Stick burning BBQ, Q, A and brainstorming

I am a n00b at stick burning myself.

I started out placing my hardwood chunks in the chimney with the starter charcoal to get the chunks as glowing coals instead of smoldering chunks, great results.

I did a cook with two chimneys full of white oak chunks and no charcoal. Those are still the best steaks I have ever made.

This past weekend I used a pretty big heap of alder sticks burnt down to coals to do some vegetable skewers, a salmon fillet and a couple swordfish steaks. No charcoal. Good eats.

I should give props to the movie "Barbecue" on Netflix, just finished it a few minutes ago. 1:41, c2017, very good documentary. A bunch of chapters, 10 minutes or so each, all over the world. Western Europeans and North Americans were the only charcoal burners, though the Texans featured in their little chapter were burning post oak cord wood.

I especially like the segment in Armenia, I suspect I should be able to get a bunch of good cooks off a stickburner like that without a huge investment. My thinking is if I set my "Khorovats" cooker up correctly I should be able to grill over live coals right away and then add on a lid, chimney and side fire box later for an indirect stick burning smoker.

I am hoping @scottalot will chime in too. This website has proven to be bad for my Visa balance, but I insist my build is done. I don't need any truck parts, I don't need any truck parts.

Stickburning is not quite a big a jump as moving from lighter fluid to chimney starter, but my first impressions are really really good.

I will say stickburning seems to use a lot more volume of fuel than charcoal, probably about double. So a cook that would take one chimney of started charcoal will need (about) two chimneys worth of hardwood burnt down to coals.

I am going to watch for a JobBox to get hit by a truck to see if I can salvage the lid off it for a Khorovat cooker. Or similar. Those Armenians were looking pretty resourceful.

I am going to need some swords to it appears, bummer deal there.

Are there different names for direct cooking over glowing coals BBQ versus cooking indirect over a raging fire BBQ?

 

Great Thread Idea.

 

BBQ Bretheren dot com

As a resource goes, you probably can't beat it. I'm familiar with stick burners but not the Khorovat cooker you mention.

Good luck in your journey!

 

The wife liked the alder only, no charcoal, indirect salmon fillet enough to ok a cinderblock build.

I should get a 16x24 cooking surface and a 16x16x16 firebox with 29 full blocks, 2 half blocks and 8 cap blocks.

I ran out of light tonight, but i have all my blocks piled up at the scene and grabbed my square shovel out of the shed.

Ill be ready to dig at first light and will start my sheetmetal fab as soon as my next door neighbor is up to let her dog out.

 

Heated it up once this afternoon, have video to edit, dinner with the wife now.

 

That's some MacGuyver shit right there, kudos.

 

Got some alder sticks going in the firebox. And nice even temps too.





You can see my two temp probes on the ledt side of the pit. It is mighty mighty humid in the cook chamber. Salmon comes out of the cambro in 3 minutes, gotta go.

 

Man, that pit is a great bit of ingenuity. Bet that salmon will taste mighty fine.

 

Yup, salmon came out great - but different. I have never gotten bark like this on salmon before, i was afraid it was over cooked.

Well, its undercooked. I did take all my fillets out of the freezer to my tool shed last winter during a cold snap, 48 hours at -50dF and colder, so mine is safe to eat raw.

Tonights was honestly fabulous even needing to be cooked a little more. I am scheduled for reverse seared ribeyes using the pit on Tuesday.

 

Wow. Just wow. I did reverse seared ribeyes tonight. In the pit to IT of 92dF, then covered in the cambro for ten minutes while i built up a coal bed in the firebox, then 20 seconds per side laying directly on the (raging) hot coals in the firebox.

Ill try 30 seconds per side on the next cook, but the smoke flavor is just, well, different compared to smoldering chunks. Deeper but more delicate if that makes any sense.

I am still burning hardwood lump with the sticks. Throughout the cook i had a ball of apple and a ball of hickory coals each about the size of a softball, and enough chunks of each burning with bright flame to maintain the coal lumps. Pit temps were running 150-175 during the smoking part.

I gotta get hold of my local stick purveyor, i am paying $20 per cubic foot for apple and hickory at home depot, which has to stop.

I got two hours of video down to 8 minutes on the first edit, 6.5 minutes on the second edit. Hope to link to youtube build video in a few more days.

 

Last cooks of the year this week. Having two of the kids home is a crimp in my video editing time, but they know me well enough to know how to talk me into firing up my new pit.

Tonight, salmon caught by child #4 this summer, half brined in sugar and salt, the other half in lime juice with dill and capers.



I am burning apple chunks tonight, and running the cook chamber 195-210 dF, should be 45 min to an hour cook, first check at 25 minutes.



Overall i am pretty happy. Now that i have some cooks on it ill film another short segment showing what i plan to change when i put it back together come spring time, but i have 16x24 cook grate, indirect, reverse flow stick burner with 30 cinder blocks and some sheet metal, about $200 in materials - and cinder blocks are $2.21 each up here.

 

Looking good at the 25 minute mark.



Preliminary taste chunk says salmon smoked on stick burning apple is going to be popular at my house.

If you are smoldering apple chunks in charcoal and paid $$ for a salmon fillet i suggest a light hand, apple really sweetens up as a live coal.

I set the timer for another 20 minutes.

 

At T+45 it looks like its done, the white fat melting and starting to ooze is a sure sign, but still awfully pink on the inside.

I plan to pull in another ten minutes, at T +55 minutes, but not add any more fuel.

 

I think 20 minutes in the cambro is about right for this one.

 

Many many points for moistness. I am itching to have enough fuel to do a brisket.

The salmon with dill, capers and lemon juice does better on alder smoke than apple.

The sugar/ salt brined salmon on apple is a fertile field for further inquiry.

 

Geez, man. Fantastic looking fish.

Am I missing the link to the videos somewhere? I'd like to see what you put together for these cooks.

 

It isnt cut togethet yet. I have my ten hour build down to 6.5 minutes, still have to shoot a final scene of what else ill do diferent next build. My older boy turns 30 this weekend, dont hold your breath for youtube linkie.