Sticks on a Sunday


 
GaryP

GaryP

TVWBB Pro
It is a beautiful morning in south Texas. Don't worry, a WSM will be firing up later this afternoon. I didnt know when I moved here, but you pretty much have to have a stick burner when you live here. I think they check you at the border! 16lb SRF black on this morning. The hot spots and constant attention really make me appreciate the ease of the WSM when I dont have time to babysit a pit. Hope y'all are having a good one! 20210307_064648.jpg20210307_064716.jpg
 
Great looking brisket and great looking new pit! Stick burners are next level, but I know you have the skills and knowledge to rock it, l look forward to this cook progressing!
 
Looking good, Gary! When I first started out on this journey to make decent low/slow BBQ, I bought one of the backyard pits from Klose. Great pit, but the operator was suspect at best! The frustration of figuring that thing out almost made me give up. Strangely enough, that's when I stumbled on TVWB, and I started to get some of the basics down. I also figured out that babysitting pits was not for me, so I sent the Klose down the road and picked up a WSM.

I'd like to try my hand at a stick burner again now that I have half a clue what I'm doing! :)

Let us know how that hunk of meat from SRF turns out!

R
 
Looking good Gary. You sure have more patience than I do, had a stick burner, never could get the hang of it. Talk about hands on cooking that was it.
 
Hey Gary - nice looking pit! SInce you mentioned hot spots, you may want to consider adding some baffle plates to the bottom of the smoker.... my experience is with cooking on an offset that has a stack connected at the top of the cook chamber, but yours is at great level so maybe you don't need the baffle plates - maybe Lynn can jump back in and comment on that. The baffle plates we put on my dad's old smoker looked like this and made a huge difference in heat distribution.

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Thanks for the words encouragement! It really does use up all your day. Seems like I cant leave it for more than 15 minutes. But I dont have any rugrats to worry about and it keeps me from having to do my endless list of home DIY stuff! "Sorry honey, cant leave the pit"
 
If Gary's Pecos is like my Brazos, it has a baffle plate in the FB end of the cook chamber. My Brazos is more likely to be hotter on the stack end , than the FB end because of that baffle.

I tried tuning plates but they just create another variable and I have too many variables already. They don't mix well with the baffle. They also restrict air flow and I want air flowing through the cook chamber with no restriction. The baffle already creates a big restriction.

I want the same amount of air flow leaving the cook chamber as is entering. If I get air flow balanced, then my end-to-temps will be close enough.

And air flow = convection = even cooking of the meat + better bark.
 
Thank you Lynn for the info. I do have the baffle into the chamber. On the recommendations I found online I put the firebox lower plate in the cooking chamber to act as a tuning plate. Although after my current experience and reading your post, I might remove it and try it that way. Moving my signals probe from the middle of the chamber(above the makeshift tubing plate) shows a crazy 50 degree change. I also have figured out I was using too big of sticks which wasnt helping any. I ordered and am using a kindling cracker today for the first time and it is awesome. Here's a photo about four hours in. 20210307_103325.jpg
 
Without tuning plates, I rotate the meat about once every hour. I flip pork butt if I've removed the fat cap, if not, I want that fat cap on bottom to protect the meat. When I used plates, I left a large gap between the baffle and the first plate, about 4 to 5 inches.

I use the left half of the grate almost entirely.

I started cooking with the Brazos using digital temps with my Smoke. But I also put two Tel-Trus in both ends of the cook chamber door. Rarely have the digital temps ever agreed with the analog. They seem to always run hotter. And I quit trying to manage my fire by the digital temps, they just react too fast, which caused me to react too fast and create wild temp swings. I started using the TelTru on the stack end of the door and try to keep the temps within 25* range.

Kindling Cracker is best thing since sliced bread. I take a 14 to 16" split, and split it again with the Cracker, then cut it in half. I've found 7 to 8" splits about as round as a beer can or a little less, to be the right size. I have to feed them more often, but I get less temp swing. On a WSM, we control temp by adjusting air flow, on an offset temp is adjusted by the size of the fire.

On using digital temps, I will run a Smoke probe just so I can record temps using Gateway. Wednesday, I smoked whole spare ribs and I put a digital probe right in front of the exhaust port. At about 2:15 I rearranged the ribs to run crossways on the grate. The digital temp dropped while the analog temps were the same. I have no explanation as to why, but I was not cooking at 300+ degree, I finished them in the oven, took a total of 6 hours.


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No need for posting something outside the Weber family. I enjoyed the post and stick burners interest me, a lot. Set it and forget it is nice under certain conditions, usually inclement weather. I don't mind a little work during a great cook. It brings me pleasure and a greater feeling of contributing to the results of the cook. If the right deal came by on a stick burner, I may jump on it.
 
I'm glad I'm not the only glutton for punishment! I feel like I'm learning a bit more with each cook so hopefully I'll be there some day. Thank you for the info Lynn it helps a lot. 20210307_154939.jpg
 
Well, came out alright. Point was amazing. Flat is a little tight. I obviously had some temp issues and I think I should have wrapped a little sooner. But, its dinner and it's another lesson learned. Hope y'all had a great sunday. I know I did. 20210307_191734.jpg20210307_192043.jpg
 
This is a great thread. My first smoker was a very entry level offset unit from one of the big box stores. No. I didn’t know any better. The thing was a POS. Temps all over the place, smoke levels inconsistent, thin metal, PP construction. This was even with me changing one variable at a time. Almost made me say “screw it “ to smoking. That is how I eventually ended up here and with a WSM. The temp stability and control of the WSM is hard to beat.
That being said, after gaining more intel from Lynn and others re offsets, when I can justify the extra time to “man” the pit, I will be looking at some of the offsets suggested. Lots of very sweet set ups out there.
 
Well, now that I know there is some interest, I'll keep you in the loop on the next one. I'm going to make sure my splits are small enough to prevent big swings(hopefully) and I think remove the makeshift tuning plate. I plan on one more before my father in laws comes for a visit and wants to cook on the offset. What he really wants to do is have me run the pit while we drink and watch a movie. I think the last time it was Tora Tora tora. I was inebriated enough I couldn't remember there were subtitles. Thank you guys for participating. I think I enjoyed reading your comments as much as the cook today.
 
I saw a YT vid on the Pecos, a fellow was seasoning one he'd just bought, the baffle on the Pecos looks smaller than the Brazos. If so, that would make a big difference in air flow in the cook chamber. Next time I'm in Academy, I'll go check that out and see if they've changed the Brazos.
 
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