Things I think I’ve learned…

[goskers]

I will readily admit that I don’t find BBQing a relaxing event. I have very high expectations for every cook. My goal continues to be world class results with whatever I am smoking. I have gone back to simple rubs (S&P) and try my darndest to only change on variable at a time so I can try to understand the result.

I start this thread to hopefully decrease learning curves and increase knowledge transfer amongst us KBQers.

1) I have not found different wood species to impart a different flavor on bottom poppet only
2) Moisture content in wood drives the amount of coals. Overly dry wood just tends to not last long in comparison.
3) I continue to try and love brisket but just don’t think it lives up to the hype.
4) Juiciness of meat is more important to most versus bark formation
5) Most prefer a rib that falls off the bone
6) I have learned to fluff the fire versus trying to press and break things down
7) I have not had success getting beyond 20 minutes before needing to tend the fire
8) building bark is much easier using the both poppet setting versus clean smoke only
9) Use the thermometer port on the control box versus placing a probe inside of the cook box
10) Smoke until you get the color that you are happy with and then wrap if you want to wrap
11) Slow down to poke and prod as there is a lot of information to be gathering via look and feel versus temperature

All I can think of for now but I’m intrigued to hear what others might think they have learned.

[Mark V]

Sounds like some of the issues are with your smoker. Other types of smokers might do better for you. I wouldn't give up on brisket, done right it is fantastic. I intend to concentrate on that myself. It is personal tastes, though, also.

[FireMan]

Take a deep breath, & let it out. Roll yer shoulders, if ya got a wife or GF, give her a big kiss. Find sumthin simple, like wibs, put it on yer cooker, go sit in a comfortable chair, if ya drink, pop a beer or pour a couple of fingers of sumthin, take another deep breath & let it out & relax & let er cook. If ya have a dog, pet it. If ya don’t, go get yer neighbors. Say real loud I Don’t Give A Rip!!!
Let me know how things turn out.

[Stuey1515]

Aaah FireMan you know how this is done mate, took the words right outta my mouth!!!
Cooking for friends & family should be a pleasure, my cooking improved tenfold once I stopped trying to be a scientist

[tbob4]

Great observations. I don’t have your cooker but find a couple of your observations to be true. If I were to poll people I am serving, fall off the bone wins with ribs. People don’t appreciate brisket nearly as much as the chef. It can really make for a disappointing feeling. You spend all that time - it comes out perfect and the response from your audience is "this is good". On the other hand, you can overcook a rib, serve it with an overpowering sauce as get a "wow!!!"

[hoovarmin]

I decided that, barring some sort of brisket emergency which may arise, I have no interest in ever cooking one again. Even on the occasions where I've nailed it perfectly, my opinion is that it's just "meh." I feel that way when I've ordered it in great bbq restaurants as well. It is extremely overrated.

[goskers]

For some added clarity, I am not saying anything bad about the KBQ. In fact, this is my second go round with it and I think it is the best designed smoker on the planet.

I have made good brisket. I just don’t think it is worth the investment in time for me. It tastes good but I have not found it to be life changing yet. I am considering a trip to Texas to see if I am just missing the mark.

[rickgregory]

I've had good brisket at places here and I really like it... but good chuck is also really nice and what I do at home. Brisket is a big hunk of both cash and meat and with 1 or 2 exceptions in the summer, I'm not cooking for a crowd, so having 10+ lbs of finished brisket, eh.

That said, I think I'll be hunting down a brisket and using the flat to make corned beef for St Paddy's day (and then making some of that into pastrami) and smoking the point. So...

[TripleB]

I have a KBQ also and another offset. I do like the KBQ better. My 2 cents to your numerical order:

1) I agree
2) spot on
3) I agree with you also on brisket. I like it, but not "gotta have it". Smoking a chuckie gives me just as much pleasure as a brisket. Corned beef or Pastrami is another issue.
4) I agree as well. Moist meat trumps a good bark.
5) How true. Most do want a rib where the meat falls off the bone, but I still strive for that perfect "competition bite". There is great satisfaction in nailing it.
6) I just make sure there is a good bed of coals. Little fluff, little press. Just need a good bed of coals.
7) True, but it is so easy to tend the fire! I don't have to open a firebox door and get a face full of smoke. I don't have to watch the temp to know when to put on another split. I don't have to worry about the split not catching and getting a cook chamber full of incomplete combustion smoke. I can look out my kitchen window, see that the fire is getting a little low and toss on a split. Nothing could be easier. The fire box on top of the cooking chamber and the temperature controller is the best thing on the KBQ.
8) I'll have to give this a try.
9) Yes, the thermoworks thermometer is great. Highly recommend it.
10) I don't like wrapping. I try to smoke all the way through. But if I do wrap, I use butcher paper.
11) True, especially with brisket and ribs.

I agree with you on BBQing is kind of a stressful event. Especially if you are cooking for a crowd. But I always try to remember that the crowd really has no clue (here in Los Angeles) on good barbeque. So even if it does not meet my high expectations, it always exceeds theirs.

Drive On!

[bbqLuv]

I wish to learn not to respond
Now where is my PBR

[frigate]

A question, Do you use a water pan in the bottom of the cook box? I have found this helps juiciness.

I have found that the rub you use can help with bark formation. Played around with making different rubs till I got one that worked the way I want. Before my last cook I made a small mod to it. Look at my 2/13/22 post in KBQ ~ Has Landed to see the bark on the ribs and the rub recipe.

[jfmorris]

As much as I hate to admit it - you are right on ribs. I don't like them falling off the bone, but feel that most in my family do. And while I really like brisket, it's a huge time investment, and at current prices, monetary investment. I have two in the deep freeze, but am not buying any more at the current $5 per pound or higher pricing.

I have an offset and won't use it anymore for cooks longer than chicken or ribs, as tending to the fire every 30-45 minutes for a 14-16 hour butt or brisket cook is just too much work, and stressful. Those cooks I roll with on a kettle or kamado these days, and the entire cook is much more hands off and less stressful. The KBQ is intriguing, but at this point in life, I am looking for less time spent poking at the fire, and not more. The offset was my only cooker for most of the 1990's - I didn't even have a regular grill, but used the a charcoal pan that goes in the bottom of the cook chamber to use it as a big grill. Currently I have 5 cookers in the backyard, and they all have their purpose.

[jjdbike]

I will readily admit that I don’t find BBQing a relaxing event. I have very high expectations for every cook. My goal continues to be world class results with whatever I am smoking. I have gone back to simple rubs (S&P) and try my darndest to only change on variable at a time so I can try to understand the result.

I start this thread to hopefully decrease learning curves and increase knowledge transfer amongst us KBQers.

1) I have not found different wood species to impart a different flavor on bottom poppet only
2) Moisture content in wood drives the amount of coals. Overly dry wood just tends to not last long in comparison.
3) I continue to try and love brisket but just don’t think it lives up to the hype.
4) Juiciness of meat is more important to most versus bark formation
5) Most prefer a rib that falls off the bone
6) I have learned to fluff the fire versus trying to press and break things down
7) I have not had success getting beyond 20 minutes before needing to tend the fire
8) building bark is much easier using the both poppet setting versus clean smoke only
9) Use the thermometer port on the control box versus placing a probe inside of the cook box
10) Smoke until you get the color that you are happy with and then wrap if you want to wrap
11) Slow down to poke and prod as there is a lot of information to be gathering via look and feel versus temperature

All I can think of for now but I’m intrigued to hear what others might think they have learned.

Hello goskers,

Thank you for posting this. I love this thread. I am a teacher and a lifelong student. I am wired to try to learn something from every experience. I, like you and many here, are working to learn and dial in our techniques on the KBQ.

Some things I think I've learned, some others have either nor found to be true or disagreed with. This makes me question whether things are just my perception, misconception or simply my own individual prefrance. My main example is fire management. The KBQ is an amazingly engineered piece of equipment, designed to create clean smoke. That being said, personally I still find that fire management makes a difference in the quality of smoke and therefore the end product.

I do need to learn more about different qualities and usages of various species of wood, and to manage to poppets for specific results. I think I'll start a new thread on this topic.

Thanks everyone. I love the collegiality and collaborative nature of this site and those who post here.

Best regards!
JD

[FireMan]

I like you & many here to! 🕶

[bbqLuv]

What FireMan said---I Don’t Give A Rip!!!

Well, I don't, and that pairs well with PBR

[hoovarmin]

Which comes first, the care free demeanor or the PBR?

[glitchy]

Cook a trisket…i.e. tri tip cooked to around 200 like a brisket. Far less work, time and stress and delicious smoked beefy results.

I like brisket, but it is not worth the effort most of the time. I’ve the process down decent on brisket, but the better I get at it, the more I trim off of it pre-cook and the more frustrating that gets looking at pounds of meat and fat you’ve paid for be trimmings. Then if it doesn’t turn out astonishing, you’re disappointed for wasting all that effort. Sometimes just good isn’t good enough.

I definitely have no desire to cook a brisket on the KBQ anytime soon, that’s a pellet or WSCG cook in my book.

[Jfrosty27]

First, I don’t have a KBQ, so no comment on points specific to that cooker.

But at times, I also find cooking bbq stressful. Particularly when trying something new to me or cooking for guests. And now that I have quit drinking alcohol, it’s harder to find relief. 😂🤣

And a comment on cooking brisket. I truly love eating it, but cooking it is not my favorite by any means. Talk about stressful! Expensive, easy to screw up, takes way too long, and way to much meat for just me and the wifey. I tend to cook beef short plate ribs instead. Yum.

As for pork ribs, to me, any pork ribs are good ribs. But I think you’re correct that most people like them fall off the bone. But I also prefer a bit of bite to them. Competition style as you called it. But I’ll make them any way the eaters like them. As I said, any rib is a good rib to me.

Anyway, smoke on Pitmasters!!

[jfmorris]

My family claims I am stressed when I am cooking for them. It's really not stress, as I enjoy cooking. I think I am rather in an "intensely focused mode", trying to juggle multiple cookers and multiple parts of the meal, and don't stop until its time to sit down and eat...

[WayneT]

The ‘investment of time’ component of your punch list is what drove me to bequeath my WSM to my son then buy a sous vide and pellet smoker. Combining these two devices I can get consistently excellent results with lots of downtime while in the bath and on the grill. No fire to tend/poke, etc. All I have to do is drink my beer and check the app on my iPhone for said devices. I’m too old to feel like I have anything to prove, so simple and idiot proof are best for me.