The trick to using the Minion method is that you really have to have a smoker without a lot of air leaks, if you have that, then you can control the speed that the charcoal burns.
Mine doesn't have a whole lot...it naturally lets a little air around the cracks of the lids, but other than that I think it has a pretty good seal. I have one vent I can use on the smoker box, which generally keep shut regardless, and it has a top 'smoke-stack' vent that I only open about a quarter of an inch.
If your ever in the Paducah Ky area in your travels look up Starnes BBQ, Knoths BBQ in lake city, Carrs barn in Mayfield Ky, Hoskins BBQin Hickory Ky. If you hit me up I can take you to enough BBQ dives, roadside stands and sit down joints to last a week or more and they are all pretty quality each has there own unique tastes.
A little place in Flint, Tx, just outside Tyler, called the Purple Pig. Everything else around here only prepares brisket, ribs & sausage. They are the only one where I find pulled pork plus they have a fantastic "hill country sausage" from down in s central Texas where there is a lot of German influence.
Speaking of BBQ...here's the brisket that I served tonight for some guests. It was a full packer brisket that I rubbed with Zarda and smoked it overnight with hickory chunks.
I'm looking at those pics of the brisket at 5:42 am and already drooling for a big ol plate full of that delicious looking food. Good job!
Eugene, Oregon is the last place on earth you'd expect to find good barbecue. That expectation was duly held until a few years ago when a joint called Papa's Soul Food Kitchen opened up. Then, sadly, Papa died, and now Eugene is back to being devoid of worthwhile barbecue.
Easy one, these two places are both very unassuming family owned restaraunts and both are in a dead heat for the finest barbecue I ever put in my mouth. #1 Simms Barbecue, Little Rock, Arkansas http://www.yelp.com/biz/sims-bar-b-que-little-rock This is just straight up pit barbecue that is slow cooked and delicious. Their pulled pork is to die for. They make their own sauces too and when you choose the hot barbecue sauce it's good and spicy #2 Squares Barbecue, Abilene, Texas http://www.squaresbarbque.com/ Again, a place that just does staight up old school pit barbecue. Their brisket is absolutely the planet's best and is served with homemade coleslaw, beans and cornbread.
I have never had a barbecue I did not like. However, one of our favorites over the years has been Woody's in Port Orange, FL (they have other locations too). http://www.woodys.com/
I have a Boston Butt on the smoker already...got up at 5AM to get it started. I have a question for you smoker guys; what (if anything) do you use to insulate your smoker? I have a smoker with a firebox and it seems to have a little problem with letting heat/smoke escape. Is there anything I can buy to drape over the entire unti to try to keep some of that heat enclosed? My uncle uses a blanket on his...but I sometimes wonder about the safety in doing that. The last thing I want to do is start a fire....
We don't have much of a barbecue presence here in Buffalo and Western New York. Go up the I-90 and the I-490 to Rochester and check out Dinosaur BBQ. It's right on the Genesee River. Really good stuff. I know this probably doesn't count, but we're really proud of our BBQ chicken here, especially Chiavetta's chicken. You go to any local fundrasier, be it a church, local fire department, or even the Erie County Fair, and you'll be smelling the Chiavetta's a mile away. It's the best marinade I ever had. http://www.chiavettas.com/
You might try a water heater blanket. Put it on the smoker body and NOT the fire box. Most ideal smoking temperatures don't get much above 250 degrees and I would suspect that that wouldn't be hot enough to ignite the blanket. Disclaimer: I am not a fire expert! So proceed with caution. lol
My top three BBQ restaurants, in the order in which I discovered them: Little Pigs BBQ in Statesville, NC Statesville is my hometown, and I suppose this must be the place where I tasted my first BBQ of any kind. This may or may not be the best BBQ in the world, but it is always the first thing that pops into my head any time BBQ is mentioned. I always eat there any time I go home. Keaton's BBQ in Cleveland, NC I've never had BBQ chicken this good anywhere else. Unreal. Blue Smoke in NYC I know people love Dinosaur in NYC, but I'm sorry, Blue Smoke is far and away the best BBQ I've ever found outside of the South, and Dinosaur can't hold a candle to it. In particular, the pulled pork at Blue Smoke is absolutely perfect.
Oh, and BTW, on the side topic: I use the minion method in my offset smoker every time I fire her up. Works like a charm, and trust me, my El-Cheap-O offset has more than it's share of air leaks. Still, the minion method is the only way I've ever been able to keep control of my temps all the way through the smoke.
Love the smoker side-topic! I too had a char-griller with a SFB. Worked awesome, with a couple minor modifications (helped to keep the temp even throughout) 1. Get a chunk of 4" aluminum dryer vent and run it from the inside flange of the chimney (attach it with a hose clamp) and run it down to the level of the lower cooking grate 2. Flip the charcoal grate upside down while using the SFB. Use aluminum foil to create a "gasket" at the fire box side. 3. Loosely wadded aluminum foil placed along the seams of the lid and the bottom half of the cooking chamber will help seal up the air leaks. Using these tricks, the temps will be pretty darn even side to side in the cooking chamber. The char-grillers do go through the charcoal though, which is why I actually sold mine and switched to a Weber Smokey Mountain. Using the minion method, I can get 12 hours of cook time at 225 degrees in the WSM without refueling. The thing is incredible. I highly recommend the WSM, and if you are into this, a thermometer like the Maverick ET-73 is a godsend.
