20 hour cook out of new Kingsford


 
L

Lou Tarnay

TVWBB Fan
Folks I just squeezed 20 hours over 200 degrees from a full ring (mounded a little) of new kingsford. I do not use the minion method. I use 2 weber chimneys. I fill each chimney and let each chimney heat untill 1/2 to 3/4 of the charcoal is lit. I dump them in the ring assemble the cooker and close down the vents completely. I find that the temp comes right down using this method. I can usually be at 250 lid temp in 10-15 minutes after assembling the cooker! From there I usually make one or two adjustments for the rest of the cook.

In any event, I was very pleased with the new kingsford, and the butts rocked.

Cheers
 
Lou

That's an interesting approach and one I don't recall having been posted. I like the idea, especially getting in cooking range that quickly. That has got to reduce the overall cooktime ? Are you using water in your pan and if so, the Weber pan or the Brinkman charcoal ? What were the specifics on the meat you were cooking - butts - how many and weights of each ?

Thanks,

Paul
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Lou Tarnay:
... I use 2 weber chimneys. I fill each chimney and let each chimney heat untill 1/2 to 3/4 of the charcoal is lit. I dump them in the ring assemble the cooker and close down the vents completely. I find that the temp comes right down using this method. I can usually be at 250 lid temp in 10-15 minutes after assembling the cooker! From there I usually make one or two adjustments for the rest of the cook ... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

This charcoal starting method shall henceforth be known as The Tarnay Technique.

Congratulations Lou.
 
Hi Paul

I forgot to mention that I pour a layer of unlit charcoal over the 2 chimney loads before assembling the cooker. This really seems to help the cooker cool to temp faster. I did a lot of experimenting with ignition methods before deciding that I liked it best. Overall cooking time is decreased because ignition and temperature stabillization time are decreased. I always use the brinkman pan with this method.

On this cook I had two bone in butts on the top rack. Nothing on the bottom. I was using Alton Brown's rub, but did not use his marinade. I do not move the butts during cooking. In fact, I usually don't look at them at all for the first 12 hours. I don't remember the exact weight (they were standard size). Started the cook at 250 lid temp at 9:00PM Friday night. Went to sleep at midnight with the lid temp at 220. Top vent was full open. One bottom vent 1/2 open. I increased the open bottom vent from 1/3 to 1/2 open just before I went to sleep. I woke up at 7:00AM. Lid temp was at 261. I decreased the open bottom vent back to 1/3. I kept it in that condition until noon when I increases the open vent to 1/2 open again (temps had been slowly falling to 222 since I had made the vent change in the morning). Temps stabilized at 229 for the rest of the cook. Pulled the butts off the cooker at around 3:00PM when internal temp was averaging around 195. I wrapped the butts in foil and plastic and placed them in a ice chest for 2 hours before pulling.

I took the meat to my girlfriends that night at 5:00PM. The cooker was showing 221 at the lid with all vents fully open! There is a good chance that the temps remained above 200 for another hour or so, but I was not around to see it. No charcoal to speak of left when I emptied the bottom of the cooker Sunday.
 
Lou

Do you add the meat at the time you add the unlit layer, with all vents closed, or do you wait for the lid temp to drop to a certain level (if so, what level) before you add the meat. Sounds like you're doing an innovative variation of the standard firing up method. I guess you're controling the temp on the way down. I use the standard method on a lot of shorter cooks and don't have a real problem with controling temps, but I certainly would not get that extended cook time. I imagine the partially lit chimneys and the unlit top layer are making a big difference.

Paul
 
I add the unlit layer (and my smoke wood) just before assembling the cooker (vents closed). The meat goes on when the lid temp gets down to 250. I usually open one bottom vent 1/3 when the lid temp gets down to 235 or so.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Art R:
Dare we say..."the Tarnay method"?

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

No way, JRPfeff has it right with Technique. You have Minion Method (MM) and Tarnay Technique (TT). EXCELLANT!!
 
Lou - thanks for posting this. I use a similar technique for grilling when I want a slightly longer grill time than having it all already ashed over. Never thought of starting up the WSM that way. Will have to give it a try, though.

Biggest news here though is the length of time you got out of the new Kingsford... I gave up on it after I couldn't get more than 13-14 hours...
 
Am I hearing this right.

You're dumping 2 1/2 to 3/4 lit chimneys = 1-1.5 chimneys of lit coals. 1/2 unlit.

To that, you're adding 1 chimney of unlit

So, there are 3 chimneys of charcoal, half of which is lit. The lit half is on the bottom, the unlit is on the top.

I think we need a conrol on this. Convection, even with low airflow, says that the coals on top would catch faster then in the MM, where the unlit is below the coals.

How many times have you tried this? A chimney holds 50 briquettes, give or take a few.

So this was done with 75 unlit above 75 lit?

I don't see how this is physically possible, even with reduced airflow - especially with the sure-fire grooves.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jay Rogers:

I don't see how this is physically possible,... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I know one sure way to find out.
icon_smile.gif


Paul
 
Hi Jay

The amount of coals I use is similar to what you would use when you are doing a heaping ring full for a long minion cook. I don’t know why this works. It does work though.

My original thought was that the advantage of the minion method was that you do not lose the heat (fuel) that goes up the chimney when you light using the conventional method. When you try to light 2 full chimneys using the conventional method with only one chimney, the first chimney full of lit coals has really burned away before you can add the second chimney. So, I bought another chimney. This worked to get all the coals to the ring at the same time, but temps were high and hard to bring down. So I tried adding the coals before the chimneys were fully lit. This helped. Then I added the layer (just one coal thick) of unburned coals to the ring after adding the partially lit coals. Worked like a charm every time. The coals in the tops of the chimneys that are unlit are hot. These coals ash over very quickly during the period when the temperature is coming down. By the time you add the meat (takes 10-15 minutes to bring the temp down in winter) there is no white smoke or “lighting charcoal” smell.

Cheers
 
Paul H

Yes, I close all the vents when I am bringing the temp down. Once I get down to the temp I want to cook at, I open the top vent.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jay Rogers:
A chimney holds 50 briquettes, give or take a few. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Depends on the chimney. A Weber chimney holds about 100 Kingsford briquettes. I've counted.
icon_smile.gif


Regards,
Chris
 
Looks like I have some things to try. Not sure I would try this in a competition yet, will stick to Minion for now, but I will try at home. Thanks for the tip.
 
Hi Clay

Please let me know how this works for you.

The only tricky time is when you open the vents back up after you have cooled it to cooking temperature. Start small. She'll usually run fine (maybe an hour) for a while with just the top open. Then I usually open a bottom vent about 1/4-1/3. After that she is usualy stable for hours. Good luck.

I think I'll post a better description of this technique than the first one. I didn't think I would get so much interest.
 
Lou, I too would like to hear more about this. I stockpiled old Kingsford just in case, but I'm always up for learning new methods. I look forward to reading more!

Keri C, still smokin' on Tulsa Time (and occasionally cooking comp as Hot Wire BBQ)
 
Well I completed my first overnight cook with the new Kingsford and got over 21 hours on the new stuff. Here's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Cooked some salmon on the WSM with about 3/4 chimney of left over lump and Kingsford Charcoal I had remaining in the cooker from a previous smoke. Closed down the WSM at 6:00PM and ate dinner. At 8:20, went back out to get ready for the all night cook of a 12 lb brisky and a 6 lb pork butt. I noticed embers still on the bottom of the grate and just added a full ring of the new Kingsford. The coals started right off of the embers. I added smoke wood and let the fire catch a bit more. Assembled the cooker and had the meat on at 9:00 pm. Temp at top grate was 233 with one vent 25% open. At 11:30pm, temp at grate was holding steady at 227. At 1:30 am, temp was at 228. At 6:00, temp was a 215 so I kicked the ashes a little and opened the vent a bit more.

I didn't adjust the cooker again until about 12:00 (when I pulled the brisket at 189 degrees, wrapped at 165) when I opened another vent 25%. I pulled the butt at 190 degrees at 2:00pm. Leaving the vents alone, I carved off the point and returned it to the WSM for further rendering. Opened all vents at 4:30 PM, cooker now hitting 245 lid temp. Fire started to die at 6:30pm at 215 lid temp when I pulled the point. Almost 22 hrs since I started this cook.

I would have never believed that it would have gone this long. In comparison to old Kingsford, the new needs less venting to control the heat but did last a lot longer than I expected.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top