Serious newbie questions

[shaunquinn87]

Morning,

Bought a weber kettle last summer. Been toying with that. Now I would like to try something more complicated, maybe some pulled pork, or something. I'm not really sure where to start.
What do I need? What's the best to try first. Are there any good guides to read, maybe books to buy, or just trawl this forum?
Any help much appreciated

Regards,
Shaun

[BraaiMeesterWannabe]

You'll need 14 hrs to do a pork but which you may struggle to get out of a kettle without having to add coal 3 or 4 times, causing temp fluctuations.

Amazingribs.com has a lot of great info

[Tiny]

Welcome,
There are many good things you can do with a kettle, offset the coals and do chicken thighs or a whole chicken on a vertical roaster or beer can. I also think a leg of lamb that is rubbed up with garlic rosemary and mint cooked through offset from the coals and thenn finished off over direct heat is an absolute triumph.

As for an big pork shoulder I would just cheat, in fact I do often, cook for a few hours on the BBQ then wrap in foil with a little apple juice and whack it in the oven on 110 deg C......Aghast faces about no doubt but my logic is that after several hours it has taken on all the smoke it ever will, it is wrapped in foil so all it really needs now is constant heat, this can be tricky on an charcoal BBQ In my case dead easy on the GMG but of course this will eat pellets, so in the oven it goes. Did my best pulled pork ever. I intend to replicate the event with Beef cheeks tomorrow....

Go for it and enjoy!
Cheers
Tiny

[Pompey Dinlo]

Tiny, where are you getting your pellets? I have a Yoder YS1500 and it's a hungry beast, a 14 hour cook at 225f consumes 3/4 of a bag of GMG pellets which I'm currently buying from Americanbbq at £33 for two bags.

[Tiny]

Pompey,
Also getting mine from American BBQ, Liverpool wood pellets are rated by some as having a good value all round pellet that is better value but I have never got around to trying them as I have been experimenting with the single wood pellets from lumberjack and treacher also supplied by the ABBQC,
Cheers
Tiny

[Pompey Dinlo]

Cheers Tiny,

I was hoping there would be some elusive site selling pellets at US prices. The thought of paying £3.65 for 20lb of Lumberjack pellets is far more palatable than the £16 we're currently having to fork out.

Have you noticed any difference in consumption rate between brands/flavours?

[Tiny]

ter it really did chomp the pellets.

£3.65 a bag? Yes I would like that a lot, I guess on Friday I had Reds rubs and sauces delivered with my ASDA shop so have to hope if BBQ keeps growing in popularity we might get them a bit cheaper......I dare to dream
Cheers
TinyPD,
Yes, the GMG Texas blend seemed to evaporate and I would say got through them 30% faster than anything else the others seem to have gone at about the same rate but the Lumberjack Cherry seemed to be the slowest burning, but I also think the weather makes a huge difference. I don't use a thermal blanket on my DB and when using it at

[Pompey Dinlo]

Yes, the GMG Texas blend seemed to evaporate and I would say got through them 30% faster than anything else the others seem to have gone at about the same rate but the Lumberjack Cherry seemed to be the slowest burning, but I also think the weather makes a huge difference. I don't use a thermal blanket on my DB and when using it at

Cheers mate,

I might give the Coongkshack ones a go. I had a bag of the Lumberjack that came with the Yoder which I used on my first cook, a 6KG brisket. This took 14 hours but it was also quite cold overnight, 3c and I put the rapid consumption down to the unit trying to maintain the temperature.