Meal Prep Done Right, Father's Day Edition.

[78novacaine]

Well we don't have any kids so no Father's Day celebration for me, but I did have a new pit to break in this past weekend so figured I'd do it right. Brought her home and seasoned it Saturday, woke up early Sunday and got her fired up. Cook was a 9# pork shoulder seasoned with SPG and paprika, smoked open 6 hours and wrapped for 2 in foil. 2 racks St Louis ribs with spg, cayenne and brown sugar rub, cooked open for 4 and foiled for 45 minutes. Also ran some chicken wings and sausage to snack on during the day, wings were dusted with Tony's and lemon pepper, smoked about 45 minutes then tossed in Sweet Baby Ray's buffalo wing sauce and thrown in a 425* oven for about 10-15 minutes.

[KClandcruiser]

Looks like a delicious and very productive cook! What new pit did you get?

[78novacaine]

Looks like a delicious and very productive cook! What new pit did you get?

Thank you sir. It's an Old Country Pecos purchased after extensive reading on this and other forums/reviews. So far only mods were to add a couple 3" OCC thermos at grate level on either end, and used the firebox grill for the coalbed vs the factory ash catcher. Going to try using that piece to even out the cook chamber temps a bit on my next cook as I've seen many do, but wanted to run one test cook without it first. It seemed to want to hang around 225-250* pretty easily for the most part, and I had no major issues cranking it up to 275-300* once I wrapped everything. Firebox side did tend to run about 20-30* hotter than stack side, but for out of the box factory performance on a $400 cooker I'm not gonna cry about 20-30* a bit.

[rwalters]

Nicely done and congrats on your new pit :)

[TxQGuy]

Nice! I like how you mention throwing on the snacks. It is so essential for me to have smoked munchies on those long cooks. Matter of fact, that's why I prefer to buy whole spare ribs...I'll trim them down to St. Louis cut, and then cut the trimmings into even smaller pieces and put them at the hot end near the firebox. The lil scraps are usually done after a few hours and a few beers. :-D

[lunchman]

You broke it in real good! Everything looks outstanding, nice job!

[Big George's BBQ]

Very Nice Congrats and Enjoy

[78novacaine]

Nice! I like how you mention throwing on the snacks. It is so essential for me to have smoked munchies on those long cooks. Matter of fact, that's why I prefer to buy whole spare ribs...I'll trim them down to St. Louis cut, and then cut the trimmings into even smaller pieces and put them at the hot end near the firebox. The lil scraps are usually done after a few hours and a few beers. :-D

That's a good idea! They've been running the St Louis ribs for $1.47/lb the past couple weeks so I've been stocking up, but I'll remember that when I run out of those. I also make sure to sample everything that comes off the pit before giving it out, ya know, chef's privilege and all, hahaha.

Thanks folks, I plan to do a LOT more cookin with this thing, and am looking forward to it!

[ronbrad62]

You did an awesome job, especially since it was the first cook on that pit. Aside from getting a diffuser to help with heat distribution, I will say you managed pretty well. You can also use that to your advantage when you need to speed something up, just put it closer to the firebox. Again, nice cook and congrats on your new pit!

[creek bottom]

Congrats on the new pit and congrats on a BEAUTIFUL fist cook! Looks DEEELICIOUS!!! :clap2:

[78novacaine]

Thanks y'all. And Ron, I already have the included diffuser plate (the ash grate for the firebox that got replaced with the firebox cook grate, haha) sitting in the cook barrel ready for the next run this weekend. Gonna do a brisket, some more ribs, and maybe a chuck roast or 2.

[InThePitBBQ]

That's an awesome cook, great job!

[Stingerhook]

Way to break her in.