On 16-Mar-2008, Dana wrote:

On Mar 15, 8:25 pm, "Brick" wrote:
On 15-Mar-2008, Dana wrote:

snip

Ditto: That's my exact game plan. I'm sure some of the folks make
better 'Q' then I do. But of the one's
I know that do, they mess with their food no more then I do and
probably less if somebody actually timed them.

It's a Zen lesson, but I've come to believe that BBQ in general is a
Zen lesson. Until you get the right mindset, BBQ is stressful and
the results unsatisfying, then the day comes where you realize
the stress is not just gone, but the act of cooking is oddly
relaxing - and the results are gratifying.

That's pretty much describes the phases I went through. I sure don't
want to do the first year over again. But anymore, I spend most of
my pit time infront of my livingroom TV. Sometime during the second
or third commercial, I'll stand up long enough to peer out my patio
door to see what the dome therm is doing on my cooker. It doesn't
go up anymore, so I only have to react if and when it goes down.
That means it needs some more fuel. That takes about three minutes
tops from the time I open the patio door until I am back in my TV
chair. The fuel is in a five gallon bucket and only needs to be liften
and tilted a bit to dump some fresh fuel on the fire. That's it. I don't
mess with spreading it around. If it's pretty late in the cook, I might
tap the grate a few times to shake ash down before adding the fuel.

I use probe therms in the big pieces of meat so I don't have to keep
messing with them before they're done. For butts, anywhere between
185°F and 200°F suits me. Pretty much the same for brisket and
chuck roast. Ribs I judge by looks and feel.

snip some more

Well, I'm not going to forget your explanation of the minion method
for the Silver. I have way less aggravation with it and I swear I
actually
use less fuel. Of course "less fuel" is a rather relative term when
applied
to an offset like the Silver.

Absolutely; learning how to manage a fire was the Big Deal
with my Silver. The experience was invaluable - it's really basic
education.

Dana

If I was a real masochist, I would burn nothing but wood. It can
be done in the Silver, but the effort required is kind of hard to
justify. If I cut everything into double fistsized chunks, I think
I could maintain a clean fire over a long cook, but there's no way
I could go 3 hours between fuel refills with straight wood.
--
Brick(Im even more normal then most normal people: George Gobel
in "The Birds and the Bee's)