LarryR

FM, thanks for your quick reply. I have a #7 (KK is in my future however) and will be using that lower "X" bracket. So do you think I should use the clay saucer or is it overkill? Plan was to set the clay saucer directly on the "X" bracket, then the 16" pizza pan on the clay saucer and then the roasting pan on the pizza pan. Wish it would fit on the top rack then all this would be mute. With the above setup think I'll still need spacers? I don't have any on hand and don't really feel like going out. Did my JD and Maple Syrup brine, smelled divine when I removed her from the brine last night. EDIT: I'll probably start the drip pan with some white wine in it so the early drippings don't burn. EDIT II: Well just when you think you have things figured out life throws you a curve; with the clay saucer in the mix there's not enough room for the drip pan. So here's what I'm thinking, I have a a 14" pizza stone I can wrap in foil and use in place of the clay saucer. I'm a little worried about placing it directly over the fire but I suppose if I pre-heat it in the oven to say 400 and then place over the coals I should be OK. Or, I put the bird in the roasting pan on the top grate, which I really don't want to do. Any ideas? Turkey goes on in 3 hours, cooker starts in about 2 hours. Damn, wish she'd fit on that top grate with probes . . . could go prob- less I suppose, but on this cook I'd really rather not . . . EDIT III: OK, here we go, with the pizza stone, pizza pan (deflector) and the roasting pan on the "X" bracket the main grate rests (by about 1/4") on the roasting pan. If I remove the pizza stone theres a little clearance between the roasting pan and the grate. However, then I have to put spacers in (which I found on hand) and that raises the roasting pan about 1/8 of an inch. Advice? Note to self, next time buy a smaller bird and do it on the top grate.

Bird's going on at 1:00 p.m. Pacific and I have a last minute question. On previous "high heat" cooks I've used a 14" clay saucer and then a 16" pizza pan on the lower bracket for my deflector and then cooked on them main or upper grate. Is the clay saucer necessary? I know it works as a heat sink as well which maybe limits the radiant heat from the pizza pan sitting directly below my meat. Also, I was planning to put my roasting pan on top of the pizza pan for drippings for my gravy. I'm a little concerned that my drippings will burn and be un-usable any thoughts here? I suppose this may be where the clay saucer may come in handy as a heat sink. I really wish I could have used the top grate and just put the drip pan on the main grate, would make things a little easier but the bird's to big (see above picture). I feel like I have way too many moving parts on this cook, first ceramic turkey, first time using ECC and first time using my Stoker on the ceramic. This cook went from being a dry run for Thanksgiving to "Thanksgiving in October" for family that cannot make it in November, just a little pressure. I'm actually going hold of my drinking until I've got the bird off (this is a first). Lastly, I'm thinking of "pre-heating" the ceramic for an hour prior to putting the bird on for a couple of reasons. One, it will give me time to make sure I've got my Stoker dialed in. Two, I've found I think (could be in my head) that I have better results when I have a pre-heated cooker. I know it's last pretty last minute but if anyone has any last minute advice on the questions I've listed it would be greatly appreciated.

You know Trish, I think you might be right. Looks like she'll fit alone, but I think once I put my probes in they won't clear the top.

Welcome to the Forum! I saw that handle this morning, "CLilly" and the the thought went through my head but I dismissed it. I use your "Chris Lilly's Six-time World Championship Pork Shoulder Rub and Injection" pretty much exclusively on my pork butts and his rib rub on my ribs. Good stuff. If you haven't tried it I highly recommend it. Maybe I'll post it in the pork recipes section. Again, welcome aboard Chris!

My SO is on her way home with 12 boxes of ECC (Thanks Trish!!!) Any special storage requirements? I currently store all my fuel in garage, dry, clean etc. Do I need to open the boxes to dry them (I'd read this someplace else) or only when I'm going to use a box. Any ventilation requirements e.g. poke air holes in boxes etc.? I'm pretty sure I'm going to use this exclusively for low and slow cooks and keep using lump and Rancher natural briquettes for my higher heat cooks. Looking forward to trying this stuff.

ARGH!!! Well since you asked . . . Per Stoker's instructions I ordered the adapter for my cooker from BBQ Guru and ordered Stoker's adapter to fit the BBQ Guru adapter. So they both get here and there's about a 1/16 gap between the two. Haven't figured out how I'm going to seal the gap yet. PICTURES

Beautiful! So what's your first cook going to be?

Thanks guys, I appreciate the input. I'm looking forward to using the Stoker with her this weekend.

I'll be using my Stoker with my ceramic for the first time this weekend for a low and slow cook and have one question; do you let the Stoker bring your cooker up to temp or do it manually and then turn Stoker on? Having battled higher temps in my ceramic on a low and slow cook I'm concerned about over shooting temps with the Stoker. Thanks in advance for any input.

I've never monitored the temp. in the point so I cannot speak to that. I either remove the point from the flat at 165ish and then put both back on the cooker or I remove the point from the flat when I pull her off the cooker (when flat is tender/done). I use the point for burnt ends (see pic. below) or Chili Colorado. I love burnt ends!

Wouldn't change a thing, I think I just got a stubborn brisket. It's interesting how two pieces can so different, I had a friend cook a 8 lb. flat today that was tender in 6.5 hours.

Brisket ended-up being the brisket from hell!!! I knew she looked too good to be true. Stayed in the plateau for 7 hours! I finally just pulled her off and served her. Surprisingly enough you could cut her with a fork and she was quite moist. Don't know what happened but I guess sometimes it pays to be lucky vs. good. As a side note I made a mistake when buying my sausage for my fatty, I thought I grabbed the fire roasted peppers and caramelized onion but when I got home it was "vino & formaggio." I was disappointed as I love the former sausage. Made my fatty as usual with Monterey Jack and guests raved about it. Damn, sooooooo good. I think it's a toss-up between the two sausages for me. Again, sometimes it's better to be lucky to be good I suppose.

I mix the honey and Steak Sauce (I use A1) together and brush on the legs when I place them on the grill. I also give them another brush of the mixture at the turn. One tip is be sure not to over boil the legs or you'll end-up with dry meat.

This is from the Food Network Program Down Home with the Neely's. Love this stuff and it's been a hit every time I make it. A couple of tips: 1) Make it the night before and let it sit overnight. 2) I back the sugar down to 1/2 to 3/4 cup. 3) For convenience , I've used the bags of pre-packaged coleslaw mix and then add onion. Enjoy! Neely's Sweet and Spice Coleslaw 2 pounds green cabbage 4 carrots 1 medium yellow onion 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1/4 cup mustard 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 teaspoon cayenne Salt and freshly ground black pepper Cut cabbage in quarters and remove core. Peel carrots and onion and cut into pieces that would fit through the feed tube of a food processor. Fit food processor with the large-holed grater attachment and push cabbage, carrots, and onions through feed tube to grate. In a large bowl, toss vegetables together. In another medium bowl, prepare the coleslaw dressing by whisking together the mayonnaise, mustard, cider vinegar, sugar, black pepper, and cayenne. Toss dressing with the cabbage mixture, and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

Just got a beautiful 12 lb packer on, rubbed her with a modified Mr. Brown recipe (I'm a big fan of pepper), doing her over red oak. It's about 7:00 a.m., sun is coming-up, I'm on the patio watching the cooker come to temp with a wonderful aroma of smoke filling the air as the slight breeze takes the wisps of smoke over to my neighbors yard to drive him crazy (says he loves the smell in the neighborhood when I cook, which has been a lot lately). What a way to start out your day Thanks for the tips on foiling, I appreciate the tips, input and opinions. I have noticed juices in the foil/pan when I've foiled briskets and butts, I don't pierce I use the bbq gloves (if you don't have a pair get one, Amazon.com for $15. Nothing like being able to handle briskets, butts, chickens with your hands vs. tongs etc.), the rapid cooling method is interesting, don't think I'll try it on this cook but it's an experiment to try in the future.

The world of ceramics is new to me so please forgive if I seem to be asking what may be an obvious/basic question. I've done a lot of reading on this site and the BGE site trying to answer this question and I just want to confirm that there is no need to foil a brisket mid-cook on a ceramic? On a "steel" smoker this is a pretty common practice to insure a moist brisket; you foil at about 165 and put her back on the cooker until fork tender. I imagine due to the high moisture level when cooking in a ceramic this is unnecessary. I'll be doing another brisket this weekend on her (have already done one brisket on her, high heat and it turned out awesome) and here's my plan: * heat deflector on main grate * Brisket (packer) fat side down on top grated extender * Smoke at 225 top grate until fork tender (will start checking around 180) * Remove when fork tender, separate the point from the flat and foil the flat and place in a cooler for 1 hr. * Cube point and mix in chipotle bbq sauce and return to cooker for burnt ends (up temp to 275 to 300) Any suggestions, would you change anything etc? We'll have guests so I really don't want to screw this one up, could do it on the smoker which I'm comfortable with and know how it will turn out, however, I'd rather do it on the new toy. We'll also be doing ABTS and a fatty Thanks in advance for your input

Since I thought I knew it all and didn't ask any advice on last weekend's Pork butt that turned out poorly I figured I'd one, better do a dry run on the bird for Thanksgiving and two, ask if there are any differences that I should know about when doing a bird on a ceramic. I'll be doing a 19.5 lb bird this Saturday (10/27) I've traditionally done the bird on a bullet style smoker (WSM) "high" heat vs. low and slow. My plan is to do the same on the ceramic. So here's my plan: * Brine bird for 24 hours * Air dry bird for 12 hours in fridge (helps prevent rubbery skin) * Ice breast for 45 minutes prior to cooking to insure dark and white meat will finish at the same time * Cook at 325 until breast is 165 and thigh is 175 (I'm guessing this will be between 4:00 and 4:30) * Tent with foil for 30 minutes This is what I'm thinking my setup should be: * Heat deflector on main grill with pan to catch drippings on heat deflector * Turkey set directly on top rack extender * Three fist size chunks of cherry wood So here are the questions I've thought of so far: * Do I pre-heat the ceramic prior to putting my bird on (** when using my smoker I'd put her on when I dumped my lit)? * Will I need to foil the legs or bird towards the end of the cook to prevent over-browning of skin? * Should I use my clay saucer under my heat deflector or should the deflector be enough? Am I missing anything? I'm looking forward to the cook and to experiencing how moist the bird will be when cooked in a ceramic. Should be amazing! It's also going to be a great opportunity (excuse) time to tastes some wines and practice-up on my gravy in prepearation for the big day. Your feedback/input is greatly appreciated. ** I've been meaning to ask, on high heat cooks is it bad to light your fuel in a chimney and then dump it into your ceramic? Will this crack it? In my readings it seems that most people light a couple pieces of fuel in their ring (in the ceramic) and let it come up to temp this way. I dumped some in the other night and then thought maybe I shouldn't have done that.

Well the fewer lit was the trick. Had no problem maintaining sub 250 temps. Did have to make a couple of adjustments once the sun got up this morning but it was much easier than my previous attempt at low and slow. Highest she got was 249 grate. I was amazed by how much fuel I had left over after 18 hours off cooking. Probably could have gone another 15 hours and if I had to guess I probably started with only 7 lbs of fuel . . . this is only a guess though. I easilly have more than 1/2 of a 20 lb bag left. Next time I'm going to try and bring her up a little faster (not much) with the same amount of lit. Thanks again for all the input!

PICTURES I'm wondering if foiling of butts is due to the fact that non-ceramics don't maintain the level of moisture that a ceramic does. I was amazed at how moist it was when I took her off the cooker. More moist than any butt I've ever done. In fact, I had my finishing sauce ready to go in the butt when I pulled her but didn't put any in due to how moist she was, just tossed in a couple tablespoons of rub for added flavor. I think it was the foiling that "mushified" my butt . . . that just doesn't sound right now does it, LOL. Next time I'll try pulling her off, resting for 30 min. and then pulling. I'm also going to start checking for "doneness" around 180 next time. Foiling and putting in a cooler is also a great way to store a butt should she finish early or you've got to transport them. In today's case we just weren't ready do eat, probably would have been just fine if I hadn't foiled/coolered them. Thanks for all the input!

. . . than on my smoker. Let's just say I'm glad I decided to do just one butt vs. three. I was bound to have a bad cook sooner or later, I've had a pretty good string of luck going. So I did an overnight on a 10 lb butt averaging about 230 for 18 hours. Checked her at 190 and she wasn't quite done yet. Checked her at 195 and she was ready, seemed very moist and tender at that point. Wrapped in foil, towels and then in a cooler for 2.5 hours until we were ready to eat. Went to pull her and she wouldn't pull, she just fell apart and was more the consistency of canned tuna fish. Definitely overdone. However the great thing about an error like this, is she still tasted awesome! Bark was probably the best I've ever done, very moist and excellent flavor, just wasn't "pulled" pork inside the roast. So here's my question, due to the higher moisture level when doing a butt in a ceramic can you not foil as long as when cooked in a traditional smoker? I've foiled up to five hours after using a traditional smoker and still had "pullable" pork. When planning (or needing) to foil what temps should you pull at (knowing that temps are just a guide, it's really tenderness you're looking for) in order to foil for more than say an hour? Based on today's cook I'd say I should have pulled her at 180 - 185. Thanks in advance for any tips, won't be posting any pictures of this one, LOL.

Revised lighting on butt cook Starting with less lit definitely did the trick. I also started my cook with the damper and draft door positioned where I thought the "final" cooking position would be. This seems to have worked, however it took very long to come-up to my target temp, 1:50. I only made two minor adjustments prior to going to bed last night and that seems to have kept her in the 225 - 250 range I was shooting for. I used my Stoker to monitor temps but not run the cooker (see graph below). What's interesting is I'm sitting at 175 right now and by looking at the graph it doesn't appear that I've experienced a plateau just yet, could come later in the cook I suppose but I was wondering if this is common in a ceramic. Haven't opened her up just yet but she smells wonderful. I ended-up going with only one butt as I figured if I screwed this up at least it would only be one piece of meat. Haven't opened her up since I put her on but as I said it smells great! I'll keep you posted on how she turns out.

Thanks for all the input. Johnny, what kind of fuel are you using? Going for low and slow again today; doing butts overnight and I'll be using my Stoker to monitor (not run) the cooker. I'll let you know how things turn out!

Due to time and temp issues I ended-up going 4-1-:10 and the ribs were perfect, absolutely perfect . . . for me, not even close to falling off the bone. Guests enjoyed them too and I think I convinced them that falling off the bone isn't really that great.

A little smoke will escape from the lid on the right hand side but very very little not enough to mess with the temperatures (in my opinion). This weekend I'll start with less lit, 3-4. Bottom open a sliver and top open just barely, say 1 inch from closed. I'll let her come to temp very slowly. Bottom open a sliver and top open barely. I'm wanting to get manual operation down and then I'll be connecting my Stoker to her and let Stoker worry about air flow. I'll be doing a couple pork butts on this cook. One the infamous Mr. Brown and the other Chis Lilly's Six Time World Champion Injection and Rub. It will be interesting see how they do on the the K. I'm expecting a much higher moisture content. Should be a fun cook. Thanks for all the input.