DeanH

Roast spuds, chicken wings and some chicken kebabs. Little bit of salad to look pretty lol. Washed down with a nice IPA.

Update, I took the meat out at 176f rested for 40mins while I cooked up some wings and burgers. Pork wasn't soft enough to pull apart but wasn't tough to chew so still pleased.

OK so now my meat probe is dropping in temp. Is this the 'stall'?

It's not a dedicated smoker but I'll send some pics. I started by just adding some lit coals on top of a small amount of unlit as I done have the space for the snake method. It's calmed down now and I'm managing to keep it at approx 230f.

So I've got my grill setup indirectly with a 1.5kg pork shoulder. I think I overdone it with the first lot of fuel and I'm struggling to keep the temp below 300f without wedging the lid open. Will I just need to wait until the first lot dies down and top it up with small amounts to keep it going? Also, I know the magic number is 225f but the meat will adventualy cook and still be edible won't it?

OK cool. Found some apple wood chips and thought I'd give them a go with the pork shoulder.

Can you add wood chips to hot coals?

Great advice, thanks. Its going to be a lot of trial and error, just want to set myself up for success as best I can. I've got a thermometer and 8kg of aussie heat beads on order. I'll give it a go with a small joint when everything arrives and post the results.

So, I've decided I'm going to try a pork shoulder joint as a first time trial run on my bbq. Looking at the space I have to work with in my grill, the snake method of a long burn probably wont work. I think I'll need to have a small pile that I top up from time to time. How much coal briquettes am I likely to need as in a couple of kilos or a whole bag? how long roughly should a shoulder take at the 225F sweet spot? I know there's probably a lot of variables with these questions but a rough guide would be handy. Will I need to set my alarm clock for like 3am to start the cooking lol? All help greatly appreciated. Dean

Perfect, thanks for that.

Hello again. Just been looking at thermometers. I can find plenty meat thermometers that stay inside the meat on a wired probe while cooking but can't seem to find anything similar for the ambient cooking temp. Don't want to trust the one on the lid and want to give myself the best possible chances of cooking things correctly. Can I use the same probe but lay it on the grill itself, or support it apove it somehow? Or is there a different type of thermometer? Kind Regards Dean

I would love to try anything low and slow. My favourite would be a brisket and ribs. I'll probably try everything including pork shoulders and chickens too. Might even attempt a leg of lamb at some point. I really enjoy what I would call American style bbq.

How are you all? My name is Dean. I live in Somerset and I work for the ambulance service. I recently bought a duel fuel bbq and I want to use the charcoal grill to its full potential. I'm interested in low and slow cooking, who isn't?, but I've never tried it before. Not even sure my bbq will work. I'll add some pics if I can of the grill I have. I'm really after any advice on where to start and maybe what meats are good to start with. Looking forward to speaking to you all and cooking some great food. Dean