Lone Star 20x42 is now at home!

[Alphonse]

I ordered this Lone Star Grillz 20x42 on Dec. 2 and 82 days later it arrived at the terminal. I chose to pick it up at the terminal from the "git go". I have had lots of troubles with home delivery so I usually pick stuff up with my own trailer. Fortunately I had a friend who helped me retrieve it.

At the terminal, loaded and strapping down for the 20 minute trip home:



At home, ready to bust the crate off:



My fantastic helper who had the crate off lickity split:



Almost ready to roll off:



The two of us rolled it gently off the skid and down the trailer's ramp. Here she is landed on the driveway with a celebratory Peroni. I stuck a small propane cylinder I have under her to see if it fit well for a possible burner assist (highly doubtful I will do it though).



Glad the wait is over and will post the first real cook on this thread.

[ofelles]

Sweet! So get it fired up, seasoned and some meat on it! And some pictures.

[Alphonse]

More below, fingers were working away!

[Alphonse]

Here she is at home.



She's been cured at this point and ready for a real cook. Paint cured and interior seasoned with peanut oil.



Griddle has been mostly cured at this point. Needs a brushing with ScotchBrite and another coat of peanut oil.



Yes, she really is a smoker. I do like me some blue smoke:

[Voodoo628]

That looks really sweet!! Congratulations on the purchase! Can't wait to see this thing in action.

[Alphonse]

Photos below! I waited until I could post it all. Took me a week to get it in place, seasoned, ready to roll, and a day to babysit it thru its first real cook.

[klflowers]

That is a beautiful sight.

[Alphonse]

Here's her first day of real work after all the paint curing and seasoning runs.

Two slabs of pork spare ribs and a butt were the task for the inaugural run. Ran her for 8 1/2 hours finishing the peanut oil seasoning and producing some Q for my family. Most importantly my five year old granddaughter approved the Q.

A little wisp of blue:



She ran at this on average. Top grate is hotter than bottom. Actual numbers for the 8 hours 34 minutes were 228F on bottom grate and 262F on upper grate as documented by FireBoard. Yeap, love me some FireBoard.



Spent a lot of time poking small splits on this run. Next time they will be a bit bigger but I wanted to control fairly tightly and I was experimenting to learn how to control the pit.



Here's the meat, 2 slabs pork spare ribs and a but. Rubbed with our own dust:



An hour into the cook. The turbinado sugar in the rub make a good bark from the start:



At the finish. Butt almost done and ribs ready for the sauce.



The little FireBoard working away. I will machine a proper mount for it to fit on the shelf where she is hanging on the built in hooks. Photos to come some day!



Here's one slab of ribs ready for the blade, Sorry no "as cut" photos, my crowd was anxious and I had to get with it. The ribs look charred but they were not. The rub I use makes a charred look but it is delicious.

[tmelosi]

Just are lunch and now I'm hungry again for some reason.....

[Steve B]

AWSOME!!!!! Looks like you're off to a great start.

Welcome to the LSG family.

[Alphonse]

Steve B ,
As you know, you were a big catalyst in all this. I am a few bucks lighter in the loafers 'cause you were so helpful! Just kidding, I really appreciate all your help in answering all my queries.

You will notice I bought their fire management basket and it works well.

I am going to fabricate my own charcoal basket so I can run it low and slow with lump charcoal when desired. That will let me run it on automatic with the FireBoard and Pit Viper blower when I want.

[Steve B]

Glad I could be of help.

I always try to help people spend their money. 😁😁

[Dewesq55]

Alphonse - I do the same thing with my COS. I built a charcoal basket which I convert to a makeshift V bottom fire control basket when I burn sticks. For temperature controlled low and slow I use lump and chunks with my Fireboard drive and fan.

[au4stree]

That sure is a good looking cooker. The beer is a nice touch.

[Donw]

Congratulations on the new LSG.

[tbob4]

Congrats - looks fantastic!

[RonB]

Congrats on the cooker, and the first cook looks great.

[FireMan]

Gee it’s good to be back home, home is where "it" wants to be.............. And.........ya finish it off properly with WIBS! Good job!

[Ground Chuck]

Congrats, brother!

[barelfly]

LSG for the win!!!!!!

that thing is a beast! Dream stick burner for me! Congrats and enjoy that thing!

PS - how was it rolling it around with those larger casters? Any issues with it? You think you could move it around if needed?

[Alphonse]

As you likely know, those 8" casters are an upgrade to the standard of 5".  Yes, they roll well and make it very easy to roll around on pavement and the like.  It made it easy to get it off the skid on the trailer by putting some step blocks down.

That said, I would be very, very cautious of rolling them on grass.  The pit is very heavy and will turn over on you if one digs in and sinks.   I keep a couple of sheets of plywood for that but I don't intend to get it off the covered patio.