Yeah, I'm within 50 ft too, but those units don't do well with walls and stuff.

9/18/2017 2:35:52 PM

Quote :

"A lot of folks use the maverick et-732 or 733 or some rebranded version of it. "

That's what I use (733). I have a ranch and my grills are near the sliding glass door so I haven't had reception issues.

et-735 has a smartphone app which would be great because the programming on the 733 is super annoying (iirc the 732 was easier), but the reviews on Amazon don't look promising.

9/18/2017 2:40:36 PM

I blew up my akorn last night. I lit the coals with the looft lighter, and because I was ahead of schedule instead of leaving the lid open for a few minutes I just went ahead and closed the lid and opened the top and bottom vents. Then I went to go get the asparagus and drumsticks ready, and forgot about it for a while. About 45 minutes later, I started smelling burning plastic and immediately remembered. At this point I maybe could have salvaged it but my knee jerk reaction was to open the lid. A huge fireball shot out, singed my eyebrows off and burned like a sonovabitch, so I slammed the lid shut but it was too late. I immediately closed both vents but the fire was already too much. The seals on the ash pan and lid both caught on fire, with flames shooting up the outside, high enough to light the handle on fire. The seal on the smokestack melted, all the heat seals burnt, the handle burnt, the plastic table melted, and the entire grill is soot covered. I've been cooking with an akorn for 4 years or so and have never seen anything like that.

9/21/2017 10:42:42 PM

How can you post that without pics

9/22/2017 4:02:16 AM

Lol awesome

9/22/2017 6:12:10 AM

How does that happen? Just having the fire too big?

9/22/2017 6:55:27 AM

Wow! I've never heard anything like that.

I've heard of the lid blowing because of pressure but never the whole thing.

9/22/2017 8:52:37 AM

Quote :

"How can you post that without pics"

9/22/2017 9:40:51 AM

I didn't light all that much, but that lump I've been using is really dense so maybe it burns hotter once it gets going. I've had it hot enough that flames have engulfed the grate as soon as I open it, but closing the lid immediately has always choked it back down enough. I'm still perplexed.

I didn't even think to take pictures, I was more concerned with the fact that my favorite grill was literally on fire. I really wish I had though

[Edited on September 22, 2017 at 10:24 AM. Reason : B]

9/22/2017 10:21:37 AM

I've never achieved flames, How much grease did you have in this thing.

9/22/2017 2:25:06 PM

I only get flames with my first grill after a long pork butt smoke. There's usually a lot of fat still on the grates no matter how much I scrub.

9/22/2017 6:01:32 PM

It wasn't fat on the grate burning, it was the superheated coals and sudden influx of oxygen when I opened the lid. I've had it happen a couple of times at 650-700, but for typical high heat (500) you'll never see it. I also had the firebox pretty full too, even though I only lit one piece. But with the vents being wide open for so long it's probable that the majority of the lump ended up lit

9/22/2017 7:15:01 PM

Trying to do a cheaper alternative to the tenderloin sandwiches with horseradish sauce. Would tri-tip be a good option?

Where can I buy tri-tip locally?

11/20/2017 9:08:42 AM

Don't know about price but, the butchers market on falls of the Neuse or kildaire in Cary

11/20/2017 11:53:13 AM

^ That would probably be your most expensive option. Google Maps "butcher" and call around. There's a good butcher just outside RTP for example.

[Edited on November 20, 2017 at 12:15 PM. Reason : ]

11/20/2017 12:15:15 PM

I've seen tri-tip at Walmart / Costco pretty frequently. I love that cut.

11/21/2017 9:17:59 AM

Pro-tips for smoking/grilling a turkey on the Akorn? I think I'm going to give it a go this year.

11/21/2017 11:50:52 AM

Look up Meathead's smoked turkey recipe. Can't go wrong with his method.

11/21/2017 11:52:37 AM

^^ Spatchcock obviously. Wet or dry brine at least 24 hours in advance. Avoid using any wood while cooking as turkey absorbs smoke really quickly. The charcoal will provide enough smoke. Ive tried injections and I like how it comes out without it.

11/21/2017 2:30:50 PM

definitely spatchcock and brine it for about a day. i just do sugar and salt in the brine. no need to get too fancy. then i make a compound butter with herbs and cram it under the skin. at least 350 deg. 400 wouldn't be too high. it'll be done in less than 2 hours unless it's a damn ostrich.

[Edited on November 21, 2017 at 3:39 PM. Reason : use a deflector for indirect cooking]

11/21/2017 3:38:30 PM

Almost pulled a petejames and burned down my Akorn.

My normal routine when done grilling is to cook off grease and whatnot by fully opening the vents and shutting them once temperature gets up to about 600F. On Thanksgiving I took the turkey off, opened the vents, went inside to carve the bird and totally forgot about the grill. I remembered when I sat down to eat and glanced out the window. There was a foot-long blue flame shooting out the top vent.

I shut vents and didn't try to open it (thanks petejames!). The grill and seals look to have survived but I need a new grate probe. It won't read less than 149F now.

11/27/2017 7:27:08 PM

Yeah I almost did the same last time I did a shoulder. Thought there wasn't much fuel left so just opened the vents to burn it off...turns out there was PLENTY of fuel left. Not sure how hot it got but it was damn hot. No damage and I was lucky for that. Stupid.

11/27/2017 11:20:30 PM

I'm glad my idiocy could help others. I'm not terribly upset that it happened though, because I finally had a reason to get rid of the Akorn with that crappy cart. Anybody who is looking, don't get the one on the cart, just get the regular one.

11/30/2017 1:02:14 PM

I got a late start today due to staying up until 4 drinking, but I got ribs on right now. Football, smoking things, beer: it’s gonna be a good day

[Edited on December 3, 2017 at 1:45 PM. Reason : Got some ABTs ready to throw on whenever too]

12/3/2017 1:44:43 PM

I saw a thing online today for armadillo eggs (sausage wrapped, cream cheese filled jalapenos) that called for them to be tossed in crushed spicy pork rinds prior to being grilled. I'm gonna have to try that this weekend.

Also, update on the fogo cuban marabu charcoal for anybody that cares: it's expensive as shit (33 lb bag is $45), but I swear its worth it. One bag of that lasts at least twice as long as anything I've ever used, and has humongous chunks in it. It does take a lot to light it though. Fogo's customer service is awesome too, they are offering bags of charcoal sold in a burlap bag that says "santa's lump of coal" that are kind of cool. I was going to buy one for my sister for Christmas, but they didn't have the option to buy the marabu in that bag, so I emailed them on Sunday to ask if that could be an option. I know titles don't necessarily mean a whole lot, but the VP of sales emailed me back at 8:45 Monday morning and said that the 33 lb bags of marabu are different than any of their products, and they've not tried to fit it into one of the burlap bags but he was sure it would fit if I was interested. I was at work and didn't respond, and he emailed me back that afternoon and told me he tried it to see if it would fit in the bags, and said it wasn't perfect but looked good still, and actually sent me a picture. I responded that evening, and we ended up live chatting on the website and he set it to where I could purchase it and even gave me a 15% discount.

12/13/2017 8:45:47 PM

^ i posted about fogo a few pages back and everyone just laughed - agreed that it's great

12/13/2017 11:35:26 PM

still laughing

12/14/2017 12:18:01 AM

Brisket is my favorite meat in the whole world (well, at least if its done right it is)... City BBQ Full Cut brisket is my kryptonite.

I bought an electric smoker (masterbuilt 30inch with bluetooth) and smoked my first brisket this weekend (8lb from sams club, usda prime).

I used a little dijon mustard on the brisket, plus 50/50 salt/pepper all over it, with a little bit of paprika, cayenne, garlic powder mixed in.

I set it at 225 for the first 4 hours, then down to 215 for hours 5-10, and then 245 for the last hour to get the temp up. Pulled it off with the flat reading 200 degrees, and the point reading 193. I smoked mostly with Hickory (a little oak and cherry mixed in, but 90% hickory), and made sure to keep filling the chip holder for the first 3-4 hours so that it got plenty of smoke action early on.

The bark came out dark and great, flavor was perfect. The point was very good, just a tad bit more dry than I prefer. The flat was too dry for my liking, but still very delicious. None of it was burnt.

Being that this is an electric smoker, with the chip tray/heater element on the bottom right, and the vent on the top left, is there a certain way I should position it to ensure it doesnt dry out? (flat on left vs right, lower vs higher, fat up vs fat down).

Any other suggestions for keeping it from drying out? Should I really wait til the internal temp says 200? I assume thats to make sure the internal fats render correctly, but 200 seems like very well done (all the brisket videos have folks waiting until 200 degrees).

Should I bring some higher heat faster to get the temps up in less time, exposing it to only 8-9 hours instead of 11?

[Edited on December 19, 2017 at 1:22 PM. Reason : city bbq]

12/19/2017 1:18:58 PM

Tried a brisket once and had similar results. Do any of the videos promote doing a wrap toward the latter stages? I'd think that would help. Some add apple juice I think or other liquid at that point.

12/19/2017 1:40:16 PM

Yeah, some do (I saw one guy cover just the flat side with foil, but to me that makes me think that one side would get hotter, and dryer, faster. But I guess temp does not equal dryness, perhaps.

I did spray with apple juice once and hour from hours 4-10, and had water in the below reservoir.

12/19/2017 2:51:37 PM

Wrap it halfway through. Foil is fine. Texans traditionally use whatever that reddish brown paper is.

[Edited on December 19, 2017 at 3:09 PM. Reason : Just leave it at 225. 10 or 20 degrees is not enough to matter.]

12/19/2017 3:08:19 PM

^ Butcher paper.

Salt and pepper, smoke half the time unwrapped. Pull it out, wrap in butcher paper, finish the second half of smoke. All you need. Thats traditional texas style.

[Edited on December 20, 2017 at 6:56 AM. Reason : .]

12/20/2017 6:55:38 AM

Grilling a turkey Saturday, put it in the brine tonight. Trying to decide how I want to do it, the last few I've just coated in oil then rubbed it with my poultry rub (mainly lemon peel, rosemary and garlic with a few other things too) but I saw something today about cutting up small pieces of raw bacon and mixing it with soft butter, then rubbing it underneath the skin. I don't see how that could be bad, except for maybe the butter burning.

12/21/2017 10:32:51 PM

Just make sure you spatchcock it

12/22/2017 2:40:01 PM

Not technically grilling, but I got a sous vide thingie for Christmas. Steaks with that, then seared on a ridiculously hot salt block might be the best thing I’ve ever cooked

12/25/2017 6:44:42 PM

What is this saltblock you speak?

Did brisket and pork shoulder on my Kamado Joe, definitely worth the money.

Brisket:



Believe the slice came off the wrong way in that pic.

[Edited on December 26, 2017 at 10:45 AM. Reason : a]

12/26/2017 10:45:28 AM

Did another brisket on the masterbuilt electric smoker for christmas eve. Wrapped in foil since I didnt have butcher paper) once the thermometer said 165. Turned out perfect, imo. Butcher paper would preserve the bark a little better, so I'll grab some of that to have it on hand.

Also smoked a pork butt and a turkey yesterday. Both turned out great the first try. Turkey was a pre-brined young turkey from sams, so I just did an injection and an olive oil based outer rub. Nice crisp skin, tender, moist meat.

The pork was awesome too ... nothing special other than apple cider based brine, and a basic rub.

Thanksgiving/christmas will never be the same again.

12/26/2017 2:31:20 PM

Yeah, I've been doing turkeys on the Akorn for my family's Thanksgiving and Christmas for the last few years, it always seems to be a hit. And a salt block is just a huge block of salt that you can cook on. It holds heat really well, so it takes a while to heat up but stays 500-600+ for a while. The first time I used mine to cook steaks, it did give the perfect amount of salt and cooked really well, but since then I've not really gotten much salt from it while using it to cook. It does give a beautiful sear regardless.

12/26/2017 4:53:06 PM

I heard brisket was supposed to be 195+. Did it fall apart when you pulled it?

Want to try the salt block now.

12/27/2017 2:32:23 PM

i think he meant that 165 is the temp where he wrapped, and then continued cooking

12/27/2017 2:43:04 PM

$500 ok for a new Weber Genesis II 3 burner? I've seen people on Slickdeals get deeply discounted ones, but I've had no luck locally in the Triad.

I'd love to have the one with the side burner, but I can't find anything new, just ones in the used market. All I have is a used crappy Aussie charcoal I got for cheap. Definitely don't mind going used, but there's not much is popping up at the moment...guess this isn't the ideal time to purchase new or find one used.

1/6/2018 8:34:55 PM

i paid $300 for a used genesis on craigslist a few years ago, so sounds like a good price.

you can get a little separate propane burner if you really need one.

1/6/2018 8:40:16 PM

Smoked some spare ribs this weekend. One of these times I'll remember to take a picture before my stomach intervenes.

1/28/2018 9:59:04 PM

I had a 100 gallon LP tank set yesterday and gas lines run to my kitchen and garage. Since they were already out there, I had them run a line outside with an outlet and a 10 ft hose for my gas grill. I already love it.

2/21/2018 5:26:46 AM

^I'm curious if you'd mind sharing how much that cost you? I'm looking at a property with the fiance that wouldn't have natural gas available, so we'll probably be putting in something similar so we can have a propane stove in the kitchen.

2/24/2018 11:59:36 AM

I got a 100 pound tank installed 2 years ago and I want to say it was 200 for the tank and install + 200 for the gas. But I got like 150 back because my gas range qualified for a rebate. Eventually I’m going to have another line from the tank ran to my grill once I decide on it’s permanent location. And possibly a line ran to my fireplace if I decide to put in a gas insert.

[Edited on February 24, 2018 at 5:26 PM. Reason : $]

2/24/2018 5:21:53 PM

listen to dat sizzle

https://photos.app.goo.gl/R3ZYvP5EqXerLAeA3

2/24/2018 8:51:50 PM

^^^
Mine was right at 800, but it wasn’t a typical install. I went with a higher pressure system so that made it cost more and I ran a lot of different lines. That did include the tank and the propane

2/25/2018 10:57:47 AM

So I've always smoked smaller butts (5-8 lbs)...but recently started going to a local butcher that offers butts only in the larger range (12-15lbs) and they're much more fresh. What temperature do you smoke the larger butts at? I was talking to a guy who said he just smokes them at 275 for 8 or 9 hours. I don't think I have it in me to do a 10+ smoke in the 220 range.

5/14/2018 7:27:25 PM

i smoke everything at 250 deg

5/14/2018 7:34:35 PM