Cal Blacksmith Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 For gas I have one of these and love it: http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100497391&N=10000003+503171+10401022&marketID=401&locStoreNum=8125 For now I use this for my smoker: http://www.bbqgalore.com/smokers/misc/167133 But I want one of these smokers: http://www.bbqgalore.com/smokers/misc/197822 I own one of these and have modified it for BBQ compitition, If you get one, give me a shout and I can help you mod yours to get better results than stock. And eventually want to get one of these for charcoal grilling: http://www.bbqgalore.com/charcoal//168415 The smoker has coal grates so you can use it as a grill also, no need to spend big bucks on a seperate unit, lessin of course, you just NEED that grill[] Ideally I want to set up an outdoor kitchen with the afore mentioned Gas/Charcoal units for grilling and smoking, and a wood fired brick oven.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> In my outdoor kitchen, I have (all commercial units) a refer, convection oven, griddle, wolf hot plate, warming oven. In consumer grade appliances I have a freezer, gas grill, the offset smoker you want, and a Webber grill. I also have (2) 6 foot long SS work tables, a Buffalo chopper with a veggie slicer and meat grinder attachments and am converting a commercial double oven to do duty as an electric smoker. I would like to say that anyone should NEVER use bircketts, they are nothing but a little bit of charcoal, saw dust, some coal and glue. They will NEVER have your meat tast as good as lump charcoal or wood. I use wood and lump charcoal interchangeably depending on my mood. With wood thoug, you need to be carefull to NEVER close the output stack on your smoker to control the heat! If you do, you run a real chance of coating your meat with creasote and it tastes very nasty indeed! As to the type of wood or charcoal I use, it depends on the food and required heat. I use Mesquite, Oak, Pecan, Orange and Hickery. I am also in the process of building two large BBQs, (smokers) made from 36" dia, 5 foot long, 3/8" thick pipe. They will weigh over 1000# when finished. So many projects to work on, so few hours to do it! Oh, BTW, my BBQ team took first place in the "showcase" division of a local BBQ contest. It was judged by a judge trainer for the KC circuit. He was blown away by the division as it is not in the KC circuit. He said that it was taking BBQ to a whole new level and that anyone who placed in this division was easily qualified to compete in the KC circuit. We won by 7/100 of a point! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 Charcoal (wood) for flavor, gas for convenience. Yup. I like charcoal much better, but I'm lazy so I use gas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 You only live once dude. Gas due to laziness? We take these things much more seriously in Texas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwillwalk Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 got the dogs & corn on the grill temp says 550 wow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 Charcoal or Gas? I've got two words for you: Bean O Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 i was delivering your weekly supply of bean-o Thebes, but....the van broke down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbert Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 Having owned both gas and charcoal grills for years and years.... I found what many other self proclaimed gill-masters beleive to be the 1 and only way to grill food.... and that is with...... http://grillkitchens.com/asccustompages/htmlcataloga/Hasty-Bake-100%25-Hardwood-Charcoal/296.html I have used it all,.... fresh mesquite, hickory, oak, peach, pecan.... you name it, I've tried it. But Hasty Bakes real-natural hardwood charcoal is the only way to grill. Nothing like it. Sure you could use fresh green wood, dried chunks, you name it..... but why wait, unless it's for the cocktails, then I understand [D], but there is no real advantage. This stuff is awsome. Hasty Bake's grill are also killer.... here's my little baby....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.4knee Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 In my outdoor kitchen, I have (all commercial units) a refer, convection oven, griddle, wolf hot plate, warming oven. In consumer grade appliances I have a freezer, gas grill, the offset smoker you want, and a Webber grill. I also have (2) 6 foot long SS work tables, a Buffalo chopper with a veggie slicer and meat grinder attachments and am converting a commercial double oven to do duty as an electric smoker. I am also in the process of building two large BBQs, (smokers) made from 36" dia, 5 foot long, 3/8" thick pipe. They will weigh over 1000# when finished. So many projects to work on, so few hours to do it! Oh, BTW, my BBQ team took first place in the "showcase" division of a local BBQ contest. It was judged by a judge trainer for the KC circuit. He was blown away by the division as it is not in the KC circuit. He said that it was taking BBQ to a whole new level and that anyone who placed in this division was easily qualified to compete in the KC circuit. We won by 7/100 of a point! Hey Wayne, how ya been doin? You sure know how to make a fella drool. So tell me about this mod. My reason for wanting the 2 separate charcoal grills was because you can easily raise and lower the firebox to control the cooking temperature on the second one and I like the offset firebox on the other one for smoking. Yeah I'll also chime in on the lump charcoal and wood side as opposed to brickets. I use lump charcoal and apple in my smoker a lot. How is your Akita? Shoot me an e-mail when ya get some time. j.4knee@cox.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 Never heard of grilling over wood before, but I'll take charcoal over gas any day of the week....but the charcoal has gotta be lit with an electric iron - if you're gonna use lighter fluid you might as well use a gas grill, unless you wanna wait forever for it to burn off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 Hey, nice pit, Damon! I've owned both and I like both. But, I've gone to propane for convenience. I also have an electric wood smoker that I enjoy using. Michael Hurd's GINORMOUS 3"-thick, Canadian Prime Rib steaks from last year's Klipsch BBQ at our house: They sure make my 4-burner, 869 sq in grill look small! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbert Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 Sniff, sniff..... I smell beef.... Canadian Beef to be exact..... hubba hubba hubba. Picky, the next time you do this, I'm going to fly up there. Hell, the food alone is worth the price of a ticket and car rental..... YEEEEEUM! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 Jim, Good morning! I have been better but I am not bad when you consider everything. I will email you more details. The mod to the smoker consists of moving the inlet for the smoke stack to the bottom of the smoke chamber to get the chamber to fill more evenly with smoke and to slow down the heat from going out the chimney. A replacement pipe can be bought from a muffler shop and is then welded into the side. Mine is currently only as low as the cooking grates and was extended down with some 3" dryer vent metal hose but it would be better to be all the way down to the bottom of the smoke chamber. Another mod is to put a baffle plate between the fire box and the smoke chamber to reduce the radiated heat and to make a more even heat through out the smoke chamber. Both are fairly easy mods to do if you can cut and weld metal. The new model of that smoker that BBQ Galore is selling has an improved smoke box, more volume in it with a more rectangular shape (welcome much needed improvements) rather than the cylinder style that the older models have, like mine. They also dropped the inlet to the smoke stack on the newer ones to the top of the grates to give a much improved smoke flow. On either unit though the metal is a little thin and in a slight wind, you can loose enough heat to make keeping an even temp a real bear. There are two places you can place charcoal in the unit. You can put a cooking grate over the coals in the fire box, this will give you a very hot cooking temp or you can place coals on the coal grates that are UNDER the cooking grates in the smoke chamber. You then build a fire that is hotter on one side and is cooler on the other, giving you a range of temps to cook on. If you do buy that smoker, bring it on over and I will be glad to help you get it modded! Both dogs are doing good. The female is pretty old though and is having a hard time standing and walking, the joints in the rear knees are down to bone on bone and hurt a lot. I don't know how much more time she has left. As long as she is in good spirits though and keeps trying, we will do what we can to make her life pleasant and as comfortable as possible. In my outdoor kitchen, I have (all commercial units) a refer, convection oven, griddle, wolf hot plate, warming oven. In consumer grade appliances I have a freezer, gas grill, the offset smoker you want, and a Webber grill. I also have (2) 6 foot long SS work tables, a Buffalo chopper with a veggie slicer and meat grinder attachments and am converting a commercial double oven to do duty as an electric smoker. I am also in the process of building two large BBQs, (smokers) made from 36" dia, 5 foot long, 3/8" thick pipe. They will weigh over 1000# when finished. So many projects to work on, so few hours to do it! Oh, BTW, my BBQ team took first place in the "showcase" division of a local BBQ contest. It was judged by a judge trainer for the KC circuit. He was blown away by the division as it is not in the KC circuit. He said that it was taking BBQ to a whole new level and that anyone who placed in this division was easily qualified to compete in the KC circuit. We won by 7/100 of a point! Hey Wayne, how ya been doin? You sure know how to make a fella drool. So tell me about this mod. My reason for wanting the 2 separate charcoal grills was because you can easily raise and lower the firebox to control the cooking temperature on the second one and I like the offset firebox on the other one for smoking. Yeah I'll also chime in on the lump charcoal and wood side as opposed to brickets. I use lump charcoal and apple in my smoker a lot. How is your Akita? Shoot me an e-mail when ya get some time. j.4knee@cox.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 Never heard of grilling over wood before, but I'll take charcoal over gas any day of the week....but the charcoal has gotta be lit with an electric iron - if you're gonna use lighter fluid you might as well use a gas grill, unless you wanna wait forever for it to burn off. Good Dr. The wood is for smoking or as many of us call it, BBQ! LOW AND SLOW! Grilling is high temp cooking over coals, be they natural lump, compressed natural or (YUCK) bricketts. As to lighting, you are right! All the chemicals are out! The easiest and fastest way is with a chimeny starter as has been posted on previous posts on this thread. No electric cord or outlets required! I some times use a "weed burner" to get things going if I am in a hurry, there is just something about 80,000 + BTU of propane flame that warms things up in a hurry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 Gilbert, I went to the website and unless I am missing something, that is only lump charcoal, the same thing many of us have said to use. The difference is though that you can buy 50# of lump charcoal for the price they are getting for 10#[8-)] EDIT, I went there again and they do say five 10# bags. so it is indeed 50# but then you need to add shipping on to that price if you are not local to a seller. I get my lump charcoal at the commercial food stores (Smart and Final, etc) or at BBQ Galore, for a few $ more per bag. I can also buy my charcoal in many different flavors of wood rather than the good but bland wood they are selling. Having owned both gas and charcoal grills for years and years.... I found what many other self proclaimed gill-masters beleive to be the 1 and only way to grill food.... and that is with...... http://grillkitchens.com/asccustompages/htmlcataloga/Hasty-Bake-100%25-Hardwood-Charcoal/296.html I have used it all,.... fresh mesquite, hickory, oak, peach, pecan.... you name it, I've tried it. But Hasty Bakes real-natural hardwood charcoal is the only way to grill. Nothing like it. Sure you could use fresh green wood, dried chunks, you name it..... but why wait, unless it's for the cocktails, then I understand [D], but there is no real advantage. This stuff is awsome. Hasty Bake's grill are also killer.... here's my little baby....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 picky, great looking ribeyes! what kind of electric smoker do you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flannj Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 I have a Weber Ranch Grill as well as the 22" inch Weber charcoal and a Weber Summit Gold gas grill (6 burners). The Ranch is the most fun to use by far, I have done two 22+ lbs. turkeys and a very large standing rib roast all at the same time. Dozens of skirt steaks all at once, I don't even know how many chicken pieces all at once . Four whole NY strip shell steaks (the whole strip) again all at the same time. Four enormous standing rib roasts (6 or 7 ribs) at once. It is great for entertaining a large group, with lots of room for adjusting temperature and cooking time as well as control of ventilation. Complete overkill if you just want to feed the family though, also a lot more work to clean. I use lump charcoal for the most part and chimney starters (I have 4 of them). You'll find me grilling outside in ten below zero F. in the dark and snow in January with a 20 mph wind. I know it sounds crazy but I build a windbreak on the deck and I can slow cook a couple of turkeys or 5 whole chickens in any weather all afternoon. I wish I was grilling right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theplummer Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 I have a Weber Ranch Grill as well as the 22" inch Weber charcoal and a Weber Summit Gold gas grill (6 burners). The Ranch is the most fun to use by far, I have done two 22+ lbs. turkeys and a very large standing rib roast all at the same time. Dozens of skirt steaks all at once, I don't even know how many chicken pieces all at once . Four whole NY strip shell steaks (the whole strip) again all at the same time. Four enormous standing rib roasts (6 or 7 ribs) at once. It is great for entertaining a large group, with lots of room for adjusting temperature and cooking time as well as control of ventilation. Complete overkill if you just want to feed the family though, also a lot more work to clean. I use lump charcoal for the most part and chimney starters (I have 4 of them). You'll find me grilling outside in ten below zero F. in the dark and snow in January with a 20 mph wind. I know it sounds crazy but I build a windbreak on the deck and I can slow cook a couple of turkeys or 5 whole chickens in any weather all afternoon. I wish I was grilling right now. Does the Ranch grill have grill baskets for indirect heat?, If not, how do you keep from burning the hell out of everything when cooking something that big. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flannj Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 I have a Weber Ranch Grill as well as the 22" inch Weber charcoal and a Weber Summit Gold gas grill (6 burners). The Ranch is the most fun to use by far, I have done two 22+ lbs. turkeys and a very large standing rib roast all at the same time. Dozens of skirt steaks all at once, I don't even know how many chicken pieces all at once . Four whole NY strip shell steaks (the whole strip) again all at the same time. Four enormous standing rib roasts (6 or 7 ribs) at once. It is great for entertaining a large group, with lots of room for adjusting temperature and cooking time as well as control of ventilation. Complete overkill if you just want to feed the family though, also a lot more work to clean. I use lump charcoal for the most part and chimney starters (I have 4 of them). You'll find me grilling outside in ten below zero F. in the dark and snow in January with a 20 mph wind. I know it sounds crazy but I build a windbreak on the deck and I can slow cook a couple of turkeys or 5 whole chickens in any weather all afternoon. I wish I was grilling right now. Does the Ranch grill have grill baskets for indirect heat?, If not, how do you keep from burning the hell out of everything when cooking something that big. No, but I don't use baskets anyway. I almost always cook two sided indirect or a one sided indirect. I just dump the coals out of the chimneys on either one or both sides of the kettle depending on what I am cooking. I use a very long pair of tongs in one hand and a very long spatula in the other to chase down and re-arange any uncooperative coals. They stay in piles on the sides just fine. You will have to be careful the first few times you use it because this thing can get way too hot. But with practice you can cook huge roasts to a perfect 130 degree rare with a nice crunchy ouside layer. Sometimes I will cook direct with the coals spread out over the entire bottom but that is a really hot fire for only specific foods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theplummer Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 If you don't mind me asking, what did you have to give for the Ranch Grill. I've only seen them online, no one has them in stock, (Kinda like Klipsch Heritage). Seems like I should not have to pay full price if I have to special order it. What do you think one could be had for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flannj Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 If you don't mind me asking, what did you have to give for the Ranch Grill. I've only seen them online, no one has them in stock, (Kinda like Klipsch Heritage). Seems like I should not have to pay full price if I have to special order it. What do you think one could be had for? I don't remember exactly but I think it was around $800 with free shipping. I bought it online and it arrived on a pallet about 5 days later. Took a couple of hours to assemble. Let me do some looking around I might be able to find the old e-mail receipt. - Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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