Pork Chops on the new Char-Griller Grand Champ XD

[Oceantoad]

Got the new offset grill on Sunday. Did a few seasoning burns. Decided to take her out for a spin tonight. Cooked up some Hasselback potatoes and pork chops. MMM, MMM, MMM!! So tender and juicy. Done to perfection. I was actually seeing how well she held her temp with just a few small chunks of Ash and Hickory. I thought what the heck! Why not throw some food on there. So glad I did. Did up some stewed tomatoes and zucchini to round out the meal and BAM!! Impressed the wife. Local store has spare ribs for $1.89 a lb. Guess what I'm doing next?

 

[Redicans]

Sounds good!! Did you just smoke the chops or did you sear them after they were smoked for a while? I am about 2 months in with the Grand Champ. So far I am really enjoying it. I have had some really good cooks on it and a few that tested my patience and I struggled with but in the end the food was good. For my budget and where I am and that Home Depot shipped here free made it a great choice for me. Look forward to seeing more of your cooks!! Pics are nice also, Haha!! Curious also as to any mods you have done or are planning to do to the smoker.

 

[Oceantoad]

Sounds good!! Did you just smoke the chops or did you sear them after they were smoked for a while? I am about 2 months in with the Grand Champ. So far I am really enjoying it. I have had some really good cooks on it and a few that tested my patience and I struggled with but in the end the food was good. For my budget and where I am and that Home Depot shipped here free made it a great choice for me. Look forward to seeing more of your cooks!! Pics are nice also, Haha!! Curious also as to any mods you have done or are planning to do to the smoker.

Redicans, The first thing I think I will do is raise the wheel side so the oils/juice drain toward the plug. After it cooled down, I cleaned it out and flipped the charcoal pan over in the main chamber. I have read that this will more evenly distribute the heat. While doing this I noticed a larger pool of oil/juice at the end toward the firebox. The grill is sitting on my deck next to my house. I'm sure that's why its flowing that way. I would like to add two temp gauges to the corners. I see that lots of shade tree "pitmasters" add the temp gages from Lavalock. Not sure why? I've been looking at the ones from River Country. I'm kicking myself for not pulling the trigger on a InkBird Thermometer set off of Amazon. Regular price was somewhere close to $90. Prime days had it around $45. Didn't do it for some reason. Besides those items, I might mess with the height of the chimney. I have seen a few videos on how this improves the draw. So far it's all Greek to me. How about you? Any modifications already done or are planning to do. Love to hear about it.

 

[Oceantoad]

Redicans, I missed your first question. I cooked the chops in the main chamber while messing with a fire in the firebox. Wouldn't call it smoking them, they weren't there that long. I didn't sear them, they were on the grill longer than that. Just cooked them on the top rack 280-290 until they temped out at 145-150. I see your avitar is the XD. How do you like that raised stack? Also which Island in Hawaii? Lived on Kauai for 7.5 years. Been to all the main islands in the chain even Ni'ihau.

 

[Redicans]

Redicans, I missed your first question. I cooked the chops in the main chamber while messing with a fire in the firebox. Wouldn't call it smoking them, they weren't there that long. I didn't sear them, they were on the grill longer than that. Just cooked them on the top rack 280-290 until they temped out at 145-150. I see your avitar is the XD. How do you like that raised stack? Also which Island in Hawaii? Lived on Kauai for 7.5 years. Been to all the main islands in the chain even Ni'ihau.

Niihau!! Amazing, never been there myself although I worked with two pure Hawaiian brothers that were born and raised there!!

Yeah raised stack is nice. I made it 34” inches total height. Cook chamber is 40” and a YT video I saw said it should be 6” shorter so I went with it. Has worked good so far. I removed the gaskets and replaced with lava lock gaskets, didn’t do the FB door as I saw no reason for that. I did add the Lavalock temp gauges and they more or less give me a reference point. Although I must say they match up pretty well with my inkbird 4 probe digital gauge. There are fluctuations but all in all I am happy with them.

I did flip the grate in the main chamber for a few cooks but have since switched back. I am playing around to see what works best for me. Also I bought two boxes of fire bricks on Amazon and lined the FB with them and have been messing around with different ways of using them. I will try to remember to take some pics of some tdifferent configurations I have tried and post here. Couple YT videos out there about using the bricks to help insulate the FB to help with temp control. Also I have played around with a water pan pushed up against the FB and moving it away some also. Some very noticeable temp differences do that. I feel like one of my biggest issues is my wood I have available here. Wood is pricey here in stores I can get Kiawe here cheap but I have been struggling a bit on certain cooks cause the wood is so dense it takes a while to ignite even when I preheat. And sometimes they light right up. All the fun of it though!!

So far I am having a great time with it and really enjoying the learning process!! First offset I have ever owned. I am on Oahu.

Sean

 

[Redicans]

Here is how I have the Bricks set up. I have messed around with the fire basket set inside as a V grate set up also sitting flat on the first edge of the bricks but i feel like the coal bed right on the bricks has worked best. Coal bed stays hot and bricks get hot and temps hold good. Splits can stay above a bit and get good air flow. Next cook I am going back to this.

 

[JLeonard]

Oceantoad great looking meal. Inkbirdbbq is a sponsor here. They have regular discounts posted on here. Maybe msg them and see if they have any going now.

Jim

 

[jcam222]

Looks good. I love smoked or grilled chops