Kaz S
TVWBB Pro
After seeing daniel wolgast's Home made lump in the iron chef tea challenge I knew that I had to try this. Because we have lots of barrels and tons of oak. I called on help from my uncle a retired forest fire / wild fire / controlled burning extraordinaire, weber fan, bbq fanatic, and general badass dude who I also gave a wsm last year, he's awesome. Basically I just had to implant the idea and give him some drums and he came up with the rest.
Here's what he built.
Made some chunks out of some seasoned oak rounds.
Loaded the 30 gallon barrel up.
Lit the bottom.
Let it burn/keep adding fuel to the bottom fire for 8 hours and then sit overnight. And wha-lah
Pure yellow river oak lump charcoal.
So now for the REAL test.
Some beef ribs roti style. With salt and lemon pepper.
It has no problem getting hot! Good stuff!
While the ribs were turning I was basting with a steve riachlen carolina vinegar mop, good stuff. With my new basting mop that my same uncle got me for xmas to keep oak leaves and acorns out of my sauce. Its willams-sonoma, and I love it!
Ribs are coming along nicely. They like the charcoal also!
Here's my rig. Temps ran about 350 for this cook and took a tad over 2 hours. Maybe 2.5
After a short rest I carved them up.
And sat down to eat!
I think they were the best ribs I've ever done. They were fantastic. Spicey, tangy, smokey, but nothing overpowering the other components. I didn't add any smoke wood either didn't need it.
I did have to keep the lid on to keep the charcoal from igniting tho. But not that big of a deal. I just had the lid off for a minute to mop about every 20 minutes.
About the charcoal rig. The 55 gallon drum is up on bricks with holes drilled in the bottom. And the smaller 30 gallon drum is up on bricks inside it. I think he said he drilled holes in the bottom of the 30 gallon drum too, but I need to ask him again to verify. He said he got about 60% of the volume. As it shrank back about 40%. He plans on making atleast 3 more for himself and one for me. He says if he's sitting out there tinkering with one why not have 3 going and really get a pile. But I loved my first cook with it. He is gonna report back to me on how it cooks in the wsm.
Thanks daniel, thank you all!
Here's what he built.
Made some chunks out of some seasoned oak rounds.
Loaded the 30 gallon barrel up.
Lit the bottom.
Let it burn/keep adding fuel to the bottom fire for 8 hours and then sit overnight. And wha-lah
Pure yellow river oak lump charcoal.
So now for the REAL test.
Some beef ribs roti style. With salt and lemon pepper.
It has no problem getting hot! Good stuff!
While the ribs were turning I was basting with a steve riachlen carolina vinegar mop, good stuff. With my new basting mop that my same uncle got me for xmas to keep oak leaves and acorns out of my sauce. Its willams-sonoma, and I love it!
Ribs are coming along nicely. They like the charcoal also!
Here's my rig. Temps ran about 350 for this cook and took a tad over 2 hours. Maybe 2.5
After a short rest I carved them up.
And sat down to eat!
I think they were the best ribs I've ever done. They were fantastic. Spicey, tangy, smokey, but nothing overpowering the other components. I didn't add any smoke wood either didn't need it.
I did have to keep the lid on to keep the charcoal from igniting tho. But not that big of a deal. I just had the lid off for a minute to mop about every 20 minutes.
About the charcoal rig. The 55 gallon drum is up on bricks with holes drilled in the bottom. And the smaller 30 gallon drum is up on bricks inside it. I think he said he drilled holes in the bottom of the 30 gallon drum too, but I need to ask him again to verify. He said he got about 60% of the volume. As it shrank back about 40%. He plans on making atleast 3 more for himself and one for me. He says if he's sitting out there tinkering with one why not have 3 going and really get a pile. But I loved my first cook with it. He is gonna report back to me on how it cooks in the wsm.
Thanks daniel, thank you all!
