses.
Nope. The ribs came out very juicy - even though I overcooked them by quite a bit. That's one thing I'll get right next time for sure.
Thanks David, I was happy with how it went overall. The only issues weren't the cooker's fault - it was user error!
LOL I'm afraid I won't be trying to cross any borders in North America anytime soon! I reckon both Canada and Mexico are pretty sore at us right now.
Thank you sir! Yep - gotta keep the wife happy. I end up eating over-cooked ribs more than I care to mention cuz that's the way she likes 'em!
And yes! I already build a heat shield for trying indirect low and slow. Might give that a whirl soon.
Thanks Cliff! Not sure how far it is in miles to your neck of the woods, but Ryan
Brokenhandle
will tell ya that I hauled his to him for gas money. All I'm saying is, if anyone wants me to build them a cooker badly enough, we'll work something out! Red
Funny story... not sure if I've ever shared it. At the time of delivery when Joel showed up on our yard in his pickup with our new smoker... I called him, not knowing if he was a dog lover or not. So just as a warning that I was gonna let our three dogs out, one of which is a Doberman and can be intimidating...and he said that's fine. Well not only does he build some really cool smokers, but I think he's a dog whisperer also! As we let the dogs out they ran around both sides of his pickup to see who was here... then the barking stopped and there was silence. My wife commented... what did he do to our dogs? It is the one and only time they have met a perfect stranger and just suddenly stopped barking. After that the only reason our Dobie barked at him was cuz he wasn't giving her enough attention. So for all you dog lovers out there.... Joel is a great person... our dogs let us know!
Ryan
Ryan
hanks David, I was happy with how it went overall. The only issues weren't the cooker's fault - it was user error!
LOL I'm afraid I won't be trying to cross any borders in North America anytime soon! I reckon both Canada and Mexico are pretty sore at us right now.
I get that, new cooker , new rules to learn. But that is the frustrating fun part of it. And still mostly some treats to eat.
I try to keep politics and religion out of most of my conversations, as sometimes I speak before thinking, so there's that, lol
As for the border and the things happening.
I try not to speak my thoughts , as politics even on this side of the border are strange at times .
I guess the main thing that gets my fur up is the 51st state thing and calling our PM a Governor.
I will stop now.
David
It's hard to imagine that anyone is intimidated by that sweetheart of a Doberman, Ryan! She definitely loves attention LOL! Been a dog lover my whole life. I've always thought that dogs are intuitive about people - they know an animal lover when they meet one!
Red
Agreed! I don't discuss politics or religion with friends...that's a good way to lose friends LOL.
Red
Mighty fine first cook! Just sharing based on my experience from the copper pot direct cooking....Yea you only need a 1/3 a starter of coals, then I use 1-2" splits vs bigger as they burn cleaner and produce less heat but near perfect smoke flavor..... I would LOVE that thing on my pourch!
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
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