I gots me uh bubba keg!

[DarqMan]

Excellent! Thanks for the tips Ron. 

Whenever it arrives I'll follow your directions to season and starting for the ideal temp.  Looking forward to my first cook.

[begolf25]

Nice find Darq!

I don't own a Bubba Keg but my Primo keeps temps using the same concept. I know CRG was stating he was having trouble keeping the temps low.

As Ron said, make sure you start adjusting the vents down before you reach the temps you are shooting for. If I want to do something at 225 I will get a few coals going then close the lid and leave both vents wide open. Once the temps get around 190-200 I will shut them both down more then halfway. As it creeps closer I shut them down more.

Usually I will have both vents almost closed to maintain 225. But once you play with it and get dialed in you can hold just about any temp you want. It is much harder to lower the temps then to raise them.

Have fun!

Bryan

[ronbeaux]

After you fire is lit just set the el-cheapo grill down in there, place the cast great in and then start controling the temp.

[begolf25]

Ron,

What is the firebox made of on the bubba?

Bryan

[classicrockgriller]

I got a PM from ron on not letting the temp get high and

try to bring it down and that has worked for me also.

I know I have a lot to learn on this thing, but it sure is fun! ;D

[DarqMan]

Thanks Bryan, I've read your posts about the primo and know how much you enjoy it.  This type of cooker has always intrigued and now I have one.  It's going to be great fun. Thanks for the tips on controlling the temp.

[DarqMan]

Thanks Ron, I figured what you getting at by putting the cheapo grill over the charcol for the indirect heat.  I'm stopping at dollar general tomorrow.

[DarqMan]

I got a PM from ron on not letting the temp get high and

try to bring it down and that has worked for me also.

I know I have a lot to learn on this thing, but it sure is fun! ;D

You'll be the newest resident expert on this baby in no time!

[classicrockgriller]

Ahhhhhh! I saw something in one of his post pics and could not figure it out.

Brain is working and it all makes sense now.

Thanks ron!

[ronbeaux]

It ain't that hard. I've had all of the BGE's and still have the Mini. Plus I have the Primo XL. They all are similar but the ceramic ones will let you lower the temp easier than the Keg. Steel holds the temp longer and you have to get a feel for it. DON'T go over your target. You can darn near shut it down completely and it won't even move for a long time and if you don't see a whiff of smoke coming out the top vent it probably snuffed the fire. NO PROBLEM if it does. Just poke a MAPP torch into the bottom vent and relight it, that way you don't have to unstack it to get to the coals.

The foil wadded up and layed in there on top of each other is not my idea. A fellow by the handle 'Old Dave.' He is a comp cook and used this method on Backwoods Smokers in place of water in the water pan. The idea behind it that it will have air gaps between the layers of foil and 'insulate' the surface of the top layer so it will not burn the grease that drips down and keeps it from burning.

It works just fine on Both the Backwoods and in the Keg. When using the 'barrier you have the walls of the cooker contributing to the exposure to the meat and convection cooking. It's like an oven with smoke. And speaking of smoke. Use large chunks of wood not chips. Lay them in there so that when the fire migrates to other areas it will cause them to smolder. That is all they will do since there is very little air flow through the cooker.


Try and find the round el cheapo grill like this one.

[classicrockgriller]

I'm on it, again thanks ron for sharing!

[ronbeaux]

The fire box is steel. The grate at the bottom is cast.

another suggestion;

Cooking ribeyes like this was done at 450 dome temp.




These were done at 550




The difference was that since they were both the same thickness, the ones at 450 took 3-3-3-3 to get to medium and the ones at 550 took 2-2-2-2. That is place, turn, flip, turn. Both were perfectly cooked on the inside for me and cooking at a lower temp allowed me time to get them right with no thermometer of any kind. Just feel. At 700 you can char them too much and have a harder time getting them where you want them. In my opinion there is no reason to go over 500 for cooking a steak. But that's just me.

[DarqMan]

This is valuable information I'll put to use.

[ronbeaux]

And the last suggestion for tonight is chicken.

I like chicken indirect at 325 but it's hard to get the smoky bbq taste at that temp before it gets done.

I put the chicken on at 250 with plenty of wood chunks on there and when the chicken starts to get close to within 15 degrees of being done I start ramping up the temp toward 350. the last 15 minutes of cooking I apply the glaze and it will help get the skin sort of crisp up and not be like rubber. I'm still working on this and may have to let it go at 350 for a bit longer before applying the glaze because the last chicken pic I posted still had parts of the skin that were like rubber. The goal is not to burn the sugar in the glaze and still crisp up the skin.

I've tried the wrap method sitting in a water pan but there is a fine line between the skin shrinking up like an old wool sweater and it getting bite through tender. Same for ribs wrapped in foil. It's too easy to over cook. I'm close but not there yet and will report back when I get it right. I willing to let it go to 400 for a bit and hold off on the glaze until the last minute.

[classicrockgriller]

Again, thanks for the info.

I have saved to fav's this thread!