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First BBQ attempt on a new grill

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fuzzymusket

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I just purchased a monster all-in-one grill from Sam's Club. This grill has a charcoal side, a LP side, an 800 degree burner for searing steaks etc. and an offset smoker box.

First let me disclaim that I do indeed realize that this type of setup is not optimal for true low and slow bbq. But for my needs and especially my limited space and budget, I think it will work really well.

To break it in, I'm going to smoke two whole chickens. I've got them in a simple salt brine now. In another hour I'm going to pull them out of the brine, dry them off, and cover them with a rub. Then it's onto the smoker for 4 hours.

I've attached a photo of the grill. I'll take more pictures at each step and update this post as I go along.
 

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Congrats, sounds like you understand exactly what you were getting and will be pleased with it. I certainly hope so. You are already ahead of the game by brining your birds, hope the rub is not too salty. "Burn In" your new toy a bit before placing food in it. What kind of wood chunks are you using for the birds?
 
Smokeat said:
Congrats, sounds like you understand exactly what you were getting and will be pleased with it. I certainly hope so. You are already ahead of the game by brining your birds, hope the rub is not too salty. "Burn In" your new toy a bit before placing food in it. What kind of wood chunks are you using for the birds?
Click to expand...

As this was a bit of a last minute decision, I didn't make my own rub this time. I'm using Weber beer can chicken seasoning. It's well balanced and not too salty. I rubbed the birds with a bit of olive oil and the seasoning and just put them on the smoker.

I'm using the minion method with Royal Oak chunk charcoal. In my experience I get very nice thin blue smoke without adding any additional wood. I prefer a milder smoke with chicken so the oak should be just about right.

Thanks for the votes of support!
 

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bananablack said:
That's a nice looking contraption you got yourself there
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'd been eyeing it for about a month now every time I went shopping. Then this last week it went on sale for only $349 so I pulled the trigger and bought it.

It's setup reasonably well, but there are some modifications I've got in mind. I want to put a baffle above the slot opening from the smoke box to even out the heat a little more, and I want to extend the chimney so that it starts near the level of the grill grate instead of the lid. I'll probably start a new thread when I get around to the modifications.
 
Okay, after 3 1/2 hours on the smoker at about 250, this is what I am working with.

Next step, bathe the birds in white bbq sauce and open the vents wide to finish on high heat for another half hour.
 

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Certainly don't want to rain on your parade, but I've seen a few posts & news articles about some pretty bad pit fires in this style gas & charcoal "duel" pit. I think all have been from folks who walk away and don't tend to the fire or folks that keep the propane bottle to close to the heat. Please be careful and best of luck getting some good Q out of your iron.
 
Highly recommend you place your meats in a pan to catch the grease. Much less chance of flare ups when using the grill side and you will save yourself clean up. It isn't smoke and heat which burns up and corrodes grills and smokers but fat and salt. I have found my meat ends up just as smoked in a pan and I get to save drippings as 'au jus' for use. Not sure there is a downside to 'panning'. Enjoy!
 
jimstocks53 said:
Highly recommend you place your meats in a pan to catch the grease. Much less chance of flare ups when using the grill side and you will save yourself clean up. It isn't smoke and heat which burns up and corrodes grills and smokers but fat and salt. I have found my meat ends up just as smoked in a pan and I get to save drippings as 'au jus' for use. Not sure there is a downside to 'panning'. Enjoy!
Click to expand...

It's hard to see in the pics but I used a disposable drip pan placed on the coal grate just below the chickens.

This is the final product, it sure looks great. I'm letting the birds rest for a bit before carving. I can't wait to dig in in about 15 minutes!
 

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dwfisk said:
Certainly don't want to rain on your parade, but I've seen a few posts & news articles about some pretty bad pit fires in this style gas & charcoal "duel" pit. I think all have been from folks who walk away and don't tend to the fire or folks that keep the propane bottle to close to the heat. Please be careful and best of luck getting some good Q out of your iron.
Click to expand...

That is a concern I share. This grill is setup pretty well, with a completely separate firebox for charcoal vs LP. Also there is a separate compartment for housing the LP bottle, well away from both the charcoal and the wood fireboxes.

On top of that, I'm pretty fanatical about keeping things clean and tidy.
 
Setup looks pretty nice and the chicken looks awesome. I hope you have better luck than me ive used weber's beer can chicken seasoning before and i really didn't care for it the chicken was sorta bland and it lacked flavor. But i grilled the chicken instead of smoking it. ive had better luck with marinating chicken halves in beer for overnight then putting my rub on the chicken for about 2-4 hours then i throw it on the smoker.
 
Looks like that chicken came out great! Nice job. Look around. I think someone just recently posted a cook using a very similar setup to yours. Good luck and congrats on the new cooker.
 
I was this close |---| to getting one of those when we bought our house. i'm curious to see what you think of it :-D
 
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