Kept it super simple for my first cook on the M1. I had some kinda small, thin pork chops in the back of the fridge. Marinated them for about an hour in a garlic-soy-ginger mixture. Meanwhile, got some lump charcoal going in a chimney, dumped that into the lower firebox and added on a small split (6x3) of apple wood from Fruitawood. 

So, first off, these splits are very small and the grate temp only got up to about 220.

I added a second split, then a third and got it up above 300.

This is definitely going to be a learning process as I adjust the fire size, tinker with different size splits and just generally figure out how to get the temp where I want it for a different cooking situations.
Anyway, once the first split was added, a few minutes later I got a nice thin stream of white smoke coming out the chimney. It doesn't really show up in the pictures I took but if I can get a video uploaded you'll see it better. (Nope, can't upload the video).
Now, these pork chops being pretty thin, they cooked fast so no real smoke flavor imparted to them.

'm sure that will be different when I am doing several hours low and slow but that's a project for another day. Got the chops up to about 130-135 then stuck them under the broiler for a few minutes to get a nice sear on the outside. I thought about moving some coals from the lower firebox to the upper charcoal grate and using that to sear the chops but the family was getting hungry and that just seemed like too much effort at the moment. Forgot to take a pic of the finished product cuz hungry.
Final result: Some tasty pork chops cooked nicely. Easy to get a fire burning and keep it going, really enjoying tinkering with the grill and looking forward to many more experiments. Next up is probably a thick ribeye. Trying to decide if I finish it on the sear burner on my gas grill or try to use the charcoal grate to accomplish that. I'm definitely going to have to invest in a small shovel that I can use to move coals between the charcoal grate and the firebox. Maybe if Travis is reading this he'll consider adding a tool like that to the available accessories.
So, first off, these splits are very small and the grate temp only got up to about 220.
I added a second split, then a third and got it up above 300.
This is definitely going to be a learning process as I adjust the fire size, tinker with different size splits and just generally figure out how to get the temp where I want it for a different cooking situations.
Anyway, once the first split was added, a few minutes later I got a nice thin stream of white smoke coming out the chimney. It doesn't really show up in the pictures I took but if I can get a video uploaded you'll see it better. (Nope, can't upload the video).
Now, these pork chops being pretty thin, they cooked fast so no real smoke flavor imparted to them.
'm sure that will be different when I am doing several hours low and slow but that's a project for another day. Got the chops up to about 130-135 then stuck them under the broiler for a few minutes to get a nice sear on the outside. I thought about moving some coals from the lower firebox to the upper charcoal grate and using that to sear the chops but the family was getting hungry and that just seemed like too much effort at the moment. Forgot to take a pic of the finished product cuz hungry.
Final result: Some tasty pork chops cooked nicely. Easy to get a fire burning and keep it going, really enjoying tinkering with the grill and looking forward to many more experiments. Next up is probably a thick ribeye. Trying to decide if I finish it on the sear burner on my gas grill or try to use the charcoal grate to accomplish that. I'm definitely going to have to invest in a small shovel that I can use to move coals between the charcoal grate and the firebox. Maybe if Travis is reading this he'll consider adding a tool like that to the available accessories.
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