Went down to 'Bama with my better half on Friday/Saturday to pick up my pit from Paul and Tyler Shirley. Was an absolute pleasure to meet Paul and his lovely wife Sharon. They are just great people - for that reason alone I'm happy to get a pit from Shirley Fab but the bonus here is that Paul and Tyler know how to make a damn good pit!
Got her seasoned up Sunday which was the first time I had ever fired up a stickburner. Went right up to 300* within half an hour and I just let her burn along at that temp for a couple of hours. I was amazed not only at how quickly the pit comes up to temp but how well it holds its temp.
The cooker you can see here is a Cabinet model, which gives a bit more space inside with the top shelf. This pit is 24x65" with two shelves (seen below) and also has a warmer box with three shelves and a charcoal basket. I opted to get a damper put directly between the firebox and the warmer in addition to the damper from the main chamber to the warmer in case I wanted to do a dedicated cook in the warmer. Will put some pics of that setup shortly.
I pulled this trailer 750 miles back to Illinois without any problem despite having to pass over borderline third world caliber expressways in Indiana and Illinois (ironically the only two states I had to pay for tolls).
Full packer brisket went on the pit at 6:00am - exactly 45min after I got the pit fired up. Using Kosher salt, black pepper and some Simply Marvelous Peppered Cow. Trimmed her up - about 12lbs trimmed. Planning to run around 275-300. Also have four slabs of Spare ribs that will hit the pit in a couple of hours for a Memorial Day celebration here.
Again, I cannot be any happier with the build quality of this pit. Paul is not only a brother in BBQ but a brother in Christ as well and his wife Sharon is a Godly woman whose hospitality was unbelievable.
Would also take a moment to honor the more than 1,300,000 Americans that have died in the line of duty since the founding of this great nation.
Got her seasoned up Sunday which was the first time I had ever fired up a stickburner. Went right up to 300* within half an hour and I just let her burn along at that temp for a couple of hours. I was amazed not only at how quickly the pit comes up to temp but how well it holds its temp.
The cooker you can see here is a Cabinet model, which gives a bit more space inside with the top shelf. This pit is 24x65" with two shelves (seen below) and also has a warmer box with three shelves and a charcoal basket. I opted to get a damper put directly between the firebox and the warmer in addition to the damper from the main chamber to the warmer in case I wanted to do a dedicated cook in the warmer. Will put some pics of that setup shortly.
I pulled this trailer 750 miles back to Illinois without any problem despite having to pass over borderline third world caliber expressways in Indiana and Illinois (ironically the only two states I had to pay for tolls).
Full packer brisket went on the pit at 6:00am - exactly 45min after I got the pit fired up. Using Kosher salt, black pepper and some Simply Marvelous Peppered Cow. Trimmed her up - about 12lbs trimmed. Planning to run around 275-300. Also have four slabs of Spare ribs that will hit the pit in a couple of hours for a Memorial Day celebration here.
Again, I cannot be any happier with the build quality of this pit. Paul is not only a brother in BBQ but a brother in Christ as well and his wife Sharon is a Godly woman whose hospitality was unbelievable.
Would also take a moment to honor the more than 1,300,000 Americans that have died in the line of duty since the founding of this great nation.
