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Cables, Coffee, Cycles, and Cocktails


Tarheel

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I have one of the last brinkmann side box smokers, one of the smaller variety.  It's not impossible to control the temp, but I do have to stay on it.  I have tried the major cuts with great results, ribs, butt, shoulder, brisket, chickens, turkey.  My next one will be a reverse draft unit if I find the right one, whenever that will be.  I tend to use these things until they disintegrate.  The old brinkmann gourmet bullets were quite good for what they were.  I really enjoyed the bottom fire pan, you just lift off the whole rest to get to the fire if necessary and the heat retains in the body better than taking a top off.  One trick I used was having extra fire pans to get coals going so they were ready to just throw in to keep a steady fire.

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14 minutes ago, USNRET said:

Considering a Rec Tec pellet smoker (I know it doesn't grill, I have a 22" Weber https://www.weber.com/US/en/grills/charcoal-grills/performer-series/15401001.html?cgid=219#start=1 for that)
https://www.rectecgrills.com/rec-tec-grills-bull-rt-700-wood-pellet-grill/
 

Expensive BUT? The moving company seems to have "lost" my offset firebox smoker when I moved here 8 years ago and I never replaced it.

The only experience i have had with a pellet smoker was a Trager pellet smoker and it was not good at all. You could set it at 225 and within 15 minutes go from anywhere between 125 and 350 degrees, terrible. And this was checked with a good thermometer that reads on an outside remote sensor no lifting the hood to check.

 

After reading the  Rec -Tec site I bet they have a better pellet controller ? It seems so the way they give more low settings and talk about constant temps.

The problem with the Trager was as it fed pellets they would burn and make it hot, then cool a little and repeat the process up and down as the pellets would load and burn. I was surprised how few pellets it used for a few hour smoke, that was good.

 

I don't know if my friend had a bad unit or not but I wouldn't take a Trager for free if they are all like that.

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The reason I like my big, cast iron, fire box end barrel smoker was that to smoke at a constant 140 I learned to cut wood the precise length of the firebox. I'd then get charcoal going, put it in the firebox, then pack the wood on it to completely fill the box. In an hour or so, I could regulate the air and chimney to hold the temp, which would vary no more than 5 degrees or so for 24 hours. Need a good, tight box for that. 

 

Dave

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42 minutes ago, jimjimbo said:

If you all don't know about it already, probably the biggest and best web site for BBQ, smoking, etc. is www.thesmokering.com.  

 

BBQ's, smokers, gear, recipes, etc, etc, etc.  Lots of great stuff.

 

http://www.thesmokering.com/

Great site, they helped me twice, the first time when I built a huge smoker and could not get it to draft correctly and hold temps. I let it sit for a year not knowing what to do and I found thesmokering site and joined. After a few questions and them answering I found my problems, corrected them and it worked great. It was big for what I needed so I sold it and built a smaller one.  Later my welding machine broke, they told me what was exactly wrong with it and i replaced the part and it's been fine since.

 

They also gave ideas for my second smoker and also a diacada I made. 

 

Very helpful people.

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Was Scott at the Pilgrimage?  Wondering if I talked with him.

 

Car guys.....help me trouble shoot a problem with the Honda S2000.  First starting it up the steering is extremely heavy backing out of the garage and making 3 point turn to drive out rather than back out onto the street.   Really have to crank it to get it to turn. Once going the problem doesn't occur.  No power steering on the Bubble.  Rack and pinion problem?

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3 hours ago, Tarheel said:

Was Scott at the Pilgrimage?  Wondering if I talked with him.

Yes he was, he is the man on the Right in the red shirt, on the left is his good friend Steve (SSH) on the forum.

 

Still can't believe this is real.

pilgrimage_2018-080.JPG

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15 hours ago, oldtimer said:

I have one of the last brinkmann side box smokers, one of the smaller variety.  It's not impossible to control the temp, but I do have to stay on it.  I have tried the major cuts with great results, ribs, butt, shoulder, brisket, chickens, turkey.  My next one will be a reverse draft unit if I find the right one, whenever that will be.  I tend to use these things until they disintegrate.  The old brinkmann gourmet bullets were quite good for what they were.  I really enjoyed the bottom fire pan, you just lift off the whole rest to get to the fire if necessary and the heat retains in the body better than taking a top off.  One trick I used was having extra fire pans to get coals going so they were ready to just throw in to keep a steady fire.

If you can control it you were doing well, part of the problem many may have had was not staying on top of it and not doing what you did with the coals, throwing cold wood or coals in any smoker makes it harder to keep steady. 

I got in the habit of putting a couple of pieces of wood off to the side in the firebox to heat them up, they catch much faster and not kill off the fire with smoke as much as they heat up to ignite. 

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On 6/6/2018 at 10:58 AM, Tarheel said:

Was Scott at the Pilgrimage?  Wondering if I talked with him.

 

Car guys.....help me trouble shoot a problem with the Honda S2000.  First starting it up the steering is extremely heavy backing out of the garage and making 3 point turn to drive out rather than back out onto the street.   Really have to crank it to get it to turn. Once going the problem doesn't occur.  No power steering on the Bubble.  Rack and pinion problem?

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/s2000-under-hood-22/power-steering-issues-884381/

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6 hours ago, WillyBob said:

How many times have you pushed the button to come back to a full pot of hot water? 

 

I've done that a few times.  that's a sure sign you need coffee

Never, I have a dumb coffee pot, it has no button, It requires someone even dumber to fill it with hot water.

 

Although I have done the opposite by putting water to boil and finding it boiling water onto the stove when I forgot about it. It's one of those kettles that whistles when the water boils but was dropped and the whistle part broke off, another sign I needed coffee.  

 

 

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