First off DC Man get the hell out of my head, trust me you don't want to be there... even I argue with the stuff going on in that place. Secondly here is the results of drum sticks.
[ATTACH]9461[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]9462[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]9463[/ATTACH]
The chicken was awesome, the skin was tough as a boot, but I expected that and the meat itself was excellent. Now I need input. 1) the chicken took 3 hours to get to 180 using a meat thermometer cooking in temps averaging 220 (is this right?) 2) I started with a pretty full chimney of charcoal and had to add 1/2 about every hour and 2 split about every 30 minutes using Kingsford and 1-2" relatively green hickory splits (I think this thing is really hungry, what are your thoughts and how do I remedy this?) 3) My fire basket is not made of oddly large void expanded steel, but coals seemed to fall through easily and when they did my heat seemed to go away with it even though the embers were still in the fire box (is this par for the course or would it be advantageous to tighten up the weave in the bottom of my fire basket?)
Dang it S1 now you are putting conditions on things! I'll figure something out. I should mention also that the splits were very small, like 1-2" diameter, so I am not terribly concerned by going through a lot of splits. I did the small size mostly to compensate for the green-ness and speed drying.
Great job mike!!! It looks awesome!!! So when are you bringing it to Raleigh and show your brother and nephew how it works? That's why you made it portable right:) You have become quiet the metalworker-artist.
Thanks guys, the compliments mean a lot coming from fellow builders.
As for Tom and my brother, not to be unkinsmanly, but you guys have seen what I drive and I just did the math:
9mpg x 929 miles one way x $3.49 fuel = $760 round trip + $100 bucks in meat, seasoning, sauce, and wood + $10 per hour x 7 hours = roughly $50 per BBQ Sandwich
I think that would make me the most expensive BBQ roach coach east of the Mississippi River. I guess now would be the time to mention I do require a minimum order of 50 sandwiches and will most definitely require a deposit.
And on the eighth day God created barbecue …. because he DOES love us and he wants us to be happy.
Current smokers: Egor (trailered RF) and Easybake (tabletop pellet drive)
Finishing up some details and accessories on my smoker and doing the painting. Figured out that I needed some sort of work surface to get meat on and off of the smoker and I wanted it to fold up, so I came up with this rig that works really slick. I had never made a mechanism like this before, it was kind of a pain in the ass to figure out.
And on the eighth day God created barbecue …. because he DOES love us and he wants us to be happy.
Current smokers: Egor (trailered RF) and Easybake (tabletop pellet drive)
Thanks for the compliments guys. So now I know the D in DC stands for Doubter I had to wait on some decent weather for paint, I even bought a new paint gun. Now I am just trying to decide how fancy I want to get. The problem is I hate prepping for paint work, so it will be like painting a turd, it may be an appealing color but it will still have the texture of poo.