Official first cook on the Bronco underway

[Sid P]

Good looking cook, Finster! When you’re done eating and relaxing, how about a report on the Bronco Pro?

[Panhead John]

+1

[Finster]

Thumbs up from me on the Bronco pro so far. I like the way the vents are set up, making adjustments easy with no guess work. The cooking grate sitting up high is nice. I don't like the fact that you can't visually check fuel situation with the deflector plate in place. Gonna be a learning curve on how much to load the basket because of how big it is...imo.
It's sturdy as hell. I would expect that it will perform well in cold weather. Even with wheels, it's a bear to move.

[Clawbear57]

Congratulation on cook, the food looks great.

[Finster]

Recap...
Overall, I'm pleased with the first cook.
Lighting was a little bit of a challenge. i loaded the charcoal basket halfway with my usual mix of cowboy briqs and B&B charlogs. Instead of lighting with a chimney as usual, I tried using a couple of Kingsford lighter cubes. ( never used them before) Ended up having to add 2 more, so took awhile to get dialed in to be able to cook. Once it was dialed in, I was easily able to keep temps in the 250-260 range.
the ribs cooked quicker than I expected they would. A little over an hour to get to 160°. Into a pan with some apple cider they went except the one that wouldn't fit, which I just wrapped in foil. Less than an hour later they were pretty well probe tender at 200°.
at that point, I just decided to shut down the vents and slowly let the temp drop, and left the ribs on the grill to rest. (Couldnt do that on the PBC).
Ribs rested for a little over an hour.
the braised ones were tender and moist (similar, but not exactly like, pulled pork). The foil wrapped one was a little drier, but the bark was better. Both were good so just a matter of preference. Pics don't really show it, but there was a pretty decent smoke ring for such a short time in the smoke.
still much to learn using this cooker, but today's results were damn tasty, and overall a success.

[MsTwiggy]

I have tried both methods and i think i prefer the chimney method because it clears out all the dirty smoke 10 min from dropping vs using firestarters. I like to keep the soot out of my cooker which the chimney helps with. The basket on the pro is so big i think i would have a hard time gaging properly. And + 1 on the deflector making it hard to see whats going on in the coal basket. I'll get used to it as I become more familiar with the Broco's moods and muses. 🔥🔥🔥❤️🐿

[Purc]

I agree about not seeing the amount of charcoal with the deflector plate. So far on longer cooks, I have filled it full so I know I would not run out of fuel. I have found the Bronco to be efficient
burning both char logs and briquettes mix I use for long smokes. I have not run out of fuel yet in the 2 months of ownership. I think I'll try MsTwiggy method with the chimney next for lighting the Bronco. I like Panhead John lighting techniques upcoming post. OJ has a how-to light video on YouTube

[DTro]

I use a tumble weed to start the fire. One on one side for low and slow. Up to three tumble weeds for hot and fast. Usually, if it is not too windy, I light the charcoal outside of the Bronco and drop it in place once the fire is established.

[rlozinak]

Looks good, good eating there

[Finster]

Shredded the leftovers..

[Steve B]

Nice cook Finster And do I see some killer sammies in the near future? Looking good. 🙌🙌

[Finster]

Steve B
Sammies, and probably some hash for Sunday breakfast

[MsTwiggy]

That is a thing of beauty!! 🔥🔥🔥♥️🐿