TTNuge
Full Fledged Farker
Well the time finally came to fire up the smoker and really see what it could do. My objectives in this cook were many, from determining how quickly it would come up to temp to finding out how long a full load of lump would last and more importantly how well food would taste coming off the smoker. Mother Nature decided to cooperate fully with temps that barely hit 50 and winds that barely dropped below 20mph all day as well as some light rain and drizzle scattered throughout the day. I figured she was just letting us know what we were in for when we start competing.
I started off by putting up the new EZ-Up and securing each corner with a bucket of water. At times I felt I could have used 2 buckets on each corner the winds were howling.
Got the Stoker hooked up and the laptop inside running Stokerlog to keep track of the days cook.
A Full bag of Royal Oak from RD fits perfectly in the basket. Barely enough room to add a few wood chunks but it can be done.
I started with hot water out of the tap for the water pan, nearly 15 gallons worth. Next time I think I'll heat up water on the propane burner to get it near boiling. I think that will help with getting up to temp. I also have a propane weed burner I could use to preheat the smoker a bit. As it was it took nearly 2 hours to get up to 275* and I'd love to cut that down to an hour or so. I think that will help make the basket of lump last a bit longer overall as well.
After temps stabilized I did a little biscuit test.
10 mins in..
20 mins in...
Just under 30 mins and they're done...
A little warmer at the top as expected but not by much. Very happy with the temps both top to bottom and front to back with the back corners probably being a few degrees hotter but not much.
Finished results..
Time to get the ribs ready. Three racks of St. Louis Cut spares from Costco. Not thrilled with them but they'll do.
All rubbed up and ready
And after just 4 hours of cook time....
Way overdone by Comp standards but awesome for some home eatin'
All in all it was a great day, a wonderful first cook and I couldn't think of a better way to spend my Birthday. The ribs were a little overcooked but they were still some of the most moist ribs I've ever had. The flavor was great but I will add a few more wood chunks next time. The ribs tasted great but it's the last time I'll buy pre-St. Louis cut ribs from Costco, a blind butcher could have cut them better than this. I definitely need to work on my timings some but I'll be more than happy to keep practicing.
Overall the lump lasted just about 10 hours total with 8 of those hours at temp before it started falling. I think it had to work pretty hard to get up to temp and if I can cut that from 2 to 1 hour I should gain at least an hour or two on the back end. Either way it's going to be real close and just might last long enough for a comp cook the way I have it planned. I'll be sure and practice more and more.
Chicken Thighs and Pork Butts are up next!
Thanks,
Trent
I started off by putting up the new EZ-Up and securing each corner with a bucket of water. At times I felt I could have used 2 buckets on each corner the winds were howling.
Got the Stoker hooked up and the laptop inside running Stokerlog to keep track of the days cook.
A Full bag of Royal Oak from RD fits perfectly in the basket. Barely enough room to add a few wood chunks but it can be done.
I started with hot water out of the tap for the water pan, nearly 15 gallons worth. Next time I think I'll heat up water on the propane burner to get it near boiling. I think that will help with getting up to temp. I also have a propane weed burner I could use to preheat the smoker a bit. As it was it took nearly 2 hours to get up to 275* and I'd love to cut that down to an hour or so. I think that will help make the basket of lump last a bit longer overall as well.
After temps stabilized I did a little biscuit test.
10 mins in..
20 mins in...
Just under 30 mins and they're done...
A little warmer at the top as expected but not by much. Very happy with the temps both top to bottom and front to back with the back corners probably being a few degrees hotter but not much.
Finished results..
Time to get the ribs ready. Three racks of St. Louis Cut spares from Costco. Not thrilled with them but they'll do.
All rubbed up and ready
And after just 4 hours of cook time....
Way overdone by Comp standards but awesome for some home eatin'
All in all it was a great day, a wonderful first cook and I couldn't think of a better way to spend my Birthday. The ribs were a little overcooked but they were still some of the most moist ribs I've ever had. The flavor was great but I will add a few more wood chunks next time. The ribs tasted great but it's the last time I'll buy pre-St. Louis cut ribs from Costco, a blind butcher could have cut them better than this. I definitely need to work on my timings some but I'll be more than happy to keep practicing.
Overall the lump lasted just about 10 hours total with 8 of those hours at temp before it started falling. I think it had to work pretty hard to get up to temp and if I can cut that from 2 to 1 hour I should gain at least an hour or two on the back end. Either way it's going to be real close and just might last long enough for a comp cook the way I have it planned. I'll be sure and practice more and more.
Chicken Thighs and Pork Butts are up next!
Thanks,
Trent
