I really want to be cool like all you BBQ guys.

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Bobby_M

Bobby_M

Vendor and Brewer
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I got myself the low-end chargriller with side box and thought I'd be able to smoke a butt overnight and only tend to the fuel every 2-3 hours but uh, no. Fail. I got some learnin to do.
 
There are some things you can do to that unit I have seen. I have a UDS as well as a CTO but never had a chargriller. With a little modifications you can get that unit to perform 100% better.
www.thesmokering.com has some advice.
 
this may be sacrilege, but if i'm cooking over night and don't want to keep up with the wood. i'll smoke the night before for three or four hours (till i'm drunk and ready to sleep) then take the but up stairs and put it in the crock pot over night. from what i read the meat will only take so much smoke before its saturated. if you don't have a crock pot the oven works too if you wrap the meat in tin foil. like i said it may be frowned upon by the bbq gods, but it has given me good results
 
rycov said:
this may be sacrilege, but if i'm cooking over night and don't want to keep up with the wood. i'll smoke the night before for three or four hours (till i'm drunk and ready to sleep) then take the but up stairs and put it in the crock pot over night. from what i read the meat will only take so much smoke before its saturated. if you don't have a crock pot the oven works too if you wrap the meat in tin foil. like i said it may be frowned upon by the bbq gods, but it has given me good results
Click to expand...

Hand over your man-card. Crock-pots are for cheese dip and keeping chili warm.

;)
 
haha. i do like cooking on the grill better, but i also like sleep. if i was cooking for dinner and i was awake early enough in the morning i would prefer to cook all day on the smoker. mmm, beers and smoking meat all day? probably my favorite thing to do. but i know that if i try to cook all night i will eventually not wake up and let the fire die.

enough excuses, man card handed over, sorry i let you guys down.
 
Slow and cold. I've never left anything in a smoker overnight unless we are in a competition. In that case time allowed and quantity of meat go hand in hand. That said, start early in the day, prep your coal bed and go. Low temps around 200 f. Just stop by the pit ever so often check the temp.
 
rycov said:
this may be sacrilege, but if i'm cooking over night and don't want to keep up with the wood. i'll smoke the night before for three or four hours (till i'm drunk and ready to sleep) then take the but up stairs and put it in the crock pot over night. from what i read the meat will only take so much smoke before its saturated. if you don't have a crock pot the oven works too if you wrap the meat in tin foil. like i said it may be frowned upon by the bbq gods, but it has given me good results
Click to expand...

If you are going to do that then at least do it in the oven on its lowest setting and not the crock pot.
 
isurf said:
Slow and cold. I've never left anything in a smoker overnight unless we are in a competition. In that case time allowed and quantity of meat go hand in hand. That said, start early in the day, prep your coal bed and go. Low temps around 200 f. Just stop by the pit ever so often check the temp.
Click to expand...

I do pork butts on the Big Green Egg overnight all the time. I use a BBQ Guru E-Temp Pit Minder which keeps my egg temp at 210 for the 20+ hours to smoke 32 lbs of pork for some awesome pulled pork.
 
Bobby, I have that exact Chargriller and the mods do help. As is, it's very hot at the firebox end and not very hot (at grate-level) on the stack end. The instruction manual says to use whole logs but I haven't tried that yet (I wouldn't know where to get good meat smoking logs anyway). TBH, I haven't smoked on mine much and still have some learnin' to do as well but some carefully placed HD alum foil can help it quite a bit.
 
As alluded to earlier, the meat takes all the smoke it's gonna take during the first 3-4 hours. After this you can put it in your oven over night around 220F. Do not, do not, again, do not wrap it in foil.
 
arturo7 said:
As alluded to earlier, the meat takes all the smoke it's gonna take during the first 3-4 hours. After this you can put it in your oven over night around 220F. Do not, do not, again, do not wrap it in foil.
Click to expand...

Yep, and the colder the meat is, the more smoke it will take. I like to take whatever I am smoking direct from fridge to grid for the best affect. Don't dilly dally and leave it out for a while before putting it in the pit.
 
dataz722 said:
If you are going to do that then at least do it in the oven on its lowest setting and not the crock pot.
Click to expand...

i have done it in the oven at the lowest setting. the thing i like about the crock pot is that it doesn't let any of the steam escape and keeps all that fat in the meat. you should give it a try, it ends up being this really tender meat/butter hybrid. i've never had pork come out that tender.
 
arturo7 said:
As alluded to earlier, the meat takes all the smoke it's gonna take during the first 3-4 hours. After this you can put it in your oven over night around 220F. Do not, do not, again, do not wrap it in foil.
Click to expand...

the foil (and the crockpot) will soften the bark and make it not as crispy, but if i'm pulling the pork anyway i find that i don't mind that. any other reason not to use the foil?

EdWort said:
Yep, and the colder the meat is, the more smoke it will take. I like to take whatever I am smoking direct from fridge to grid for the best affect. Don't dilly dally and leave it out for a while before putting it in the pit.
Click to expand...

i've actually heard to leave it out for a while so the heat doesn't shock the muscle fibers (or some ****) and it keeps it tender.

i'm still pretty new, so i've got some learning to do. i love bbq though and want it to be as good as possible. its all been really damn good so far! thanks in advance for any info guys
 
rycov said:
i've actually heard to leave it out for a while so the heat doesn't shock the muscle fibers (or some ****) and it keeps it tender.
Click to expand...

That works if you are grilling steaks. I leave mine out for an hour before hitting the grill.

For low & slow smoking, the meats are not tender in the first place, hence the low & slow cooking. The low temperatures will allow the connective tissue (collagen) to render into gelatin and melt over time which is how brisket and pulled pork become tender.

If you use a meat thermometer, you will find brisket has a plateau where the meat will sit at 150-170 degrees for several hours. This is where the connective tissues are rendered, then once that is done, the temp will start to rise again and at 195 the brisket is done.
 
Bobby,
I have a used a Chargriller for over 8 years.
The Mods I made:
Large Charcoal Basket for the fire box.
Lined the cooking chamber with fire bricks and inverted the large charcoal grate/holder and placed it in the cooking chamber on top of the fire bricks.
This acts like a tunnel and helps draw the smoke and heat under the grill grates.
I also took some almuminum flashing, rolled it up and used it to lower the chimney to about 1" above the grill.
With the fire brick it takes a little longer to get up to temperature, I can start my fire and in about an hour I'm up to 220 to 230F.
The fire brick will act as thermal mass and help maintain your cooking temps.
I usualy start with 20lbs of charcoal in the fire box and 3 large chuanks for wood. I run a modified Minion Method (look it up), in that I use a little more little briquets to help get the fire up to temp.
 
First time I did a pork butt I stuck a probe in it. I was amazed by how long the temp hung at 160. Once it finally broke through it wasn't long before it was done.
 
rycov said:
i have done it in the oven at the lowest setting. the thing i like about the crock pot is that it doesn't let any of the steam escape and keeps all that fat in the meat. you should give it a try, it ends up being this really tender meat/butter hybrid. i've never had pork come out that tender.
Click to expand...

In that case why not just do the whole thing in the crock and dump in some liquid smoke? The final product between the crockpot and dry cooking method are very different.


arturo7 said:
First time I did a pork butt I stuck a probe in it. I was amazed by how long the temp hung at 160. Once it finally broke through it wasn't long before it was done.
Click to expand...

Yup, its known as the stall. I have seen it take anywhere from an hour and a half to over 5 hours to get past it. That is the point that all the stuff that makes the meat tough breaks down.
 
EdWort said:
That works if you are grilling steaks. I leave mine out for an hour before hitting the grill.

For low & slow smoking, the meats are not tender in the first place, hence the low & slow cooking. The low temperatures will allow the connective tissue (collagen) to render into gelatin and melt over time which is how brisket and pulled pork become tender.
Click to expand...

ah. noted

dataz722 said:
In that case why not just do the whole thing in the crock and dump in some liquid smoke? The final product between the crockpot and dry cooking method are very different.
Click to expand...

because liquid smoke doesn't taste the same as real smoke to me. look, i'm not arguing that i'm right. just that i've done it this way and it worked well. i was wondering if you guys knew of any other difference than the bark gets soft (which i understand is a problem in it self), and if that was why you said not to use foil (or crock pot). i'm the noob here, and i know that. just asking for advice :mug:
 
rycov said:
because liquid smoke doesn't taste the same as real smoke to me. look, i'm not arguing that i'm right. just that i've done it this way and it worked well. i was wondering if you guys knew of any other difference than the bark gets soft (which i understand is a problem in it self), and if that was why you said not to use foil (or crock pot). i'm the noob here, and i know that. just asking for advice :mug:
Click to expand...

To me, the meat is really mushy and doesn't really have the good pork flavor when is cooked in a crock.
 
because it gets soft? i did notice that the times i've cooked completly on the smoker vs the times i've done it in the oven (always used foil) and crock pot the bark was soft (i guess no longer bark). that does leave something to be desired. the best part of pulling the pork is picking off the crispy seasoned skin on the out side. does it still have that nice bark with the oven method (sans foil)? thanks dataz i should re-evaluate my priorities as far as sleeping at night vs smoking.
 
wilceaser said:
Bobby,
I have a used a Chargriller for over 8 years.
The Mods I made:
Large Charcoal Basket for the fire box.
Lined the cooking chamber with fire bricks and inverted the large charcoal grate/holder and placed it in the cooking chamber on top of the fire bricks.
This acts like a tunnel and helps draw the smoke and heat under the grill grates.
I also took some almuminum flashing, rolled it up and used it to lower the chimney to about 1" above the grill.
With the fire brick it takes a little longer to get up to temperature, I can start my fire and in about an hour I'm up to 220 to 230F.
The fire brick will act as thermal mass and help maintain your cooking temps.
I usualy start with 20lbs of charcoal in the fire box and 3 large chuanks for wood. I run a modified Minion Method (look it up), in that I use a little more little briquets to help get the fire up to temp.
Click to expand...

My current mods include two digital thermos at grate level and I made a half assed heat shield and tuning plate by raising the cook area charcoal rack so that it's higher than the firebox opening and then covered it with HD foil. I cut slits in it to let the heat/smoke come up to the meat at various distances from the firebox.

I also removed the brackets that hold up the cast iron grates in the firebox so that the grate drops about 1.5" lower. I put my fuel on that rather than making up a new basket or shelf.

I think I over fueled it initially thinking that I could control it with the damper. A layer of lump charcoal and then two thin red oak logs. After I got the temp down from 325 to 235, I put the meat on. Any time I saw it get near 200, I threw a fist sized chunk of Hickory on. It would hold to 230F for about 30 minutes and then start fading.

I think the only way I'd do overnight smoking is to get an electric cabinet smoker. From now on, it's up earlier in the morning.

What I did do was pull the meat off the smoker after the roller coaster ride it went through and put it in the oven at 225. It was plenty smoked by then but the 6 lb butt was still at 155F core temp.
 
so you guys go 225? i like to try to be right at 200. 225 seems a little hot to me, no? (again i'm still learning)
 
In practice, I don't think there is much a difference between 220 & 225. You can easily have that much variation inside the chamber.
 
i meant 200.

but still. if there is a 25 degree variance. and 200 was my target. then it would go up to 225 and down to 275 (possibly). and if i was at 225 it would go up to 250 and down to 200. still seems like it would be different. (wanted to note again that i'm asking not arguing, its hard to convey tone through text)
 
Do one at 200, and one at 225. Experiment. That's the fun part!
 
Bobby,

There are a number of mods you can do to the Chargriller. Many moons ago I strarted with a similar smoker. I learned these things the hard way. First I would make a charcoal basket similar to the one I use in my Spicewine insulated smoker that I posted and you responded to. You need to get rid of as many air leaks in the smoker as possible. You may also want to add some metal to the bottom of your smoker to make the temperature a little more even across the smoker. This is similar to the tuning plates in a Klose stick burner. It will take some experimentation but it will help. Lastly when you are ready to use your smoker fill your charcoal basket with unburned charcoal and add 1/4 of a chimney of lit over top. Jim Minion came up with this method and it works well. It will take a while for the lit coals to light the other coals and you will get a longer burn. It is called the Minion Method if you want to google it. This will get you started. PM me with any other questions. I know you live in Jersey. If you are doing nothing on August 7th we are cooking a contest here in Manorville (LIE exit 70). You are welcome to see The Two Fat Polocks BBQ Team in action. We will share some good Polock Que with ya.

http://www.bbqbrethrenbattle.com/

polocks.gif
 
Guy, that's really generous of you and I'll put it on my calendar for a tentative ride out to the island as long as SWMBO doesn't commandeer the day on me.

I'm aware of what tuning plates are since doing some reading and it makes a lot of sense to me. I have some 16 gauge stainless but I'm guessing something in the 1/4" thick area would be better for holding more heat. Sounds like a trip out to the scrap yard. Can you believe I found some stainless expanded in the dumpster there a few weeks ago and left it behind wondering what the heck I'd do with it. The problem is that there's ALWAYS something cool in there and I'd be broke if I bought it all.



Alls well that ends well. The butt finally made it up to 190F after running in the oven at 225 for another 11 hours. The bone wasn't completely loose but I couldn't stand smelling it and not eating it any longer.

IMAG0226.jpg
 
So far I've messed with a simple combo of apple cider vinegar, a little kechup, and light brown sugar just to moisten up a sandwich. It didn't need much more because I started with a pretty spicy dry rub and the smoke is really what I want to taste.

Seriously, I can see myself getting obsessed with BBQ as much as I am with brewing. My wife is going to kill me.
 
Here's my NC Style sauce recipe that's pretty easy to make.

Take an empty water bottle (.5L) and with a funnel add the following.

3 Tablespoons Sea Salt or Kosher Salt
2 Tables Spoons Turbinado Sugar (Sugar in the Raw)
1 teaspoon ground Cayenne Pepper
1 teaspoon ground Chipotle Pepper

Top off with Heinz Apple Cider Vinegar, put the cap back on and shake to dissolve the sugar and salt. The ground peppers will turn it red and if you can do this a day before you need it, it will be better.

Put it in a squirt bottle and shake it to get the undissolved peppers in suspension before squirting on the pork. Hmmmm Good.
 
Mos'def they do! See my blog. :)

I adapted the classc "Ketchup, Jack and Coke" sauce to a "Ketchup, Maker's Mark, Dr. Pepper, and Maple Syrup" sauce. I wrote it down once and can't find my notes. It was REALLY great on a sauce. Thin and just moistened up the pulled pork perfectly!
 

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