Indirect grilling on my smoker/grill (help)

I have just purchased a new smoker/grill http://www.bbqgalore-online.com/bbq2001 ... sku=263350 . I want to make the Pulled Pork recipe from the "How to Grill" cookbook and am a little confused on the best way to do INDIRECT grilling. Is it sufficient to just add charcoal to one side and the pork on the other, or should I put charcoal on the ends and the pork in the middle ? Any advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks

Hi,

You put the fuel (charcoal/lump/wood) in the smaller cylinder, the firebox.

You put the meat in the larger cylinder (the cooking chamber).

You need a temperature gauge to know how to regulate the heat (more heat/less heat).

All cooking in this manner is "indirect". This is traditional low temperature smoking, Barbeque in the true sense.

You might take a look at S.R.'s book "Barbeque USA".

-egkor

Thanks for the reply !!!

So on a offset smoker/grill, I would use the smoker when asked to do indirect grilling and not attempt to do the indirect method in the main barrel ?

Hi again,

I have to answer: "it depends".

I have a New Braunfels Black Diamond (NBBD) offset firebox smoker, like your configuration.

You can cook any of the 3 ways below:

1) Low temperature (190-225 deg) "indirect" smoke cooking (Traditional Barbeque). This is where the food is cooked by swirling heat, like a convection oven. Fuel (wood/lump/briquettes) goes in the firebox. Food goes in the cooking chamber. Typically whole beef brisket, chicken, pork roast, etc., is cooked this way. When you go to a real BBQ restaurant, that's how the food is prepared, cooked low and slow. I would think that when cooking this way, the cooking times in S.R.'s "How to Grill" would be off because you would theoretically be cooking at a lower temperature than assumed by the recipe. With this method of cooking, typically doneness is checked by a meat thermometer.

2) "Radiant heat" indirect grilling. This is where the food is placed close enough to (but not directly over) the fuel (heat source) that it is cooked via radiant heat. ** This is the type of Indirect Grilling S.R. is doing in "How To Grill" **. This is done by putting both fuel and food in the cooking chamber. Charcoal/wood in the left side bottom of the cooking chamber, on a charcoal grate, near the big air inlet. Food goes on the cooking grate on the right side of the cooking chamber nearer to the exhaust "chimney". Note the fuel chamber/firebox is empty, with the side inlet damper full open. Exhaust damper is full open. I would do a beer can chicken (or 2) this way. I have cooked chicken quarters and winglets this way, with no danger of them being consumed by flame.

3) "Direct grilling", which is food over the flames, can be done in either chamber.

So for S.R.'s "How to Grill" indirect grilling, I would put both fuel and food in the cooking chamber, as described above in #2. The cooking times will come out more like the book estimates.

For #1, real BBQ (low and slow), I would take a look at S.R.'s "BBQ USA" book, I think it talks about "low and slow" cooking. Also, "Smoke and Spice" is a good low and slow BBQ book, and there are many others.

I'll guesstimate I've had the NBBD for 15 years. And its taken that long to learn how to cook with it, and I'm still learning something new every time I cook on it. Have fun with yours! Let me know if I can help.

-egkor

Thanks for your help. I think I will try it using the #2 method this time (So I can follow the book I have), but I am very interested in using the smoking method as weel. I will check out the books you suggested.

Thanks Again

Congrats on the new smoker. Have you oiled it down and done the break in procedure yet? I have the same smoker and my understanding is that you need to "cure' the smoker if you change the heat source from the firebox to the main chamber everytime after cooking. Maybe Egkor can shed some light on this. So far I have only used the offset box and I have enjoyed the results. I does take time to learn to cook with it. Don't get frustrated and enjoy.

Eric

Yes, curing is an important first step. Otherwise, your first load of food may taste like metal!

Do whatever the Owner's Manual calls for to do the initial cure.

I did the initial cure with mine, and have been cooking on it ever since. I have not ever re-cured when switching chambers, or for any other reason.

After the initial cure, just the process of smoking and cooking in the unit will put a nice coating on the insides.

-egkor

Do you swap the belly pan between chambers or did you buy extra belly pans and leave them in place?

I used to swap the belly pan. But over the years I got lazy, and now I don't do that.

Understand, when new(er), I wanted the smoker to be pristine. After 10 years or so, I got to the point where all I wanted was to get the food cooking! Admittedly it is pretty easy to do the swapping.

-egkor

I encourage you to read through "The BBQ FAQ". There is some really good first-hand information there about smokers and smoke cooking.

http://www.eaglequest.com/~bbq/faq2/toc.html

-egkor

You shouldn't have to season the grill every time that you use it. After the inital seasoning, you may want to do it 2 more times during the season, but as egkor stated, if you use it often enough, the grill will stay "seasoned". I would recommend seasoning at the end of the season (if you have one) to protect the grill during any inclement weather that you may experience.