ZZ13
Well-Known Member
To compare notes, I lay out a half circle of lump charcoal on one side against the edge of the grate. I put two wood blocks near the start of the burn about an inch or two apart. I don’t soak the wood anymore. I light up the starter coals separately then dump them onto the starting end of the charcoal half circle. I let that go for a few minutes with the lid off to make sure the coal burning train starts up. Then water pan goes in next to the coals. Top grate and meat go on and close up the lid. That goes 4 hours. I don’t touch it at all for the four hours. Then lid comes off and I add more coals if needed. Usually I do. I don’t add anymore wood.It's not as direct as it looks in my pictures. First I put a foil pan of water or apple cider then I load up 1/4 of the grill with charcoal and light it. Before I put the meat on, I use the lid and vents to lower the temp to around 250. Then I put the meat on and add soaked wood chips (usually cherry or apple wood for pork and poultry) and put the lid back on. I control the temp with the vents and add wood chips every 15 minutes for the first 2 hours of the cook. The meat stops taking smoke at that point. Then I keep the temp low until it is at the desired temp/doneness. It kills my pellet friend (especially the one with the $2,500 rig) that my ribs always blow theirs out of the water. I learned from my Dad and have passed it along to my sons.