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What to smoke? - First cook on my Yoder Durango

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    What to smoke? - First cook on my Yoder Durango

    I got my Durango a little over a week ago, and have done the initial burn off and seasoning, and am ready to a cook. I did a big ole cook on my PBC & BGE for Labor Day (6 racks of ribs, 2 pork bellies, 3 whole chickens, a large tri-tip, salmon 2 ways, and a mess of links) for my friends and family, so I'm not desirous of doing another big cook just yet on the Durango, as I haven't master it yet. Since it will just be my wife & I, and maybe a couple friends this time, what should I do as my first cook/smoke? 😋

    #2
    Normally I would say chicken. But in that beast, you need something more substantial. Like a brisket or pork shoulders.

    Comment


      #3
      Pulled pork

      Comment


        #4
        Tea smoked duck tacos. This recipe is dynamite and is a quick and different cook. We recently came 8th out of 22 with this in the Chef's Choice category at a local BBQ competition.

        Tea-Smoked Duck is one of the glories of Chinese cuisine, and one of the few dishes from Asia that come smoked.

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          #5
          How did your first run go? I have my loaded Yoder Durango arriving in a week or two, and am totally giddy!

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            #6
            I would do some shoulders. I would not rotate them . That way you can see how the rig runs across the cooking surface. Obviously, its going to cook much faster closer to the firebox but it would be interesting and beneficial to be able to gauge how it cooks across the whole grate. I don't know, just something to think about.

            I am envious. I think If i could have any offset, the Durango would be my pick.

            Good luck, post some pictures of that beast in action.

            Comment


              #7
              PaynTrain - the cook went pretty well. I smoked some beef short ribs and a small pork shoulder. I build the coal bed from 2 buckets of charcoal in Weber chimneys, and then put to oak logs on to really get it started. This may have been too much, as the fire was much hot than I wanted it to be. Next time I'll use one bucket and one stick, and go from there. I was ideally wanting the temp to be around 225 to 250, but it was up around 325, so I had to keep opening the chambers to cool it down. Once the oak had burned down, I put a cherry wood stick on for flavor. The ribs took about 8 hours, and the shoulder around 10 to come up to 203 degrees. They were both very good, but the ribs were a bit drier than I care for. I didn't spritz, use a water pan or wrap them. I'll try one of those next time, and see how it goes. Good times!

              Comment


                #8
                Me? I'd try a pork butt, or several...toss on some other things you do already, as well, and utilize the real estate of your new machine.

                I'm fixin' to commence to begin doin' the exact same with my new OK Joe's Highland, hopefully this weekend.

                Please, please, please, keep us posted!

                I develop an involuntary Pavlovian response whenever I see/hear/read Yoder Loaded Durango!

                As you might have gathered, I hanker for one pretty fierce. I will live, vicariously, through your posts, and especially pictures, so don't starve me out, okay?

                Enjoy, and best regards!

                Bones
                Last edited by Mr. Bones; September 23, 2016, 06:05 PM.

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                  #9
                  I would start with a brisket, move it to the loaded side, then I would put some ribs on, cut them in half, move them to the loaded side, then I would do some chicken and then I would invite 100 people over and charge them $5 each. I would put a positive and negative critique bowl on the table. I would ask people to submit their responses to your cook in one jar or the other. I would then throw the negative jar away without ready a single review. Then I would post photos on this site like crazy. It is the "positive jar".

                  Comment


                  • Huskee
                    Huskee commented
                    Editing a comment
                    Nice! Throw the negative jar away....if only they did that where I work.....

                  #10
                  TallTrees, I am about 6 cooks into my Durango, and I still don't have controlling the temperature down pat. I was wondering how you were doing on this, and if you had any advice? Also, If anyone has advice on when/how to deep clean this beast, I would appreciate that as well. The grates are a PIA to get clean with that diamond shape, and I have not even tried to remove the heat diffuse plate to clean yet. To put it in perspective, my drip bucket just filled to the top for the first time yesterday.

                  Comment


                    #11
                    PaynTrain TrainI would not worry about cleaning the grates after every cook. The heat will sterilize it when your cooking next time. I would think that the temps will get more evened out the more you cook. As the Yoder gets seasoned in more.

                    Comment


                      #12
                      Spinaker , is that because it seals up more as smoke leaks out? It leaks a lot less than when I started my first cook. I also notice the temp is more even when it is loaded, and if I pull meat off, then it tends to rise pretty quickly.

                      I will get it, just looking for some moral support, as my ribs and my brisket were to tough, needed more cooking! I am a master of the BGE, and have not been outside my comfort zone in YEARS! Thanks all!

                      Comment


                        #13
                        Yeah it will seal better the more you cook, and its coating the inside of the smoker. Kind of like a built in insulation. Much like this inside of the PBC or a WSM.
                        PaynTrain The temp is more even when its loaded because you have more thermal mass in the chamber. This makes it much tougher to rapidly heat or cool the chamber. Meaning that your spikes will settle down quite a bit when loaded. So when the meat is removed, there is nothing else in the chamber to help even out temps and the air is allowed to flow ,unobstructed, through the cooking chamber and out the stack. This causes more draft and thus more heat and so on.

                        Comment


                          #14
                          Spinaker , as usual, you are the man. Do you think the condensation in the vertical rack will subside as well? I have streaks of smoke water running all down the front of my pretty new pit, and it makes me sad. I need to know if they will stop, and then how to clean them. Oh yeah, and my wife is pissed because the smoke water is staining the concrete as well. Then I put pulled pork in her mouth, and I am forgiven!! Anything to add Huskee ?

                          Comment


                          • Huskee
                            Huskee commented
                            Editing a comment
                            I get condensation nearly every cook, it drips down the front of my cooker, under the lip of the lid. I've not noticed any dripping on the meat itself thankfully. Scaly creosote, however, can build up and look like large pepper flakes on the meat if you don't keep it at bay. Mine sits on the grass, surrounded by mulch, so if it stains anything it's not visible. You may wish to look into those thin cement-like grill pads that Home Depot or Amazon sells. 2 of those would probably help your scenario.

                          • PaynTrain
                            PaynTrain commented
                            Editing a comment
                            I think my wife bought one of those pads Huskee , I like the idea. Have you had success cleaning it off your grill? It looks like crap.

                          • Huskee
                            Huskee commented
                            Editing a comment
                            Not much. I give 'er a scrub here & there, but to me it looks like battle scars, like dirty tires on the vehicle. Nothing I can't live with. If it got really funked up I'd give 'er a high pressure dishsoap cleanse I suppose, see if that helped.

                          #15

                          Haha, I don't know about that but Thanks for the kind words. I am just trying to do my part around here.
                          The condensation occurs because of the fire heating the wood and the moisture condensing on the cold steel. If you lift and open the doors at start up, I would think this would mitigate this problem. This will allow the excess water vapor to escape, rather than condense on the sides and run. Do it when the fire is starting and a little after its going. Once all of the moisture is driven out close it up and get it going. (I don't have one of these pits, so most of my knowlege is theoretical, but this would be my bet)

                          I get the same kind of thing in my Kamado when I am seasoning cast iron. If I start the fire then put the iron in with out allowing it to warm up first, the iron and insides on the Kamado are covered in droplets.(Bad thing for Cast Iron) Once I open the lid and let it burn for a bit, the moisture is released or burned out and the cast iron goes back in. So this is my reasoning with your situation. Give it a try.
                          PaynTrain

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