# Joining the ranks of Stick Burners



## tbrtt1 (Dec 9, 2017)

Been chewing on this for a while and decided to dip my toe into the world of stick burnin'. I have several quality pit makers here in the greater Houston area and if I expand that to a couple hundred miles, there is a ton manufacturers, Klose, Lone Star Grillz, so when I am ready, I'll have a good many to choose from without having to pay shipping.

For now, I will cut my teeth on an Old Country Pecos. I know it ain't that great but I will find out if I really like it enough to make an investment and at the same time learn the ropes and hopefully help me decide, if I do "stick" (pardon the pun) with it, what I might want in my next rig.

Picked it up last night, cleaned it out, sprayed it with Pam and did a burn in/seasoning. I wasn't too concerned with holding steady temps, just making sure it stayed above 300* for a few hours. Mission accomplished.

Today was the maiden voyage with food. So ribs and leg quarters. I did some reading on the Pecos and started right out by removing the wood grate in the firebox and using the grill grate for setting the wood. I used the wood grate from the FB for a tuning plate. I set up 2 probes from my Maverick 733 and got busy. The makeshift tuning plate worked very well.

View attachment 347028








There was a lot of leakage around the firebox, which I kinda anticipated. But it was worse than I thought. The foil gaskets worked very well. Not pretty, but effective.







I ran her a little hot on purpose since I didn't want to spend all day babysitting the smoker as I had something to do later in the afternoon. I set both Maverick probes to for a low alarm of 275* and a high of 350*. I was able to keep it there for the most part. I was OK with the large swings since I was more concerned with the quality of the smoke. I ran the chimney wide open and the door to the firebox wide open too. This seemed to work the best. I am proud to say, for the majority of the cook, there was no visible smoke at all, or very faint blue smoke. I couldn't even capture it on my iPhone camera. I mistakenly (I think) put on some larger splits at the end and the smoke got a little more visible, but still blue and fairly thin.

Of course, if I continue to purse stick burnin', which I am sure I will, I will probably need to source some good wood. This is what I used today. I got out the hatchet and broke up some of the larger splits.













I ran her at between A couple hours in:







1 rack or SLC and 1 rack of BBs:














So, the ribs were damn good. Really good. Bird was too (sorry no pics). Among the best I have done. Hell, maybe the best I have done. Was it a PITA: yes. Was it worth it: yes. Will I get better at it so it is not such a PITA: I better or it won't be something I do routinely.

Some observations:

-I must have done something right. I was fully prepared to have completely inedible food on my first go sticks. Maybe I got lucky. If anything the smoke profile was a little on the mild side. When I say there was no visible smoke for much of the cook, I mean none. I did run it a 300*+ for most of the cook.

-The Pecos leaks like a sieve. I'm not that anal about a smoker being airtight. This is my 5th smoker and my 9 millionth smoke and I have learned not to be anal about stuff like that. But this thing is on a different kinda leak level. I think I need more smoke coming out of the smoke stack than the cooker door. The firebox was bad too, hence the foil.

-The wood may have been a tad dry. I was adding a small split every 20-30 mins. I did warm them on the top of the fire box and they went up like a roman candle as soon as I put em in. I'd like to think I could get close to 45 mins without having to add wood.

-I may make or get a fire grate that lets the wood set a little lower in the firebox. I started the seasoning last night with the original wood grate and had trouble getting it up to temp so I switched it out for the good grate from the firebox. But it sits decidedly higher in the firebox. Maybe too high.


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## SmokinAl (Dec 10, 2017)

Congrats on the new smoker!
The ribs look fantastic!
Al


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## bluewhisper (Dec 10, 2017)

Hm, all these fabricators in Texas, I wonder how many of them can trace their roots back to metal fabricating for the oil industry.

My offset leaks big time, too. Wind raises hell with it. Mine is much smaller than yours, with smaller splits, but it's possible to run an open fire like that. I'm glad you're liking the splits, there is a range of wood flavors, kind of like different tobaccos. (tobaccoes?:) And if nothing else, running plain charcoal is always a fallback.

Consider buying or making some kind of charcoal basket, maybe a simple U shape that would cradle the wood and still let you stoke from the side.


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## grillmonkey (Dec 10, 2017)

If your smoker leaks and/or the metal is thin you are going to burn through some wood. I much prefer stick burners for smoking over other types, except maybe open pit.


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## bluewhisper (Dec 10, 2017)

You have the option of charcoal grilling in the cooking chamber, right? I have a hanging ash tray that I take out for smoking. It's also possible to imitate indirect kettle cooking by building a fire at one end and having the food at the other.


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## tbrtt1 (Dec 10, 2017)

bluewhisper said:


> Hm, all these fabricators in Texas, I wonder how many of them can trace their roots back to metal fabricating for the oil industry.
> 
> *It is well known that many a smoker fabricator in Texas started in the oil and gas industry. *
> 
> ...


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