First cook on Shirley Pit underway - Memorial Day Brisket

rdstoll

is one Smokin' Farker
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Went down to 'Bama with my better half on Friday/Saturday to pick up my pit from Paul and Tyler Shirley. Was an absolute pleasure to meet Paul and his lovely wife Sharon. They are just great people - for that reason alone I'm happy to get a pit from Shirley Fab but the bonus here is that Paul and Tyler know how to make a damn good pit!

Got her seasoned up Sunday which was the first time I had ever fired up a stickburner. Went right up to 300* within half an hour and I just let her burn along at that temp for a couple of hours. I was amazed not only at how quickly the pit comes up to temp but how well it holds its temp.

The cooker you can see here is a Cabinet model, which gives a bit more space inside with the top shelf. This pit is 24x65" with two shelves (seen below) and also has a warmer box with three shelves and a charcoal basket. I opted to get a damper put directly between the firebox and the warmer in addition to the damper from the main chamber to the warmer in case I wanted to do a dedicated cook in the warmer. Will put some pics of that setup shortly.

I pulled this trailer 750 miles back to Illinois without any problem despite having to pass over borderline third world caliber expressways in Indiana and Illinois (ironically the only two states I had to pay for tolls).

Full packer brisket went on the pit at 6:00am - exactly 45min after I got the pit fired up. Using Kosher salt, black pepper and some Simply Marvelous Peppered Cow. Trimmed her up - about 12lbs trimmed. Planning to run around 275-300. Also have four slabs of Spare ribs that will hit the pit in a couple of hours for a Memorial Day celebration here.

Again, I cannot be any happier with the build quality of this pit. Paul is not only a brother in BBQ but a brother in Christ as well and his wife Sharon is a Godly woman whose hospitality was unbelievable.

Would also take a moment to honor the more than 1,300,000 Americans that have died in the line of duty since the founding of this great nation.
 

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good lookin' setup, all around. is that hunk of southern machinery sticking out like a sore thumb in that manicured 'hood? congrats on your new smoker!
 
Thanks for the kind words everybody.... Rob it was a pleasure to meet you and Glenda!!!!! Yalll are fine folks..... I often ask myself how is it possible that every single person I have sold a pit to, and we have sold many. are some of he finest people on Earth!!!!!!... Guess it is just the passion associated with BBQ>>>> I have not had one bad experience!!!!!! Let tha smoke roll brother...... And I am with you Rob thank God for our service men and Women...... I sleep good at night!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Awesome rig and Welcome to the family

Sharon is a sweet heart. I dont know how Paul ever landed her.
He definitely married up
 
Congrats I'm a Big Fan of barn door pits the extra room the provide and ease of access are far superior to a Tube
 
Another awesome SF cooker. It was actually the pictures of your cooker there that made me order a patio model with the cabinet style doors.

That and my wife is an awesome cook, but a little vertically challenged. I thought the doors would allow her to enjoy using the cooker too.

Man, I thought the wait would be easy, but seeing all these fine SF cookers is not making it easy. I feel like a kid in October dreaming about Christmas day.
 
Five hours into the cook and was time to wrap the brisket in butcher paper. Right at 160*.

Also threw on three slabs of St. Louis spare ribs rubbed with Yardbird.

Pit has been absolutely steady at 275-300*. I even had time to run to the store to pick up some things without having the temp go haywire on me. Took me a while to get the bed of coals I needed to achieve this stability so I think next time I'm going to fire it up with more lump and probably 4-5 sticks. I did two chimneys of lump and two sticks.

We even had a visitor to see what was cooking....a crane that was probably 4ft tall!
 

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