How To: Cook With An Offset BBQ
Last weekend I smoked what will most likely be my last pig of the season. I did it for a buddy of mine and it was one of the best I’ve ever done. Funny how I’ve smoked enough pigs to feed a small country yet I still learn something new every time. Its been about a year since I’ve written the original How To: Throw Your Own Pigroast and with all I’ve learned since that post, I think it’s time I make an addendum.
First, if you haven’t read How To: Throw Your Own Pigroast, do it now. Taken by itself alone, you can easily throw a successful roast. Once you’ve read it, follow these additional tips for some fine tuning:
Get a charcoal basket. For offset smokers, keeping your fire going for a 14 hour cook can be an uphill battle. I spent about 6 months feeding my fire every hour before finally investing in a charcoal basket. With it, I now get a consistent, clean burn for up to 6 hours without adding any additional fuel. The manufacturer of your offset usually offers this added feature. If not, get to know a local welder… I’ve found they’ll do just about anything for a case of beer and a rack of ribs. Worst case, you can always use the charcoal ring found in a WSM.
Get a GURU or similar drafting device. With a drafting device, the days of messing with your vents will finally be over. The BBQ Guru is an ingenious creation that fits over the vents of your smoker. Thermostat controlled fans then draft your fire accordingly- blowing air to increase the pit temp, choking it to lower/maintain the pit temp. Bottom line is that you can set your offset smoker like an oven and let the Guru do all the work (so long as there is fuel to burn). Although I cant say I’ve ever used one, another reputable drafting device is the Stoker.
Preheat your cooking chamber with a weed burner. You won’t believe the fuel you can save by preheating your smoker. I’ll spend about 5 minutes going over all the grates and inside walls of the smoker with my weed burner. Then I’ll simply place the weed burner in my firebox till the pit comes up to my desired cooking temp. Only then will I light my coals. By doing so, I can start my cooks with a full basket of lump… I’m no longer wasting it to simply heat up a hunk of steel. Trust me, your better off saving your lump for the important part – Cook’n!
Burn a High Quality Lump Charcoal. For me, the days of using Kingsford briquettes are quickly coming to an end. Ever since Kingsford changed their “recipe”, I started experimenting with lump charcoal (thank you Kingsford marketing department) and now I don’t plan on ever going back to briquettes. Lump burns so much cleaner and hotter than briquettes and the additional money you spend on lump (it typically costs about 40-80% more than briquettes), you’ll make up in time and energy because you’re running so much more efficiently. I’ve found Royal Oak Lump to be the best bang for your buck, and although it is my new standard I’ll occasionally treat myself to the really good stuff like Humphrey’s or Wicked Good. To learn more about all the lump charcoal that’s out there, you wont find a better reference than The Naked Whiz.
Keep the smoker out of the wind. This one’s self explanatory though often forgotten. Any draft that runs through or over your smoker will take away BTU’s and keep your smoker from running as efficiently as it can. One trick I stole from a buddy is to wrap your smoker with a moving blanket. You won’t believe how much more efficient your smoker runs by simply adding this additional insulation. Also – be sure to keep your grease valve closed throughout the cooking process. It helps the smoker draft optimally and keeps any cooler air from getting in. Just remember to open and drain a few times throughout the cooking process so you don’t create a grease fire!
Be A Man.
-The Founding Father
Filed under: BBQ, Gadgets & Tech, How To
