Update: Backwoods Pro Jr

If you're a frequent visitor to GrillandBarrel.com, you know that I was cooking on a Backwoods Fatboy before and have since upgraded to a Backwoods Pro Jr.  I certainly notice a few differences, and an inquiry from one of my brethren over at BBQ-Brethren.com prompted to spend a little time documenting some of them.  So in no particular order, here are a few noticable differences.

Fuel Consumption:  It stands to reason that the bigger cooker will need more fuel, but I didn't expect the difference to be quite as big as it is.  On the Fatboy, I would use a half a bag of Kingsford briquettes for a 5-6 hr rib cook.  The Pro Jr took a whole bag, and then some.

Water Consumption:  Just like fuel, the Pro Jr uses more water than the Fatboy.  Again, my first cook was ribs and I expected a full water pan would last through the duration of a 5-6 cook.  Not so, at about the 5 hr mark, I was out of water.

Temperature control:  I noticed that I had a harder time getting the cooker to 250 (the temperature that I usually cook at).  The Pro Jr seemed to want to settle in at 225 and I eventually made peace with leaving it there instead of trying to get it to 250.  I also ran the bottom vent a little wider than I typically would have on the Fatboy, but frankly that could have had as much to do with the weather conditions as anything.

This is a big ol' cooker and I'm looking forward to firing it up this weekend and working on competition butts & brisket.  I'll keep you posted on any new observations.  In the meantime, here are a few more shots of the Pro Jr.

Braddog with the Fatboy on the left and the Pro Jr on the right 5 cooking racks on the Pro Jr with better clearance than the Fatboy

Auto water on the Pro Jr.

Cheers,

Braddog

BBQ Ribs in 2 Easy Steps

When I first began trying to create great ribs, I stumbled upon the 3-2-1 method. That's the method that involves 3 hrs in the smoke, 2 hours in aluminum foil, and another hour in the smoke (or a variation of these times).

That method produces pretty good ribs, but there are some that say the time in foil is steaming the ribs, not BBQing them, etc. I say if you like your ribs that way then have at it.  In fact, I was a 3-2-1 guy myself until this summer.  I've had the chance to cook more ribs this season than ever and here's what I've learned.

• Foil...who needs it?  Partly due to the fact that I've begun to cook on a Backwoods Fat Boy where doing a whole lot of ribs at once makes foiling a huge, time consuming effort, I no longer wrap my ribs in foil.  The Backwoods & the Big Green Egg maintain a moist cooking environment and I don't find that I need to bother with the foil to get great results.
• Cooking at a little higher temp isn't a bad thing.  I've always tried to keep the cooker at 250*, but it turns out that most things are just as good at 275*.  When demonstrating the Big Green Egg this summer, it was hard to keep the temp below 275* what with everyone wanting to see the meat on the cooker.  Frankly, those are some of the best ribs I've done.
• Patience, as I've stated earlier, truly is a virtue.  Foiling the ribs and messing with all that always seemed like the magic to getting really tender, juicy ribs.  But guess what, if you're patient and let things take their own course, good things will happen.
• 3+2+1=6  Now I didn't have to take up BBQ to learn that math, but my new approach to BBQ'ing ribs has them finishing in that amount of time or less...usually less.  I think that foiling made me feel like I was a more integral part of the process than I really am.  Frankly, the fire & the smoke are doing all the work and don't really need my involvement othen than tending the fire.

So my revised rib process looks like this:

• Put the ribs on
• Take the ribs off when they're done

Doesn't get much simpler than that!

Cheers,
Braddog

Update: New Backwoods Fat Boy

As I mentioned previsously, I ordered a new cooker from Backwoods Smokers.  It's the Fat Boy model and for me it seems like a good balance of capacity and cost.

Well, yesterday I made the trip to Cissna Park, IL to pick it up.  I'd met Brian Luke at the Murphysboro, IL BBQ competition last fall.  He and his wife were very accomodating when I stumbled upon their cook site and asked a ton of questions about the Backwoods cookers he was going to be cooking on that weekend (their team is called "It's Five O'clock Somewhere").  And when I was ready to order the Fat Boy, Brian was again very easy to work with.  If you're shopping for one of these things and live in the midwest, I can't think of anyone that I'd rather deal with.

I got the cooker home about 2:30 in the afternoon.  I was cautioned about putting casters on the cooker, but based on how I store and use my cookers I proceeded with putting casters on it while it was on its back in my Yukon.

I got it put together and decided to build a small fire to get the lay of the land.  I followed the steps that Old Dave from the Backwoods forum recently posted and had the cooker running at 250* in about an hour.  After letting it run for a bit, I couldn't resist putting a snack on so I pulled some biscuits out of the freezer, laid out a dozen strips of pig candy, and stuck a fatty on.

Just as we were getting ready to enjoy the first taste, tornado sirens sounded.  But we settled into the garage, rode the storm out, and had sausage biscuits while watching mother nature's light show. 

All in all, I'm pretty happy with the new pit.  I've got lots to learn about maintaining temps, cooking over a water pan, and dealing with the clean up of this new cooker.

I'll keep you posted on my adventures.

Cheers,
Braddog