New Braunfels Black Diamond


 
Bill Freiberger

Bill Freiberger

TVWBB All-Star
The first smoker I ever bought was the New Braunfels Black Diamond. It's the cooker that got me into low and slow barbecue. You know the type, it's the horizontal kind with the firebox on the side that you see at places like Home Depot.

Well, I bought it about 15 years ago and I've since moved on to several other smokers including a WSM, a Big Green Egg, and a Traeger pellet smoker. I probably haven't used the NBBD in about 10 years... That is, until today.

I was feeling nostalgic (and I had two racks of beef ribs) so I decided to fire up the ol' girl for old times sake. It was a little shaky at first. She took longer to get to temp than I remembered, and it took longer for the billows of white smoke to turn to whisps of blue smoke. But after about 90 minutes of fiddling I got her in the zone.

So, I loaded two racks of ribs onto a rib rack and put them in.

Well, it's now four hours later, and with a few little adjustments here and there, I pulled two delicious racks of beef ribs off the smoker. They came out fantastic.

I think, perhaps what I've learned about barbecuing over the last 10 years gave me the added know-how that made using this type of cooker much easier than it used to be. In any event, my NBBD is going back into the regular rotation.

Just thought I'd share.

Bill
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mac McClure:
You know you have to post some pics, right? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

As I was winding down I realized I should have taken some pictures. There's always next time.

Bill
 
I used to have the NB Silver Smoker, the cheaper version of the Black Diamond.

Until my move back to Texas, it got used 1~2 times a year, mostly as a large grill for burgers, hotdogs, and sausages.

Get one of these MM baskets for your offset to do extended smokes ...
 
Bill when you have a day at home & the weather is sunny & in the 70's there is no better way to spend it than sitting outside tending your Horizonal Smoker!
Although mine will go 4-5 hours without adding fuel I like to add a stick every 45 min or adult beverage ( whichever comes first
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My first smoker was the cheapo NB Silver smoker, and for some reason or another I presently have a Char-griller w/ the firebox that I'll feed applewood every now and again and it gives me great ribs. (I just hope it doesn't rust out before summer.)

One of these days I'll have a heavy gauge 20" offset...at least I keep tellin' myself.
 
@Travis - I have something similar.

EmptyBasket.jpg


Although yours seems to be a little more complex. Where did you get it. And why do you call it an MM basket?

@John - I couldn't agree more. Several of my cookers are now set and forget. Especially when I use my BBQ Guru or Stoker, they can go 20 hours without tending to them at all. It almost seems like I'm not really barbecuing. I really enjoyed playing with the NBBD yesterday. It brought me back to a time when barbecuing required a little more hands on attention for it to come out right.

Bill
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mac McClure:
You know you have to post some pics, right? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm cooking more ribs today and this time I took pictures. Here they are in the photo gallery section.

Bill
 
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