Positively brilliant. As a hoarder myself and believer of heirlooms I think you hit this one out of the park. I’d be proud to have a cooker that one of my grandfathers had built (they didn’t cook hardly ever except toast). I’m sure his grandson is equally thrilled.
Loved seeing the pics of the old cooks. Will be watching carefully to see pics of the repairs and tweaks that are coming. Maybe your nephew will join “The Pit” and share his new stories with the family cooker.
What a wonderful story. The smoker stays in the family. It will get fixed up and used. Another generation will learn what a PITA tending an offset smoker is. But seriously, you’ve done a very nice thing by giving it to your nephew.
Gear includes: Char-Griller's Grand Champ off set stick burner/smoker, SnS Kamado Deluxe, Weber 22, PBC, Victory gasser, Victory 36 griddle, Smoke Hollow electric smoker. ThermoWorks Thermapen Mk4, Smoke, Signals, and RFX4, Meater+, SNS-500, roti fits 22 n gasser, Emeril countertop TO, InkBird Sous Vide, Potane Vac/Sealer. Fire&Ice griddle/cooler ensemble.
3-pkg of Collapsible Prep Tubs
Junior, Original, Xtra Lg. SS D. Norcross
Complete set (Tx PJ!) Wusthof Knives n block.
Dalstrong:
Phantom Series Paring knife
Shogun SeriesX 6" Chef knife
Gladiator Series 12"Cleaver knife
Just got into charcoal Dec ‘21 (PBC)
fav is brisky. Love Turkey on PBC. also Turkey in the glass,(any nice bourbon)
Bud has always been my barley pop.
Been smoking a handful of years, just got serious in the last two or three years. Thanks to AR n @glemn picked up an SnS Kamado for appx 1/3 price of new. I dont think he used it twice. Love AR! keep calm n smoke on! Miss you Bonesy.
Great story Jim! Though I do have a problem with just giving away a 36inch griddle when there are not other griddles taking up space. I won my offset just over a year ago(AR) and would not have bought one otherwise. Now I am glad I have it.
My SIL throws things away all the time. Hell she cleans the windows every week, prolly why he works six days a week sunup to sundown. Three daughters.
Yeah, I was very disappointed in my son not keeping that griddle. He has a very large backyard, and I would have just tossed some pavers down if I needed to to make a spot for it somewhere along the back of the house...
I like cooking on a griddle more than on a regular gas grill. I think he uses his Weber Spirit 3-burner more though...
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
About meReal name: Aaron
Location: Farwell, Michigan - near Clare (dead center of lower peninsula).
Occupation:
Healthcare- Licensed & Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) at MyMichigan Health, a University of Michigan Health System.
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
Well, my son was over for several hours as we attempted to rewire a guitar that apparently just has a bad fret pickup (PRS Standard 24-08 for those who care). Sadly the fret pickup still has hum and works only in humbucker mode mode and not single pickup. Anyway, I digress…
Thankfully my son was perfectly fine with me giving the smoker to his cousin, and he even mentioned it was a good fit before I did, due to his cousin’s welding skills and ability to improve it. Plus as predicted, he says my daughter in law would never let him have it in the backyard… 🥲
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
Operation Reverse-MCS concluded on Saturday, after gathering at my parents with my parents, my sister and her husband, and one of my nephews and his wife. This is the nephew I promised the offset too, and before a band of rain hit, we both ran over here to my house, where I used my fancy dancy new Tommy Gate to lift the offset up to the level of my truck bed.
The Tommy Gate is an interesting story... it came from an old Blue Bell Creameries delivery truck that my friends from Texas drove for many years. The truck was a 1994 C1500 Cheyenne, originally with the Blue Bell logo on the side (you could see its outline through the paint), and they had an engine fire total the truck recently, but gave me the lift gate if I was willing to come pull it off the truck. The capacity of the lift gate is 1500 pounds - far beyond what this grill weighs!
Unfortunately, my 2006 Silverado work truck is not NEARLY as high as my nephews much newer Dodge Ram 4x4 with his fancy oversized wheels and a lift.... I was just grateful we didn't have to lift all the way from the ground, and only needed to go 6 inches!
We just had to lift the wheels up into his bed though, and things were easy after that.
I have to say, the older I get, the less I appreciate the newer pickup trucks. They seem to raise each generation another 6 inches off the ground. Which is ridiculous for loading and unloading. My 2006 Silverado is taller than my 1996 C1500. And the current generation is taller still. Yvonne has enough trouble getting in and out of the older ones, no way I could drive the new trucks...
Anyway, I really look forward to seeing what my nephew Jake does with this. I think he will sandblast this back to its original stainless glory, before my Dad sprayed it with high temp black, and build a new firebox, brace the legs, and a few other improvements we discussed.
Last edited by jfmorris; December 31, 2024, 10:00 AM.
That was one of my primary reasons for getting the Ford Maverick. Though Ford and a few others are looking to bring back the sport truck which would lower full size pickups to reasonable heights.
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
And.... while he was cutting a tree down that was overhanging his power lines yesterday, my nephew also managed to cook a couple of chickens on the new-to-him smoker. He didn't have time to monitor pit temp or anything, but says that they came out "amazing".
I need to tell him about spatchcocking. These look whole and cooked breast down! . I'll talk to him about that too! These are just photos he texted me overnight...
Cooker on his deck...
Finished product in the house...
And I guess he dug into both to pull/tear off some meat...
My nephew apparently is trying to be a modern redneck renaissance man... I just found out he has been making his own lump charcoal, among other things! He is living in what was his paternal grandfather's house (my brother in laws father), which is on 13 acres in rural Alabama, with a separate 350 acre plot that they lovingly call "Tick Town" a few miles away. He is living his best life maintaining and using his grandfather's tractors and other stuff. For work he travels constantly, inspecting railroad cars in the US, Canada and Mexico, but he works and plays hard when home.
Last edited by jfmorris; January 2, 2025, 09:03 AM.
Update: I asked my nephew about the chickens cooked and carved back side up. He said it was his wife’s doing! He was cutting down a tree, and she put them on the smoker and took them off again. He came in to them upside down in a pan…
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
The journey to BBQ pit master is complete for my 32 year old nephew, and I am loving it! This is his first smoker, after mostly just grilling steaks and such on a grate that swings out over a wood burning fire pit, and literally having no other grill.
His second cook occurred during the 2025 Alabama Snowpocalypse. A Boston butt that he tells me smoked for 19 hours. 19 hours you say? I asked why so long, and he tells me his pit low temp alarm apparently went off at 2am or so, but he didn't wake up for several hours to add wood to the fire, so the pit temp had dropped and he had to get the coals stirred back and and going when he did wake.
Next time he says he will put the remote for his thermometer on his wife's side of the bed, and let her add wood to the fire!
Looking at the results, it appears he did good!
I think he is very pleased with himself, as he even sent me a 45 second long video of pulling the pork, and pictures of the pot of Brunswick stew his wife made that incorporated some of the pulled pork!
My toys:
Weber Summit Charcoal Grilling Center (WSCGC) aka Mr. Fancypants
Pit Barrel Cooker (which rocks), named Pretty Baby
Weber Summit S650 Gas Grill, named Hot 'n Fast (used mostly for searing and griddling)
Weber Kettle Premium 22" named Kettle Kid, eager to horn in with more cooks in the future
Camp Chef Somerset IV 4-burner outdoor gas range named AfterBurner due to its 30kBTU burners
Adrenaline BBQ Company Gear:
SnS Low Profile, DnG, and Large Charcoal Basket, for WSCGC
SnS Deluxe for 22" Kettle
Elevated SS Rack for WSCGC
SS Rack for DnG
Cast Iron Griddle
Grill Grate for SnS
Grill Grates: five 17.375 sections (retired to storage)
Grill Grates: six 19.25 panels for exact fit for Summit S650
gasser
Grill Grates for 22" Kettle
2 Grill Grate Griddles
Steelmade Griddle for Summit gas grill
Fireboard Gear:
Extreme BBQ Thermometer Package
Additional control unit
Additional probes: Competition Probes 1" (3) and 4" (1), 3 additional Ambient Probes. 1 additional Food Probe
2 Driver Cables
Pit Viper Fan (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Pit Viper Fan new design (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Thermoworks Gear:
Thermapen MK4 (pink)
Thermapen Classic (pink too)
Thermoworks MK4 orange
Temp Test 2 Smart Thermometer
Extra Big and Loud Timer
Timestick Trio
Maverick ET 73 a little workhorse with limited range
Maverick ET 733
Maverick (Ivation) ET 732
Grill Pinz
Vortex (two of them)
18" drip pan for WSCGC
Ceramic Spacers for WSCGC in Kamado Mode: 2 sets each 1/2", 1", 2". The 2" spacers work best with the 18" drip pan. The 1+1/2 inch spacers work best with the 14 inch cake pan.
Two Joule Sous Vide devices
3 Lipavi Sous Vide Tubs with Lids: 12, 18 and 26 quarts
Avid Armor Ultra Pro V32 Chamber Sealer
Instant Pot 6 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Instant Pot 10 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Charcoal Companion TurboQue
A-Maze-N tube 12 inch tube smoker accessory for use with pellets
BBQ Dragon and Dragon Chimney
Shun Classic Series:
8" Chef Knife
6" Chef's Knife
Gokujo Boning and Fillet Knife
3 1/2 inch Paring Knife
This is the first I've seen of your reverse-MCS saga here, Jim. Your posts have been so enjoyable to read. Thank you for sharing the story with us.
It's a wonderful thing that your nephew can honor his grandad's skills by keeping, fixing up, and using that very special smoker. Plus they're really eating good since he got it!
That photo of the upside-down chicken attack was hilarious, BTW.
Haha yeah I still can't get over those upside down chickens.... which he conveniently blamed on his little wife!
I can't believe I am down to FOUR cookers in the backyard now! Two by the pool, and two at the end of the house... Right now I am finding I am using the Genesis and Performer more at the end of the house, as they are more sheltered from the cold winds. The griddle and kamado out by the pool are in the middle of the yard pretty much. No wind-block at all...
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