Assassin First Cook!!!

[Perfect Rack BBQ]

We did our first cook in the Assassin this past weekend and our results were all over the place. Finding alot of hotspots, cooking times are much, much shorter. Everything was getting over cooked. Any tips from anyone ????

[Goddahavit]

Cook more.
Learn the cooker do not fight it.

[Untraceable]

yep, no matter what the cooker, they all have their own behaviors. I guess I dont know how much a gravity feed can be changed with the fire but it tool me a few cooks to figure out how I need to start my fires, ect. sometimes a cooker just needs a few cooks to get seasoned and calm down as well.

[jonboy]

There is a big difference in energy loss between the WSM and an insulated cooker.
That energy is cooking instead of being lost = shorter cooking times and hotter cooking environment.
Use the biscuit test or cook some chicken parts to learn the hot spots in your cooker.
Use the hot spots to your advantage.
jon

[stephan]

Patients Grasshopper. Everything has a learning curve. Dont let the temp get away from you remember its insulated and will hold the heat even after you choked down the fire.

[Ackman]

Use the Biscuits-- buy a couple of tubes of Pillsbury dinner rolls in the refrigerated section. Get the pit to temp and them place them all around the grates--watch how they progress...you will find the hot and cold spots

[SBG]

Originally Posted by Ackman

Use the Biscuits-- buy a couple of tubes of Pillsbury dinner rolls in the refrigerated section. Get the pit to temp and them place them all around the grates--watch how they progress...you will find the hot and cold spots

Interesting...I'll have to try that.

What would be the method? Lay them out and give it around 10 minutes and check?

[Trumpstylz]

I recommend using the flaky ones, or biscuits with a flatter top.

[jmoney7269]

Originally Posted by Perfect Rack BBQ

We did our first cook in the Assassin this past weekend and our results were all over the place. Finding alot of hotspots, cooking times are much, much shorter. Everything was getting over cooked. Any tips from anyone ????

First off, calibrate the door therm with a maverick or something to the center grate, then know how each rack cooks. Door temps on verticals are not the same as grate temp. My vault used to burn food in the back, that's because I had the rack all the way back touching the false wall. I pulled em out 1" and fixed that. Alot of people use the fuse burn, I do not. Just know your pit.

[treytexag]

Originally Posted by Perfect Rack BBQ

We did our first cook in the Assassin this past weekend and our results were all over the place. Finding alot of hotspots, cooking times are much, much shorter. Everything was getting over cooked. Any tips from anyone ????

Interesting. Tell us some more. What did you cook, at what temps, how long, where in the Assassin - wet or dry, type / brand of fuel, guru / no guru, chuncks added / no chuncks added.

I've cooked twice now in my Assassin, twice after the initial burn. Used the guru both times, using KF Comp Briquets and chunks added to firepan.

I had surprisingly good results. Thighs and legs first cook, 19 lb. beef brisket second cook. Did the chicken with water pan dry, did the brisket water pan wet.

I did not do the biscuit all around the cook chamber test looking for hotspots . . .

Trey

[MattG]

If there are no pictures it did not happen!

[Perfect Rack BBQ]

We cooked pork butt, brisket and ribs. Kingsford briquettes, and used the guru. No water pan. The guru said the temp was steady at 250 the whole time. Brisket was dry, ribs on the bottom rack in the back were charred on the bottom. We will be having another test cook very soon. Need to get this thing figured out by the first competition June 1