Charcoal grill/smoker recommendations?

Damn good looking dinner right there! HEB Ribeyes?

This Friday I'll be buying 15 full racks of ribs, 10lbs of mixed sausage, hot dogs and maybe some chicken for my son's birthday party next Saturday.
Reserved a pavilion with a huge smoker at a local Park and already have plenty of charcoal and oak.
Bought a dual-probe thermometer with hi/low alarms to monitor interior temps.

Plan to fire up and stabilize the smoker at 225F from 7-8AM, then smoke the ribs for ~5 hours.

3 different flavors, 5 racks each of
1) TX Style (very little sugar): Basic brisket-like rub (S& lots of P, garlic, onion, mustard, chili, chipotle powder) then mopped with http://amazingribs.com/recipes/BBQ_sauces/texas_BBQ_mop-sauce.html
2) Memphis Style (no sauce): http://amazingribs.com/recipes/rubs_pastes_marinades_and_brines/meatheads_memphis_dust.html
3) Vermont Pig Candy: http://amazingribs.com/recipes/porknography/vermont_pig_candy.html

A little nervous putting this much meat on a smoker I've never worked with. Oh well no guts no glory!


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Yeah as long as I can maintain the temp within a pretty narrow band and not overdo the smoke they'll be great, I'll just have to stay on top of the firebox and pay attention to temp variations within the smoker.
With such a big and leaky area it'll take a good amount of fuel, but being thick steel once in the 220-240F range it will resist fast temp changes.
I'll try to bring it up to temp fairly quickly with a couple loads of charcoal from the chimney then maintain with oak and unlit coals by keeping a close eye on the thermos.

ha thx we definitely will be doing more lamb soon. So freaking good...

Zube Park on Becker just outside 99. Last year they built a big playground, splash pad and 2 pavilions each with it's own smoker. Have to reserve in advance at War Memorial Park office, $150 refundable deposit req'd and they clean everything before and after.
BTW they have really nice bike trails and a sweet Frisbee golf course in between Becker and Roberts Rd.
Also the Houston Area Live Steamers club that's open for mini-train rides once a month: http://www.hals.org/
Great place, less than 10 minutes from us.

Plus Chepes market/taqueria/carniceria is right there! Excellent meat for the grill plus awesome barbacoa, carnitas, nopales etc tacos.

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55lbs of piggy, 5lbs of beef ribs, 28 hebrew national dogs, beer, maple syrup.
hopefully won't have to go back to Costco for another 5 years... not for me.

Made the TX sauce this AM and now rubbing the ribs down with Memphis Dust.
booya!
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do you one better, come on over eat some yerself!
I'll be there 7AM sharp, target is hitting 230F by 7:45 and putting the 9 St. Louis racks right on.
6 Baby backs ("Loin Backribs" in Costco speak) will go on about an hour later.
Big pan of beans go on around 10AM, hot dogs at 12:30.
Everything should be ready to serve around 1.
Be great to see you there Jason.

The syrup is for the "Vermont Pig Candy" recipe linked in post 1202. Will be the first time trying the "TX Crutch", and also Parkay like they use in competitions.
Doing all 6 baby backs that way, 5 St. Louis racks with the TX mop, and the last 4 Memphis style (dry).

BTW the "TX Barbeque Juice" recipe linked above is amazing. Made a double batch this morning, following the recipe except for no "steak sauce" and adding a shot of liquid smoke and couple tblsp of very hot thai crushed red pepper. Also put about 1/2 the diced onions and green peppers in the blender after stewing for awhile, which thickened it up nicely. Just an amazing flavor.

Should be enough beer. Only a few big drinkers out of the ~25 adults expected.
Making extra ribs to send to my FIL (inspiration for this thread way back on page 1!) who can't make it. Bummed about that.
Plus, who ever complained about extra ribs!?
T minus 10 hours until the smokin starts...

 

took long to bring this leaky ***** up to temp but the pig went on at 8:15. I'm gonna be putting out more CO2 than a damned coal fired power plant tofay... good thing I loaded up on fuel.
Installed a 26 gauge steel baffle which should help equalize temps a bit.
oak smells great, now relaxing with coffee and pumpkin spice donuts.
dual probe thermo working well, reminding me to put a log and/or shovel of briquettes in the fire box. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

fire
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Whew. That was WORK. Nearly my whole body is sore this morning, from fingers to toes.
Very worth it. Ribs were awesome. The baby backs came out especially well, very meaty and juicy.
Costco does indeed sell good meat.
Got mixed up keeping the St. Louis racks straight so just mopped all of them with the TX Juice, which mellowed out overnight in the fridge and wasn't nearly as spicy as I intended.
Went through over 20lbs of briquettes and about a dozen oak logs.
Still had to fight to keep the temps above 200F. Was a little worried all the wood would over smoke the ribs, but the flavor was awesome.
The "Vermont Pig Candy" sauce made from apple juice the BB's crutched in, reduced over the firebox with syrup is excellent, with enough left over to put in a bottle.
We ate ~6 racks at the park, most couples took home a 1/2 rack, have 2 going to the FIL, and a bunch of end pieces for me and pop to eat during the F1 race today. Plus a lot of leftover beer, you would have really helped out on that Jason!

Won't be doing this again anytime soon but it was definitely fun.

Thought I'd get more time to relax during the smoking but probably sat down and read my kindle a total of 30 minutes. Nearly 11 hours from leaving the house to getting back and putting everything away.
Jumping into the pool never felt so good...
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this little cutie approved. Put away 2 baby backs!

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Colleague's Ducatio was a big hit

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Long time no post, but a new grillin instrument joining the arsenal calls for one.
The old-school hibachi served us well the last two years, going through at least 12 big bags of charcoal and turning out many, many yummy meals.
Then I saw this little honey at Walmart and it was an easy $90 purchase. $50 more for a cover, two additional thermometers (tested close enough with boiling water) insulated tape for some simple smoking and a can of BBQ paint to pre-emptively protect the joints.
Seasoning her right now with a load of coal, then tomorrow hanger steak, korean pork belly, yakatori chicken thighs corn and hebrew national franks for a Memorial Day feast.
Lots of great reviews on Amazon, but cheaper (and pre-assembled) at Walmart.
https://www.amazon.com/Expert-Grill-Heavy-24-Inch-Charcoal/dp/B06X9VJGFP/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527465235&sr=8-1&keywords=expert+charcoal+grill
Don't know how "heavy duty" it is but quite stable, nice mechanism for raising and lowering charcoal tray, fairly heavy cast iron grates (sprayed with Weber grilling oil for seasoning) and strong fold-out table.
This one looks like it's made by the same company that did the Smoke Hollow searing/gas/charcoal/smoker that I started this thread with, has a chimney and is also a nice deal at $120 but a little too big for the area I have with the fixed side shelves.

happy grilling on Memorial Day all!


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