First real cook on my new offset

[Peter B]

The weather was pretty awful on Saturday but I had people to feed. I got 6 racks of ribs, 30 brats, and 24 chicken thighs in the main chamber and I was able to cook 20 pieces of corn on the cob over the firebox. The ribs got away from me and were fall off the bone instead of pull off clean tender. My guests didn't seem to mind though.

Anyway, I don't have a handle on the small hot fire concept yet. I guess I just need more practice. Overall, i am very happy with my new offset.

[Smoothsmoke]

Sure looks like good eating! I'll eat your fall off the bone ribs any day man. Dont sweat it!

[popeye]

i'll take two racks of the fall off the bone.

[BigAl]

Looks good to me!

[aawa]

Great looking cook!

[Peter B]

This is what I learned from the cook. Top left section of the cooking chamber gets the most smoke. Bottom right gets the most heat. Maintaining thin blue is easier said than done for someone new to offset cooking. The temp is pretty even from one side to another. About 10 degree difference.

I wonder If I haven't seasoned my oak long enough yet. It has been around 8 months. I was really fighting the wind also. Also I seem to lose a lot of heat when I open the door to the main chamber. I am not sure how long I should wait or it to recover before just throwing more wood on.

[ironmanerik]

what are you cooking on?

[Peter B]

I have a 20x36 offset from Pits by JJ. It is just such a different animal from everything else I have cooked on before. I never used an offset cooker before this so I am learning how to maintain a clean fire.

Regarding the pit, the build quality on it is phenomenal. I just don't see how it could be better. But I never saw a Gator pit or a Klose so I can't make a relative comparison.

[ironmanerik]

practice makes perfect, nothing wrong with crowd pleasing delicious mistakes.

[Smokin J's]

practice makes perfect, nothing wrong with crowd pleasing delicious mistakes.

Amen to that Brother! Every time I fire up the smoker, I learn something! As long as everybody enjoys the food, it's all good!

[1911Ron]

That is full smoker! I like it!

[smokeyokie]

Looks great!! just remember fall off the bone is AWESOME!!! just not in comps? great cook my friend!!! Thank a Vet today!!

[davefan360]

looks good to me. just a little more practice with the cooker.

[Shinka]

You have a really good quality cooker there so you just need to learn how it behaves. in time you will master the fire and the pit. Enjoy the ride!

[bbqwilly]

I love my ribs "fall off the bone". And the majority of the people I talk to and sell to feel the same.
Your Q looks great.

[lastmajordude]

Every time I fire mine up it gets easier and easier.....plus I'm discovering cooking at higher temps does not mean you are going to BBQ HELL!!......ENJOY!!

[SmokeDiddy]

I will take that cook anyday. I have found that each cook I have is different. Yes, I learn each time I fire up the cooker, but what is good for one cook doesn't equate to being good on the next. I guess that's what I like about smoking meat, there seems to never be a dull moment and always something new to learn about the cooker, the process or my nerve. Sometimes it helps to pre-medicate prior to cooking for people that's never eaten your cooking.

[Mahoney86]

I went through the same learning experiences this weekend. I had mastered the small hot fire on a small cooker of your size but oh boy when I fired up a lang 84 this weekend for my first real cook... Whole different ball game.

Your cook looks great and so does your cooker... There is tons of great threads here regarding small hot fires. From what I noticed over the weekend and from what I read on here today, keep your splits small, about 2-3" in width and the length depends on the cooker. Really thick splits take too long to burn down to coals and end up producing too much smoke because they smolder. You want to keep a nice thick layer of coals and the small splits will do this!

Practice practice practice and of course pics! Keep up the good work