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Outdoor Cooker Standoff - Part 2

This is part two of an earlier post: 

 

So the first outdoor cooker I would LOVE to get rid of is the Kingsford Bullet Smoker.  It’s the least versatile, and isn’t particularly good at doing the one thing it should.  The make is OK, but the build quality is nowhere close to as solid as the Bayou Classic steamer (14 years old) or the Weber Kettle (20 years old).

 

On the plus side, it’s easy to add fuel to the Kingsford Smoker, it’s relatively small, and with some slight modifications I could probably get past alot of it’s limitations.  The limitations are that it’s REALLY leaky, it’s hard to keep at temperature over an 8-10 hour cook, and like I mentioned earlier I can’t do burgers, and I can’t steam anything on it.

So while I really don’t like this cooker, I've got to make sure that I’ve got a good “long smoke” alternative in place - because as much as I don’t like it - it’s the best smoker option I’ve got….I think.  

 

So what I’m thinking is that I can use the Weber kettle as a smoker.  I’ve tried smoking with it before, and the results haven’t been great.  As poorly as the Kingsford holds a consistent temp, I have had a tougher time smoking on the Weber because it’s relatively shallow compared to the Kingsford bullet and I’ve had a hard time separating the direct heat coming off of the fire and the food that I just want to be smoked.

 

If you are new to outdoor smoking\etc. just remember that hotdogs, hamburgers, steaks, kabobs, chicken breasts, etc. are typicallygrilled using the radiant, direct heat that comes off the flame to cook the food in a relatively short period of time - usually less than 20 - 25 minutes.

 

Generally speaking, for things like ribs, brisket, pulled pork shoulder, etc, they are typically smoked using INDIRECT heat.  That means these large, tougher cuts of meat sit in a cook “chamber” that fills with smoke.  The smoke gradually raises the temperature of the chamber and penetrates the meat over an 8-10 hour cook.

 

Anyway, I am writing this on a Sunday - and right now I have a 10-pound boston butt (it’s really the pig’s shoulder - not his butt) setup for a 10 hour cook in the Weber.  As it turns out, there are a lot of options to help you separate the food from the flame in the kettle and this one covers a lot of them.  

 

A follow up post will detail today's cook setup.  Today’s the Panther’s season opener, and the whole family is expecting this cook to be a few notches above edible - so wish me luck!

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