Another batch of home lump
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You know you're a serious BBQ guy when you make your own lump.Γ°à ¸ΓΕΓΒ³
That's a pretty cool project.Γ°à ¸Òβ¬ΛΓΒ -
Man I got to be ready incase I have a ceramic phase Breadhead , : )
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How did your first batch turn out?Comment
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It was awesome Rich. Easy to do. I see lots more of it in my future. When it starts off gassing it's pretty cool. This is the batch I cooked today btw
GuestLast edited by Jon Solberg; February 21, 2016, 03:44 PM.
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That is cool Jon Solberg have you tried that in a SnS cook yet?Comment
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I have Dean. It runs hot and fast for sure. Have run it 2 and 3 zone old school as well. The stick burner loves it. I've got lots of trees getting close to the end of there life cycle. Going to figure out how to scale this up. Powersmoke_80 -
"Going to figure out how to scale this up."
Can't wait to see that!
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Jon Solberg ... Response to your post at 137.2
Your ceramic phase will start when you no longer want to stay up all night feeding a stickburner.Γ°à ¸ΓΕΓ Β
My proudest moment as a ceramic cooker was after I had owned my BGE for a couple of years and knew it really well and had recently bought my DigiQ Dx2.
I decided that I was going to smoke 16lbs of pork butts without opening the dome at all until the meat probe told me my IT was 203Β°. I posted that cook in the form a few years ago calling it the "16 hour No Peek cook". There was absolutely no reason to do that other to see if I could resist the desire to peek.
I set the BGE up properly for a long low & slow cook. I fired it up and got the cooking temp to 225Β° and put the 2 pork butts on and put a temp probe in each... And closed the dome at 11:00pm. I watch the temp until midnight and went to bed. I got up the next morning about 8:00ish and checked the cooking temp... 225Β°.Γ°à ¸Òβ¬ΛΓΒ
At 3:00ish that afternoon the DigiQ told me my meat was done. I opened the dome and saw 2 beautiful big black meteorites and smiled ear to ear.
You can only do that on a ceramic...Γ°à ¸ΓΕΓ’β¬ΒComment
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No Jon... I've never had a stick burner. However Ernest has intrigued me with the beautiful results he's been getting with his KBG. The roadblock for me is the thought of an all night cook. I used to do all nighters when I was younger but I just don't see me doing that ever again.Γ°à ¸ΓΕΓΒ‘Comment
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Poor mans propane assist.
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Stickburners are fun!!! I Love a good bed of coals.Comment
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And a good Ribeye Grease Fire over a hot charcoal bed is also fun!Comment
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BBQers - there seems to be a question of stick burners vs. kamados going on here. I can shed a lot of light on the discussion.
I have been cooking BBQ for 40+ years after leaving my Father's house to go to college. I have used kettles, gassers, and had a custom built stick burner. Lobed 'em all and cooked a lot of really good BBQ on all of 'em.
Then when I went to grad school I was introduced to ceramics by a neighbor who cooked on a BGE. He smoked my butt every weekend we had a BBQ cook off and I'd won a couple of competitions back in the day. I asked him how he did it and what he was cooking on. That weekend I bought my first BGE. Within a month I kicked my kettle, my gasser, and my beloved stick burner to the curb.
Life is simply too short to spend all night tending a stick burner! Life is complicated enough to spend it spritzing, tending a water pan, feeding a fire, etc. I easily get the same results anybody with a stick burner can get with virtually no effort cooking on either one of my kamados. My Komodo Kamados are the most versatile cookers on planet earth in my opinion. I can grill, smoke, sear, set up multiple zone cooks, bake, etc. anyone skilled at kamado cooking can easily do the same thing.
For long low-n-slow cooks I use FOGO lump charcoal as my charcoal of choice. Other kamado cookers use other lumps, but I exclusively use FOGO. It has a great size distribution, has mostly a neutral smell, burns hot, burns a long time, and produces little ash. I have never used briquettes of any type for years and never will. They produce too much ash.
I promise each of you that a full load of just about any lump charcoal in most kamados will more than easily last for much longer than the time it takes to cook the largest pork butts or briskets to your chosen internal temp. I've never run out of heat in over 20+ years of kamado cooking. Recently I ran my 32" Big Bad Komodo Kamado @ an average temp of 350Β°F for 56 hours. That's easily enough heat for any cook anyone here is going to do. In fact, one Komodo Kamado cook documented 80 hours @ 225Β°F! So fuel is no problem.
Kamados are incredibly efficient cookers because the kamado uses very little air flow to maintain temps. This feature stands in stark contrast to other cookers, i.e. kettles, stick burners, and gassers. This means your kamado cooks are naturally more moist and juicy than is normally found coming from kettles, stick burners, and gassers. To make up for that single glaring shortcoming, if you own one of those other cookers, you go to a lot of effort and no small expense to overcome the plain physics of the situation. You tend fires on long cooks. You spritz cooks regularly to keep them moist and juicy. You become a slave to your cooks. I know. I've been there and done that!
Some folks here will tell you that you can't lay on a heavy smoke with a kamado. Untrue! If you know know what you're doing with a kamado, you can can get world class bark, a great smoke ring, and wonderfully sublime flavor every single low-n-slow cook and not spend your nights slave to your cook.
Some folks here will tell you that you can't get a decent sear on a steak using a kamado. Tens of thousand of kamado cookers beg to differ with that opinion.
Some folks here will tell you you can't get 2 zone performance out of a kamado. Yet it happens all across the world every single weekend in just about every type of kamado made.
In my estimation, the kamado is the single most versatile cooker you can put on your patio. It's at once a grill, a smoker, an oven used for deserts, pizzas, breads, etc. and the kamado does all these at a world class level. What other cooker is as versatile?
I'm of the opinion that I can create great BBQ on any kind of cooker. I did it once on a $5 bet using just a couple big flower pots. It's the skill of the Chef in the game, not necessarily the cooker being used. I find the kamado to be easier to use than any other cooker.
Just my experience and opinion for what that's worth.
Here's to great cooks no matter what instrument you choose and here's to even better memories with family and frieds!Comment
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I will stick with my stickburner...yes life is short...that's why I don't want to sleep it away.Comment
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CeramicChef ... Well said.
For those that don't think we can get enough smoke flavor from our ceramic smokers I'll bet CeramicChef and/or I could smoke you a pork butt or brisket so heavy with smoke flavor you couldn't eat it because of the bitterness.
However... The Pit loves and respects each type of cooker for their own uniqueness. I really like my new addition of a 26" Weber Kettle & Slow n Sear. Some things are quicker and easier on the Kettle.
Ernest has intrigued me with the results he is getting with his KBG but... I'm with CeramicChef on a stickburner. Overnight cooks that I must continue to stoke my flre, tend a water pan and spritz or mop from time to time kills my desire to own a stick burner. For you guys that find staying up all night cool I tip my hat to you. Ernest has shown us all they are great cookers.
The great part of the Pit is we all use different cookers and produce what we feel is really good BBQ. We all respect whatever choice each other makes about what type of cooker to use. We all know each cooker has strength & weaknesses. Overcoming a cookers weakness is always a fun challenge. I spent a couple of years trying to make a reverse sear on a BGE easy, predictable and high quality.
Versatility... I agree CeramicChef, noting is more versatile than a Ceramic cooker, nothing.Last edited by Breadhead; February 27, 2016, 03:57 PM.Comment
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Ya know this is actually a perfect place for your post CC. We all got a flame and it needs feeding. I got no issues with anyones cooker. To me the art form is what comes from the cooker not the cooker itself. I do love playing with different cookers. I love mod'ing them. Trying this and that. For me that's part of the fun. I think about starting on a open bottom Brinkman style bullet all those years ago. That was fun too. Sometimes I miss those days of not knowing anything and not making everyone sick lol.
I think its healthy to have some light hearted rivalry about this and that in the pit. End of the day, anyone outside the pit chastises my brothers and sisters of AR for the method or choices and we'll be on them like a spider monkey!
I love bbq. I love pit. They brings people together.Comment
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Tipping my hat to you Jon Solberg ...
If it tastes really, really good no one cares which cooker it came from.Γ°à ¸Òβ¬ΛΓΒ -
Jon Solberg - I'm right there with you. There are a lot of different ways to get to the same place ... GREAT BBQ!
I've always been a lazy guy. I've spent my whole life avoiding work. That's why a kamado is a natural for me! LOL!
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In my mind the greatest men in history were lazy. Ford was sick of mucking stalls and Edison was sick of filling oil lamps. : ). Thank your higher power for those cats right?
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You never answer my question Breadhead when I ask what cooker you used when you used to do all nightersComment
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Awwww....Lil Monster is happy!Comment
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