Time to get serious about a new smoker.

[Jeff Lebowski]

How often do you rotate?

Once, halfway through. But I should probably do it earlier. Sometimes the butts on the very bottom get overdone. I think it really cranks out the heat during the first 2-3 hours when the whole smoker is packed with cool meat. Next time I think I will rotate after a couple hours and see how it goes. Problem is, that would be the middle of the night.

[Moliere]

Impressive JL. I can't imagine smoking that much meat at one time. Hopefully you have a decent sized Ward budget

I've been looking around and have really liked the idea of a Yoder smoker. They have a decent sized one and the temp control seems easy enough and you can set it in 5 degree increments.

http://www.yodersmokers.com/ys640-pellet-grill.html

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[Joe Public]

SJS?

[Moliere]

SJS?

And Drunk Tank, apparently


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[Jeff Lebowski]

That Yoder looks awesome.

[lambdacoug]

I've been looking online and finding a lot of good info about getting serious about bbq. For you seasoned vets out there, any trusted sources you prefer? I've been reading a lot on amazingribs.com and spoke to the owner of The Kansas City BBQ Store (also owner of Joe's Kansas City, formerly known as Oklahoma Joe's). He gave me some great tips and I'm set to try out some Cimarron Doc's rub tomorrow for my first cook in the Pit Barrel Cooker. What I'd really like to do is make my own rub. I've done this before, but I'm looking to start from a good base and modify it to how I like it. Basically, I'm starting pretty much from scratch and would appreciate pointers and/or resources to help me out. I think KC BBQ is hands down the best in the world and being born and raised here, I want to carry that hometown pride a little bit further and make it mine.

[Green Monstah]

There's a rub thread.

[All-American]

There's a rub thread.

Wuap finally got his wish!

[cowboy]

Just get a calling in a YSA ward and tell your wife the big smoker is for a good cause.

My first big cook scared the crap out of me. So many people expecting that food to be ready and there just isn't a good backup plan to feed that many people if it doesn't work out. It also turns out that putting that much cold meat in the smoker at once changes the dynamics of the whole thing. It uses a ton more fuel. On my first time I decided to check my coal chute after a few hours and I was glad I did because it was almost empty. I learned to let the meat sit at room temp 1-2 hours before putting in - makes a big difference. And you need to rotate the meat because the intake gets hotter. I was also not sure how it would impact cook times (if anything, it is shorter). Was not sure how long it would take to pull that much pork (1-1.5 hours). Have done it enough now that I don't worry. And it is fun because you have a huge crowd of happy people. Amiright, cowboy?

Listen to the Dude. I bear witness of his cooking prowess.

I've been looking online and finding a lot of good info about getting serious about bbq. For you seasoned vets out there, any trusted sources you prefer? I've been reading a lot on amazingribs.com and spoke to the owner of The Kansas City BBQ Store (also owner of Joe's Kansas City, formerly known as Oklahoma Joe's). He gave me some great tips and I'm set to try out some Cimarron Doc's rub tomorrow for my first cook in the Pit Barrel Cooker. What I'd really like to do is make my own rub. I've done this before, but I'm looking to start from a good base and modify it to how I like it. Basically, I'm starting pretty much from scratch and would appreciate pointers and/or resources to help me out. I think KC BBQ is hands down the best in the world and being born and raised here, I want to carry that hometown pride a little bit further and make it mine.

IMO, people worry too much about rub. Salt, pepper, garlic, and maybe a little brown sugar is all you need. The most important ingredient is salt to bring out the flavor, but people like bbq because of the moist, smoky flavor and will generally be fine with any rub. If they use any sauce at all, the rub flavor disappears anyway. Focus on cooking the meat properly, and everything else takes care of itself.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Listen to the Dude. I bear witness of his cooking prowess.

Hey come on, I wasn't fishing for a compliment. I was referring to your post the other day about getting tired of cooking for big crowds.

[cowboy]

Hey come on, I wasn't fishing for a compliment. I was referring to your post the other day about getting tired of cooking for big crowds.

I knew what you were doing, but I still reserve the right to throw you a compliment. While perhaps tic, you are right that the smiling, happy people take some of the sting out of it. After complaining the other day, my attitude got much better when my wife told me how much everyone appreciated it.

BTW, looks like you're using the 1/2 lb/person rule of thumb? I do the same, but even though it cooks down quite a bit I always have a lot left over.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I knew what you were doing, but I still reserve the right to throw you a compliment. While perhaps tic, you are right that the smiling, happy people take some of the sting out of it. After complaining the other day, my attitude got much better when my wife told me how much everyone appreciated it.

BTW, looks like you're using the 1/2 lb/person rule of thumb? I do the same, but even though it cooks down quite a bit I always have a lot left over.

Going on experience mainly. I take detailed notes in my smoking journal in terms of how many people were fed, how many leftovers were available, etc. Then I just scale from that.

[lambdacoug]

The first cook in the PBC was pretty mediocre. It is a different beast entirely from the Weber kettle and ECB. The most fun part was the sudden severe thunderstorm that hit about an hour in, the raging winds did two things, scared the crap out of me that it'd blow the PBC over, and fed a lot of oxygen to the fire. Darn thing burnt at 350+ almost the entire time. I'm doing some more ribs this weekend for Father's Day and celebrating my daughter's shipping out to basic training. I might do a rack this week just for practice, I need to change something up to get more smoke.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Four butts in the Stumps today. I love that smoker so much.

[Green Monstah]

Nice. Work just asked me to smoke some barbeque for our floor's Fourth of July lunch. I'll probably smoke two brisket and a butt, depending on how many people actually show.