Thanks for the tips. I have a Weber kettle that I’ve only used for grilling. Hadn’t heard of these things.
I see Smokenator has a triangular tube that’s pretty similar to the Amazen tubes. Someone was saying they use the A-maze-n, and they seem to have a really strong following on the Smoking Meat Forum I visit.
I’ve seen guys making smokers out of metal office file cabinets, and flower pots so there’s many, many ways to get there.
the actual smokenator 1000 is a better option than the triangle thing for a kettle. lets you control charcoal,water and wood…
to me the trainagle thing seems a better option to help a gas griller get some smoke flavor
I am also looking into that slow and sear ernest posted about
There’s yet another thread here. There are hundreds of commercial rubs out there, not to mention being in dozens of barbecue cookbooks.
Our “generic” rub has kosher salt, usually two or three kinds of pepper, garlic and onion powders. (And, of course, rub the meat down with yellow mustard to get the rub to stick) I’d like to try erythritol, since the sugar adds some texture in the bark (I believe…) but my wife has had such bad experiences with sorbitol and some other sugar alcohols she just won’t try it, and we don’t smoke two pork buts, one for each of us.
Hmmm. Maybe we could do that with a small portion of ribs for experimental use - and keep the rest free of it.
The next topic is sugar free sauces. I make a version of Alabama white sauce, but a sugar free version of the South Carolina mustard sauce, a tomato-based sauce, or one of the vinegar-based sauces would be nice to try, too. We have some brand of sugar-free, tomato-based sauce from the store and it’s too sweet for me.
2 zone in kettle is key to great BBQ/ grilling results.
The slow n sear can do low and slow or high heat cooking.
Here is my rig, 1956 Amana freeze. I gutted the inside reused the tub, welded up stainless pieces between the tub and the outside. I removed the door contents and insulated it, put a piece of stainless over it. Added a door gasket, and welded up 2 shelves which I can adjust. I has two dampers one on top and one the bottom both adjustable. I only have the top 2/3 used a smoker I left the bottom for storage. The heating is electric and I use an industrial pid controller with a industrial thermocouple, it holds 1 degree with out any issue to 350. I bought the heater from amazon I think its for a retro fit on a tube style charcoal. I stripped the orginal paint off to bare metal, primed it with auto primer, and they shot it with a 1k single stage auto paint. It has been outside for 3 years now and looks great all things considering.
I use a homemade version of the amazing pellet tray which works awesome, I cold smoke with it all the time in the winter. It can do a whole rack of ribs, well it can do 6 if I stuff it, without cutting.
I notice it looks like you have stainless strips along all of the walls, held with what looks like sheet metal screws. Did you leave the styrofoam (? not sure) insulation in the walls or replace with something that withstands the high temp better?
It’s a cool idea if you have the refrigerator, or can get it cheaply. I’ve bought a PID controller from eBay and put it on a kiln before, to control the temp better. (also, I’m a retired electrical engineer and did different types of control loops all the time, so PID controllers aren’t much of a stretch) .
Something to think about, too. Lots of good info here on this thread!
since I figured out how to post pictures…
Here is our setup at the regionals of the Pro BBQ Tour last year (Madison, WI)
A neat pic of why we loved the vertical insulated pits. Had a test cook one night and woke up to 4" of snow. Pits ran along just fine
There was no foam it was all fiberglass, some of the original is still in there. I welded the outer ring together from strips, the freezer had arcs on the outside profile so its mostly free hand plasma cut and ground. It is riveted in place as that is what holds the outer shell to the inner tub. The whole thing is riveted together including the door gasket.
I can dig up my construction photos if you would like. I spend a lot of time fabbing the outer ring, the original was press wood so that would have not lasted outside. I had to machine new latch spacer as the original was plastic, and I used fireplace silicone to seal it all together. The stack was tig welded 3" 304 tube, and the lower damper is a piece of 304 that I welded a nut to and weld some threaded to the tube in the center, I screw it in or out as needed. I used a 40A SSR to control the voltage and it works pretty good.
I am a maintenance mechanic and I do a lot of industrial control work (plcs robots, drives etc) so this was a walk in the park. I love it and I use almost weekly.
It’s really cool, but I don’t know how to weld, so it sounds like it would be a major project to me.
@CFLBob you mentioned in the other thread that you need a better butcher. Where have you been getting your briskets? And do you have a Gordons Food Service Market down in Fla.?
I’ve been getting them a BJ’S Wholesale. No Costco in the country; the nearest is 70 miles each way.
I just searched for Gordons Food Service Market and round there’s one even closer than BJ’s. I’d never heard of them before. There are good meat markets around, and I’m pretty sure they’d get a full packer brisket for me, I just haven’t gotten that round tuit.
Cool - now I have one! Thanks
I guess the means I have to get off my butt and do something.
Is CFL for Central Florida, like Orlandoish…
my brother is in food service there and might have an idea for you.
Madison? Last year ended up being the last of the Pro BBQ tour aka Sam’s. It was the only tournament series in BBQ. I won ribs in 2016 at the Finals in Bentonville
Orlando is about an hour’s drive away, but yup, CFL is Central Florida. (Someone asked me if it was for compact fluorescent, like the bulbs, once). I’m over on the east coast, south of the space center. We have a few meat markets around, and one in particular we’ve been to several times.
Thanks to that info on the Slow N’ Sear, I’m seriously looking at those. I went outside to remind myself what size my Weber kettle is, opened it up, and found a family of about six tree frogs living in it. I’ll need to arrange new housing for them. Like in the 30’ tall tree that’s right off the back porch!
