Charcoal Basket Experiment

[jdbruck]

I will probably not get a chance to use it for a week or two, but yesterday, I just made a charcoal basket to use with my offset smoker.  I have had difficulty keeping the temp for long cooks and am hoping that this will help.  I don't really know what I am doing, but I figure after a few tries, I'll get it.  I will take advice from anyone.  I will post follow ups after each of the first few uses. 

I will probably make ribs next week and see if I can get six hours of continuous heat.  I am going to just use regular Kingsford briquettes with some apple or mesquite wood pellets for smoke.  (There was a great sale on Kingsford 2 weeks ago, 40 lbs for $10.)  Hopefully it will work.

-Josh

[sliding_billy]

Are you burning sticks or charcoal?

[hikerman]

Hey Josh, nice basket and a beauty of a smoker!   Hope the basket helps!

[jdbruck]

Billy
I'm the newbie-est of newbies and am just using charcoal for now.  I would like to move up to sticks in the future.

[LostArrow]

Instead of pellets put some wood chunks in the  charcoal mix.
Light about 25 briquittes
 & put on top of the unlit charcoal.

[sliding_billy]

Billy
I'm the newbie-est of newbies and am just using charcoal for now.  I would like to move up to sticks in the future.

Honestly, that is going to be your biggest issue.  Charcoal burns consistently and for a long time, but you want a clean flame in a stick burner.  The charcoal basket will help to tighten up the charcoal.  For the short term, I would run lump charcoal and chunks for a hotter burn, but ultimately that cooker is going to want sticks.  You can work your way up to all wood by going charcoal/chunks, then a bed of charcoal with splits and ultimately just splits.

[jdbruck]

Lostarrow and Billy.  Thank you so much for your advise.  I will definitely be following that and let you know how it goes.

[Las Vegan Cajun]

Nice looking grill, hope the new basket works for you, looking forward to seeing the results. 

[LostArrow]

Great looking basket!
Your backyard meadow creek will work fine with wood or charcoal.
The idea of a basket is to get a longer burn without tending.
Like some sleep on an overnite cook 
While it often burn wood in my offset , I have a basket that will,hold 8-10 lbs of fuel & I can get a pretty good nItes sleep

[smokeasaurus]

I did a product review of the SQ-36 last year. I had great results with starting off with a full chimney starter of lit Kingsford to bring the pit up to temp.

I used mini-splits from Fruit-a-Wood. They are about 8 inches long and work very nicely in this size of pit.

I heat them on top of the flat fire box because warm wood bursts into flame quickly and burn clean and do not smolder (big cause of oversomoking)

Add one to the coal base and let it burst into flames. Every 30-40 minutes add another split. The original split will be at least 1/2 spent and the new split will keep your temps even. You can keep about 4-5 mini splits on top of the fire-box at any one time.

You are gonna use a bunch of splits up during your cooks but the flavor is unrivaled. Just use Kingsford to get started. You will also have an easier clean up because your ash consumption from wood is nothing close to the pile you are gonna have if you try to use straight Kingsford. One problem with the SQ-36 fire box design is the low ash pan under the fire-grate. If you try to use straight briqs for a long cook the ashes will pile up quickly and effect the burn rate of your fire.

Good Luck the Meadow Creek is one heck of a good smoker.

Here is the link to my review of the SQ-36  http://www.letstalkbbq.com/index.php?topic=6521.0

[jdbruck]

Thanks for the tip of putting the wood on top of the firebox.  Will definitely do that.  Also, I already went through your review and I am pretty sure that I have your returned unit.  So far, it works great and the people at Meadow Creek have been extremely helpful.

[jdbruck]

Sort of a success
I finally had time to try and make ribs and it came out pretty good.  Not fall off the bone great, but pretty good. and the Charcoal basket made the day a ton easier.

I bought a rack of ribs from the Italian Market here in Philly.  I had them remove the membrane.  I do not like buying meat or fish at the supermarket anymore.  The service, quality and prices are too good at the Italian Market or in the Reading Terminal.   I got the rub also from the spice place in the market.  I put the rub on the ribs, but only let it sit for two hours.  Next time I will try to prepare the night before.  I usually like to have at least four hours. 


I then filled up the charcoal basket with briquettes and put some apple wood pellets on top.  (Next time I will put them in the middle, or just a layer or two below.)

I used a chimney to heat up some charcoal and just put it on top of the basket and it worked great.  (Thank you Lost Arrow.)


I also used a Remote thermometer my wife got me for my Birthday.  It was the first time I used it and it was awesome.  I was able to do work while on my third floor and not have to constantly go down to check on the temp.  I was so impressed with this product and how easy it was to use.



Here is a pic after an hour


Here is after six hours


I left some dry without bbq sauce to see what it tasted like.  I do prefer some dry rub only ribs.  This one was too peppery.  If anyone can recommend a good dry rub, I will try it.  I am too lazy to make my own.

Conclusion
Sort of a success.  The charcoal basket made it a ton easier.  I was able to maintain 235 degrees for six hours without adding anything.  On the other hand, my ribs were good, but not great.  They were not "fall off the bone" great.  I definitely made some mistakes.  I forgot to put oil on the ribs before putting on the dry rub.  I did not spray them with apple juice every hour.  I did it a few time, but, I should have done it more.  I also did not put nearly enough BBQ sauce on them either. 

All in all, though, it was a step forward.  I will do a better job next time. I will try to get it closer to 225 next time.  I will add a lot more sauce. And, I will also try some wood that I am going to buy from Phil's Firewood next week.  He seems to get good reviews on Yelp.

Enjoy your Fourth of July.
-Josh

[hikerman]

Hi Josh, your ribs look very tasty!  Keep building on your success.  You should contact Savor Spices,  they are  sponsor of this site. They make a rub called Fine Swine & Bovine that is great on ribs amongst other things. In fact their whole lineup is top shelf! Savor Spices like all the other sponsors have their own section on the site. Go there and see for yourself how nice those rubs are. Continued success my friend!   

[smokeasaurus]

The ribs sure look good. When I was running my SQ-36 I would put a small pan on top of the heat dispersion channel with some hot water in it right under the ribs. It made a big difference (imho). I pretty much run a water pan whenever I smoke now. Meat seems much tender and the smoke ring (appearance wise) seems more pronounced.