Charcoal BBQ/Grilling

fitz · 27-02-2020 12:16AM

Was looking into pellet smokers as a lower effort alternative to use alongside my Kamado Joe, but it seems you're not supposed to use them in the rain (at least, Traeger don't seem to cover use in the rain). Don't have outdoor shelter to use it in, so canned that idea and went back to investigating what will make life easier with the Kamado - for long, low temp cooks in particular.

Long story short, have ordered a Smobot... Should be here in a few days. Really looking forward to getting my hands on it and trying it out! Will post details of the outcome.... I'm hoping it will handle the occasional temp drop offs or rises during an overnight cooks that I have needed to get up and tweak the grates for in the past...

Any other kamado users on here tried the Smobot?

neris · 27-02-2020 01:14PM

The pellets need an electrical source to power them. One of the youtubers I watch was using the Weber pellet grill in the rain and I think the rain was the least of his problems. Pellet BBQs dont really seem to be a thing over here but then again the only BBQs you seem to be able to buy in the shops are kettles or gas.

oleras · 27-02-2020 02:12PM

fitz wrote: »

Was looking into pellet smokers as a lower effort alternative to use alongside my Kamado Joe, but it seems you're not supposed to use them in the rain (at least, Traeger don't seem to cover use in the rain). Don't have outdoor shelter to use it in, so canned that idea and went back to investigating what will make life easier with the Kamado - for long, low temp cooks in particular.

Long story short, have ordered a Smobot... Should be here in a few days. Really looking forward to getting my hands on it and trying it out! Will post details of the outcome.... I'm hoping it will handle the occasional temp drop offs or rises during an overnight cooks that I have needed to get up and tweak the grates for in the past...

Any other kamado users on here tried the Smobot?

To be honest i have never had an issue with the Joe keeping a steady temp, then again, i cook inside the garage so its out of the wind and rain....I do love a gadget though ! :pac:
Does it need power to run, no internal battery pack ?

Edit..and i just checked the price....wow. :eek:

fitz · 27-02-2020 03:02PM

oleras wrote: »

To be honest i have never had an issue with the Joe keeping a steady temp, then again, i cook inside the garage so its out of the wind and rain....I do love a gadget though ! :pac:
Does it need power to run, no internal battery pack ?

Edit..and i just checked the price....wow. :eek:

Generally I don't have problems maintaining temp either, but mine is outside, so wind/rain and low overnight temperatures can cause drops that result in having to crawl out of bed.
It's not a huge issue, but I'm some man for a gadget too, and it's a birthday gift, so a bit of an indulgence.

I'll be running it off a usb power bank, that's one of the appeals - no outdoor power sockets required.

neris · 27-02-2020 04:58PM

Was in a local Homebase earlier and they had the BBQs for this year in but all still in their boxes and no display models or prices out. They had the usual drum & kettle types & a few gassers (nothing amazing) but they also had some sort of a large ceramic Kamodo type that they,ll be selling

neris · 01-03-2020 10:08PM

Nice evening for a bbq. Vortex chicken wings in cherry smoke. Nice and crispy skin

thereitisgone · 02-03-2020 05:20PM

Six hours altogether in smoker

The Nal · 02-03-2020 05:44PM

neris wrote: »

Nice evening for a bbq. Vortex chicken wings in cherry smoke. Nice and crispy skin

How long did they take?

thereitisgone wrote: »

Six hours altogether in smoker

Thats a proper rack. Where did you get them?

thereitisgone · 02-03-2020 06:15PM

https://fi-fi.facebook.com/luomupossu.fi/
Farm in Karkkila,big farm they only feed the pigs what they grow on the farm everything is natural
Only problem problem its in Finland
Over here ribs quality from supermarkets are really bad quality no meat just fat so this is find of the century, these ribs are what i remember we ate in 1980s in ireland

neris · 02-03-2020 06:36PM

I turned them at 40 mins and then Pulled em at 55 minutes

neris · 07-03-2020 10:30AM

BailMeOut · 07-03-2020 04:36PM

Good deal on the last La Hascenda Kamado 'Egg' at Hamley's in Cork. I took this photo about an hour ago.

blue note · 07-03-2020 10:07PM

Bbq'd some wings tonight. And a little bit of my neighbours hedge :eek:

Thankfully I wasn't watching TV or anything and was nearby. I looked out the window and saw smoke and some flames at the bottom. I had to pull back some of our fence and it turns out that the next door neighbour keeps essentially a box of tinder directly behind my bbq zone. A few sparks must have blown in and just caught. It's out now and the hose was running on it for an hour so we should be okay. I'll keep an eye for the next few hours in case there's an ember going to get me. And thank god the neighbour is extremely sound. He was more interested in catching up on gossip than putting out the fire!

fitz · 08-03-2020 12:41AM

First cook with the Smobot on my Kamado Joe today...set the target temp for 250 and put two pork butts on in a coffee rub.
Had the grill temp overshoot initially... Think wind was to blame, with the bottom grate open a little too much..closed in the bottom grate a bit and the Smobot took over, keeping temp within 5 degrees F for the entire day without me having to go near the grill at all. Made some slaw and the missus whipped up a version on TGI Friday's Jack Daniels sauce (used rum instead of JD). I made corn tortillas from scratch for the first time too...delicious tacos for dinner.

oleras · 08-03-2020 01:12PM

Ah jasus...why did you have to go and post those pics !!

fitz · 08-03-2020 10:39PM

oleras wrote: »

Ah jasus...why did you have to go and post those pics !!

Screengrab of the Smobot app during the cook.
You can see the original overshoot as it came up to temp, three quick recovery after I opened the KJ to put the food in, and it was about 9:25 when I closed the bottom grate in a bit to combat the wind. You can see from there on how controlled the Smobot kept the temp...
Very pleased with it's first outing... Even took the dog out for a walk and was able to keep an eye on how things were going remotely.

oleras · 08-03-2020 11:05PM

fitz wrote: »

Screengrab of the Smobot app during the cook.
You can see the original overshoot as it came up to temp, three quick recovery after I opened the KJ to put the food in, and it was about 9:25 when I closed the bottom grate in a bit to combat the wind. You can see from there on how controlled the Smobot kept the temp...
Very pleased with it's first outing... Even took the dog out for a walk and was able to keep an eye on how things were going remotely.

Stop it !

Shakey_jake · 14-03-2020 05:14PM

Anyone else taking advantage of self isolation and fireing up the BBQ?

First of the year for me, a rack of ribs slow smoked for 5hrs

Captain Red Beard · 14-03-2020 05:58PM

Thinking about doing some jerk chicken. And usually once the thought pops in it doesn't go away till I've eaten the bastards.

Shakey_jake · 14-03-2020 06:37PM

Well the ribs are on, ive gone for a hickory / Apple wood mix

Pics to follow

neris · 19-03-2020 09:35PM

Some little chorzio's & steaks for tonight. Trying to offset a bit for a sear later over the coals

neris · 19-03-2020 09:50PM

Some steaks from a few Fridays ago. Cut to order. Lovely and thick but defo won't be a regular buy for what they cost. Salt pepper garlic & onion powder then cooked off set on the vortex & then seared to medium

The Nal · 20-03-2020 10:51AM

neris wrote: »

Some steaks from a few Fridays ago. Cut to order. Lovely and thick but defo won't be a regular buy for what they cost. Salt pepper garlic & onion powder then cooked off set on the vortex & then seared to medium

Any pics of them cut?

neris · 20-03-2020 02:34PM

The Nal wrote: »

Any pics of them cut?

Sorry didn't take any pics after they came off the bbq

The Nal · 20-03-2020 02:47PM

neris wrote: »

Sorry didn't take any pics after they came off the bbq

Oooh you tease

neris · 22-03-2020 07:54PM

budgemook · 22-03-2020 10:33PM

Disappointed with my bbq this evening, meat was very tough.

What's the difference between rib and ribeye in Ireland? Internet says ribeye is just rib cut from the bone but the rib steak I got from butcher was what I'd call stewing steak, and it was cheap too so I was not surprised when it turned out tough. I cooked it pretty slow, but not that slow, and reverse seared it. Came out tasting excellent but quite tough - a double thick ribeye or a piece of ribeye on the bone cooked under same conditions would not have been tough at all.

blue note · 22-03-2020 10:51PM

budgemook wrote: »

Disappointed with my bbq this evening, meat was very tough.

What's the difference between rib and ribeye in Ireland? Internet says ribeye is just rib cut from the bone but the rib steak I got from butcher was what I'd call stewing steak, and it was cheap too so I was not surprised when it turned out tough. I cooked it pretty slow, but not that slow, and reverse seared it. Came out tasting excellent but quite tough - a double thick ribeye or a piece of ribeye on the bone cooked under same conditions would not have been tough at all.

I made that mistake in 2004 when I was in 1st year college. We got a rib steak thinking it was ribeye and didn't question the price. We cooked it like you would a ribeye. I think I finished chewing it sometime in 3rd year, it was that tough! I've had some in stews since and it's delicious but I don't think I'd be using it on a bbq.

Rib is stewing beef, like a chuck steak, ribeye is suitable for frying / grilling. Similar sounding, but completely different.

neris · 23-03-2020 12:09AM

Rib is a low and slow cook. Alot of those stewing cuts are full of fat & colagens that need to be broken down unlike steaks which are very meaty.

https://www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com/cuts/cut/2468/ribeye-steak

fitz · 23-03-2020 12:14AM

My steak of choice for grilling is striploin. Ribeye is overrated imo.

Put a pork shoulder on the Kamado Joe last night about 9pm, and did not have to go near it until about 4pm today. Smobot has been a great addition. Temp picked up about 6:30am this morning, not sure why, maybe one of the wood chunks burned hot... With my old Thermoworks Smoke setup, I'd have been getting an alarm this morning and would have had to go close in the grate to control that temp spike, but the Smobot just sorted that for me and brought the temp back under control while I slept. It's a brilliant piece of kit.

Shoulder turned out great.

*Charcoal* BBQ/Grilling

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Charcoal BBQ/Grilling