New beast charcoal / gas / smoker/ side burner grill

[skipper19]

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I just got this grill at Lowes, it is the Char Griller trio. Combo gas, charcoal, side fire box, and a side burner. So far I have just cured the grill and cooked a steak and some chicken on the charcoal side. Worked great for that, still need to try the side fire box for some indirect smoking, Texas style. I just picked up some hickory and cherry chunks from Cabelas, and plan on trying some kingsford briquets, or royal oak charcoal for some smoked goodies. I been reading on this grill and it has some good qualities but some folks are doing some mods to it that sound useful. I will be experimenting with it on some pork, beef and of course...SALMON ...I like my little electric luhr jensen smoker but thought I would try this....after all sometimes I need an excuse to play with fire

Wonder if anyone on here has experience with this humongous beast...almost 250 lbs

Mark

[ Post made via Android ]

[ Post made via Android ]

[JR]

That's a sweet grill Mark, What time is dinner

[King Slammin]

I have a brinkman smoke 'n' grill with the side smoke box, and I love it. The one u bought was what i was thinking of buying to replace my 4 yr old beast. I can do 2 whole salmon on mine and 6 racks of ribs (seperately of course) the smoking area looked a little small when i checked it out. I would love to hear what you think when u use it more.

[ray koziatek]

Ahh the oll "XB-14" ,Sweet grill only they were recalled for excessive lead content on the grills the new ones only weigh 145lbs.

throw away the grates and enjoy roasting marshmellows, If ya do happen on a carp or sunfish ya can save a couple bucks by cutting up yer neighbors shovel handles as they are made of hickory...should be a couple next to their outhouse.....

If ya ever find a apple orchard near the house ya can get some free wood their too...

now if ya want some special smoke rip up some floorboards from a old cow barn ,for that ahhh reminds me of my youth smell.

gotta be a hickory tree or two up that way for the real deal,,,oh dont try poisen ivy vines youll be wiping with 80 grit sandpaper and it will feel good....so ive heard..

[skipper19]

You are too funny Ray, no lead in this critter. There's no Apple trees around here, oh wait, is that why there is that funny vinegar smell downtown Lyntucky? Most of the hickory got used up fer the hot tub club (sure smells good in the bath but the ouhouse is kindda overpowerin. That's why I bought hickory and didn't get any apple wood cause the backyard neighbor already got a bunch in his yard.

Wonder what smoked lobster would be like, you still got sum?

[ Post made via Android ]

[tcon]

Now thats funny right there!

Tom

[ray koziatek]

yup ,just woofed down 8 big ones today, well it was my parents 50th annv. so i shared1 with them.. pretty tuff to beat steam and butter with them things , tho i ant tried smokin yet........Hey was that a suttle hint ya might want a couple.....naa I just read between the lines wrong...............if ya were closer id run 4 over to ya....hmm would like to get some to jer too maybe ill make a trip that way soon...no need to complain how the price of gas is gonna limit my playtime. (or playpen area)

[skipper19]

Sure Ray, I wasn't putting nuttin between the lines, but, I think we could get some fishin time in too, no need to worry about gas unless lobsters cause gas. I always got gas and if'n I don't the boat has it ....or the pipe in the roof of the out house does. Even got a nest fer ya, case ya git tired. It's a long ride from Lyntucky back ta Cornball.

Mark

[ Post made via Android ]

[muskybob]

OOOOOOOOOOO, let me know when dinner's ready. I'll bring the potato salad Hey, I'm on a fixed income. LOL

[jj7leaf]

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I just got this grill at Lowes, it is the Char Griller trio. Combo gas, charcoal, side fire box, and a side burner. So far I have just cured the grill and cooked a steak and some chicken on the charcoal side. Worked great for that, still need to try the side fire box for some indirect smoking, Texas style. I just picked up some hickory and cherry chunks from Cabelas, and plan on trying some kingsford briquets, or royal oak charcoal for some smoked goodies. I been reading on this grill and it has some good qualities but some folks are doing some mods to it that sound useful. I will be experimenting with it on some pork, beef and of course...SALMON ...I like my little electric luhr jensen smoker but thought I would try this....after all sometimes I need an excuse to play with fire

Wonder if anyone on here has experience with this humongous beast...almost 250 lbs

Mark

[ Post made via Android ]

[ Post made via Android ]

We had the same model on my jobsite for the last year, one thing that I will caution, keep it covered or in the garage when not in use the one we put out has rusted on the fire box end in the last year of abuse.

Also If you do salmon smoking I would caution that the edge nearest the fire box is alot hotter than the rest of the coal grill side when smoking. What I found when smoking a grill full of salmon was that I had to tend it more than my small home smoker, I actually switched the right grill grate for the left to even the cooking. Now I did 3-4 full fish of fillets that were cut into smaller pieces so The charcoal side was completely full, you could do 2 fish very easily and leave the edge near the fire box open.

The last thing that I would note when smoking was that the same amount of charcoal in my brinkman green smoker lasts alot longer. The charcoal seems to burn faster when the charcoal sits on the little grate with air flow all around it.

Other than that it is a great versital grill, alot more than we needed for a construction site but really worked great. if we wanted a really great steak, throw it over charcoal side, if you wanted to do something quick, you had gas on the left, couple of times I smoked some ribs or salmon, fill the smoke box on the far right and let her go...

enjoy.

jj

[kappy]

anyone that has a grill kept outdoors you are better off not covering it, waste of money, the covers hold in the moisture

more than if it just rains on the grill, not kidding, companies make on killing on grill covers. they are worthless,

oh has anyone actually tried smoked lobster?

[ray koziatek]

hmm smoked lobster dip....rats gave my smoker away ...but my grill has the wood chip tray just no cowbarns or outhouses in the city...could go over to the park and scoop some dog dung....

[711skwerlz]

I have that same grill we love it. Gas for a quick burger for the wife and I but enough space for a party. This is my first smoker done a bunch of salmon and trout on it. Tried some venison jerky that turned into dog treats.Oops What mods are you talking about?

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[skipper19]

The mods were mostly to the charcoal side with the side fire box in use. One is like mentioned before because the box has way too much heat on the side nearest the side fire box. It is recommended to flip the charcoal cradle over and make the heat go under it more or to hang the cradle from the highest point and wrap it with foil to tunnel the heat and smoke to the other end of the char section. The other mod was to attach a drier vent pipe to the chimney to get the smoke to find a route closer to the cooking grate by extending it to the grill level, thereby helping the smoke linger longer in the cooking area. One other was to place foil made gaskets around the perimeter of the char section to keep the smoke going out the chimney more, since the clamshell design leaks smoke all around. The method of making the charcoal last longer in the fire box is called the minion method of burn. The box is aranged with briquets that are cold in a long condensed line, leaving the end closest to the char side open for about a quarter chimney of hot briquets to go in. Then the cold briquets are made to ignite progressively back towards the draft end makeing the fire last longer and burn slower. The chunks of wood are placed on each side of the line of charcoal, and burn individually as the coals burn back against the draft. I have to try a few smokes in this thing to get the temp and fuel ratios right but it should be fun. I'll give an update soon as I get some goodies to do. So far I have some pork ribs to do but need a day without wind to give it a go.

Mark

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[gabrony]

I used to have a grill just like that, however since I moved to Germany I had to sell it to pay for some of the moving expenses. I would really love to have another one, but I cannot buy one in Germany. Does anyone know how I can get one, maybe someone can put one on ebay and allow worldwide shipping. They would really sell like hotcakes here in Germany but there is noone to ship them to Germany.

[skipper19]

5 racks of salmon

Beer can chicken and ribs

Beer can chickens & pork butt

Ribs and more ribs

Dragon tongue...AKA beef brisket

Countless wings, thick cut pork chops, venison chops, cowboy steaks, weiners and sausages!

I keep it in my shop, even while cooking. It is still in great shape other than some finish burned off the fire box. It can be repainted, but I keep it coated all over with spray cooking oil, and it has no rust. My shop smells like a bbq shack! Much better than the oil and grease mechanic smell..LOL!

Well...that's my update! A year and a half old! Oops

Still love the thing!

Mark

Sent from my PC36100 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Just Fishin']

I have that unit and have done pork butt, ribs, brisket and duck so far. I did find that not enough air was getting under the wood/charcoal in the tinder box and I would have trouble keeping it at 225 degrees. Once I raised the heat source a little it changed everything.

[skipper19]

It still cooks great! Modified the fire box a little last year with a raise in the fire grate and now I can remove the ashes in the drawer without disturbing the fire. Just did some venison breakfast sausage and summer sausage smoked with Pecan wood. Excellent stuff. I had a large pork loin that I made into canadian bacon and that was WOW!..tooo good! Thanksgiving whole fresh turkey...beat the oven turkey to the empty platter race! So far the grill has had no failures but I keep it covered and inside the garage. A coat of spray cooking oil keeps her looking spiffy!  Older pic of it doing some very tasty wings and western style pork ribs.

 

[shorething]

How did you make the Canadian bacon ? Love that stuff! I have a weber smoky mountain , love the thing . We use apple mostly , but cherry ,hickory , are good , too . Get some peach wood if you can . Another one to try is some big old wild grape vine Seem to have developed a line under my words .... wonder where that came from ?

[Sk8man]

You're the man Mark! I just put some salmon in the oven with roasted vegetables but now I'm feeling a little inadequate

[skipper19]

How did you make the Canadian bacon ? Love that stuff! I have a weber smoky mountain , love the thing . We use apple mostly , but cherry ,hickory , are good , too . Get some peach wood if you can . Another one to try is some big old wild grape vine Seem to have developed a line under my words .... wonder where that came from ?

I have used peach wood and it is great for Georgia style ribs and pork!

Canadian bacon (American style not Pea meal) is really easy to do and the hardest part is waiting for the cure to finish...6 days!

Get a nice large pork back loin ..not a tenderloin. Try to find one over 10 lbs if ya can. Then you can split it if you want to try two different ways of curing ...dry and or wet.

Personally I like the dry version better for easy prep and less used space in the fridge.

Trim all of the fat off the meat and make a mixture of 1 TBS Morton's Tenderquick mixed with 1 tsp white sugar per pound of meat. 10 lb loin..10 TBS tenderquick and 10 tsp white sugar.

I spread out seran wrap big enough to seal the log up and lay the meat on it. Then rub the mixture all over the meat. Don't shake any excess off and let the extra mix lay distributed evenly on the seran so when you roll it up its all around the meat. Roll it in another seran to seal it good and place in the refrigerator for 6 days. Roll it over once each day.

After taking it from the fridge, unwrap it, and rinse off the brine and then soak in cold water bath for an hour to remove some of the saltiness.

Day seven get the smoker going and hold 225 degrees. I use kingsford and hickory wood. You can use what ever wood you like for different smoke character.

Lay the loin on the grate away from fire. You want indirect heat and smoke as in the side fire box or a separate fire box in your grill. Slow smoke at 225 and be sure to use a good digital internal meat probe to monitor it's progress.

The probe in the center if the meat should reach 160 degrees and then remove the meat from the smoker and place on a pan to cool. I like to put mine straight into the fridge and cool it.

Then use a slicer and slice the bacon to your favorite thickness. The meat is cooked and all you need to do is pan fry it in butter for a minute to serve. It's good cold too! Makes a great sandwich and good on pizza. Cut in chunks it can make great kabobs.

I vacuum pack it in serving size and freeze the bacon. It will be fresh and easy to serve anytime.

Brining wet cure is another way and much different than dry. I have tried it but I haven't perfected it to be as good or better than dry curing.

Tenderquick is a curing salt with nitrates and nitrites for curing meat. Do not use table salt. Also, Plain white granulated sugar is ok. Find tenderquick in some of the bigger grocery stores. Some outdoor stores and specialty bbq stores carry it as well.

Mark

Edited March 31, 2015 by skipper19

[skipper19]

You're the man Mark! I just put some salmon in the oven with roasted vegetables but now I'm feeling a little inadequate

Sounds plenty adequate to me there Les! An adequate fisherman with an adequate supply of salmon! I love that baked salmon just as well! BBQ season is coming soon! I started collecting some smoking wood and charcoal last month. Next I'd like to try building a kiln to make my own charcoal out of wood I can actually be sure of for authentic species. Not mentioning one brand of charcoal, but I have found remnant pieces of plywood and board in one brand that I don't use anymore. I like Kingsford and I use that brand almost always as a base heat in my fire box. Royal oak is ok too.

[shorething]

Thanks for your recipe , most definitely gonna give that a try ,sounds great !