*****Official BBQ Thread - Suns out, Buns out!*****

mOdO said:
I see, poor if it is as it's only a year old.
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Mines always been like that so think it could just be due to the shape of the kettle.

dadofsam said:
I’ve been inspired by the pictures, the recipes and the flurry of gadgets available to an avid BBQ’r these days and have taken the plunge on a 22” kettle BBQ to be delivered this week.
My question is, or sorry, multiple questions:
Best place to buy briqs? I’ve read briquettes are far better than lump wood?
Best thermometer? I gather two wired probes minimum are best - one for meat, one to put next to the cooking surface?
Other accessories? - Slow n Sear is on the list, where’s the best place to buy from in UK?

Apologies about the flurry of questions, whilst I’d normally trust my google-fu there are almost too many options so would rather reccomendations.
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I tend to use briquettes for low n slow on the smoker and lumpwood charcoal for grilling on the kettle. I usually buy Heat Beads and Big K charcoal and just shop around to buy in bulk when I see they're on offer somewhere.

I use a Maverick ET733 wireless thermometer but I really want to get a Fireboard to control longer cooks on my smoker and the Meater which is an app based thermometer gets good reviews too. The Slow n Sear is apparently a great piece of kit! I recently bought a Vortex which, although is a bit of a one trick pony wasn't that expensive and does great chicken. :)
 
Street said:
*tinga sausage rolls*
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My god man they look insane!

mOdO said:
I see, poor if it is as it's only a year old.
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Nothing to do with age, for some reason all lid thermometers are rubbish and can't be trusted. Dedicated thermom is an absolute essential for long cooks.

dadofsam said:
I’ve been inspired by the pictures, the recipes and the flurry of gadgets available to an avid BBQ’r these days and have taken the plunge on a 22” kettle BBQ to be delivered this week.
My question is, or sorry, multiple questions:
Best place to buy briqs? I’ve read briquettes are far better than lump wood?
Best thermometer? I gather two wired probes minimum are best - one for meat, one to put next to the cooking surface?
Other accessories? - Slow n Sear is on the list, where’s the best place to buy from in UK?

Apologies about the flurry of questions, whilst I’d normally trust my google-fu there are almost too many options so would rather reccomendations.
Click to expand...

There's no better between briquettes and lumpwood. You need to google the difference and decide what you want. Very short summary: for smoking on kettles/vertical bullet smokers you want briquettes, they burn slower and not so hot. For grilling (burgers steaks sausages etc) you want lumpwood, lights faster and burns really nice and hot. I think also if you cook on a kamado you should use lumpwood because they are insanely economical and using briquettes can retain too much of the non-natural additives, though if you buy quality briqs e.g. weber or heat beads, they are all natural anyway.

Best thermometer, a lot of people say inkbird 4xs
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Inkbird-Bl...=1&keywords=inkbird+bbq&qid=1586132077&sr=8-5

I have used a thermopro TP-08 for about 4 years now, still going great. Think latest model is TP-20
https://www.amazon.co.uk/ThermoPro-...keywords=thermopro+tp+8&qid=1586132103&sr=8-5

A more established and potentially more hardy option is this, though you are paying a bit more for no great increase in functionality
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Maverick-R...1&keywords=maverick+bbq&qid=1586132142&sr=8-5

Can't help on slow n sear sorry. Other accessories, a charcoal chimney is all but essential, a good pair of gloves, and I find foil pans (more a consumable than accessory) are very useful. Both for catching fat in your kettle and if the right size for you meat, for the wrapping stage
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weber-6416...1&keywords=bbq+foil+pan&qid=1586132322&sr=8-5
 
Street said:
Mines always been like that so think it could just be due to the shape of the kettle.



I tend to use briquettes for low n slow on the smoker and lumpwood charcoal for grilling on the kettle. I usually buy Heat Beads and Big K charcoal and just shop around to buy in bulk when I see they're on offer somewhere.

I use a Maverick ET733 wireless thermometer but I really want to get a Fireboard to control longer cooks on my smoker and the Meater which is an app based thermometer gets good reviews too. The Slow n Sear is apparently a great piece of kit! I recently bought a Vortex which, although is a bit of a one trick pony wasn't that expensive and does great chicken. :)
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Thanks for posting this, I'm also eager to use my Smoker I spoke about earlier in the thread, however it seems Charcoal is hard to come by.

By chance, have you ever used this Charcoal? Do you think it would be suitable for a Smoker? https://www.homefire.co.uk/restaurant-charcoal.html
 
Street said:
I've used it in the past and it was OK, but found there was a lot of choss in each bag which I ended up binning. The Big K stuff was much better and a similar price if you buy it when it's on offer.
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Thank you, I will have a look around.

I'm yet to use the Smoker, so guidance on how much to light (I have purchased a chimney started) and so on is also appreciated.
 
Which smoker is it? For my WSM, I fill the basket at the bottom with lump wood or briquettes, then dig out the middle of it into the chimney. Then I just stick a wood firelighter under it, light it and let it do it's thing. When the charcoal is going, I dump it back in the hole I made. If I'm using Heat Beads, I find them harder to light than charcoal so I put the chimney on my camping stove to get it going.

I treated myself to a modded fire basket and thermometer hanger for my WSM yesterday. I found the standard fire grate a bit too wide, so unless I filled the basket, some fell through when it had burned a bit and I ended up having to re-stack the charcoal to stop the temperatures dropping. It's got good reviews so will hopefully improve it, it should also make cleaning it easier as well, as I can just lift the basket out to empty it.
 
tlrBeta said:
Thank you, I will have a look around.

I'm yet to use the Smoker, so guidance on how much to light (I have purchased a chimney started) and so on is also appreciated.
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Give me a shout if you've got any questions at all on getting started with a smoker. I'm not exactly a professional but I know a fair bit by now.

How much you want to light depends on 1. how long you want to cook for, 2. how hot you want your smoker and 3. the airflow in your smoker.

1. is only a guess as you always aim for internal temperature (or any other way to test 'doneness'), 2. you should know the answer to, most low n' slow is 225-275 F, 3. is not exactly measurable but you'll get a feel once you've used it a few times.
 
Thanks both for your replies.

Street said:
Which smoker is it? For my WSM, I fill the basket at the bottom with lump wood or briquettes, then dig out the middle of it into the chimney. Then I just stick a wood firelighter under it, light it and let it do it's thing. When the charcoal is going, I dump it back in the hole I made. If I'm using Heat Beads, I find them harder to light than charcoal so I put the chimney on my camping stove to get it going.

I treated myself to a modded fire basket and thermometer hanger for my WSM yesterday. I found the standard fire grate a bit too wide, so unless I filled the basket, some fell through when it had burned a bit and I ended up having to re-stack the charcoal to stop the temperatures dropping. It's got good reviews so will hopefully improve it, it should also make cleaning it easier as well, as I can just lift the basket out to empty it.
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Same as mine, Smokey Mountain.

Interesting way of doing it, how much life do you usually get? Ideally I want to do the whole low and slow as mentioned below (I'm a big ribs fan and want to try brisket etc.)

dl8860 said:
Give me a shout if you've got any questions at all on getting started with a smoker. I'm not exactly a professional but I know a fair bit by now.

How much you want to light depends on 1. how long you want to cook for, 2. how hot you want your smoker and 3. the airflow in your smoker.

1. is only a guess as you always aim for internal temperature (or any other way to test 'doneness'),
2. you should know the answer to, most low n' slow is 225-275 F, 3. is not exactly measurable but you'll get a feel once you've used it a few times.
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As above, my aim is for ribs and brisket as the first attempts - however of course I want to understand how the maintain the temp and how long it lasts at first :)

PS. I do have a the i-grill thermometer (the smallest one) so I should be good from that point of view.
 
If I use Heat Beads the longest I've had it going is about 14 hours with fairly minimal maintenance and there was still plenty of fuel left to use for next time when I killed it off after the meat was done. I find I only need the bottom vents open a tiny fraction to keep it steady at about 110-120C.

I've switched from using water in the pan to a large terracotta dish I bought on eBay instead. I found it chewed through fuel much faster with water for little benefit. I put the terracotta dish in the metal dish to act as a heat soak and I can just throw that in the dishwasher afterwards to clean it.

I'd try a pork butt as a first attempt to see how your smoker behaves, it's generally a bit more forgiving than brisket!
 
tlrBeta said:
Thanks both for your replies.



Same as mine, Smokey Mountain.

Interesting way of doing it, how much life do you usually get? Ideally I want to do the whole low and slow as mentioned below (I'm a big ribs fan and want to try brisket etc.)



As above, my aim is for ribs and brisket as the first attempts - however of course I want to understand how the maintain the temp and how long it lasts at first :)

PS. I do have a the i-grill thermometer (the smallest one) so I should be good from that point of view.
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On a full basket of heat beads in a 47cm smokey mountain I have cooked for 22 hours, and there was probably another 2-3 hours worth of coal left.
As for the brisket, you may want to try just the ribs first, it’s one of the hardest meats to smoke, especially if it’s a thin lean piece from the uk.
 
Street said:
If I use Heat Beads the longest I've had it going is about 14 hours with fairly minimal maintenance and there was still plenty of fuel left to use for next time when I killed it off after the meat was done. I find I only need the bottom vents open a tiny fraction to keep it steady at about 110-120C.

I've switched from using water in the pan to a large terracotta dish I bought on eBay instead. I found it chewed through fuel much faster with water for little benefit. I put the terracotta dish in the metal dish to act as a heat soak and I can just throw that in the dishwasher afterwards to clean it.

I'd try a pork butt as a first attempt to see how your smoker behaves, it's generally a bit more forgiving than brisket!
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ganesh said:
On a full basket of heat beads in a 47cm smokey mountain I have cooked for 22 hours, and there was probably another 2-3 hours worth of coal left.
As for the brisket, you may want to try just the ribs first, it’s one of the hardest meats to smoke, especially if it’s a thin lean piece from the uk.
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Thanks both, I won't lie, I'd never heard of heat beads. Do you mean something like this? https://www.bedsbbq.co.uk/barbecue-...ads-Barbecue-Briquettes-10Kg-Bag.html#SID=150

Will take note on the brisket, plan was Ribs and Pulled pork / something pork :)
 
So I'm 4 hours into my first snake... Have 1kg of brisket on the go with a small foil heatshield at the snake end, plus some onions and sweet potatoes in there. Temp has been a nice steady 100-110c for hours, internal temp on the brisket rose steadily from 6 to 59 degrees, but has been stalled at 59 for over an hour now. Guess probably need to remove the heatshield?
 
Sir back and relax if you're not in a rush. It WILL push through the stall eventually. You can wrap it in foil with a bit of liquid if you're short on time though. You probably need to for a brisket that small.
 
No idea if anyone has posted this already but for anyone new to smoking particularly check out amazing ribs.com. Very good information, some great recipes. I've had great results with my WSM and ribs with Kansas city BBQ sauce. Ideal weather for it now
 
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