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New Trends Create Bad Habbits

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Bludawg

somebody shut me the fark up.
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I occurred to me recently that there are allot of posts screaming for HELP or FAILED COOK. I have noticed this pattern developing in Overnight cook...I went to bed and my fire went out or Pit temp dropped to XXX and I needed this by XXX time. Brothers Stop being lazy & plan your cooks better. ALL the Mechanical Gizmos can't replace the best tool in your Box that hunk of gray matter between your ears.
I still enjoy sitting up at night with a cook Beverage a nice Cigar a good book a little Blues in the background & my dog tending a fire making awesome vittles for the masses. Switching to a good Cup and watching the Dawn of a New Day. It's a religious experience.
If you light the fire stay awake.
I don't stay up like that much anymore unless I need to have something ready for a certain time in the morning I still cook H&F I just get up a little earlier count back 10 hrs from when I need it add 1 more for prep and preheat. It works out just fine and I can nap afterwards. I don't have no gizmos but even the UDS gets a look see once in awhile. More for my peace of mind than any thing else. Planning is 90 % of your cook to get it right.:rant2:
 
Bludawg said:
Brothers Stop being lazy & plan your cooks better.
Click to expand...

I totally agree! The new trends in BBQ are making some people forget that cooking requires attention! Even if you have a digital temp controller of some sort, you still need to be diligent about watching your pit and making sure your cook is going well. By all means, sneak a nap or two in when you can, but be aware of what's going on with your cook.
 
ATC (PitmasterIQ or Guru)= sleep Maverick ET 732 = piece of mind with high and low pit temp alarms and food temp alarm.

Well rested cook= happy cook

That said i still go old school to keep my pit tending skills sharp. :-D
 
Bludawg said:
I occurred to me recently that there are allot of posts screaming for HELP or FAILED COOK. I have noticed this pattern developing in Overnight cook...I went to bed and my fire went out or Pit temp dropped to XXX and I needed this by XXX time. Brothers Stop being lazy & plan your cooks better. ALL the Mechanical Gizmos can't replace the best tool in your Box that hunk of gray matter between your ears.
I still enjoy sitting up at night with a cook Beverage a nice Cigar a good book a little Blues in the background & my dog tending a fire making awesome vittles for the masses. Switching to a good Cup and watching the Dawn of a New Day. It's a religious experience.
If you light the fire stay awake.
I don't stay up like that much anymore unless I need to have something ready for a certain time in the morning I still cook H&F I just get up a little earlier count back 10 hrs from when I need it add 1 more for prep and preheat. It works out just fine and I can nap afterwards. I don't have no gizmos but even the UDS gets a look see once in awhile. More for my peace of mind than any thing else. Planning is 90 % of your cook to get it right.:rant2:
Click to expand...

Old school works the best. Electronics can malfunction but the mushy thing between your ears will always serve you right.

I'm also in the hot and fast fan club.
 
I will completely agree with you that the cooking needs to be tended. I do overnight cooks every once in a while, and I do get some sleep. Some being 2-4 hours. I have my Maverick ET-732 to wake me up in that time just incase the temps varies +/- 15 degrees. However I typically can't sleep long because I am more worried about the fire and keeping my temps stable.

The only reason I get sleep is because when I do overnight cooks, I am hosting the party and I need some sleep so I can enjoy the fun and make it to 1-2am as opposed to being alseep by 6pm.
 
aawa said:
I will completely agree with you that the cooking needs to be tended. I do overnight cooks every once in a while, and I do get some sleep. Some being 2-4 hours. I have my Maverick ET-732 to wake me up in that time just incase the temps varies +/- 15 degrees. However I typically can't sleep long because I am more worried about the fire and keeping my temps stable.

The only reason I get sleep is because when I do overnight cooks, I am hosting the party and I need some sleep so I can enjoy the fun and make it to 1-2am as opposed to being alseep by 6pm.
Click to expand...

Exactly the same for me (I do almost all overnight cooks though). I try to get a quick nap in once I have the fire stabilized, but try not to make it longer than 2 hours even with the 732 set to alert me. I normally use the time to do something productive like exercising (I can always use more of that).
 
sliding_billy said:
Exactly the same for me (I do almost all overnight cooks though). I try to get a quick nap in once I have the fire stabilized, but try not to make it longer than 2 hours even with the 732 set to alert me. I normally use the time to do something productive like exercising (I can always use more of that).
Click to expand...

What is this exercise you are talking about :crazy:

I use that time to clean or read.
 
I think there are two things happening here. 1.) legitimate questioning and maybe inexperience 2.) poor planning. Regarding 1.)....I think it is ABSOLUTELY FINE for people to use this forum to talk about mistakes, ask questions, or wig out on things going wrong. No one should make people feel inferior for asking questions.

Regarding number 2.), haven't we all had that, "oh my gosh moment..." When we need to feed people and its not ready? It is the grace we should have to help that brother in the moment but to admonish them to reconsider how they planned. The VERY FACT they starting cooking in the middle of the night tells you they at least had a plan. Maybe not a good one.

Therefore, simply remember where you were at at one point and help people who have questions or are wiggling out.
 
I agree with Bludawg and Jeffturnerjr.

For one thing, I never sleep well when I have a fire going. Just seems to me, that it is a bad idea. Always felt that. I set my alarm for every two hours, and will nap a bit, but, I want to check in on things from time to time.

That being said, if someone has gone to bed, or gotten mislead, I want to be the guy there to help if possible.

Seems like these two things are not mutually exclusive.
 
I've had some overnight, unattended, cooks. Some went well, some didn't. The one that went the worst was this past winter when I woke up to see freezing rain bouncing off the cooker. The dome temperature was half of what it should have been.
That's nothing more than a lack of a proper plan and a dumb cook that didn't take weather into account.

I'd hesitate to rely on electronics. I deal with broken electronic on a daily basis (automotive), so the chances of finding them on my personal cooker will be slim.
I can't speak of the reliability of these devices, but I did watch an episode of Pitmasters where a gal lost her chances of winning because the electronic bells and whistles failed in the middle of the night.

For me, I'll rely on the knowledge I've gained by using my cooker and trusting that I know its capabilities and limitations.
That, and knowing my own personal capabilities and limitations. I am, after all, my own worst enemy.
 
I do think that the electronic devices are a good thing, to an extent.
But we each are responsible for our own cooks. We can use these devices to aid us and make our life more, or less, stress free during the Q. But we all know our grills, smokers and pits well enough to know their quirks and to keep an eye on them.
Weather can play a role if you're working in a condition for the first time, but each and every cook for us should be a learning experience. Look at all the great help we have here. Who could ask for more?
So use what you can to help you along, but always pay attention to what your're doing and you'll turn out the best Q you can.
 
Bbq Bubba said:
Please do not set your pit keeper, go to bed and use the term "pitmaster" in the same sentence.
Click to expand...

To be fair islanders that still dig "pits" in the ground would laugh at all these fancy rigs of today and say those folks aren't being true pitmasters.


IMO today the term pitmaster is the process of turning out good Q regardless of the tools used. I can control my pits with dampers just fine or occasionaly use a PitMasterIQ for long cooks and get some sleep and won't apologize for it...lol
 
Bludawg said:
I occurred to me recently that there are allot of posts screaming for HELP or FAILED COOK. I have noticed this pattern developing in Overnight cook...I went to bed and my fire went out or Pit temp dropped to XXX and I needed this by XXX time. Brothers Stop being lazy & plan your cooks better. ALL the Mechanical Gizmos can't replace the best tool in your Box that hunk of gray matter between your ears.
I still enjoy sitting up at night with a cook Beverage a nice Cigar a good book a little Blues in the background & my dog tending a fire making awesome vittles for the masses. Switching to a good Cup and watching the Dawn of a New Day. It's a religious experience.
If you light the fire stay awake.
I don't stay up like that much anymore unless I need to have something ready for a certain time in the morning I still cook H&F I just get up a little earlier count back 10 hrs from when I need it add 1 more for prep and preheat. It works out just fine and I can nap afterwards. I don't have no gizmos but even the UDS gets a look see once in awhile. More for my peace of mind than any thing else. Planning is 90 % of your cook to get it right.:rant2:
Click to expand...


I guess this was in reference to me this morning. It was more of an exception for me and I like to think that I can come here for help when needed. I understand your point but to be honest no one is making you read or respond to any thread here.

I don't call myself a pitmaster. I am nothing more than a member (and a subscribing one at that) that needed a little help with a cook this morning.
 
This is an interesting discussion. In some ways it reminds me of my time in high school when electronic calculators were just becoming affordable (Yeah, I'm that old). Lots of kids got in trouble because they HAD to have these new, cool toys, but relied on them solely and had no clue when the calculator was giving them the wrong answer. The kids who were most successful with their new toys were those that had a handle on math and at least had a clue what the answer to the problem should be. they used the calculators to speed things up and to help them confirm the right answer, but didn't blindly believe the device.

Electronic draft controls, thermostatically controlled pits like pellet cookers, remote thermometers, even digital thermometers like the thermapen are much the same to me. I'm a geek and I enjoy using these things, but I know what my results will be before I go into the cook, and if the electronic device fails or the information that it is giving me doesn't make sense, I recognize that and know what to do to get things back on track.

These devices are just another tool that is available to us. Using them in your choice, but make sure that you know the process and how to get to the desired result without those toys. Once you have learned that then you can apply the toys to help you, not hinder you.
 
The BEST planning takes place when you choose what KIND OF COOKER. If you plan on many low and slow, then a well insulted and properly set up ceramic grill will do the job. Efficient on the fuel, resilient in most environments.

No electro gadgets here. I just set it and forget it (someone say that before?).

Getting to know your cooker is half the battle. Now that I know size of the draft port opening to the desired temps..... easy!
 
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