KBQ ~ has landed

[Below Zero Smoker]

It was closer to my first attempts than what I have become accustomed to: a little dry, but still edible. I have a couple acquaintances that I provide with samples who keep me humble and grounded in making the best brisket consistently. When I became aware of the KBQ, I knew that I wanted to master brisket on this great example of engineering and motivation. This was the first of many cooks to come, and avoiding the tempest that I experienced I know there will be a lot of happy taste buds!

[Carolyn]

"I started in between two storm systems..."
That made me laugh. I saw a parody weather report for Louisiana that had two low pressure systems on the map. The weatherman pointed between the two and said, "You have from here to here to cut your grass."

So I guess you had from "here to here" to start your brisket on a "dark and stormy night."

[FireMan]

Cool cook! Cool pics! Cool write up!
Seein the cooked meat and then the moose reminded me of my first taste of the critter. It was roadkill at a roadhouse somewhere between Denali and Nenana. Hope the adventure tasted good.

[Donw]

For some reason the opening music theme from “Northern Exposure” started playing in my mind.🙂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxoA1CNPK6U

[fzxdoc]

Wow what a story! At least no bears showed up.

Loved the great photos! Thanks for posting them.

Kathryn

[JCBBQ]

58limited 😂😂😂

[Spinaker]

Wow this is incredible!! Might be the best KBQ pics of this thread. And that says a lot!

[58limited]

Bravo! And that moose would have wound up in the KBQ if it had shown up at my place

[Below Zero Smoker]

It was a dark and stormy night... and that is an understatement! 60+ mph winds, rain, snow, more wind, 2 not so prime briskets, a still shiny KBQ and a box of wood to fit. And a moose! A folding camp chair that was done in by me (I am sorry), a wool blanket, and last but not least, yet another beginning to a learning curve to challenge the desire for tasty brisket! I started in between two storm systems at 8PM by getting the fire going. Set the thermostat for just about 232° F. (low of 245 and high range of 272° F. Placed the two briskets on shelves, no water in the pan to catch drippings. That was a good start, and I settled down with a can of beer, near my box of wood to feed the fire. Cut to 5AM. Difficult to see, fire is producing a glow in the bottom of the firebox. Briskets are already temping at 175°, so I wrap in pink butcher paper and rotate them in the smoke chamber. By this time, the winds were blasting away, and the flames were coming out from the sides of the firebox, and the glow was growing more intense. So I decided at 6AM to move the party inside and finish in the oven. I turned the oven on and headed back into the maelstrom to retrieve the briskets. I heated up the cooler with boiling water for a cambro, and waited for the Meater probes to sound off at 195°. I placed the briskets in the cambro surrounded with towels and closed the lid. I took a nap and waited. The rest lasted until the temp dropped below 145° when I unwrapped, cut them into smaller pieces and fit into into gallon sized bags. I cut some samples, and was not surprised to note the bottom side was hard and the moisture was not what I would have hoped it to be. I refrigerated the briskets and contemplated the results. I was surprised at the amount of wood used was very small. The briskets reached wrapping temp after stall sooner than I anticipated. I was glad I checked the temps when I did, because I didn't think they would be above stall Temps so soon! I think the coals were pushed by the wind below the fire, resulting in the glow. At one point, the coals were not sufficient enough to ignite the wood, so I had to start the fire again. The local hardwood in Alaska is birch. I had trimmed the briskets a couple of days earlier and placed salt and pepper over the surface. I had to stop at that point when I remembered I had not made fuel to fit the size of the firebox. I wrapped the briskets in plastic wrap and placed them on aluminum foil before placing into the refrigerator, which may account for the dry texture. Then the weather forecast was not conducive to outdoor activities, so it was not until Saturday night I decided to give it a go. The weather turned horrendous, but I was committed, and I needed some brisket! It was quite the adventure!

[Below Zero Smoker]

I finally got the green light to use the B&D loppers! I have been wanting to play with the KBQ, and today was the day. I cut some birch into usable pieces and assembled the materials to get it started. I placed some bark, then some of the smaller sticks and lit it off. It took off right away and I added some fatter pieces to build the coal base. Once the coals were established, I placed a couple of the largest pieces and discovered what wasting wood looked like! I thought about it as I watched the flames dance out of the firebox. I took some of the larger pieces and split them in half and placed them onto the coal bed. Flames still came out of the firebox, so I split the halves in half. Once they were placed, I thought I found what I was looking for. I was able to place two side by side and adjust the space between them to keep the flames in the firebox. I had set the temperature control to maintain the temperature between 245 and 270 F. The ambient temperature was 39 F. I was able to turn the sticks to keep them burning evenly and break them down into the coal bed before adding two more sticks to keep the flames alive. I managed to keep that up for two hours until I let the coal bed dissipate. I thought the process was similar to my 1000 gallon smoker, except I only added two new pieces of wood instead of three. The process is very similar, in that once the coal bed is established, one merely adds the proper size piece(s) to maintain the live flames and consistent temperature. The difference lies in the fan operation that pulls the air through the coals and into the firebox. In the 1000 gallon smoker, the air is pulled through the firebox into the cook chamber by natural means: the size of the door into the firebox is larger than the size of the entrance into the cook chamber which is larger than the smoke stack. The air is allowed to enter the firebox, which is heated from about 550 degrees F to about 700 degrees and then flows into the cook chamber where it flows around the meat at the desired temp for the meats to be smoked before being drawn into the collector and out through the stack. The size of the pieces of wood are different also, the 1000 gallon requiring much larger pieces to keep that huge cook chamber at the proper temperature. I did not measure the temperature of the KBQ firebox, or the moisture content of the wood, but it was well seasoned. Probably drier than 20 percent, but okay for the first burn. The temp at the top of the cook box was 245-270 ish during the cycling of the fan drawing air and smoke into the cook box. It was a delight to finally get that KBQ fired up! I believe the smoke flavor will be much better than the pellet smoker that was given to me, although I will have to wait until the actual result of the first few cook events to compare with my 1000 gallon offset smoker! By the selected working temperature, you could determine that brisket will be the first meat in the KBQ. Can't wait to peruse the prime brisket. Two... maybe three?

[Spinaker]

I think you will find that most hardwood provide pretty much the same flavor. With the exception being Mesquite.

[AJR]

Did you wind up trying almond wood? How did it work? I just ordered a bunch of oak and my wood supplier threw in some almond for free, but it's not listed on the KBQ wood selection page here:

https://kbq.us/bbq-edu-blog/wood-selection/

[lostclusters]

I'd have to say no, frozen meat should not be dry brined. The salt would not be able to penetrate.

There is a thread currently running on SVQg Thor's Hammer beef shanks.

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/the-pit-mastery-program/beef-steak-brisket-roasts-prime-rib-etc/1454411-need-recipe-for-thor-hammer-beef-shank

[lostclusters]

If I were you, in your location, I would look at alternate sources of power for your kbq to be used in case you loose your main source of electrical power. I have read that a kbq can run for hours on a motorcycle battery. I do not know how this is accomplished, but I do know it is possible. A small generator might not be a bad idea too.

[Taipan]

Checking in from mid-summer in the tropics. Been doing various cooks in my KBQ and hopefully mastering the Zen of fire management. Great machine in fact the when watching a video with a traditional tubular offset smoker about how to criss-cross 3-4 good sized slabs of wood my KBQ cook box is running 250F+ on a single piece of wood cut to 10” and about as thick as a Red Bull can every 20-30 minutes. Even in the heavily wooded tropics hardwood for smoking is expensive and a PIA to acquire so a smoker that burns less is a big plus.

I custom smoke ribs and what not for friends and was asked if I could smoke a Thor’s Hammer? A beef shank that has part of the bone “frenched” is all the rage in Europe, at least for those inclined to selfie their Q before eating. A Thor’s Hammer does look a bit indulgent when you plop one on a table. My first hammer weighed in at just over 2 kilos (4.5 lbs) arrived trimmed and tied and frozen solid. Question #1 can you salt frozen meat? I seasoned with Lawrys salt and some course black pepper. 3.5 hours later in a monsoon rain I wrapped in foil and gave it another hour and a half before the power went out. Let it rest in the smoker for 45 minutes and ate it. I’d give it a mid-7 out of 10 stars. Taste was good but the texture and mouth feel was not quite right. It could have used another hour of heat but bark was really showing sign of drying out. I have another 2 Hammers coming in frozen like a rock from Bangkok and hope to hear any tips and tricks from any fellow KBQer.