ckreef

Great cooks and pictures. Kewl idea wrapping the fat around the deer roast. People told me the same thing about pork loin (would never get it to pull). Braised it like I do chuck roasts and it fell apart. Glad the new Forum is working for you.

That's good to know as I think it is a really great design.

Launch preparation. T minus approximately 22 hours. Put the small barrel up on a pedestal. Fill it with wood for charcoal. For this test burn I just used a few pieces of old leftover firewood. Put the big barrel over it upside down. Tip it over. Finish tipping it over. Pack the space between the two barrels with sticks (fuel for the burn). Add a few pieces of fat lighter (for ignition) and some more sticks and twigs. Ready to go. Ignition at approximately 6:00 pm tomorrow night. I ain't scared - LOL

Don't let Mrs skreef hear you talk about fishing - she'll be packing our bags.

I will have the garden hose around back and ready to go - LOL

Sounds like you're having Suds for supper tonight with a side of pizza

Nice simple cook CC - good job.

Reheated spiral ham, reglazed with a orange honey glaze. Augratin Baby Red's by Mrs skreef. The potatoes were spot on the money.

For it's size my Super Jr is huge.

Sorry I meant lump basket. Here is the bottom vent assembly. It installs with the 2 rods going into the tubes. Allows you easily sweep the ashes out the front assembly opening. I just put a dust pan there to catch the ashes. Pictured is a 5" sweepie broom down in the belly. This is the bottom vent assembly installed. A totally awesome design. I remove that assembly every time to speed up the time to get the Komodo to temp.

Final stages of the build. 12 x 3/4" holes 3" from the bottom of the barrel. This is the oxygen supply for your fuel wood. Attachment of the stove pipe. 4 x 1/2" holes. This is to add oxygen to the chimney allowing a complete burn of all the gases before exiting the chimney. This is supposed to cut down on the amount of smoke produced in the process (sort of like EPA regulations crap - LOL) A quick disconnect latch for the band. Allows me to use the band to hold the lid on instead of putting rocks on the lid. I also removed the gasket from the lid lip, figuring it was going to burn up anyway. Should be able to give it a test burn this weekend.

A few people have tried that but got the holes wrong which allowed air into the small barrel. The end result was ash not charcoal. Will try it per the instructions first until I really know what I'm doing. After that I'll have a little clue on how to modify for easier use.

About 30 minutes. I put it in the bun at IT of 133*. I think I pulled it a IT of 150*

On my 16.5" the entire bottom vent assembly slides in and out. I take the ash basket out, take the bottom vent assembly out then just sweep the ashes out the front of the vent assembly opening. I thought that is how they all worked but then again I might not know what I'm talking about.

The small drum will be upside down with no lid so the gas should get forced out at the crack at the bottom. I asked the same question, figuring it needed a few small holes down there. Supposedly just sitting in there has enough play to vent the gases and not allow any oxygen into the small barrel. The biggest issue with this design is getting the loaded small barrel upside down inside the big barrel. I've seen pictures how they do it, will know how big of a pain in the butt it is once I try it.

Great looking dish there. The SV poached egg looks perfect. Awesome cook.

Yes, basically. I guess my explanation wasn't too bad. The off gases escape down and out the little barrel. They go up the big barel stoking the fire getting it even hoter to help cook the charcoal even more. As long as oxygen doesn't go in the little barel you should end up with charcoal. A few people on the Guru are using this setup with success. They had posted a link to instructions on how to build and use this two chamber retort. I'm just following the instructions. Should be an interesting experiment.

Soup looks really good. I don't have a sous vides yet and not sure how much more "projects/grills/cooking equipment" Mrs skreef can take for a while. I still have another grill and outdoor griddle in the lineup for purchase.

Any soft crusted roll of the proper size should work. I used a Cuban roll because it was all they had at the local grocery store that was sized right for the Tenderloin I had. Slice down through the top (but not all the way) then scoop out enough of the inside so the Tenderloin has a nice pocket to fit in. A garlic roll would be awesome.

The exact reason for 6' compared to say 2' I don't really know other than in the directions I'm following. I agree the height difference between the bottom of the 55 gallon barrel and the top of the stack will create a lot of vacuum. This is a two chamber retort as opposed to just a single chamber 55 gallon barrel. The actual wood to be turned into charcoal is loaded into the smaller barrel. That smaller barrel is then installed into the 55 gallon barrel upside down. Your heating wood is then loaded on top and around the smaller barrel and set on fire. Close it up and let it cook (off gas) the charcoal wood inside the inner barrel. You never have to snuff the oxygen off to the 55 gallon barrel since there will quickly be an oxygen free environment inside the smaller barrel where your actual charcoal is being produced. Not sure if I explained that really well. The actual configuration of this 2 chamber retort will be more clear once I start taking pictures of it in use (hopefully). I'm just now learning about this 2 chamber system. Just following directions is somewhat of a poor excuse but I'm learning as I go.

I would have been worried that it started to roll and you couldn't stop it before it went off the wooden plank.

Very nice indeed. Love the moving pictures. I thought you were brave leaving it unattended while you took the pictures. Great job, can't wait to see more pictures.

A lot of people looked but nobody commented. They just don't know what they are missing and the endless possibilities for this Tenderloin method.

Yup this should be fun. As always full pictures as the fun progresses

OK not exactly smoking wood but thought this was the most appropriate forum. Decided to give this a try. Besides the Backyard Bistro needs its own house brand lump. Here is my charcoal retort. I still need to drill holes in the bottom of the 55 gallon and in the bottom of the stove pipe reducer. Will do a couple burns to clean up the barrels then lump here we come. Will this be easier? Nope. Will this be cheaper? I doubt it. Will this be as good or better? Maybe. Will I learn something and have fun playing with fire? Absolutely!!!