AdamG

It can be important... Some brands (usually the cheaper ones) will use small pieces of lumpwood or may not handle them with much care during transit (breaking the lumpwood into tiny pieces). These might be small enough to fall through the bigger pieces and possibly block the airflow. If there is lots of dust in the bottom of the bag, then that can also cause airflow problems. This relates to kamado's using lumpwood and may not cause problems on other types of bbq's. If the lumpwood pieces are a good size then brand isnt important (cheap or expensive). I would say the only important thing is that the lumpwood is a good size. Small pieces can cause problems and inconsistency, which makes it harder to learn.👍

Thanks @OrbandBullet, that certainly echoes what others have said about HB. I only have a kamado now so Lumpwood is all I use. But I used to use briquettes on my old offset and the difference between brands is quite astonishing. Im toying with the idea of picking up a secondary grill sometime in the future which would be using briquettes. If I do then I will certainly try and source HB from somewhere. 👍 Lately I have not been doing very much low n slow cooks due to jobs round the house and I have been doing faster cooks and grilling more often...need to change that haha🍻

Looks Fantastic Justin🍻👍

Personally I have never seen heat beads for sale so I have never tried them, I may have to try the lumpwood if I come across it. Heard very good things about heat beads in general👍

This is a good question, its not very often I get pork shoulder and when I do its exclusively for pulled pork. I would also like to know some alternatives👍

Welcome roger! I used to have an offset (called 'el cheapo'...because it was a cheap no brand one), which I scrapped a few years ago. I currently own a kamado as my only grill so I can offer a little insight into these 2 types. The biggest comittment to an offset is your time. It will need monitoring and refueling regularly, tinkering with vent settings ever so slightly (not stressful, quite relaxing actually, but doing other things can be a distraction). Its quite an involved process. This can be challenging yet very rewarding with a potentially great deal of satisfaction from the results. A kamado (ceramic ones) only needs monitoring at the start. Generally once the food goes in for a slow cook then you can leave it alone for a while with virtually no monitoring or refueling, allowing you to do other things worry free. This is great for overnight cooks....once you have learnt temp control of course😉. The biggest con to kamado's is the price to cooking area ratio. However they are very versatile when it comes to cooking a wide range of different cooking styles. They are also great if you want just one grill. I absolutely love mine and use it year round and I expect it to last for many more years. Fuel efficency is fantastic and will save me alot of money over time. I gave it a good clean back in January ready for this year and this is a picture i took once I was done (It will be 4 years old this July). However the initial investment is high and the price-to-cooking area being terrible makes them difficult to recommend over other types. With you having other grills it should make a kamado even less appealing. My reason for swapping to a kamado was so I could cook all year round, a grill to cook everything and get more cooks in while I can do other jobs round the house (or nip out shopping while its cooking away). Hopefully this helps and Im sure others will give their opinions aswell.👍🍻

My bbq season starts 01 jan and ends 31 dec haha😜😁 I think the bbq week is a great way to showcase that barbecueing is only limited by imagination🍻💨🔥

Thanks Pittmab I always end up forgetting to look up when this starts, maybe I can get a cook in🤔 Are you planning on doing any?

Refilled the firebox? Did you refill during the cook or refill from the previous cook? What charcoal did you use?

welcome to the forum!👍

Gutted!☹️ I was planning on getting my cook in yesterday but my plans had to change due to other things happening. I was planning on doing a smoked beef burger with a bbq rub mixed into the beef.

Looking fantastic!👍

Welcome AdamH 🍻 Have you got any particular offset's in mind? There is lots of info on this forum and plenty of users who are happy to help with any questions you may have👍😁

Thanks for the feedback Justin😎👍 I think the only thing missing was some of your homebrew to wash it down🍻😁

thanks TheFifeFlyer👍

Looks fantastic Smokin monkey! Any leftovers before @Justin asks?😋👍

It was free delivery aswell! 😁

Here is my entry...special kebab. Doner seekh shish bread More details;

Here is my special kebab, a dish that I want to have more often during summer when friends and family come to visit. This was my trial run since its a combination of different cooks/preperation. I first prepared the doner with spices last Saturday. Spices Spices mixed Ideally rib eye steak would be better but I had to settle for Sirloin (still delicious) I trimmed the big bits of fat off, sprinkled the spice mix on both sides and then put them in food bags, making sure they stay flat. Monday night I took one steak out at a time and sliced it as thinly as I could while it was still frozen. Back into the food bag and then into the freezer. Wednesday I made a herb sauce... All ingredients combined and bottled The next meat was the shish. I prepared this last night. Chicken breast (thighs if you prefer) soaked in lemon juice and salt. meanwhile i mixed the ingredients together and whipped the cream. Then added to the chicken to marinate overnight. This morning I made the pide bread for the kebabs. Mixed and then rested More ingredients and rested for the 2nd time dough stretched out. Poppy and sesame seeds sprinkled on top and onto the pizza stone to bake for about 20 mins Lastly was the seekh. ingredients Mixed Seekh and shish onto the skewers. time to cook Yeah...one of the seekh kebabs was too thick and took the express elevator to hell... so I finished it off on the cast iron flat plate Special kebab served with lettuce, red onions, herb sauce and tobasco sauce. Thanks for looking, all ingredient quantities can be found at the following links if there is any part of this cook that you like the look of. Pide bread recipe: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D-o9st878I20&ved=2ahUKEwilurCP7ff9AhVLRkEAHcFSCx0QwqsBegQIDBAB&usg=AOvVaw1HrV0uzjkUPlo67dUNHXOe Doner and herb sauce recipe: https://www.ethanchlebowski.com/cooking-techniques-recipes/dner-kebab-germanys-most-popular-street-food Chicken shish recipe: I was given this recipe by @Monkeybumcheeks. There is a picture of the recipe if you scroll down. Lamb seekh recipe: https://greatcurryrecipes.net/2013/05/13/lamb-seekh-kebabs/

roughly 8 years myself although the first 4 years was only about 3 cooks a year so not really 4 years worth. This site has helped a lot with learning...although I still have a long way to go😁

welcome to the forum!👍 I'm from Cheshire myself. How long have you been bbqing/smoking for?

Hopefully mixed kebabs either saturday or sunday depending on weather....most likely choose the wrong day haha 🌧 What you having with the chicken?

Im hoping to get a cook in this weekend aswell, rain inbound haha

Hoping to get my cook in this weekend, might be dodging rain though. Hopefully wont get too wet lol🌧🌧🔥🌧🌧

You still going ahead with your chicken cook today?