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Q-talk *ON TOPIC ONLY* QUALITY ON TOPIC discussion of Backyard BBQ, grilling, equipment and outdoor cookin' . ** Other cooking techniques are welcomed for when your cookin' in the kitchen. Post your hints, tips, tricks & techniques, success, failures, but stay on topic and watch for that hijacking. |
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11-06-2012, 10:14 AM | #16 |
Banned
Join Date: 02-07-11
Location: brenham, texas
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Lump charcoal has alot of fines. If you used jut the lump your wasting about 20% of the bag. I know I would rather pour in a whole 10 lb bag of lump throw about 20 lit briquettes in the charcoal and let it rip. Any good cooker can adapt to how a pit cooks, but a pit owner should not have to adapt to how a pit cooks IMO, especially one one your controlling temps with air not fuel like stick burners.
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11-06-2012, 06:40 PM | #17 |
is One Chatty Farker
Join Date: 09-13-12
Location: canada
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Posts like this show the power of weber! I can run my smokey joe @ 250 for 5 hrs with no gadgets or mods. I was wanting a pitmaker pit bad until I got a shipping quote, a backwoods shipping quote was way less. Now I'm really thinking neither. When I buy a weber it works I know exactly what it will do and when. Customer service is also number one with them. I love how pitmaker pits look but I work dam hard for my money it had better come out of the box and work.
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Backwoods party,22.5 wsm,18.5 wsm,14.5 wsm, smokey joe, performer,22.5 kettle. |
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11-07-2012, 07:34 AM | #18 |
is One Chatty Farker
Join Date: 09-13-12
Location: canada
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Has anyone tried the coffee can minion method on these vaults?
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Backwoods party,22.5 wsm,18.5 wsm,14.5 wsm, smokey joe, performer,22.5 kettle. |
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11-07-2012, 08:30 AM | #19 |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 07-13-11
Location: Medical Lake, WA
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Haven't needed to... Preheating the chamber and putting the charcoal in around the edges works just fine for my vault. There really is no problem. Notice this thread was started by someone that was making suggestions on how to improve the vault, not stating that he has a problem with his vault.
I agree the weber is a great cooker, bit it doesn't have the capacity and flexibility of the vault. I love mine. The water pan can be used to help stabalize the temps and to add moisture to your product, just as the water pan in a WSM. Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2
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Chad Lindsey - Medical Lake, WA; Team - LindseyQ (Yes we're on Facebook) |
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11-07-2012, 08:33 AM | #20 |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 07-25-12
Location: Edinburg
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It really is just air in and out to control the temps, agreeing with JD. I built a basket for my offset and now run intake open about 15% and exhaust 20% to cook at 300. To slow it down i adjust those two very slightly. I fill the basket and just light a bit closer to the air inlets then let the temp come up slow, that preheats the cooker too. Cooks up to ten hours on one load no superchargers and no turbochargers lol.
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11-07-2012, 08:47 AM | #21 | |
Banned
Join Date: 02-07-11
Location: brenham, texas
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Quote:
You are correct, I never had a problem with mine when I had it Becaise it was made how I wanted it. Don't likE using briquettes Becaise they have cedar, lumber scraps, borax and god knows what else in them, sorry I'm a lump kinda guy. I read alot on stuff before I buy it, and most of the time know how to operate it before I even get it. It's a shame that people had to suffer a $3k+ pocketbook wallop to find out their pit can't hold temps without Doing a bunch of stuff to it. |
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11-07-2012, 09:03 AM | #22 | |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 07-13-11
Location: Medical Lake, WA
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Quote:
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2
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Chad Lindsey - Medical Lake, WA; Team - LindseyQ (Yes we're on Facebook) |
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11-07-2012, 10:32 AM | #23 |
Banned
Join Date: 02-07-11
Location: brenham, texas
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Yes, ok, so your able to load the charcoal basket up, throw in some lit charcoal, few chunks of wood, chunk the brisket on @225 for a l&s and come back tomorrow morning and know its still gonna be @225 with no fear of loss of fire or a huge temp spike from overfueling. With a daisy chain method, how many hrs do you get out of the cooker with water In it? I know water almost doubles the fuel consumption.
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11-07-2012, 11:21 AM | #24 |
is one Smokin' Farker
Join Date: 07-02-10
Location: lake grove, new york
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I have to agree with Kenny Rogers. I dont have any issues with my safe. I also had a stickburner for years [ A Klose ] and that was a great smoker but you were flirting with disaster if you tried to leave it unattended. I have gone out shopping run errands with out a problem. The longest I have been away from the safe is 6-8 hours. for me it pretty much runs like a WSM
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11-07-2012, 12:41 PM | #25 |
is One Chatty Farker
Join Date: 09-13-12
Location: canada
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They look so well built and the capacity is why I wanted it, to buy it I'd have to sell my 08 trx 450. And I would be extra pissed If that pit needed mods
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Backwoods party,22.5 wsm,18.5 wsm,14.5 wsm, smokey joe, performer,22.5 kettle. |
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11-07-2012, 06:43 PM | #26 |
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Join Date: 09-20-11
Location: Ohio
Name/Nickname : Allen
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Jmoney, I like your idea of a ball valve on the intake instead of the slides. The slide on my vault has a very loose fit and it's pretty difficult to fine tune running a dry pan. It will go through a rack of fuel in about 6 hours with water and is difficult to keep below about 300 because of all the inlet air and draft on top if running dry. I wrap the slide in foil and use a guru sometimes. Valve is really good idea.
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11-08-2012, 12:24 AM | #27 | |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 07-13-11
Location: Medical Lake, WA
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Quote:
The PM vault is insulated (like the bge) with 2" rigid insulation, so it doesn't slide down the walls with time and travel. After I preheat my cooking chamber, I can load up my basket (around the edges in a U shape) with briquettes and some chunks of wood, light the start of the coals, and it WILL cruise at 225 - 250 for many hours, unattended. The water will help it maintain a stable temperature, as I said, just like a WSM, only on a larger scale. Yes, it does take energy to heat water... if you do it while you're preheating your chamber, it will last you a long time. For example: In Stevensville, MT earlier this year I preheated the cooking chamber and preheated the water in the water pan for a friend that was going to use my vault for a charity cook. I didn't put any charcoal in the basket, figuring he had his own. When I went to bed, the pit was cruising at 275... when I woke up 7 hours later, and went out, I discovered he did not use the pit... after sitting all night the pit was STILL at 225!! The ambient temperatures were around 35 degrees, there was even some frost on the windshield. There was NO fuel in the pit! Is the vault customizable? Yes! Does it NEED customization to make it work? NO! You can add a guru, and get many more smoking hours out of your fuel, it's true. So if you wanna run the vault like a BGE, it IS possilbe. I do not run lump in my vault, I DO run lump in my BGE. Why? Because I find it effects the flavor of my food in the BGE (because it's so small) but NOT the food in my vault. There are MANY major competitions that have been won with the PM vault, and this unit has been proven a winner time and time again. I'm happy with mine... sorry you weren't happy with yours. I have a question... what unit ARE you happy with? if any....
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Chad Lindsey - Medical Lake, WA; Team - LindseyQ (Yes we're on Facebook) |
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Thanks from:---> |
11-08-2012, 05:09 AM | #28 |
is Blowin Smoke!
Join Date: 09-07-10
Location: Chicago, IL - West burbs
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If you ever want to sell it, let me know. I got a buddy with serious lust issues and Pitmaker. A reasonably priced used one might push him over the edge.
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk 2
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-Ryan Proudly Smoking on a UDS, PBC & Accidental Winner of the 2012 "Saucy" Throwdown. |
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11-08-2012, 07:21 AM | #29 |
Banned
Join Date: 02-07-11
Location: brenham, texas
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Kenny Rogers, I hope you have been following. Again I sold my vault to a friend almost 2 years ago Because of my inability to transport it In comps. I was never at any point unsatisfied with my vault, I actually loved it. I don't think there is a better pit out there. This thread was not created to dog their product at all whatsoever, but to actually talk about the different confIgurations that work the best on them.
Also that 275-225 overnight cool down shows how insulated those things really are. |
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11-08-2012, 08:50 AM | #30 | |
Knows what a fatty is.
Join Date: 07-14-11
Location: Texas
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Quote:
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Thanks from:---> |
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