Grillmonkey
Wandering around with a bag of matchlight, looking for a match.
Every time I look to the net for information on a topic, I discover a whole new world that I never knew existed. That is how it was that I came to join BBQ Brethren.
I was looking for a cooker/grill that would allow me to slow cook Boston butts on indirect wood heat/smoke, as well as allow me to grill over charcoal, all in the same unit. I had never really paid much attention to offset smokers before, because the ones I had seen were so cheaply made, with giant gaps between lids and doors, that I couldn't imagine trying to economically regulate the fuel burn for enough heat to cook the meat. As I was surfing the net, I came across several sites devoted to smoking and grilling and it seems that these offset smokers (if I spent enough money on one or bought cheap and made certain modifications) were really what I was looking for all along.
I opted for cheap. Home Depot had a Rivergrille offset smoker that looked decent enough that if I modified it properly it could make a great smoker, and it included enough grates that it can also double as a charcoal grill in the main chamber or in the fire pit.
I am now going through the process of researching the mods to make the necessary upgrades so that I can reach and maintain the cooking temps I need to smoke some butts for pulled pork.
I intend to post some before and after pics, and let the brethren know how well these mods worked for me.
There is one thing that I have learned while looking at the comments of offset smoker users that has me sort of baffled though. Why do so many users use charcoal instead of wood for fuel? I understand that some users have no other option if wood isn't readily available or is too expensive in their area, but it seems that the vast majority uses charcoal. So many in fact, that when a newbie asks about it, most replies recommend charcoal/lump coal and only use a small amount of wood for flavoring. I would have figured it would have been the other way around.
I was looking for a cooker/grill that would allow me to slow cook Boston butts on indirect wood heat/smoke, as well as allow me to grill over charcoal, all in the same unit. I had never really paid much attention to offset smokers before, because the ones I had seen were so cheaply made, with giant gaps between lids and doors, that I couldn't imagine trying to economically regulate the fuel burn for enough heat to cook the meat. As I was surfing the net, I came across several sites devoted to smoking and grilling and it seems that these offset smokers (if I spent enough money on one or bought cheap and made certain modifications) were really what I was looking for all along.
I opted for cheap. Home Depot had a Rivergrille offset smoker that looked decent enough that if I modified it properly it could make a great smoker, and it included enough grates that it can also double as a charcoal grill in the main chamber or in the fire pit.
I am now going through the process of researching the mods to make the necessary upgrades so that I can reach and maintain the cooking temps I need to smoke some butts for pulled pork.
I intend to post some before and after pics, and let the brethren know how well these mods worked for me.
There is one thing that I have learned while looking at the comments of offset smoker users that has me sort of baffled though. Why do so many users use charcoal instead of wood for fuel? I understand that some users have no other option if wood isn't readily available or is too expensive in their area, but it seems that the vast majority uses charcoal. So many in fact, that when a newbie asks about it, most replies recommend charcoal/lump coal and only use a small amount of wood for flavoring. I would have figured it would have been the other way around.
