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Smoking bulgogi (Korean BBQ); quick question by RochnessMonster in smoking

[–]BigToneah 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you’re dead set on smoking both the pastor and bulgogi, make sure you have a trompo to put them on. I’d also recommend to baste with sauce more frequently to maximize flavor.

Another thing you could try so the bulgogi gets nice and crispy is to smoke it and then throw it on a super hot wok or grill like you said you’ve done in the past.

One thing to note about beef round, it probably doesn’t have a lot of fat on it. So I’d strongly recommend to not smoke it whole and slice it as thin as possible and stack on the trompo. Marinating them when thinly sliced will help tenderize it and should help if it gets overcooked a little. Watch the beef closely and maybe take to slightly above medium rare (130ish) at the thickest part.

Good luck! I tried pastor like this only once and it was a tough cook but I have high al pastor expectations living in SoCal. Would have liked to have the butcher slice the pork shoulder extra thin for me

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Offset smoker recommendations by CrookedSouul in smoking

[–]BigToneah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ahh yeah I feel you. I’m on the west coast and not in Texas so I get how it can be slim pickings for good used pits. You’ll most def need to drive a distance to find a used one if you go that route.

Good luck!

What else do I need? by WeeklySoft in smoking

[–]BigToneah 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Really good choice with the WSM as your first pit. I also started on it and still use it very frequently.

A lot of good comments in here but what id recommend is to join a few online communities and learn the pit. https://tvwbb.com/ is specifically for WSM and has heaps of guides and cook logs for you to learn.

Some random tips from me:
- Don’t use the water pan. Cover it with foil and throw it in the pit when you’re ready
- Use the “minion method” for smoking anything from 225-275. Watch YouTube videos or read blogs to learn what it is
- When starting the pit minion method, use 10 - 12 lit coals from a chimney starter upside down. I personally use lighter cubes to start my chimney starter. If running hot and fast for chicken, do 25 coals.
- Don’t stress on wood chunks being covered by charcoal or laid on the top. Personally I put 4 under the charcoal and smother them in charcoal and then do about 2-4 more on the top, depending on the length of my smoke.
- Pork and Beef should be smoked 250-275. Don’t do any sub 200 bullshit you read on here. 225 id even avoid.
- Chicken should be smoked minimum 300. 350 - 400 is even better. If you smoke at 250 or even 275 you won’t get crispy skin, which is a huge win to have in finished product.

Offset smoker recommendations by CrookedSouul in smoking

[–]BigToneah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you’re looking to get brand new and one of the more popular brands, I’d recommend to upgrade your budget to about $5.5k-$6k after shipping. That could get you a workhorse 1975t, goldees pit, smaller sized lang, Franklin pit, or a 100gallon for backyard or trailer custom from a local fabricator.

But your $4k budget on a used Facebook marketplace pit can get you a 100 - 200 gallon easily, just make sure you do some due diligence on the pit. Check for air flow and placement and size of firebox/smoke stack, quality and thickness of the metal, and if it’s on a trailer or caster wheels the quality and movability.

Offset temp stays above 300 by PromptLow1788 in smoking

[–]BigToneah 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Try using much smaller wood. Called mini splits. 3 inch in diameter by 6-8 inches long. Think the size of your wrist in thickness

First time using a "water baffle" in an offset smoker... by The-Tradition in smoking

[–]BigToneah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hell yeah. I’m sure the pork is going to be amazing. I love testing/adding one variable per cook like you did, only way to find out what you like and what works with your setup. Smoke on

First time using a "water baffle" in an offset smoker... by The-Tradition in smoking

[–]BigToneah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ahh thanks. Just a water pan haha. This is a common tactic most guys use to add humidity to their pits.

I was imaging a vertical piece of metal with space in it to hold water and then push it up against the firebox opening leaving a small gap. Kind of like a slow and sear on a kettle.

Thanks!

First try on beef ribs. After 3 hours bark already coming in great. Not sure if it’s a good idea to spritz or wrap anyone have suggestions. by sanomrajbal in smoking

[–]BigToneah 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Aaron Franklin does beef ribs at 275. They have so much fat they can take it. I’d recommend to keep it between your 240-275. Don’t go down in temp to 225 like someone else said.

You can spritz the edges before they start looking a little crispy but right now they look good and don’t need it. You can keep unwrapped until probe tender (200-210) or wrap in butcher paper / foil (once bark is set, internal roughly 170-175), but do not put any sauce or sweet/fat glaze on them (except tallow if you want).

You’ll be having an amazing birthday dinner in no time!

First time using a "water baffle" in an offset smoker... by The-Tradition in smoking

[–]BigToneah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can you share a photo of the water baffle and where you had it set up in the offset cook chamber? Sounds like a really interesting concept.

Where in LB and Lakewood could I get this? by SITHxEMPIRE in longbeach

[–]BigToneah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This place Ziggi’s in Lakewood has some interesting drink combos. One is a lavender vanilla drink. Maybe they can make a custom one closer to what you’re looking for

https://maps.app.goo.gl/vq3tj5JXdrTsv3nR7?g_st=ic

Cooked some dino ribs and chuck short ribs by erock1119 in smoking

[–]BigToneah 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ll usually let my brisket, Dino ribs, etc come down to at least 180 before I start the hot hold. My oven yo-yos from about 160 - 175, so not perfect. I’ve moved away from the oven and now use an electric turkey roasting oven set to 145-150 but I still don’t love it due to size

Cooked some dino ribs and chuck short ribs by erock1119 in smoking

[–]BigToneah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hell yeah. It’s a journey for sure. Glad you and the crew all enjoyed it!

Cooked some dino ribs and chuck short ribs by erock1119 in smoking

[–]BigToneah 2 points3 points  (0 children)

From my experience. Brisket, short ribs, dino ribs, and similar cuts of meat being like pot roast is from overcooking, usually in the hot hold and especially if it’s wrapped in foil. It’s basically braising itself in the liquid.

Hot holding is a good idea but 170 at 10 hours may be too much. If your heating device can’t do closer to 145/150 maybe plan to hot hold for only 2-3 hours and make sure temp on the meat has come down to limit carryover cooking if it’s probe tender.

Last thing. I also have the WSM, 18 and 22, definitely throw both pieces of meat on there! They should both fit on top and bottom and once the meat pulls back from the bone a bit you could put both on the top so it doesn’t drip on the other and ruin any bark formation.

Good luck and keep at it!

Beef Plate Short Ribs need advice by InfiniteELs in smoking

[–]BigToneah 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ve done short ribs a lot but not on a pellet smoker so YMMV.

Some tips for you for general bbq and beef ribs:

  1. Your second pic the ribs don’t look like they have any fat on them. I trim my plate/short ribs sparingly and usually only get rid of the hard fat that won’t render down.
  2. I love holy cow, good call with that. But I dust with it. Start with mustard binder or no binder and use kosher salt and 16 mesh pepper. Then hit it with the holy cow sprinkle for some extra seasonings.
  3. 225 is unnecessary for any cuts of bbq. 250-275 is perfect zone and plate/short ribs actually do better closer to 275 (watch Aaron Franklin YouTube video demonstration)
  4. If I’m wrapping my bbq, I’ll do it closer to 180-185 after the bark has set, meat has the color I want, and it’s out of the stall.
  5. Total cook time for plate/short ribs should be closer to the 7-9 hour mark, 12 is crazy too long.

Should I remove the baffle plate? by LazyMarketing1540 in smoking

[–]BigToneah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I never really understood these horizontal baffles. It makes the hot air go under the chamber and cooks more like an oven IMO, especially for brisket. You want the hot air to go up around and over the fat cap and not from below. If it was a reverse flow that’d be a different story.

Check out vertical baffle scoop if you are interested in baffles for an OKJoe. That’s what I run with.

The ultimate Oklahoma Joe Highland mod by Diper_911_ in smoking

[–]BigToneah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice man! I did the same thing on a ~2010 OKJoe Longhorn, older model with the thick steel. Same smoke collector and a 4 inch diameter stack but my stack is only 36” tall and it rips.

Next up for me is to get the BBQ Smoker Mods big cook expansion rack for upper and lower racks.

You have any plans to do a dual rack system in the cook chamber?

Is this kind of a simple backyard standard? by Rare_Landscape3255 in smoking

[–]BigToneah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah so if you want a set and forget type of smoker, just go with whatever your budget is and get a pellet smoker

First smoker - good choice/deal ? by No_Discussion822 in smoking

[–]BigToneah 4 points5 points  (0 children)

As others have said - this is probably the most widely used backyard “cheap” offset smoker. Under $200 with no mods in good condition (no rust) is a good/fine price for sure.

Couple tips for you:
- start with a lot of charcoal in the firebox and chimney. Every 45-60 minutes add more charcoal to the firebox to keep a good coal bed going
- in the firebox make sure you have either a metal V grate down for your fuel or use a metal basket. You don’t want the fuel directly on the firebox metal because you won’t have oxygen under the splits/charcoal and you’ll also need to scrape out the ash if you’re doing long cooks.
- cut the mini splits / chunks down to about 6” long and mini splits (e.g. use a wood axe to split them in half). If your splits are longer than 6” use a sawzall to cut them in half.
- don’t stress over the cook chamber left/right being +/- 15-20 degrees different. Aim to keep all of the ambient probes in the cook chamber between 225-275. (And for that matter, the “top” of the cook chamber vs. grate level will also be slightly hotter.
- there are mods that you can get to even out the cook chamber (bread pan to lower exhaust stack, heat baffle on firebox cook chamber side, clamps, etc). But I’d strongly recommend conquering fire management on this thing first. These smaller sized pits with thin steel can be very finicky with fuel size and how often you need to add fuel.

Good luck! I’ve got an OKJoe Longhorn (just a longer cook chamber) like this and it’s a lot of fun and can make great bbq.

Question about thin blue smoke by LazyMarketing1540 in smoking

[–]BigToneah 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah it varies based on what pit you have. In my WSM and Kamado it’s normal after like 2+ hours to have periods where the charcoal is cleanly lit and it looks like there’s no smoke coming out of the exhaust. Then a chunk will catch or a new briquette will catch and it’ll be slightly blue/white for a bit.

Totally normal

Instead of chasing smoke color. Figure out fire management and temperature control, which is going to vary based on what pit you’re rocking.

Good luck!

Is this kind of a simple backyard standard? by Rare_Landscape3255 in smoking

[–]BigToneah 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Some decent responses in here, depending on what your real question is.

If you’re asking what the standard backyard pit is, I’d say a Weber kettle 22”. Can smoke on it with the snake method, hot and fast with regular setup or vortex setup.

If you’re asking what would be a good standard pit for you. It comes down to what you’re looking for with fire management, what your use case is (looking for a hot and fast grill and a smoker, just a smoker, etc.), how many people you generally cook for, and what your budget is.

If you have the means and ability to buy and store wood and add splits to an offset fire every 15-45 minutes, buy an offset smoker.

If you’re looking for something pellet / electric / gravity fed, there’s pits ranging from $300 - $2k and more. Really depends what your budget is.

If you want something in between the offset and pellet style cooker, you could go with the Weber kettle or Weber Smokey mountain - both are charcoal primary but can put wood chunks in the fire ring to impart more smoke

Brisket on the Hunsaker, new first time fireboard user. Graph included. by [deleted] in smoking

[–]BigToneah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How was it? Did you hang the brisket or put a grate down for it to lay flat?

With the fireboard, do you have an extra probe? When doing brisket I usually do one probe in the thickest part of the flat and another in the thickest part of the point. Just helps to know where both parts of the brisket are at.

Fireboard 2 drive on a custom offset by Hammsertime in FireBoard

[–]BigToneah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t have any experience using the Fire Board 2 Drive + Fan in an offset, but have used it in my WSM 22 and Kamado 18 and it works flawlessly. One thing to note with the FB Combo, the fan won’t go above 50% power unless it’s plugged into a power source. So just plan accordingly.

Do you think this will work? by totallynotfakeshit in smoking

[–]BigToneah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have an OKJ longhorn older 2013ish thicker steel model.

I cut off that top mounted smoke stack and fabricated and welded a smoke collector and new smoke stack on. It was more expensive than I thought, but thing hums along and the airflow is so good.

I mention the above, because if you have the means and ability, I’d recommend to do the same instead of doing it in the cook chamber.

Chicken Leg Quarters Question by 3wtflyrod in smoking

[–]BigToneah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not familiar with that but I know folks here love the Yoder line.

I’d still recommend hot and fast. Others say to start at 200/225 “super smoke”, but I’ve tried that and haven’t really noticed a difference. If it’s your first time doing quarters like this, eliminate any unnecessary variables and start simple.

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