What's Cookin?

We do two of these in the spring and two in the fall.

S

 

And these once or twice a month.

S

 

Maybe my Pops from way back but it is the way we have been doing them since I was a young kid.

He would get us up at 3 in the morning and we built a fire int he barrel. When the coals started falling, we would shovel them into the cooker. Once things were set up and going, he would go in the house or work in the shop or do whatever. Some 9 hours later we would eat. As everyone was leaving, they would tell my Pops, "Helluva job on that pig".

I was not all that smart as a kid, but I knew better than to add anything to the conversation. LOL

My son just won a Pork Butt competition a few months ago. He has taken the torch and moved way out front. He believes in rubs and sauces and basting and science and all the things that are 'required' to cook pork.

I am a 'fire barrel, hot coals, a 110lb pig and a little salt and pepper' kind of guy. Once you get past salt and pepper people are living beyond their raisings. LOL

S

 

Yes. I am really proud of his efforts.

I tease him, telling them he didn't read two books in his tire high school career but read the books by Rodney Scott and Aaron Franklin cover to cover in no time.

S

 

This is my son building his own off-set smoker. We (he) cut up an 60 gallon air compressor tank. He followed the plans or pictures in the Aaron Franklin book vs. spending $3 to $5000 on a pre-built one.

Smoking with wood is time consuming and takes a ton of effort.

For the first time ever, he is putting in all the work and I am sitting back reaping the rewards like a fat cat.

S

 

Yep. There is a math to everything. The diameter and height of the stack has to be proportional to the barrel and the fire box in turn has to be based on the size of the cook area.

Mine is a oval oil drum with two three inch stacks about 6" high. The stacks are that size because that is what was in the metal dumpster at work. LOL

S

 

They look nice.

He wound up with less than a couple hundred in his cooker. The barrel is an old air compressor. The fire box is bought steel. The stack needed to be 5" in diameter which happens to be the exact diameter of a 1973 long bed Chevrolet driveshaft. The grating/grill is from the tailgate of a trailer we junked some years back.

Basically scraps. The next time I am over at his house I will snap some pics. . It turned out rather nicely.

S