New_England_Akorn

I usually do baby backs. I got my recipe from a guy whose competition name is killer hogs bbq in YouTube. Basically I 1. remove the membrane 2. cover in yellow mustard (for binding the dry rub) 3. Sea salt, pepper and cover all sides in favorite pork bbq rub (be very liberal with the rub, it should cover entire ribs). 4. 30 minute per side,then flip, repeat. Do this for 2 hrs plus. Spray with a little apple juice 5. Wrap in foil, spray with some apple juice, pats of butter, honey, and brown sugar in both sides. Another 2 hrs plus flipping every 30. 6. Unwrap and sauce it. Back on 30 min per side. Remove, rest for a few min and enjoy. 4.5 to 5 hrs plus is usually right for keeping temp around 250 to 275 max

I live in MA and we get tough winters. It's been left out under the factory cover for 2 winters so far. The bottom black shelf has rusted a little on surface but I scraped and painted with rustoleum last year and will do again. Otherwise the unit looks good. My cast iron cooking grates rusted a little and I've since swapped them for a brand new just delivered stainless steel/chrome grate. The only thing I've learned is to not leave the top vent cracked open as water seeps thru cover into grill that way. Cover is sun bleached but held up ok for not the highest end of a cover so far.

I gave up on the dome I don't find it to be accurate also it's not at the cooking level. I bought a good dual probe wireless unit with a clip so I can clip one probe to the cooking surface and the other in meat as needed. The key with the akorn is to close vents down slowly but BEFORE desired temp.

Do you grill burgers with the coals down at the bottom in the normal position? If so curious if this is how most do burgers or steaks? I ask because I've always done burgers and steaks using the weber grate at the mid level and hot coals from the chimney under half the cooking area... It's good but you gotta be careful about the heat.

I have to admit that the very best steaks I've had in my life come off the cast iron skillet. I was surprised by this but there is no denying it.

I finally bought a stainless cooking grate. I didnt realize it was chrome plated. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B075T3BL29?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_pd_title 1.Does this make it cheaper or worse or better than straight SS? 2.Anyway wondering how to season it if at all? Replacing rusted cast iron stock grate.

The last several cooks I've don't it exclusively with the pizza in the pan on that riser grate , as the dough is cooking faster than the cheese. Keeping temps between 400 and 500 on the dome although I suspect it's higher than that inside

Pay no attention to the dome other than to note how off it is (low). From here on out when doing a low n slow, only pay attention to the pit probe. Not worth it to try and calibrate the two in your mind as it will only confuse.

I hate to take such a lazy approach, but watch this video. I've done these two or three times and they were ridiculously good. He uses St. Louis in the video but same method applies for baby backs. The only thing i omitted was the spray he uses, I think I just poured some apple juice into the foil in the latter half of the cook because I didn't have a suitable red wine or spritzer bottle. Also I swapped out his BBQ rub for one I found locally (any pork BBQ rub will do) and I used real butter over that fake stuff in the the blue bottle he uses! Make sure your temp is 225 to 275, and make sure you're using a good thermometer to measure the grate surface as e built in dome thermo is way off.

I use my stone a lot, and I flip it from time to time to clean any drippings and mess that ends up on it. I never plan to cook directly on it so I don't care if it's got anything on it really, see no need to cook on it. I have made many pizzas using the stone as the deflector, but I cook the food in pizza pan with small holes in it, and then last minute or so finish the pie directly on the top cooking grates for the charred grill crust. Works great.

I did my first one, a 4lb small one the other night. I let it rest WITHOUT any foil as I read somewhere it would make the bark mushy. I was very happy overall with everything including the amount of meat.

ah, spend the few extra bucks for the right fit. Convenient that it swings open if you need to mess with the coals. Mind sharing pics of a cook before during and after? My CI grates are slightly rusting, i have not done a good job of oiling them after a cook. I should just spray them down I think with a thick coat.

to the OP, have you considered starting the fire in 2 places? My fire snuffed out Sunday, due to me being overly agressive trying to keep down the temp and I had to relight. I know lack of oxygen killed it, and probably would have killed it no matter what but I can't help but wonder if having 2 fires going would have helped. It might also help making sure the wood chunks catch. Anyone else?

She was on about 6 hrs and I grew impatient so I cranked grill up and finished her off. Pulled from grill at 203....let her rest with no foil about 20 minutes then pulled it. Was all excited for these nice sweet bulky rolls I had bought and was then horrified to find the sealed bag full of baby ants.....I settled for some sub rolls I had. All in all came out excellent, not sure how smoky it was or wasn't, the rub was delicious and I put on some Stubbs BBQ sauce and slaw. Do do I expect intense smoke or not from the Akorn? Also a friend suggested next time oak, hickory or applewood for pork. I threw on the 5 or so little chunks and I saw light smoke coming the vent all day.

Temp started creeping into 270s and I got too aggressive with vents and Snuffed out fire. A little annoying but I got it relit and it's been up in the he 250-260 range now as I'm around 4 plus hours in in cook. Meat stalled at 148 around time fire went out but now it's creeping up nicely sitting at 172.