First Comp test run at home

Thank, I'm taking all the notes I can to see how this pans out. I wasn't planning on looking at the pork and brisket again until 8:15 ish. I have the brisket on the bottom rack and the pork on top. I''ll move the both to the bottom at 8;15 when I check. I plan on putting the ribs on at 9:00am and chicken at 930
 
Just saw this so I'll throw out the wind block thing I made for my 18" WSM. Corrugated cardboard. Shaped it into a tube slightly larger than the smoker, put some legs on it, cardboard covered in duct tape, and cut flaps where the vents are. It is slightly shorter than the entire unit and works great. I put a soup can on the top vent to act as a short stack.

P1120407.jpg


Probably not so good in the rain though.........
 
At the comp site for those without trailers or motor homes where are you sleeping? if you are tenting do you use a heater of any sort?
 
I don't know if you are using water or not, but with water in the pan on my 18.5" WSM and the air intakes wide open it hums right along at 275 with no fuss. When the temp goes higher I know my water is running out. It does use more fuel this way, but I still get quite a few hours out of a ring full.
 
jketron said:
At the comp site for those without trailers or motor homes where are you sleeping? if you are tenting do you use a heater of any sort?
Click to expand...
We cook under two 10X10 canopies -- one has the tables etc and is the "kitchen" area, the other is a "seating" area where VQ puts his cot and sleeping bag at night. If you are a back sleeper, you might be able to be comfortable with a zero-gravity recliner and sleeping bag.

A heater isn't practical unless you've got sidewalls for your canopy(ies), and we don't usually use one unless the conditions are closer to freezing. I would definitely recommend sidewalls in any case though, we roll them down to block wind during prep times, and to conserve a little warmth at night.
 
DivaHerself said:
We cook under two 10X10 canopies -- one has the tables etc and is the "kitchen" area, the other is a "seating" area where VQ puts his cot and sleeping bag at night. If you are a back sleeper, you might be able to be comfortable with a zero-gravity recliner and sleeping bag.

A heater isn't practical unless you've got sidewalls for your canopy(ies), and we don't usually use one unless the conditions are closer to freezing. I would definitely recommend sidewalls in any case though, we roll them down to block wind during prep times, and to conserve a little warmth at night.
Click to expand...


Do you put the smoker out from under the two canopies?
 
hows your chicken box looking? it's almost TIME!!!

my honest opinion, you are a bit behind/cutting too close. plus, you NEED sleep.

i start the big meats quite a bit earlier and time it so they wrap either right before sleep or first thing waking, 6A ish ideally(jaskew knows how that works). ribs around 7:30A, rather rest them than run out of cook time.

look forward to see how it turns out for you, but those are my 2 cents. i cook on WSM's as well.

*edit* duh, you're 3 hours back...you've got plenty of time for chicken. :redface:
 
We cook under canopies - as well as sleep. Generally, for our weather, we take winters off so we do not have to deal with the extreme cold. Lowest we have stayed over night is in the 30's and that gets pretty darn cold when you are sleeping. If you have heavy side walls like welding mats a heater would help. We will bring a tent if it looks like rain or wind to help protect things if needed.
 
i sleep in the back of the truck or on an air mattress inside the canopy, with walls. sleeping and cooking in the 20's-30's is real rough, but all part of the game.
 
jketron said:
Thank, I'm taking all the notes I can to see how this pans out. I wasn't planning on looking at the pork and brisket again until 8:15 ish. I have the brisket on the bottom rack and the pork on top. I''ll move the both to the bottom at 8;15 when I check. I plan on putting the ribs on at 9:00am and chicken at 930
Click to expand...

If you're practicing for the Santa Anita contests, make sure your notes are adjusted to the 11:00 start for turn-ins. I agree, you may be cutting it close on time with the ribs and maybe chicken even for a noon turn-in.

Benny
 
boogiesnap said:
hows your chicken box looking? it's almost TIME!!!

my honest opinion, you are a bit behind/cutting too close. plus, you NEED sleep.

i start the big meats quite a bit earlier and time it so they wrap either right before sleep or first thing waking, 6A ish ideally(jaskew knows how that works). ribs around 7:30A, rather rest them than run out of cook time.

look forward to see how it turns out for you, but those are my 2 cents. i cook on WSM's as well.

*edit* duh, you're 3 hours back...you've got plenty of time for chicken. :redface:
Click to expand...


No worries and thank you for the advice, what time do you shoot to remove each meat, rest time and then ready to box?

This is the formula I need to work on.

Using chicken for example I'm shooting to start at 9:30am. I have a consistent 2 hour cook time from raw to its ready to be boxed. This would leave me a 30 min buffer. My box is ready to go and all I need to do is place the meat in the box, fuss a little of the presentation and turn it in.
 
Pork and Brisket are done, I have to admit I over shot the temps. I know temps are a nice guide and tenderness rules. Pork is 205 and Brisket is 211, both tender. I've uncovered them and lets see how they hold. I'm so glad this is a test run. Both pieces of meat done in under 6 hours at 275
 
jketron said:
Do you put the smoker out from under the two canopies?
Click to expand...
Smokers go outside the canopies unless we got caught in rain that we weren't prepared for -- we'll bring a third if we know it's going to be wet.

Now that you're up to chicken -- chicken is the one meat we don't rest. This is the cook you do to determine how long it takes you to sort your pieces, arrange them in your box, improve their appearance and walk it. Once you know how long that takes, then backtime it from the front of the entry window.

At this stage of the game, aim for the front of the window, because you'd be surprised how things come up that will eat just a couple of minutes, and things will relentlessly snowball from there.
 
My briskets and butts are typically out of the cooker and in the Cambro resting by 9:00. For me, ribs and chicken are just-in-time cooks, meaning they go from the cooker into the box, no rest.
 
DivaHerself said:
At this stage of the game, aim for the front of the window, because you'd be surprised how things come up that will eat just a couple of minutes, and things will relentlessly snowball from there.
Click to expand...

Excellent advice. Also, you need to know how long it will take to get from your spot to the turn in area. At smaller comps this will be a minute or two, but at bigger comps this can be 5 minutes or more. We always walk it and time the walk, and we purposely walk slowly so we can pick it up for the real thing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

cayenne
FIRST COOK on the new Offset Smoker!!! Pictures and comments...
2
Replies
22
Views
859
Bury Me In Smoke
B
J
Long Post of Disappointing Rants and Dreaming of a LSG Pellet Grill
Replies
4
Views
1K
jrTheSmoker
J
S
Year of the kettle, test run for Thanksgiving! & Question.
Replies
15
Views
599
SMOKE FREAK
SMOKE FREAK
Beentown
She arrived, unscathed, mostly...
2
Replies
21
Views
1K
Beentown
Beentown
snadamo
Maiden Voyage on Backwoods Chubby G3 With PICS!
Replies
9
Views
959
SweetHeatBBQnSC
SweetHeatBBQnSC
Back
Top