Want to buy a BBQ smoker

[Caliga]

I have an offset smoker and yes, it is a wood hog.  It does a pretty good job when I actually use it for smoking, which is rarely and not at all this year.

More often than not I just grill shit directly in the firebox, actually.

[Admiral Yi]

What's the point of a smoker that goes up to 700?  I thought the object was low heat, long time.

[Jaron]

Damn fine question.

BBQ snobs incoming...

[The Brain]

Interested in a BBW looker?

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

What's the point of a smoker that goes up to 700?  I thought the object was low heat, long time.

The kamado-style cookers are not straight smokers.  They are very efficient for smoking, but they also serve as high temp grills and wood-fired ovens.

[MadImmortalMan]

I ended up getting the Char Griller. Had to order it from Lowes since they didn't have it in stock where I live but whatever. They assembled it for me so no foul. Yesterday, I removed the lower vent and sealed it with high-temp silicone. No visible light getting through. So I lathered up the grates with crisco this evening and started a fire to cure it. I hope this thing works out! 

[MadImmortalMan]

Had this thing up a bit over 700 after the sealer dried. Cooked some steaks and ears of corn that day. I notice the difference in how much charcoal is used. It's amazing. Kamado style things burn way less fuel for the BTU.

Tonight I'm doing the ultimate test for this mofo. It's windy as fuck, which is the only veto on grilling that I have. Snow, rain, whatever else, fine. High wind is a bitch because high wind here doesn't mean 20mph gusts. Sometimes when the sun is going down it's 60 mph on a normal day. Tonight, it's one of those wind too high, veto the cooking  days.

I have a pork shoulder in there. Been in for four hours now. Sun was up when it went in (7PM my time). No opening the lid until now. After four hours, the temp on the meat is 130. Not too bad considering it's cooking in a tornado.

Controlling the heat has been not too bad. The biggest problem I have grilling here is the wind gets up and stokes the fire no matter what I do. The sealed up kamado is good for this kind of thing. It hasn't been a rockstar, but under the circumstances this guy has been good enough to keep the temp within 50 of where I want it for the last couple hours, and I think I've got it dialed in to about 230 or so for the last hour.  The Nevada evening wind gets so fast that they don't let semis drive the freeways in those hours. It's like the air is trying to escape the mountains. When I was moving here and coming up 95, the truck trailers were literally jumping five or ten feet to the side when the gusts came.While they were moving 65 mph. I wasn't used to that.

Anyway, lots of tweaking. And I'm monitoring while I play CK2. But it's not going badly at all considering.

I wish I had a walled-in area to run my BBQ protected from the wind.

[MadImmortalMan]

I plan to pull that pork tomorrow. Current air temp: 240


Last recorded temp in the meat: 130

I'm going for 185 or 190 before I take it off.


Obviously, I have some drawbacks here that change the picture. But I can't imagine not having the same ones with a BGE or another ceramic cooker. The one I got seems pretty capable of handling the situation.

I actually have some difficulty bringing it up to really high temps. Like 600+ for pizza. I tried last week for some steaks. It worked all right, but my normal grill is made for that, and sucks up the air and burns up the coal as fast as possible. Works fine for that. High heat, high burn.

I got some lump charcoal for the Char-Griller, and this thing sips at it like my wife does a a martini. Very economical.

Next week, I'll be trying ribs on the kamado, and the one after that, brisket.

Ribs are already out thawing in the garage fridge.

Okay, as I type this, current temp: 225. Awesome. If I hadn't sealed the intake slide it would be more difficult, I'm sure. But six bucks on silicone and a couple hours' drying time can save you seven hundred dollars sometimes.

[MadImmortalMan]

Reading now: 322.

I need to go tamp it down. Wind is nuts here, and frankly I cannot blame it on the grill. I will reduce the airflow a bit more.

Edit: Left the top vent at 1 and reduced the bottom vent from 1.5 to 1.

[MadImmortalMan]

OK current reading: 325.


Bad bad.



Maybe good for Katmai, but not for real people. It's nearly two. I have to calm this shit down.

[MadImmortalMan]

New reading 363. Ugh. Ok bring it in bitches.

[MadImmortalMan]

I opened it up. .1 on the intake.

[MadImmortalMan]

Ok now heat .355.  I don't know how to get it down...

[The Brain]

Story of my life.

[MadImmortalMan]

I managed to get it to between 220 and 230 and it stayed there all night. Despite the wind. The meat internal is at 190 and ready to go right now. Perfect bark and it smells awesome. 

This is what I was looking for.