My ten year old son and I built a mini last weekend. Very satisfying to decide to build it on a Thursday, buy the pot on the way to work Friday, build it Saturday morning, and cook two perfect tri-tips Saturday afternoon.
There's more work to finish it off (photos too I suppose), but here's what I did, loosely based on ChadRex's post:
-Smokey Joe Gold that I've had for about 20 years, never really been happy with the airflow as the inlets are above the coals.
-32 quart VMI pot from a local store for $15
-Drilled bottom with 1-1/8" spade bit around edges, 1-1/2" spade bit in middle, 3/4" step bit in the gaps. Probably removed about 2/3 of the metal on the bottom.
-Grate rest made with 3 short bolts 4-1/2" down from top
-BBQ thermometer 1" below upper grate
-Probe hole 2" above upper grate
-Second lower grate will rest on steamer step.
That's it. Haven't done a water/diffuser/heat sink pan yet. For my first cook I used the steamer tray as a diffuser.
Cooked two pretty big tri-tips (7 pounds combined) on the top grate. This was my first attempt at the "reverse sear" method. Goal was to BBQ to 125 then grill for a couple minutes to get a good crust.
Started with a fairly good pile of coals, lit half in a chimney. Used a couple chunks of apple wood for smoke. Stabilized temp at about 250 with top vent open, bottom vents about 1/3. Put meat on fat side down (pre-marinated Trader Joe's) fresh from fridge and kept temp around 250 for about an hour. Apparently my meat probe was inserted poorly as it climbed to 120 but the instant read was still at 95. Checking with the instant read thermometer every several minutes I pulled the meat off when one was 122 and the other 128.
Then I pulled the pot off the base, stirred up the coals & hotted them up with a heat gun, added the cooking grate to the Smokey Joe. Grilled the tri-tips for about 6 minutes total, flipping every 90 seconds.
Best tri-tip cook I've ever done- meat medium rare on one, slightly past on the other. Nice sear to the outside but only about 1/4" of brown before the pink. Can't wait to try this method with a good rub instead of the pre-marinated tri's.
I think the Mini makes for a good indirect/direct setup, since it's so easy to switch from smoker configuration to grill. I was never happy with the Smokey Joe Gold as a lidded kettle to cook chicken or tri-tip because it tended to be too hot at the beginning, then the fire would die out from poor airflow. As a Mini WSM, I think there is a much better chimney effect- I had no trouble keeping steady temps.
There's more work to finish it off (photos too I suppose), but here's what I did, loosely based on ChadRex's post:
-Smokey Joe Gold that I've had for about 20 years, never really been happy with the airflow as the inlets are above the coals.
-32 quart VMI pot from a local store for $15
-Drilled bottom with 1-1/8" spade bit around edges, 1-1/2" spade bit in middle, 3/4" step bit in the gaps. Probably removed about 2/3 of the metal on the bottom.
-Grate rest made with 3 short bolts 4-1/2" down from top
-BBQ thermometer 1" below upper grate
-Probe hole 2" above upper grate
-Second lower grate will rest on steamer step.
That's it. Haven't done a water/diffuser/heat sink pan yet. For my first cook I used the steamer tray as a diffuser.
Cooked two pretty big tri-tips (7 pounds combined) on the top grate. This was my first attempt at the "reverse sear" method. Goal was to BBQ to 125 then grill for a couple minutes to get a good crust.
Started with a fairly good pile of coals, lit half in a chimney. Used a couple chunks of apple wood for smoke. Stabilized temp at about 250 with top vent open, bottom vents about 1/3. Put meat on fat side down (pre-marinated Trader Joe's) fresh from fridge and kept temp around 250 for about an hour. Apparently my meat probe was inserted poorly as it climbed to 120 but the instant read was still at 95. Checking with the instant read thermometer every several minutes I pulled the meat off when one was 122 and the other 128.
Then I pulled the pot off the base, stirred up the coals & hotted them up with a heat gun, added the cooking grate to the Smokey Joe. Grilled the tri-tips for about 6 minutes total, flipping every 90 seconds.
Best tri-tip cook I've ever done- meat medium rare on one, slightly past on the other. Nice sear to the outside but only about 1/4" of brown before the pink. Can't wait to try this method with a good rub instead of the pre-marinated tri's.
I think the Mini makes for a good indirect/direct setup, since it's so easy to switch from smoker configuration to grill. I was never happy with the Smokey Joe Gold as a lidded kettle to cook chicken or tri-tip because it tended to be too hot at the beginning, then the fire would die out from poor airflow. As a Mini WSM, I think there is a much better chimney effect- I had no trouble keeping steady temps.
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