another offset woodturner question - professional pits

[stevenschwartz]

Hi Folks,

I am likely not soon making a move into a wood burning offset given how frequently folks say the firebox needs to be fed (maybe when I retire?) But I do have a question about professionals. Was reading the Texas Monthly list of "best bbq in Texas," and not surprisingly, essentially all of them except the really old ones that have massive pits use offsets. My question is how do they do it - are these business sized smokers so large that the firebox does not need constant feeding? The vast majority of them do whole packers (many many of them) and I am sure there is not some loyal employee sitting up all night feeding the fires.

Steve

[STEbbq]

Actually in some/many cases, there are employees are are coming into work at like 3am or 4am or have a night-shift job for exactly that reason.

[realdocBBQ]

Yes, many of them have overnight shifts putting meat on and feeding the fire.

Alternatively, a lot of them are cooking their briskets the day before (still starting at 3-4AM a lot of times) and then wrapping and holding at 140 or 150F until service the next day.

But look at videos from guys like Joe Yim, Goldees and Bar-A-BQ and see that often they are running their pits through the night. Ant's BBQ Cookout also has some videos doing a walkthrough of some of the top joints and their methods.

[stevenschwartz]

OK, but still confused - 3 or 4 AM is not going to let you do an 18-20 hour cook on briskets to be available to serve any time before dinner.

[Panhead John]

They wrap and hold them in special ovens at low temps till they’re ready to serve.

[TripleB]

Panhead John +1. Talking to the pitmaster (who only smokes brisket) at Black's BBQ in Lockhart, they hold the butcher paper/foil wrapped briskets for 10 hours at 140d in a special oven till ready to serve.

[Panhead John]

Yes sir, they have employee[s] who come in very early in the morning, many I’ve heard get started at 2 am or so. They do need to be fed sticks every 20-30 minutes or so. A lot of the bigger operations use 1,000 gallon offsets along with other types of smokers, such as vertical and rotisserie smokers, depending on their needs. I asked the owner of Tejas BBQ in Tomball how long it takes to get a big 1,000 gallon offset up from being cold, to get it to smoking temps. He said it’s normally about 2 hours but they can do it in one hour if needed.

[stevenschwartz]

Ah holding them. Got it.

[Jerod Broussard]

Those coming in at 3 or 4 are taking over. You still got ribs and turkey breasts. And 18-20hr cooks ain't the norm. Them dudes are running 275+ at some point.

[Panhead John]

Yeah, most of the ones I’ve asked say their briskets are cooked for around 12 hours or so.

[stevenschwartz]

Thanks. I'm finally about to try a 275 flat.

225 is semi mystical. Time to break out.