First ever cook on an offset, a new-to-me SF 42x24 patio model

Finished up the second cook today. Chicken and C.S. Ribs. The chicken... wow. Great flavor but not overpowered. Very tender yet moist and juicy. The skin was what you'd expect for chicken cooked mostly around 300, though I did crank it to 350 at the very end but not for long enough to really crisp it up. Didn't matter, it was really tasty. CS Rib was no exception either.

Pretty much the only question now is how fast can I blast through leftovers so I can fire the pit back up!

ronbrad62 said:

That food from all of the cooks looks amazing. I would have never known that you just started cooking on it. It looks like you are out of control finding things to cook, and NO WAY I'm saying there is anything wrong with that. :thumb:
Fair warning, as soon as the quarantine is over, hungry neighbors will venture out to investigate that incredible smell.

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LOL - thanks for the kind words

I've already had two different neighbors ask me when the next cookout is, post lockdown. Another is getting "smoker" recommendations from me (at a safe distance, of course). We've got a pretty small neighborhood and most people are very much used to the site of smoke rolling from my backyard. Funny thing is that now, if I see "smoke" I know my fire isn't clean enough and I have to get on that. There's literally nothing better than just seeing fast waves of heat emanating from the chimney, nothing else.

And yea... I'm addicted. So glad I stocked up on some meat before all the crap hit the fan. Now I'm just getting fat but, I did haul several tons of dirt and/or rock around the front and back yards the last several days so at least I'm doing something to knock it all back

Shadowdog500 said:

Looks delicious. I’ve always wanted a stick burner to play with but I know they can be a lot of work and I like to sleep at night. How much work is it to run that Shirley ?

How are you going to social distance with the smell of cue on a stick burner coming out of your back yard. If anything you are going to draw crowds!!!

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Haha, great point. Maybe I can have Paul whip up a Que-Trebuchet and just launch smoked meats hither an yon, for anyone who can smell it

So I will say I'm not yet looking forward to my first overnight cook. Coming from pellets and even a WSM, with planning... you just let those suckers go and when the food's done, it's done. Any stick burner is going to require pretty close attention. Shirley's are known for being very "easy" to run. For me, with no other frame of reference? It's work, for sure. As I get better at fires and fire management, it'll get easier but only in the sense that I'll be able to react better and make adjustments that result in smaller temp swings. I'll still be adding a stick every 20-30 minutes. This cooker doesn't have a huge firebox so I can't just toss in big sticks and let them catch and burn for 45 minutes. It's more like 15-20 for small ones, 30 is the best I've gotten with a really nice coal bed.

But, if you're the guy who starts a fire and can't quit futzing with it to get it as hot and clean as possible? Stick burning is your thing. If you get bored just watching a charcoal or pellet grill crank away? Stick burning is probably your thing.

And finally - it's worth it. I had a certain level of expectation for the flavor of food I would get from this cooker but I can safely say it has easily exceeded those expectations. I do feel I made the decision at the right time - I would not want to have variables like rubs, types of meat, sauce/no sauce, wrap/no wrap, or be scatterbrained in my process on this cooker. I feel like I have all of those things at a comfortable level so now the only real variable is managing the fire. And I love managing the fire.

The real victim here in all this is my poor dog. She just wanted to hang out with dad this afternoon and I kept getting up to check on the fire or add a stick or add sauce or whatever. I was cooking, and it's a much more active process now. And my amazing dog got up and went with me every time. I could tell she just wanted to rest and relax but she's too good a girl to let me go out by myself It's all good though, she got some nice treats for being my cookin' buddy today.

So I don't have anything much to cook today, so I sanded down the firebox (sides and top) and used high heat primer and rattle can rustoleum. Don't like how it turned out so I have a quart coming now to use with a foam roller, per further searching here. But nevertheless, it's at least a bit better protected now until I can finish up the project. Also got some food grade mineral oil and coated the parts I didn't paint. Just fired it up to set that and set the high heat paint somewhat.

Then I realized I'm making baked potatoes for the wife and I tonight so I tossed those in. Might finish them in the air fryer for crispy skin but what the heck, never done smoked baked potatoes before and it seems a waste to heat it up with nothing in it. Going to reheat some vac sealed ribs from the first post to go with the taters.

BBQ Freak said:

congrats and glad you are loving it .

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For whatever it's worth, your videos and Scott's (fam_eats on YT) videos sealed the deal for me on taking the plunge. And just like I bought my Grilla off a great YT video (jus' piddlin I think?), I am ecstatic. We just had a pretty nasty storm roll through town and while i know even a little hail isn't going to mean much to that thing out there, I still sat by the kitchen window... just to be sure it was gonna be alright.

I'm already getting sideye from my wife since I'm spending so much time with Shirley.

Thankfully she enjoys the food so it's all good

Jammer79 said:

Looks great! Congrats on the cooker too! I put a deposit on a Shirley in June of 2018. Tim delivered it to me this past Sunday and said that he had just dropped one off in South Bend. I’m guessing you got to see my cooker before I did!

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That would have been me, congratulations! If yours is the one I believe it to be, you are in for a treat, hooo boy. Nice job spec'ing that thing out. Can't wait to see what you turn out!