holy crap this Serpentine method is genius for sure. I was debating on using a Weber (because of its super low costs to use charcoal and minimal wood for smoke) vs. an Oklahoma Joe Offset smoker (which seems to use a shitload of wood that I just can't afford for each cook). After seeing this method, it looks like I could use more charcoal with about 3-5 smaller pieces of wood max. for a long cook. This Serpentine/Minion method also maximizes the "low and slow" burn without spending too much money on the wood. Dude! I'm going Oklahoma all the way now for my first smoker and will use this method. Thanks for your amazing video.
Hey thanks for the video! I watch because I don't know what I'm doing and want to learn. Seems like some feel the need to trash others. Making a video and posting takes time and talent. I appreciate the people who take the time to help others enjoy the family time they have making great BBQ.
This was super helpful. I've never smoked but wanted to understand how as well as understand the minion method and you covered that. You also explained the chimney deal for a layman. Thank you
Thank you for this video, i build one for myself, using your desing. I had to gues the dimensions for my smoker, that is bigger than you showed. I tried it out today. We had a very long burn. Thank you again, now i can go to bed for good night rest. I always smoke alone.
Ok well first of all let me say a great video. I just want to double check and make sure that you're able to maintain the 250, and then my second question is when on a long cook do you just simply remove the box from the fire side, remove the ash and then start over or do you just simply add charcoal on top of the existing ash
Brian Wright I tried using a cooking oil and it because of its thick consistency, I would not do that. Stuff like dust and debris in the air, stuck to the outside of the grill. I immediately wiped it off and started using WD-40. You only need a very thin application...
I just one an Oklahoma Joe Longhorn Combo in a raffle. You video is very informative and is helping me learn the smoker. Thanks. First charcoal or smoker I have ever owner, always had propane.
Hello, First time viewer and now subscriber. Really great idea. I ordered my first smoker, it's a vertical offset and arrives next week. Any hints and tips will be greatly appreciated. I started about 2 years ago by using my Weber gas grill to smoke ribs using smoke boxes and smoke bombs. I am finally getting a real smoker and cannot wait to expand in the smoking world. Thank you in advance.
Thomas Kaznowski sure, there are tons. Everyone has their opinion and my suggestion is take it with a grain of salt. Take from it and add it to your skill set. No one is perfect and for the most part we all like sharing our bbq knowledge. Hit me up with questions and I will try to answer them.....
GrillingNetwork™ thank you very much. I'm sure once it gets here and I start using it, I'll have tons of questions. LOL I have to learn how to burn the fire not to hot and to have it last and maintain a steady temp for starters
You get far less ash with lump than charcoal. Charcoal is compressed sawdust, so the surface area of a piece of charcoal is, at least, 100x greater than a piece of lump. Once combusted, this turns into an equivalent proportion of ash for an equivalent weight of brick charcoal vs lump. You get better flavor with lump and higher heat, so you use less fuel over time. It is a very nice smoke box. Your unit looked nice also.
Good video! i have a question regarding your method of placing the log splits.... Have you had any issues with the paints peeling off in those areas due to the high heat on the inner walls?
Allen, nice video tutorial! I have a question... Will your weber chimney fit inside the firebox? I was just curious if you could take advantage of the heat produce when lighting up your initial charcoal for the minion method in getting a head start of some sort in warming up the pit? I know it wouldn't bring it all the way up but I figure any little bit of help there would help increase the efficiency of your burn... thoughts?
Great bideo. I have a Old Country vertical offset and with the setup I have I have to add a log every half hour to an hour. I even bought gaskets to decease most all the airleaks and didn't matter. I don't know why all offsets don't come with a basket I'm going to make one and put it 2 inches standing up that way the air intake will actually come under it and ashes won't block a hot clean fire.
if you are doing a long smoke for say 10 or more hours how do you keep your fire going once all of the charcoal is used up in the box? Do you just refill the box with charcoal and it snakes back from where the last of it is burning?
gogurt19 if I am doing a low and slow, I will pay attention to when it starts it’s last bend and refill with charcoal. It will then reverse the flow. I also add a large chunk of flavored wood (fist size) every hour. This adds flavor and heat. Hopefully this helps. If you have any additional questions please let me know.
Thanks! I still need to get a charcoal basket. Having difficulty maintaining temp right now. I just started smoking a few weeks ago with my first smoker.
gogurt19 if you don’t have a firebox, the just take a lit chimney and place it in your firebox. Let it bring your pit up to temp slowly. Start adjusting your pit temps by opening the top vent and bottom vent fully. Once it starts getting close to the desired temp, start closing your vents. Once stabilized, add a couple chunks of wood. Keep adding chunks every hour.
Did you make the basket or did you have rich make it? Also did you drill the stoker hole or did rich drill it. How do you get your probes in? Last one - how long can you get a burn at 250 with 80 degrees outside. Thanks you and love the video.
Thanks for this one! If you did have a ten or twelve hour burn, how would you go about adding the charcoal once your burn has started using this minion method?
So using this method with wood: When the wood ignites, wouldn't it increase the temperature and then when it burns out, decrease the temperature? Im asking because you said that on a brisket you could go take a nap....
mcswain30 You also have to maintain your dampers on your offset smoker as this helps control your temps. Once you have your temp under control.... Using the minion method prolongs the burn time of your lump charcoal. Hope that helps.... If you are refering to using only wood then using the minion method is difficult if not possible.
People need to stop trying to tell everyone what charcoal is if u dont know. My father ran what was at one time the only charcoal plant on the east coast. Lump charcoal is nothing more than hardwood that has been placed in large kilms and burned for severa l hours sometimes days . The dioxide wood (char) is then bagged as lump. Briquette charcoal is a mixture of that same char,anthracite, lime,flyash,nitrate,sawdust and startch. And molded in press wheels and baked in a dryer..then bagged. I laugh when I hear people say this brand is better than this brand..kingford is diffrent since they are a seperate company but a majority of the other brands are the same damn briquette. I know for years I worrked there for the summers in the bagging room. Royal Oak is the parent company and the major brand we bagged but we did walmart, kragsdale, save a lot , and a host of other brands that had their bags sent to us to be filled with the same briquette that went intonthe royal oak bags. I also will tell u that u waste cokking heat when u let ur original briquette or starter briquette get white ashed in the minnion method. Once the corners of the briquette have turned white the briquette is burning once u see that most ov them in the chimnney have white corners then dump the mn the Ile..they will ignite the other coals but will do jt slower..gives a longer burn. Ive done evry job at that god forsaken and dirty plant haha from being the guy who manages the kilms that burn the hRd wood to making process..to the bagging room. Actually really cool stuff ...plant was in Kenbridge Virginia...but because of the uprising cost of hardwood the plant was closed and moved to florida..love Royal Oak best charcoal on the market along wjth a few others since its the same briquette. Lump is by far the best stuff to cook with.
Dude the expanded steel might be a little spendy but there cant be more than 30 or so bucks worth of mild steel there. In a shop with all the tool at hand it could be cranked out in hour or less. I dont see $155 bucks there. But being sold to a specialty crowd the price can get jacked up a little.
Cedar wood? One, that didn't look like any cedar I ever saw. Two, I hope it wasn't actually cedar. That is terrible wood to smoke with, the resins and oils in it put off a terrible taste, and it is possibly toxic.
This guy is preaching safety, welding gloves, warning us about how hot it gets, and then goes in over the top of the gloves at 8:10. I don't care how thick your gloves are......they only protect the skin that"s covered. Did it blister?
Jonathan Fischer, shit, what isn't toxic these days? people have been cooking with cedar for a long time. I've seen it used in nearly every kitchen I've ever worked, but hey.. what do they know
Will Scrudato not sure where you've seen it used, smoking with cedar is like smoking with pine, same category of tree. The only exception is when people cook on a cedar plank but that's a completely different ball game
holy crap this Serpentine method is genius for sure. I was debating on using a Weber (because of its super low costs to use charcoal and minimal wood for smoke) vs. an Oklahoma Joe Offset smoker (which seems to use a shitload of wood that I just can't afford for each cook). After seeing this method, it looks like I could use more charcoal with about 3-5 smaller pieces of wood max. for a long cook. This Serpentine/Minion method also maximizes the "low and slow" burn without spending too much money on the wood. Dude! I'm going Oklahoma all the way now for my first smoker and will use this method. Thanks for your amazing video.
Hey thanks for the video! I watch because I don't know what I'm doing and want to learn. Seems like some feel the need to trash others. Making a video and posting takes time and talent. I appreciate the people who take the time to help others enjoy the family time they have making great BBQ.
This was super helpful. I've never smoked but wanted to understand how as well as understand the minion method and you covered that. You also explained the chimney deal for a layman. Thank you
Thanks!!
Where did you get the basket? I've been trying to find someone to make one for me.
Thank you for this video, i build one for myself, using your desing. I had to gues the dimensions for my smoker, that is bigger than you showed.
I tried it out today. We had a very long burn. Thank you again, now i can go to bed for good night rest. I always smoke alone.
Nice helpful video. I'm not sure how that cedar would taste?
Ok well first of all let me say a great video. I just want to double check and make sure that you're able to maintain the 250, and then my second question is when on a long cook do you just simply remove the box from the fire side, remove the ash and then start over or do you just simply add charcoal on top of the existing ash
Man... you taught me so much with this video man, thanks a lot!!
Thanks for the Gator Pit videos. I just ordered one and I've learned quite a bit about using it from your channel.
Brian Wright appreciate your comments!! I still love my GatorPit!!
Can I ask what you coated the outside of your Gator Pit with? Ritch suggests WD-40 but I'm not certain I want to go that route... Thanks!
Brian Wright I tried using a cooking oil and it because of its thick consistency, I would not do that. Stuff like dust and debris in the air, stuck to the outside of the grill.
I immediately wiped it off and started using WD-40.
You only need a very thin application...
I just one an Oklahoma Joe Longhorn Combo in a raffle. You video is very informative and is helping me learn the smoker. Thanks. First charcoal or smoker I have ever owner, always had propane.
How cool! Can't believe I've never heard of this technique. Can't wait to try it! Thanks :)
Thanks for this, i'm a total novice and this explains the process in simple terms that i can now go and put into practice.
Great video, i am building a big smoker, i am making a basket like yours right now. Thank you for this video. Greetings from Holland
Very helpful video -- I have a welding and machine shop and am wanting to build some portable grills/smokers. Thanks
Great tutorial Allen.
Every time I see that new pit I want to go get me one!
Man!! You just solved everything for me. Thank you!! And God bless you!!
Hello,
First time viewer and now subscriber. Really great idea. I ordered my first smoker, it's a vertical offset and arrives next week. Any hints and tips will be greatly appreciated. I started about 2 years ago by using my Weber gas grill to smoke ribs using smoke boxes and smoke bombs. I am finally getting a real smoker and cannot wait to expand in the smoking world. Thank you in advance.
Thomas Kaznowski sure, there are tons. Everyone has their opinion and my suggestion is take it with a grain of salt. Take from it and add it to your skill set. No one is perfect and for the most part we all like sharing our bbq knowledge. Hit me up with questions and I will try to answer them.....
GrillingNetwork™ thank you very much. I'm sure once it gets here and I start using it, I'll have tons of questions. LOL
I have to learn how to burn the fire not to hot and to have it last and maintain a steady temp for starters
GrillingNetwork™ I need something I can use in the firebox to do this method
thanks for posting the great video and please forget about all the haters and negative feedback you have been receiving keep the videos coming
Yes I miss spoke, and meant to say pecan...
Thanks for stopping by....
GrillingNetwork™ ok good. I thought it didn't look like cedar. I was hopping you just misspoken.
I was about to rip you one, but I saw this comment. Thank God you didn’t use cedar.
nice video love it...... where did you get your stocker at and how does it work. can you make a video on how it works thank you
You get far less ash with lump than charcoal. Charcoal is compressed sawdust, so the surface area of a piece of charcoal is, at least, 100x greater than a piece of lump. Once combusted, this turns into an equivalent proportion of ash for an equivalent weight of brick charcoal vs lump. You get better flavor with lump and higher heat, so you use less fuel over time. It is a very nice smoke box. Your unit looked nice also.
Will you get clean smoke doing this?
Where can you get the basket and inserts from?
Why are you using cedar?
Good video! i have a question regarding your method of placing the log splits.... Have you had any issues with the paints peeling off in those areas due to the high heat on the inner walls?
That happened to my OJ. I am putting fire brick down to prevent that.
Allen, nice video tutorial! I have a question... Will your weber chimney fit inside the firebox? I was just curious if you could take advantage of the heat produce when lighting up your initial charcoal for the minion method in getting a head start of some sort in warming up the pit? I know it wouldn't bring it all the way up but I figure any little bit of help there would help increase the efficiency of your burn... thoughts?
Great bideo. I have a Old Country vertical offset and with the setup I have I have to add a log every half hour to an hour. I even bought gaskets to decease most all the airleaks and didn't matter.
I don't know why all offsets don't come with a basket
I'm going to make one and put it 2 inches standing up that way the air intake will actually come under it and ashes won't block a hot clean fire.
always afraid of using unlit charcoal in my BBQ afraid of the taste. I guess it works, gonna have to try it. Thanks for the videos.
if you are doing a long smoke for say 10 or more hours how do you keep your fire going once all of the charcoal is used up in the box? Do you just refill the box with charcoal and it snakes back from where the last of it is burning?
gogurt19 if I am doing a low and slow, I will pay attention to when it starts it’s last bend and refill with charcoal. It will then reverse the flow. I also add a large chunk of flavored wood (fist size) every hour. This adds flavor and heat. Hopefully this helps. If you have any additional questions please let me know.
Thanks! I still need to get a charcoal basket. Having difficulty maintaining temp right now. I just started smoking a few weeks ago with my first smoker.
gogurt19 if you don’t have a firebox, the just take a lit chimney and place it in your firebox. Let it bring your pit up to temp slowly. Start adjusting your pit temps by opening the top vent and bottom vent fully. Once it starts getting close to the desired temp, start closing your vents. Once stabilized, add a couple chunks of wood. Keep adding chunks every hour.
Great video Johnson! Thumbs up brother!!
Did you make the basket or did you have rich make it? Also did you drill the stoker hole or did rich drill it. How do you get your probes in? Last one - how long can you get a burn at 250 with 80 degrees outside. Thanks you and love the video.
I like those smoker boxes...thx for showing
Great video.Really helpful.
Thanks!!
Thanks for this one!
If you did have a ten or twelve hour burn, how would you go about adding the charcoal once your burn has started using this minion method?
What kind of offset smoker is that?
So using this method with wood: When the wood ignites, wouldn't it increase the temperature and then when it burns out, decrease the temperature? Im asking because you said that on a brisket you could go take a nap....
mcswain30 You also have to maintain your dampers on your offset smoker as this helps control your temps. Once you have your temp under control.... Using the minion method prolongs the burn time of your lump charcoal. Hope that helps.... If you are refering to using only wood then using the minion method is difficult if not possible.
Thank you!
What is the Stoker used for?
Great video, with excellent info. Thank you.
Where can we buy the basket? How much is it?
How much does it cost to have one of those baskets made ?
What was the price for this basket
@ 7:30, did he say he say he was using cedar wood to smoke the meat?
Heywood Yablowme Yes he did.
Lol thought the same as well
Is that a 20x20 fire box?
What are the dimensions on the minion box?
People need to stop trying to tell everyone what charcoal is if u dont know. My father ran what was at one time the only charcoal plant on the east coast. Lump charcoal is nothing more than hardwood that has been placed in large kilms and burned for severa l hours sometimes days . The dioxide wood (char) is then bagged as lump. Briquette charcoal is a mixture of that same char,anthracite, lime,flyash,nitrate,sawdust and startch. And molded in press wheels and baked in a dryer..then bagged. I laugh when I hear people say this brand is better than this brand..kingford is diffrent since they are a seperate company but a majority of the other brands are the same damn briquette. I know for years I worrked there for the summers in the bagging room. Royal Oak is the parent company and the major brand we bagged but we did walmart, kragsdale, save a lot , and a host of other brands that had their bags sent to us to be filled with the same briquette that went intonthe royal oak bags. I also will tell u that u waste cokking heat when u let ur original briquette or starter briquette get white ashed in the minnion method. Once the corners of the briquette have turned white the briquette is burning once u see that most ov them in the chimnney have white corners then dump the mn the
Ile..they will ignite the other coals but will do jt slower..gives a longer burn. Ive done evry job at that god forsaken and dirty plant haha from being the guy who manages the kilms that burn the hRd wood to making process..to the bagging room. Actually really cool stuff ...plant was in Kenbridge Virginia...but because of the uprising cost of hardwood the plant was closed and moved to florida..love Royal Oak best charcoal on the market along wjth a few others since its the same briquette. Lump is by far the best stuff to cook with.
Lump Coal is the best!
Neumski1
He said majority not all. Kingsford does their own brand. Royal Oak is good in my opinion.
Tony Capers v
WERE CAN I GET ONE?
bbqsmokermods.com/oem-smoker-mods-by-brand/oklahoma-joe-s/lavalockr-minion-method-charcoal-basket-w-2-minion-bars-12-x-10-x-6.html
Dude the expanded steel might be a little spendy but there cant be more than 30 or so bucks worth of mild steel there. In a shop with all the tool at hand it could be cranked out in hour or less. I dont see $155 bucks there. But being sold to a specialty crowd the price can get jacked up a little.
Nice video
Good stuff!!!
I have to make me a briquete box. thanks for the video.
Where can I get one of those charcoal boxes?
Ebay
Did he say he's using cedar ?I.
NEVER BURN CEDAR WITH FOOD!!!
Sounds like you're in a rain forest 😀
Cedar wood? One, that didn't look like any cedar I ever saw. Two, I hope it wasn't actually cedar. That is terrible wood to smoke with, the resins and oils in it put off a terrible taste, and it is possibly toxic.
quick close the door ..."Houston we have a ignition!"
Sounds like there's a fox squirrel that needs to be put on that rig.
CEDAR? WHAT
Bearlike Stragility right?? 1, that didn't look like cedar. 2, if it is, is he trying to poison himself or his BBQ guests?!?
Anyone know where to get those T plates?
bbqsmokermods.com/oem-smoker-mods-by-brand/oklahoma-joe-s/lavalockr-minion-method-charcoal-basket-w-2-minion-bars-12-x-10-x-6.html
This guy is preaching safety, welding gloves, warning us about how hot it gets, and then goes in over the top of the gloves at 8:10. I don't care how thick your gloves are......they only protect the skin that"s covered. Did it blister?
Cedar??????????
Cedar
you lost me at Cedar, wtf??
Yeah that was a new one for me to
Wow, you shouldnt ever use cedar to smoke meats with.... a simple google search will tell you that. Rest of the info seems great in the video though.
Actually, lump IS charcoal. Briquettes are waste wood and glue
Actually, no. No glue.
Cedar? Who, in hell smokes with cedar? Maybe salmon on a plank
Would be some strong smoke!
Work goes much faster and nicer with Stodoys instructions.
What kind of savage wears only socks outside?!?!
Cedar?? Really noob
Too many gadgets!
no shit wtf is he smoking.. lol
Cedar is great to use, but that ain't cedar lol
Will Scrudato it didn't look like cedar, but no cedar is not great to use. It's actually toxic to cook with.
Jonathan Fischer, shit, what isn't toxic these days? people have been cooking with cedar for a long time. I've seen it used in nearly every kitchen I've ever worked, but hey.. what do they know
Will Scrudato not sure where you've seen it used, smoking with cedar is like smoking with pine, same category of tree. The only exception is when people cook on a cedar plank but that's a completely different ball game