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.. PROPER BBQ PIT (Smoker) - Weber Kettle Smoker Knock-off


brutox

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I could use one of those--was thinking of it already. Shit like that is hard to find in Thailand--hopefully I can find one online. A chimney charcoal starter would be good too--the firebox on this thing gets filled with ash down below and so the charcoal needs to be changed every 4 hours or so.

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Erm, you saw the kit already in the post about my first day, right? What other shots do you want?

 

Edit: I'll post some shots of the chook and the pork collar tomorrow if there's any interest. I really need to get to sleep now--no way I can take off work tomorrow. The pork looks scrumptious. Cooked it about 8 hours.

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I could use one of those--was thinking of it already. Shit like that is hard to find in Thailand--hopefully I can find one online. A chimney charcoal starter would be good too--the firebox on this thing gets filled with ash down below and so the charcoal needs to be changed every 4 hours or so.

For a chimney, use a tin can with holes drilled into it. Fit a couple of cross rods thru bottom leaving room for crumpled papers. Use a pot holder for moving and turning, or get fancy with a drawer pull anchored to the outside.

 

Use large coffee cans or restaurant size food cans to start.

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Thanks, Bob. I think I can get a sum tom cart maker to help me fashion up a good one. Great idea.

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Have you any pics of your set up?

 

 

Erm, you saw the kit already in the post about my first day, right? What other shots do you want?

 

Edit: I'll post some shots of the chook and the pork collar tomorrow if there's any interest. I really need to get to sleep now--no way I can take off work tomorrow. The pork looks scrumptious. Cooked it about 8 hours.

 

I only ask because in my experience using a Webber, the bottom section is a new piece of kit to catch the ash, not to put coals in! By putting the coals in the ash catcher the air is passing over them and not transferring the heat, coals are placed on the bottom rack in different configurations to allow the air to come up underneath them.  IMHO if you are adding coals during the cook you are doing something wrong.  

 

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.

.. sure, sure, expatdude .. take your time before you throwdown on this .. it's important.

 

.. we are at disadvantage out here amongst the bbq apostates and gas grill sissy-assed crybabies .. so I am grateful you took the initiative to dig into this.

 

.. interested to hear if you think its sins can be forgiven with a few stainless steel fittings, an additional vent, wooden handles, ash can liner, whatever.

 

.. a new era could be arisen in the East, brother .. a New Testament in the Book of BBQ.

 

Hunter S. Thompson Insert.jpg

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brutox--nixonsbest is a really cool guy and a big contributor on this board--I've learned a lot from him.

 

nixonsbest--look at the bottom thing in the picture below with the coals in it:

 

post-82617-0-70350700-1427120195.png

 

It's called a firebox or off-set firebox. How do I know it's not an ash catcher? By the design. Look at the holes in the side and the mechanism for closing those holes. It's a purpose-built chamber for burning charcoal. When the fire is too hot, you close the holes down to let in less air, thereby cooling things down.

 

So, am I using it correctly? Of that I'm 100% sure. Am I good at it yet? Well, I've had some great results already, but there's room for improvement.

 

From a website I can't be arsed to cite:
 

Basically the differences between barbecue and grilling can be summarized in the following fashion:

  • grilling involves cooking over intense heat (500° or more) for short (an hour or less) periods of time
  • barbecuing means cooking over low heat (225° or less), with smoke, and for long periods of time

 

The pictures you show are a hack--a way to use a Weber grill as a smoker because there is no offset firebox--basically trying to get the meat as far away from the coals to avoid grilling. The ash-catcher you point out looks similar to the firebox, but it's a different tool for a different purpose.

 

The picture below shows another type of smoker with an offset firebox--this is a more typical type and shows the offset more clearly. brutox and I are aware that the smoker I have is not as good, but we're hoping to hack the thing do do a pretty good job.

 

offset.JPG

 

I must say the results have already been pretty good. Those ribs were amazing--I was eating them with no sauce or anything and I was in heaven. Grilling is great for steaks and burgers, but for meats with a lot of connective tissue--low and slow barbecuing is the way to go.

 

It's practically a religion in the States. There are competitions all across the States, all the time. The product you get is quite amazing. You're in for a treat when you finally try real (and I mean in the American elitist sense here) barbecue.

 

 

 

 

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The Chook
 

Barbecue4_01.jpg

 

The oinker (used pork collar from Makro about 2 kilos)--tastes like a dream--perfect tenderness, melts in your mouth and yet still is toothsome, wonderful flavor--real food. It was in the barbecue about 8 hours and absorbed all my love too.

 

Barbecue4_02.jpg

 

Barbecue4_03.jpg

 

The stew I made from the first day failure/test.

 

Barbecue4_04.jpg

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I have never seen a webber cooked your way, seems to be working fine! What do you use the bottom rack for?

 

 

 

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Again--it's a different way of cooking that even most Americans are not aware of. They tend to equate barbecuing and grilling, but to snobby purists such as myself (or as brutox would say, 'real men'), they are very different.

 

The benefits of barbecuing (cooking low and slow) are that the temperatures are so low that the meat retains much more of its natural moisture, yet the connective tissues break down yielding a gelatinous, flavor-filled mouthful of smoky-licious meat--tender, but firm, requiring no extra saucing, but delicious nonetheless with a good sauce (another tenet of the religion that is barbecue is how to make the right sauce).

 

This can be simulated badly by boiling first (breaking down aforementioned connective tissues) and then grilling, but not only will the result be demonstrably inferior (evident even to the taste buds of a complete barbecue newbie), but if found out you will be ex-communicated for life, and may not even be allowed to enter the United States again (though some might argue that would be a good thing).

 

I haven't yet used the bottom rack. The temps there would be higher, I imagine, if you used the lower rack and the coals were in the firebox. I'd be interested in brutox's take on this--would you be able to use both racks? My guess is that if you had different type meats on different levels it might work.

 

The kit I have can also be used as a normal Weber for grilling, or could use the technique in the video above, though it would seem silly to me when you already have a perfectly good firebox.

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Webers are the bomb. I had a copy weber at home in California it got many hours of use wish i had room for one of these here

 

 

Careful with your meat

 

 

131a2e5e7db7669595f48537b67d4922.jpg

 

Get one of these for even cooking

 

 

Again--it's a different way of cooking that even most Americans are not aware of. They tend to equate barbecuing and grilling, but to snobby purists such as myself (or as brutox would say, 'real men'), they are very different.

 

The benefits of barbecuing (cooking low and slow) are that the temperatures are so low that the meat retains much more of its natural moisture, yet the connective tissues break down yielding a gelatinous, flavor-filled mouthful of smoky-licious meat--tender, but firm, requiring no extra saucing, but delicious nonetheless with a good sauce (another tenet of the religion that is barbecue is how to make the right sauce).

 

This can be simulated badly by boiling first (breaking down aforementioned connective tissues) and then grilling, but not only will the result be demonstrably inferior (evident even to the taste buds of a complete barbecue newbie), but if found out you will be ex-communicated for life, and may not even be allowed to enter the United States again (though some might argue that would be a good thing).

 

I haven't yet used the bottom rack. The temps there would be higher I imagine, if you used the lower rack and the coals were in the firebox. I'd be interested in brutox's take on this--would you be able to use both racks? My guess is that if you had different type meats on different levels it might work.

 

The kit I have can also be used as a normal Weber for grilling, or could use the technique in the video above, though it would seem silly to me when you already have a perfectly good firebox.

I fully understand the concept of indirect heat and slow cooking, but you have not sold me on the idea of you fire box and I still stand firm that the bottom rack is for the coals!

 

Maybe Soi7 could share his experience with kettle cooking?  

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nixonsbest--the firebox on my Weber knock-off was built for that purpose--of that there is no doubt. I've seen ash catchers, and they are very different.

 

 

I fully understand the concept of indirect heat and slow cooking, but you have not sold me on the idea of you fire box and I still stand firm that the bottom rack is for the coals! 

 

I don't understand what the problem is. The bottom rack can be used for coals if you want to grill, or if you want to use the method you link to above to hack a normal Weber to be used as a smoker.

 

However, the firebox is just that--to say it is anything else is crazy. Why would an ash catcher have holes in the side? That would be completely stupid. I am using this knock off as it was built to be used, though it can be used other ways as well--a multi-purpose tool.

 

For you to say "I'm not convinced" about fireboxes is like me saying "I think exhaust pipes on cars are crazy." They are the right tool for a job and are designed by people who know what they need.

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where did you get that internal meat thermometer i need one

any holes a goal

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where did you get that internal meat thermometer i need one

 

I got it at the kitchen store next to Foodland (on Pattaya Klang). I didn't shop around. It was 420 baht, I think.

 

I will look around again--I want one of the ones you can get where you leave the probe in. True Value on Sukhumvit opposite Tesco might have them. There's another kitchen store opposite Soi Pattayaland 3 as well. I'd like to look at the kitchen tools in some of these homepro type stores as well.

 

Edit: Found it here for a hell of a lot cheaper--exact same one. http://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-Food-Probe-Meat-Digital-Cooking-BBQ-Thermometer-Kitchen-p-6679.html

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Personlly i do it the the lpg way.

 

10 minutes to temperature

 

 

 

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Add the steaks

IMG_2015032534235.jpg

 

about 3 1/2 minutes a side depending on thickness

 

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On the table

 

 

 

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Cooked to perfection... we like the rare;)

 

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That's grilling, not barbecuing. If you don't understand the difference, it's your loss.

 

Sorry to say that, but you decided to post about grilling in a barbecue/smoker thread.

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Personlly i do it the the lpg way.

10 minutes to temperature

 

Add the steaks

 

about 3 1/2 minutes a side depending on thickness

 

On the table

attachicon.gifIMG_201503252929.jpg

Cooked to perfection... we like the rare;)

.

.. yankee99, you can get the same result in a gas oven (or, under a blow torch, or Bunsen burner for that matter) .. so, what's with all the expense and imagery of a gas grill .. a piece of beef doesn't care from where hot gas comes .. it's all the same.

 

.. put that same piece of beef in a proper smoker, and you will have a very different meal.

 

.. if speed is what you are after, just put a blow torch to it and pour tomato ketchup over it .. little different than putting a spoonful of instant coffee granules in hot water and calling it 'coffee' .. bon appétit.

 

.. to a nice piece of meat, gas is evil (in the BBQ Belt in the American Deep South, that's pronounced EEE-ville), and hardwood smoke is virtuous .. to a crappy piece of meat (seagull, even mule), gas is tortuous death (similar to galvanizing tires), and hardwood smoke is blessed redemption.

 

.. what gas does and what smoking does are very, very different.

 

.. expatdude, nixonsbest and I would like to convince you, yankee99, to cross over from the dark side .. dig deep .. have faith .. you can .. do this.

 

.. and please .. no more offensive photos of galvanized meat .. it is so deeply disturbing.

 

Hunter S. Thompson Insert.jpg

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Get a container to put your charcoal in, pour some diesel over it and your got an easy way to get the heat happening.   it's smoky for 2 or 3 minutes but after that no problem.  

"If it feels good, just keep doing it!"

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Great method, but I prefer my meat diesel residue free. :D

 

Chimney's are great--I'm gonna get me one or have one made.

 

This is the baby I'm really lusting after, but fuck if I know how to get one over here:

 

http://pitbarrelcooker.com

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I've got to agree with nixonsbest, that is the ash catcher you are using for the firebox. The holes are to vent the charcoal from the bottom. The rack beneath the rack you put the food on is for the charcoal. I used a Weber for years before getting a Green Egg and I always used the second rack for the charcoal. You will get much better temp control by using the second rack along with charcoal placement and vent control.

 

But hey if you're getting the results you Desire, continue on.

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I've got to agree with nixonsbest, that is the ash catcher you are using for the firebox. The holes are to vent the charcoal from the bottom. The rack beneath the rack you put the food on is for the charcoal. I used a Weber for years before getting a Green Egg and I always used the second rack for the charcoal. You will get much better temp control by using the second rack along with charcoal placement and vent control.

 

But hey if you're getting the results you desire, continue on.

 

I agree, nothing wrong with "Innovation" and thinking out side the "fire box"

 

 

Brutox the self proclaim "BBQ King" refers to it as a ash box in his opening post!

 

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I agree, nothing wrong with "Innovation" and thinking out side the "fire box"

 

 

Brutox the self proclaim "BBQ King" refers to it as a ash box in his opening post!

 

attachicon.gifwebber9.PNG

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.. nixonsbest .. "BBQ King" is way, way too generous .. I am but a humble disciple of the noble art .. a spirited student of the old school techniques of creating succulent peasant food.

 

.. as to the question before the forum - "ash can .. or, fire box" - I am at a disadvantage .. past experience with Webers conditions me to believe it is an ash box.

 

.. still, we must credit expatdude for taking an innovative view to this mutant thing .. it is NOT a Weber, after all, but a Thai creation .. and, we have all seen what can happen here when an over-enthusiastic Thai attempts the stars through Thai lenses.

 

.. improvise, adapt and overcome, expatdude .. you might be onto something the Weber boys overlooked .. queerer things have happened.

 

.. if not, I am faaairly sure you can place your charcoal on the lower rack and gain superb draft control using the bottom and top vents .. just as a reserve plan.

 

.. OWN that pit, expatdude! .. bend it to your will and OWN IT!

 

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