In the month or so since I have had my OTG, I've been trying to relearn everything I know about outdoor cooking. For the past twenty-some years, I've used propane grills (except for right after my divorce when I bought a charcoal grill only to have my landlord prohibit charcoal grills the very next week). I've enjoyed the challenge that charcoal has provided so far; I feel much more like a participant in the cook rather than a spectator--kind of like the feeling of driving a manual transmission on a curvy road rather than an automatic transmission.
The one thing I have not been able to do is to get the OTG to hold a sub-300 temperature. I had posted my dilemma on another forum before I discovered LTBBQ last week, and they advised using the fuse method and making sure my bottom vents were at 25-50% from the start of the cook. This was pretty much opposite from what I had been doing, so I hoped it would work. I decided to try out the advice on some lovely almost-2-inch-thick pork chops.
I made a 2x2 fuse and also covered the indirect side of the charcoal grate with some aluminum foil; I figured it could only help airflow control. I set my bottom vents for 25% open. After lighting the fuse and letting temps stabilize, I was able to maintain a steady 216 degrees.
I added some pecan chips to the fuse, and enjoyed some lovely smelling smoke for the duration.
After slowly bringing the chops to an internal temp of 120, I lit some more charcoal, poured it in, and direct-heated the chops for the final 15 degrees. I would have liked a better sear, but I didn't want to dry them out. Here's mine along with a baked tater cooked on the Weber Spirit.
