Dude!! I love that you posted the cook that didn't end as you had hoped. That is so awesome man. And inspiring! I've shot multiple episodes that I wasn't happy with and left them on the cutting room floor. But now, you've mad me reconsider using them! I'll go back and see what I can salvage, and I'll be giving you the on -camera thanks for the motivation!!! Yeaaah boy!!! #stayingrillout
BBQ iT Agreed! Normalizing yourself and showing you screw up just like everyone else is really the only ay to go in my opinion as we can all associate with it...and it can make for funny clips! 👍
hello, nice work, the problem was 3 things, 1- you need real heavy charcoal add one full bag of your big block with the same amount of wood meaning double quality and quality . 2- 25% of the total liquid that you added is enough with all that vegetable which contain water already. . 3- you need to add water on the sand on the edges to seal and block the Oxygen 100 % + cover the led with clothes material and then cover the whole cover with sand 100% up to the edges of the surrounding floor . after 5 hours it will be done but you can keep it up to 12 hours for tenderness . hope you read my humble expert opinion and try again there is no shame of experiment a new cooking techniques and fail then you try again and master it pitmaster. thanks for your videos .we always watching you.
This way of cooking is , as you said , well known in the middle east... so here’re some tips for the next time... 1. Seal the pit ... we usually bury the opening with A LOT of sand .. some seal it with a mould of clay... 2. Tooo much foil... we hang the meat from the top and keep it unwrapped.. do not worry about the moist, especially if you deepened your pit a bit more. Good luck and thanks for this vid... I appreciate failures as much as I like success
Us polynesians don't use foil as well. We put the meat were cooking either directly on the river rocks, or put it on a wire rack on top of the river rocks, and then seal it. It literally turns out juicy.I love your peoples process as well to be honest. Greetings from 🇹🇴 Tonga
I’ve cooked goat underground and I learned the hard way that you cannot use cinder blocks. The best is simply lining up some bricks or river rock. But frankly if you are digging into clay that is the best. When I added cinderblocks in order to make the pit more level and “nicer” looking the pit would not hold temp and undercooked. When I went back and simply took out the cinderblocks and used some bricks and the surrounding clay / ground - all went fine.
In Middle East we do it abit different. We hang lamb in the pit don’t cover it and we get the fire and coal really hot for few hrs. The vigi goes on bottom and hanged lamb on the top the dipping of the lamb goings to vigi so no need to add beef stock just add water,
In my country we do the underground pit. First you need an insulator walls ( clay, metal barrels quite famous, or clay bricks), second you need to seal it by mud at the top ( sand won’t work). The idea is, to create fire to heat the walls enough as they will be the source of heat when you seal, also you need fire above the seal to keep things heated, it doesn’t take a day to work, less than 3 hours depending what configuration u have. Loved how nothings stops you from trying different ways to bbq ! Well done
When you guys lowered the pan into the pit, I felt that the world is sooo small. You guys looked just like my buddies and I when we cook this meal. We call it Mandi. Big fan of your work guys. Greetings all the way from Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦
Bigger fire yes, and it needs to burn for several hours to get the walls hot which should store retained heat in the sidewalls and a layer of large stones placed on top of the coals surrounding the tray to retain more heat sure won’t hurt cause the stones will retain the heat longer than the concrete block walls will. He’s on the right track and it will work but things don’t always go perfect the first time unfortunately. Hope to see him try again, maybe do a hog this next time
We had a older gentleman that lived near us here in Middle Georgia, USA. His name was Mr Hooks, Google Hooks BBQ Milledgeville GA. He had a shed built over a huge in-ground dugout in the ground with 8 pits inside it. He would always have at least four hogs cooking in there. I remember going there with my grandpa. It was the best pulled pork bbq around. And in the little building in front his Wife would sell bread, homemade sauces, and fresh cooked pork skins and cracklins. A lot of history and good memories.
You never fail when you learn where you went wrong and are able to fix it and teach your viewers a thing or two 👏👏👏👏👏👏 stay with it and dont give up. Great video!!!!
You need more fire and river rocks, those rocks keep the heat for longer time and higher temperature, also, the MExican way to do it (the best way) is to fold the meat with maguey leafs, previously toasted in the fire.
Here in the Pacific in Fiji we call it a "LOVO" it is pronounced in some way like "Lor-voh". A circular pit is dug about approx 1/2m down, place some wood to cover the pit and place stones on top of it preferable river stones with average diameter of around 0.2m. The stone will be heated until it turns white, if you're doing late afternoon it will some what look pinkish instead of white. This is an indication that the stones are ready, therefore you take away the big pieces of burning wood, living only very small pieces of charcoal and the hot stones. Spread evenly around the pit and put pieces of new cut up branches of coconut leaves (minus the leaves) on top of the stones to act as a rack this will stop whatever food you have having direct contact with the stones. Once that is done you can put whole pork or even lamb with some chicken and root crops for variety, place leaves to cover the food preferable new banana leaves fully spread out make sure every area is thickly covered. This will act as insulation trapping moisture from the food and also using its own moisture to roast the food. Use a large tarpaulin to cover the pit and than cover it with the dug out soil from the pit. Wait for 1hr30min to 2hrs. Whole pork fully roasted with the smoky flavour....and you're done.
When I’ve done this in the past, I dug the hole, built the fire in it, kept the fire going until I had lots of coals. Next shovel the coals out with intent to use them, so save them. Next, place the food in the pit in whatever container you want: foil, Dutch oven, burlap, leaves, etc. Next, bury the container with dirt and the coals immediately over the buried pit. Now build a fire over the pit to maintain the heat within. Yup, this will have to be tended, but isn’t that part of the joy of outdoor cooking? It’s a good idea to have some wires attached to the food container to assist with retrieving when the food is done. If your pit is shallow enough, you could have your wireless probe thermometer leads inserted and be able to plug it in and check meat temp without disturbing the pit. Just some thoughts....... fun stuff!! Thanks
One of your best videos. Appreciate the honesty and not trashing the footage. Looking forward to continuing on their journey with you! You’ll nail it next time!
As a thermal mechanical engineer, and a decent bbq cook, I can tell you the issue was lack of insulation, causing significant heat loss through the top. It did not have to do with you lack of heat, just containing it. You can't have an exposed thin steel plate at the top, you need thick coverage, 10-15 cm of sand all around through the perimeter, without any exposed steel
@@andrewbarbara5737they don't need oxygen at all, that's the whole point. the method involves around suffocating the coals and finishing the entire cook with residual heat, now that means properly insulating that heat in
I just recently discovered your channel and I can’t stop watching your videos. It’s also really cool to see legit grilling & bqq being done in Europe. You guys deserve a million subscribers easily. Please keep it up!!
I’ve never seen this type of cooking(suffocation of burning embers). I’m a Polynesian(Tongan) & how we make our underground oven(‘umu) is that we heat rocks(volcanic, ocean or river tumbled) by placing them over a large fire till the rocks become so hot, they retain an orange glow. Then we remove any large pieces of burning wood out of the pit & with long poles, rearrange the hot stones in a flat layer above the remaining burning embers. Unlike the embers, the hot stones can retain their heat more longer than the embers without oxygen. To prevent the burning by creating a steaming element like your pan of vegetables & water, we use the stalks of plants that have a heavy liquid content. Bananas are plentiful in the islands so we cut down the trees, using the trunks/stalks(lots), crushed against a solid object to break it down/apart, for easier spreading & layer of hot stones coverage. Then we place the food items on a wired mesh & place the mesh on top of the layer of smashed banana trunks. Then we build a framework of hardwood sticks above the food, allowing ample space for the heat & steam to circulate throughout the oven, beneath the framework. Then we’ll use the banana leaves from the banana trees that were cut down to cover up the wooden framework. The leaves act as an additional steam element as well as an insulation, providing enough coverage to prevent the steam from escaping. Then we’ll use water soaked burlap to cover the leaves, creating a first layer of weighted cover & additional insulation, keeping the moisture within with the additional water soaking material. Then we’ll use either thick wet cardboard, tarps &/or used rugs as another weighted cover to cover the entire ovens top area. Then we’ll bury the entire top coverage with dirt which is the final weighted insulation. Depending on the amount of food put inside & how hot the rocks were depends on the time to remain covered. Your lamb would’ve been done in about 3-4hrs. Opening, just removing layer by layer at a time. But be especially cautious scraping the dirt/sand off to the sides first, before removing the next layer. When removing the 2nd layer, do so carefully as to not drop dirt onto the next layer & the next.
In New Zealand the ground oven is called a hangi it cooks by developing steam from both the meat juices and the green leafy Vege content which is laid around the baskets of meat to insulate from direct heat. The key to success is in the heat source volcanic rocks are best but they are often substituted by railway tracks or large iron blocks or bars. There are 2 pits dug in the process one is the large fire pit the second is the food pit. The fire pit is used to heat your rocks or irons white hot these are transferred to the cooking pit once the fire burns down. They retain there heat for many ours and don’t require oxygen to burn like coals. As you perfect the technique placing small rocks or irons directly on your proteins assist with caramelising and crisping up your meats, but essentially it is steam that does the bulk of the cooking. Look up Māori hangi for more info hope this is useful I like your channel and regularly watch your content awesome.👍👍
My family in Old Mexico would line the hole in the ground with bricks. The earthen brick lined oven large enough for a large stock pot, the Calve for Barbacoa or Goat for Birria was fabricated and a prepared Braising liquid was added, and covered. Wood embers were light and the pot was lowered on to the embers, the cooking chamber was covered with palm leaves that would then be covered with earth. Breathing holes were made for the embers and allowed for the aromatic aromas to be monitored. The pit Master would know it was ready according to the aromas emanating from the breathing holes. Good try!
Thank you for being real! Things don’t always turn out perfect but you make the best of it! I really appreciate the authentic nature and candid presentation of the outcome! Bravo!
Never mind we’re always learning that’s the fun of this and to see it happen to you it makes me feel better (don’t mean this in a bad way) and really good to see the puppy she is a beauty all the best take care Dave and Dee
The pit area is very large - deep (approximately 50"x30"x28" - length x width x depth) for one lamb being roasted in a roasting pan, and no additional coals were added. The information was vital for my future projects, thanks for sharing. !!!
When I was backpacking through West Africa (about 9 countreis) the main food was lamb and goat grilled on chain length fence over a fire in a large metal trash can on the side of the street. He would cut some off and put it in wax paper. That was lunch and dinner. Usually goat, but every once in a while you'd be surprised with lamb.
When cooking underground like that, we don’t covered it with foil. Also when you fire up the wood add rocks. To the fire. Rocks heat longer then coal. That’s how we cook it underground here in the pacific islands
A little tip: find some good river stones (temper them with heat first so they don't crack on their first fire) and light them up with the wood. They'll retain the heat once you bury the lamb. Then light a small fire on top of the lid once you're done to keep feeding a little tenderising heat. Max cook time for a lamb like that is 8 hours with how you've prepared the ingredients and the water. This is how we do back home and it never fails after practicing :)
Hey Pitmaster X, you're right, this underground pit is used in several places and cultures, it is not exclusive to Mexican barbacoa, however, to my knowledge (I read this a while ago and may be completely wrong) the term barbacoa refers to the cooking method not the dish itself. As someone has already pointed out, it is done a little different, not covering the meat but hanging it in the pit, use a pot to put the veggies inside with some water and place that below the meat so the juices can drip to create a broth, but man!! 9:30 this looks really good an it is actually a lot closer to the real thing. I'm sorry this did not turn out as you expected, it is a learning curve and I'll happily follow that with you, keep up the good work!!
Us from the Navajo tribe bake cake underground mainly for ceremonial purposes, for that it's normally done by placing foil In a hole then place corn husk above the foil and around the dirt walls of the hole, then pour the batter in and cover it with the corn husk and foil and then covering the hole with dirt and placing a fire on top. You might get a little dirt on the cake sometimes but it don't hurt none.Hope this helps if you try again @pitmaster X.
Thank you so much for sharing this. I learnt a lot. I also know that feeling really well, I have been in a similar position cooking Turkey for 20 hungry guests only to end up crying when I unwrapped it lol.
Great video, I have a Wood fired brick oven and it usually takes a solid two hours of insane fire going with a lot of wood so I would recommend burning more wood for a longer time that should help the cooking process
In the Middle East they put stones on the bottom to retain the heat generated from the wood/coals. Then they don’t have all that space above the their food; they wrap the food to be cooked with something like burlap and then actually pile sand/earth over their food. Think luau.
Building a fire right on top of concrete is not a good idea. It will pop with little miniature explosions leaving divots on the surface. A thick layer of lava rock on top of the concrete would be a good solution, and would also close the gap some to the top.
The lack of heat like you suggested is indeed most likely the reason this failed. You didn't have enough thermal energy stored up inside the pit. It needs more mass. Instead of those hollow stones use solid ones(or fill these up with fine sand before covering them up with cement.) You want a thermal store on the inside and not thermal insulation. You can even drop large solid rocks down (1-2kg ones) in with the fire that will act as extra thermal mass. Also more insulation over the top. You used a metal sheet and a thin layer of sand. Bury that thing. And make sure the top row of anti-dutch-weather bricks is also insulated with earth.
Hey man, I live in Saudi Arabia and we cook in underground pits all the time. Even the most experienced fail from time to time. A pro tip, you have to build a huge fire the first time you cook on it to heat up the ground too. If I may request that you put some science into this and put a temp prob to map the heat chart. This will allow us to replicate the results in regular smokers. Keep up the good work
Thank you for being truthful about your experience. As anyone that does a lot of outdoor cooking knows for sure is it doesn't always go as planned. Thanks for sharing. I love your videos!
When i first built my pizza oven it failed, it took about 10 hours to get to temp, but each time i lit it, it improved in a quicker time and better result, now it's ready in about 90 mins because all the moisture from building is gone and so the the bricks give back the heat and it cooks brilliantly, so will your pit. Cheers
Hey bro , I'm from meddle east. Iraq , This is one of our ways of bbq. U did a good job but u need things to adjust, first use the fireplace stone in pit building, and the other thing is don't use the tin paper , leave the lamp just like u made it without covering it and don't forget the salt and some seasoning , for 4 to 6 hours in the pit after making a good fire , and cover the pit over the steel edge with wet cloths then cover the edges with mud then above all it put the sand .. i hope i was helpful for you , god bless you .
sorry to see the cook didn't go so well. happens to us all when we try a new method, they can't always be zingers! glad to see you saved it in the end. Looking forward to seeing this pit in action again!!! Cheers from Melbourne mate!!!
In Peru we have pachamanca. The pit is unlined. Stones are heated up and put them in the pit. No fire. Beef, chicken, pork. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, and favas. Each layer is covered with cloth.The pit is then covered and you wait 90 minutes
It takes a real man to own his mistakes/failures and even post them online. Props for that! I've done (in smaller scale) the same idea but what we did is we buried the meat in the sand and made fire above the meat. And as I understood it, the main part in this is that the meat is stolen! Preferably a neighbouts lamb.
We do this a lot in Pakistan, the pit you made has no air inlet for the feul so once its closed the ambers almost immediately die. So the fire in the pit needs to burn for longer so there is more residual heat and secondly you should make a fire on top if the pit once closed. This top fire will keep adding heat. Let it cook for 5 to 12 hours. Also add a tray of water under the meat to steam and collect drippings.
With pit cooking, hot ash usually goes over the meet as well as under it. This insulates the meat for the cooking process. There is also a lot more fuel for the cook which you need as there is less oxygen on the pit to sustain the fire. Look forward to the next pit attempt.
To all the commentors saying that the pit needed more air: The idea with this kind of cook is not to keep a fire burning. Its actually the opposite. The hole is supposed to be lined with stones that retain a lot of heat. You burn a large fire to begin with, but its actually the heat from the stones that is supposed to cook your meat. My grandpa used to do goat like this and it would always come out amazing!
Here in Texas we use river rocks they retain alot of heat. You can also use lava rocks also! Also you need to cover the lid completely try wet burlap sacks then cover with a tarp then put dirt all around the edges and on top.
Appreciated that you posted the video even though you failed. Like Aaron Franklin said - You won't learn how to make good barbecue unless you make bad barbecue (paraphrased...). Look forward to the next pit cooking video.
You had to fill the whole pit to isolate temperature from going out, it seemed that you had lots of gaps around the pan, and that dimms the temperature real quick. In the deserts, they put it in a metal barrel, they roll the cut with whatever big leafs they have such as banana or palm leafs, and they cover it completely with sand making no gaps or space to let the heat go out. Keep it up!
We did this with a buddy some years ago and we we're successful. Your coal was way too little and you also needed to cover the tray (with the lamp... foiled) with hot burning coal. Then cover the top with some rocks to retain heat. We also covered with some coarse sand and dry soil but placed two metal pipes for aeration. I'm sure you'll get more remedies from many people. This was our own unique Kenyan way though we don't bury our food here... It was all experimental and it worked. All succulent, tender, tasty... mmmmh... Yummy Kenyan meat.
I really appreciate that you uploaded this learning experience. Its easier to just not upload this but I like that you stay real and show that when it comes to BBQ you are always learning.
Your just showing that your human despite your godly cooking your human side showed through brother. Always a good thing to post videos like this shows us that we don't have to be down when we fail if even the pros fail. Although not as often as us keep up the great content and I can't wait for the revenge against the lamb.
You need to get some real big rocks in there and get them heated up real hot before you close it, that way the heat from the hot rocks will cook it over night.
I've never done lamb like that but I have assisted with some hog roasts in the ground. Each time they make the fire the night before and just have a small fire going up until the cook time then get it hot! Whole hog wrapped in banana leaves with the actual earth around it nice and warm too.
Roel: Zoals we hier in de VS zeggen; Kak gebeurt! Wat de meeste indruk op me maakt, is dat je de video hebt gepost. Het bewijst verder dat je een man van je woord bent, betrouwbaar en nederig. Dit is waarom we je allemaal komen zien koken! Overigens: het pakket met rubs en sauzen ligt momenteel bij de Nederlandse Douane en wordt binnenkort vrijgegeven. -Doc
I got a lot more out of this video than the "picanyah. ketchup mayonnaise" videos that come out perfect every time. You are doing great! Keep up the good work.
dude, im from brazil! and im your fan. bad things can happens! for sure. i think the bad issue, was the sand in the edge. the fire in that hole, needed oxygen, to keep tempeture.
In New Zealand Maori use volcanic rock in the base of the oven. The fire is built (much higher than yours) so that it heats the rocks which then store the heat and maintain the ovens temperature. I would suggest you light a fire in the pit as you did( as a preheat only). Separately heat rocks in a steel drum( like a Charcoal starter for a Webber BBQ) when the rocks are glowing hot (Never ever use river stone) place them in the bottom of the pit( this will be a 2-4 person job). You also need to have much more sand/soil over the lid. To seal the heat in a minimum 300mm thickness of sand/soil completely covering the lid is needed If you can see any part of that steel lid it won't work! When you start to open the pit 12 -14 hours later the soil above the pit should still be hot and steaming if it isn't you have failed. . If you can't get igneous ( volcanic) rock then find large hunk's of Iron( train brake shoes with the brake lining removed work very well) alternately train track cut into 20-40cm lengths (you will need alot). Also fill the gap between the lamb and the lid... that huge void also allows the oven to cool down. instead of tipping fluid in as you did over the stone place clean wet sacks( or better still sacking cloth), also place that sheeting between the vegetables and the lamb. Seal the lamb in with multiple layers of wet cotton cloth top with more wet sackcloth and then fill the rest of the void with sand. If you have access to a few hundred cabbages you can replace the sack cloth with cabbage leaves. But still wrap the lamb and veges in clean ( wet) cotton cloth. Also place the veges above the lamb not below it. If you find you worried about steam burns as you putting the cloth in your doing it right. Edit( final one) Its easier with a bigger pit.... the smaller the pit the harder it is to maintain the heat for the necessary cooking time. If you try again rebuild that pit so it can cook a whole pig, or at a minimum two lambs ( without cutting them to size). Make the pit fit the meat... not the other way around.
Total credit for posting this fail vid. I have more respect not less. I've screwed up my bbq trying new things and its life. All people fail at some point but they rarely have the courage to call it. That's how we get better ✌️🙂. Well done
Great video I’m from Mexico and we cook goat that way the only difference is we make a fire on top not to big and it holds the heat longer for it to cook
I’m sorry about your failure with the pit. My Father Jose Palofox Valerio was a ground pit master when it comes to this style it’s a learning process and sometimes luck. I remember learning from him that a key was keeping the pit seal as best as possible. We would mix water and dirt to make a creamy mud so it can seal the heat in and obviously this starves the embers but it will take time for it to lose its heat you worked hard to start with. The dry sand sealed enough to starve the fire but not enough to contain the heat in. I hope you try it again soon.
Thanks for posting such a great video. I know you were heartbroken and I would have been too but this is something I've been wanting to do for quite some time and I hope to learn from your experience. I look forward to future pit cooks as you adjust your method. Thanks again.
Im happy you posted this, everyone fails at something eventually, but how else do we learn? If I can make a suggestion, I’d say you starved your pit of oxygen, like opening or closing the vents on your komado, think of how you stop the coals in the komado, you seal it up, I’d love to see what you do to fix it. keep up the tasty videos!!
Fair play! Many UA-cam channels would NEVER show their failures! You guys really put the effort into your videos, and I love your enthusiasm! I never tried to cook in a pit like that, and I always wondered how it could work without airflow. Could that have been the problem, that the fire went out?
I believe that choked the fire pretty much instantly because in that pit it probably wasn't more than cubic metre of air so if you were to try this again I would recommend having a small tube or such flowing air to the bottom of the pit, it's important that the airflow is in the bottom otherwise a lot of heat will escape because hot air rises up and cold air sinks, this should do the trick. Love your channel
Kinda reminds me to my Weber Smokey Mountain. When i add cold water and the meat the temps drop drastically, learned that i have to put in boiling water, or at least hot water. Sucks it happened with such a giant piece of meat but glad you still could save it. Better Luck next time, keep on grilling :)
My friend came to visit me from New Zealand in December and he told me about the Hangi method they use over there. Also a pit in the ground but altogether different though.
Maybe adding a small intake vent so that the fire can continue to burn after the hole/pit is covered will keep the temp from dying down. Great video & I hope it works out well next time.
In the middle East, the lamb isn't cooked in a tray but hanging from some steel wires or hooks. In this manner, the hot air can circulate around the meat. The ground of course isn't wet and doesn't cool down the pit. Those pits are very deep but narrow and are completely closed with an insulating cover. The pits are very narrow at the top to prevent heat from escaping. They use clay to seal the lid. They use a wooden lid or a piece of earthenware. It should be as airtight as possible. They use a lot of wood to really heat up the fire and let it die down (only embers). You need to get the pit as hot as possible. Your biggest problems were: pit too wide, you used a steel cover which will dissipate the heat and the layer of sand was too thin. Concrete will also dissipate heat. In the middle east, the ground ovens are lined with clay (dried out of course) or tiles. Of course in our country digging a decent ground oven is hardly possible. It could be done in the east of our country or in Limburg. In most of west Brabant and Holland, Friesland, Groningen etc this can hardly be done because the ground water level is too high. The very wet ground will cool down the pit too fast and the steel lid will speed this up. This is hard to do in our wet country. So my advice would be: Replace the steel lid with possibly wood. The fire should have died out and there won't be any oxygen, so the lid won't catch fire easily. Don't use a tray but suspend the meat . Use a shitload of sand or as in some country, old blankets but a whole layer of them. The key is not to loose heat.
I respect the honesty of this video more than anything.
Agreed, we rarely get to see the learning process.
Dude!! I love that you posted the cook that didn't end as you had hoped. That is so awesome man. And inspiring! I've shot multiple episodes that I wasn't happy with and left them on the cutting room floor. But now, you've mad me reconsider using them! I'll go back and see what I can salvage, and I'll be giving you the on -camera thanks for the motivation!!! Yeaaah boy!!! #stayingrillout
do you really say "dude" in your everyday life????
@@Marcel_Audubon so what if he does
BBQ iT Agreed! Normalizing yourself and showing you screw up just like everyone else is really the only ay to go in my opinion as we can all associate with it...and it can make for funny clips! 👍
People love authenticity and we all know things never go right all the time. Don't be afraid of your flaws. Embrace them.
hello, nice work, the problem was 3 things, 1- you need real heavy charcoal add one full bag of your big block with the same amount of wood meaning double quality and quality . 2- 25% of the total liquid that you added is enough with all that vegetable which contain water already. . 3- you need to add water on the sand on the edges to seal and block the Oxygen 100 % + cover the led with clothes material and then cover the whole cover with sand 100% up to the edges of the surrounding floor . after 5 hours it will be done but you can keep it up to 12 hours for tenderness .
hope you read my humble expert opinion and try again there is no shame of experiment a new cooking techniques and fail then you try again and master it pitmaster. thanks for your videos .we always watching you.
This way of cooking is , as you said , well known in the middle east... so here’re some tips for the next time... 1. Seal the pit ... we usually bury the opening with A LOT of sand .. some seal it with a mould of clay... 2. Tooo much foil... we hang the meat from the top and keep it unwrapped.. do not worry about the moist, especially if you deepened your pit a bit more.
Good luck and thanks for this vid... I appreciate failures as much as I like success
You mean so no oxygen at all will reach the fire? I think I know how this ends...
Simon, you put fire on top of metal sheet as well
Us polynesians don't use foil as well. We put the meat were cooking either directly on the river rocks, or put it on a wire rack on top of the river rocks, and then seal it. It literally turns out juicy.I love your peoples process as well to be honest. Greetings from 🇹🇴 Tonga
I’ve cooked goat underground and I learned the hard way that you cannot use cinder blocks. The best is simply lining up some bricks or river rock. But frankly if you are digging into clay that is the best. When I added cinderblocks in order to make the pit more level and “nicer” looking the pit would not hold temp and undercooked. When I went back and simply took out the cinderblocks and used some bricks and the surrounding clay / ground - all went fine.
In Middle East we do it abit different. We hang lamb in the pit don’t cover it and we get the fire and coal really hot for few hrs. The vigi goes on bottom and hanged lamb on the top the dipping of the lamb goings to vigi so no need to add beef stock just add water,
True !
How do you keep the fire going?
"Morrison is offering his assistance as long as he is fed" lmao
Post a failure? Got damn right, that's why I love channels like this! Learning curve.
BBQ is a continuous learning experience. Keep it up!
In my country we do the underground pit. First you need an insulator walls ( clay, metal barrels quite famous, or clay bricks), second you need to seal it by mud at the top ( sand won’t work). The idea is, to create fire to heat the walls enough as they will be the source of heat when you seal, also you need fire above the seal to keep things heated, it doesn’t take a day to work, less than 3 hours depending what configuration u have.
Loved how nothings stops you from trying different ways to bbq ! Well done
When you guys lowered the pan into the pit, I felt that the world is sooo small. You guys looked just like my buddies and I when we cook this meal. We call it Mandi. Big fan of your work guys. Greetings all the way from Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦
You need a bigger fire and some rocks that will retain the heat longer.
Bigger fire yes, and it needs to burn for several hours to get the walls hot which should store retained heat in the sidewalls and a layer of large stones placed on top of the coals surrounding the tray to retain more heat sure won’t hurt cause the stones will retain the heat longer than the concrete block walls will.
He’s on the right track and it will work but things don’t always go perfect the first time unfortunately. Hope to see him try again, maybe do a hog this next time
I tried it a few years ago and did the same mistake
@@1982MCI Or you use smaller animals , like chicken or swallos or shrimps or anchovis or brasilian fireants. 🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜
We had a older gentleman that lived near us here in Middle Georgia, USA. His name was Mr Hooks, Google Hooks BBQ Milledgeville GA. He had a shed built over a huge in-ground dugout in the ground with 8 pits inside it. He would always have at least four hogs cooking in there. I remember going there with my grandpa. It was the best pulled pork bbq around. And in the little building in front his Wife would sell bread, homemade sauces, and fresh cooked pork skins and cracklins. A lot of history and good memories.
Mate I'm so happy you posted a video that didn't go right. For this reason I truly think you've gained some love from us for this reason . Aweeome
You never fail when you learn where you went wrong and are able to fix it and teach your viewers a thing or two 👏👏👏👏👏👏 stay with it and dont give up. Great video!!!!
You need more fire and river rocks, those rocks keep the heat for longer time and higher temperature, also, the MExican way to do it (the best way) is to fold the meat with maguey leafs, previously toasted in the fire.
Love the video In New Zealand we call it a hangi and use a pit and a fire and good heat-conducting rocks and cover it with wet sacks and dirt
Here in the Pacific in Fiji we call it a "LOVO" it is pronounced in some way like "Lor-voh". A circular pit is dug about approx 1/2m down, place some wood to cover the pit and place stones on top of it preferable river stones with average diameter of around 0.2m. The stone will be heated until it turns white, if you're doing late afternoon it will some what look pinkish instead of white. This is an indication that the stones are ready, therefore you take away the big pieces of burning wood, living only very small pieces of charcoal and the hot stones. Spread evenly around the pit and put pieces of new cut up branches of coconut leaves (minus the leaves) on top of the stones to act as a rack this will stop whatever food you have having direct contact with the stones. Once that is done you can put whole pork or even lamb with some chicken and root crops for variety, place leaves to cover the food preferable new banana leaves fully spread out make sure every area is thickly covered. This will act as insulation trapping moisture from the food and also using its own moisture to roast the food. Use a large tarpaulin to cover the pit and than cover it with the dug out soil from the pit. Wait for 1hr30min to 2hrs. Whole pork fully roasted with the smoky flavour....and you're done.
When I’ve done this in the past, I dug the hole, built the fire in it, kept the fire going until I had lots of coals. Next shovel the coals out with intent to use them, so save them. Next, place the food in the pit in whatever container you want: foil, Dutch oven, burlap, leaves, etc. Next, bury the container with dirt and the coals immediately over the buried pit. Now build a fire over the pit to maintain the heat within. Yup, this will have to be tended, but isn’t that part of the joy of outdoor cooking? It’s a good idea to have some wires attached to the food container to assist with retrieving when the food is done. If your pit is shallow enough, you could have your wireless probe thermometer leads inserted and be able to plug it in and check meat temp without disturbing the pit. Just some thoughts....... fun stuff!! Thanks
One of your best videos. Appreciate the honesty and not trashing the footage. Looking forward to continuing on their journey with you! You’ll nail it next time!
So great that you posted this, it may not have worked out as hoped but at least you could save the situation with the big grill. 👍
I love this, "the meaning of having both sides success and failing" that is life.
As a thermal mechanical engineer, and a decent bbq cook, I can tell you the issue was lack of insulation, causing significant heat loss through the top. It did not have to do with you lack of heat, just containing it. You can't have an exposed thin steel plate at the top, you need thick coverage, 10-15 cm of sand all around through the perimeter, without any exposed steel
I was thinking about the coals burning without oxygen too
@@andrewbarbara5737they don't need oxygen at all, that's the whole point. the method involves around suffocating the coals and finishing the entire cook with residual heat, now that means properly insulating that heat in
@@andrewbarbara5737 They keep "burning" without oxygen - they will end up as charcoal.
I just recently discovered your channel and I can’t stop watching your videos. It’s also really cool to see legit grilling & bqq being done in Europe. You guys deserve a million subscribers easily. Please keep it up!!
I’ve never seen this type of cooking(suffocation of burning embers). I’m a Polynesian(Tongan) & how we make our underground oven(‘umu) is that we heat rocks(volcanic, ocean or river tumbled) by placing them over a large fire till the rocks become so hot, they retain an orange glow. Then we remove any large pieces of burning wood out of the pit & with long poles, rearrange the hot stones in a flat layer above the remaining burning embers. Unlike the embers, the hot stones can retain their heat more longer than the embers without oxygen.
To prevent the burning by creating a steaming element like your pan of vegetables & water, we use the stalks of plants that have a heavy liquid content. Bananas are plentiful in the islands so we cut down the trees, using the trunks/stalks(lots), crushed against a solid object to break it down/apart, for easier spreading & layer of hot stones coverage. Then we place the food items on a wired mesh & place the mesh on top of the layer of smashed banana trunks. Then we build a framework of hardwood sticks above the food, allowing ample space for the heat & steam to circulate throughout the oven, beneath the framework. Then we’ll use the banana leaves from the banana trees that were cut down to cover up the wooden framework. The leaves act as an additional steam element as well as an insulation, providing enough coverage to prevent the steam from escaping. Then we’ll use water soaked burlap to cover the leaves, creating a first layer of weighted cover & additional insulation, keeping the moisture within with the additional water soaking material. Then we’ll use either thick wet cardboard, tarps &/or used rugs as another weighted cover to cover the entire ovens top area. Then we’ll bury the entire top coverage with dirt which is the final weighted insulation.
Depending on the amount of food put inside & how hot the rocks were depends on the time to remain covered. Your lamb would’ve been done in about 3-4hrs.
Opening, just removing layer by layer at a time. But be especially cautious scraping the dirt/sand off to the sides first, before removing the next layer. When removing the 2nd layer, do so carefully as to not drop dirt onto the next layer & the next.
In New Zealand the ground oven is called a hangi it cooks by developing steam from both the meat juices and the green leafy Vege content which is laid around the baskets of meat to insulate from direct heat. The key to success is in the heat source volcanic rocks are best but they are often substituted by railway tracks or large iron blocks or bars. There are 2 pits dug in the process one is the large fire pit the second is the food pit. The fire pit is used to heat your rocks or irons white hot these are transferred to the cooking pit once the fire burns down. They retain there heat for many ours and don’t require oxygen to burn like coals. As you perfect the technique placing small rocks or irons directly on your proteins assist with caramelising and crisping up your meats, but essentially it is steam that does the bulk of the cooking. Look up Māori hangi for more info hope this is useful I like your channel and regularly watch your content awesome.👍👍
Eeey Roel, lots of credits for downloading a "fail" that is what a real life pitmaster X is like! Thanks man greetzzz from quarantine 010🔥💪😉
Uploading
@@beermetal2003 👏👏👏👏
My family in Old Mexico would line the hole in the ground with bricks. The earthen brick lined oven large enough for a large stock pot, the Calve for Barbacoa or Goat for Birria was fabricated and a prepared Braising liquid was added, and covered. Wood embers were light and the pot was lowered on to the embers, the cooking chamber was covered with palm leaves that would then be covered with earth. Breathing holes were made for the embers and allowed for the aromatic aromas to be monitored. The pit Master would know it was ready according to the aromas emanating from the breathing holes. Good try!
Thank you for being real! Things don’t always turn out perfect but you make the best of it! I really appreciate the authentic nature and candid presentation of the outcome! Bravo!
Oh man, I loved this cook. You learn so much from every experience and this was no exception.
Never mind we’re always learning that’s the fun of this and to see it happen to you it makes me feel better (don’t mean this in a bad way) and really good to see the puppy she is a beauty all the best take care Dave and Dee
The pit area is very large - deep (approximately 50"x30"x28" - length x width x depth) for one lamb being roasted in a roasting pan, and no additional coals were added. The information was vital for my future projects, thanks for sharing. !!!
When I was backpacking through West Africa (about 9 countreis) the main food was lamb and goat grilled on chain length fence over a fire in a large metal trash can on the side of the street. He would cut some off and put it in wax paper. That was lunch and dinner. Usually goat, but every once in a while you'd be surprised with lamb.
"Morrison if offering his assistance as long as he gets fed" 🤣👍
Commendable effort, how could we ever be successful, without failure. Looking forward to the next pit video!
Great video. Glad you tried and look forward to the next video with this pit!
It's okay dude. Your effort to make the oven, and to post the video dispite the result is really appreciated.
U never fail, when U learn from "trying ". Honesty is best always!!!
Thanks for sharing and being honest with us. There is always a learning curve. Looking forward for next attempt with success!
When cooking underground like that, we don’t covered it with foil. Also when you fire up the wood add rocks. To the fire. Rocks heat longer then coal. That’s how we cook it underground here in the pacific islands
Thr rocks are everything! Well said
It’s comforting knowing that even pros like you don’t have perfect cooks every time
I want to see you do this again I think this is an amazing idea. Just keep going everything is a learning curve.
A little tip: find some good river stones (temper them with heat first so they don't crack on their first fire) and light them up with the wood. They'll retain the heat once you bury the lamb. Then light a small fire on top of the lid once you're done to keep feeding a little tenderising heat. Max cook time for a lamb like that is 8 hours with how you've prepared the ingredients and the water. This is how we do back home and it never fails after practicing :)
Hey Pitmaster X, you're right, this underground pit is used in several places and cultures, it is not exclusive to Mexican barbacoa, however, to my knowledge (I read this a while ago and may be completely wrong) the term barbacoa refers to the cooking method not the dish itself.
As someone has already pointed out, it is done a little different, not covering the meat but hanging it in the pit, use a pot to put the veggies inside with some water and place that below the meat so the juices can drip to create a broth, but man!! 9:30 this looks really good an it is actually a lot closer to the real thing.
I'm sorry this did not turn out as you expected, it is a learning curve and I'll happily follow that with you, keep up the good work!!
Us from the Navajo tribe bake cake underground mainly for ceremonial purposes, for that it's normally done by placing foil In a hole then place corn husk above the foil and around the dirt walls of the hole, then pour the batter in and cover it with the corn husk and foil and then covering the hole with dirt and placing a fire on top. You might get a little dirt on the cake sometimes but it don't hurt none.Hope this helps if you try again @pitmaster X.
Thank you so much for sharing this. I learnt a lot. I also know that feeling really well, I have been in a similar position cooking Turkey for 20 hungry guests only to end up crying when I unwrapped it lol.
Great video, I have a Wood fired brick oven and it usually takes a solid two hours of insane fire going with a lot of wood so I would recommend burning more wood for a longer time that should help the cooking process
In the Middle East they put stones on the bottom to retain the heat generated from the wood/coals. Then they don’t have all that space above the their food; they wrap the food to be cooked with something like burlap and then actually pile sand/earth over their food. Think luau.
Yup, that's what I thought. Big stones,,,and stuff the lamb w a few hot ones as well!
Building a fire right on top of concrete is not a good idea. It will pop with little miniature explosions leaving divots on the surface. A thick layer of lava rock on top of the concrete would be a good solution, and would also close the gap some to the top.
Correct if I'm wrong but they also added hot stones and coals on the top too?
@@26muca07 som do, yes
Real Barbacoa ovens use volcanic stones as well, here's a demonstration of it
ua-cam.com/video/6sbNidAkeNo/v-deo.html
The lack of heat like you suggested is indeed most likely the reason this failed.
You didn't have enough thermal energy stored up inside the pit. It needs more mass. Instead of those hollow stones use solid ones(or fill these up with fine sand before covering them up with cement.) You want a thermal store on the inside and not thermal insulation. You can even drop large solid rocks down (1-2kg ones) in with the fire that will act as extra thermal mass.
Also more insulation over the top. You used a metal sheet and a thin layer of sand. Bury that thing. And make sure the top row of anti-dutch-weather bricks is also insulated with earth.
Hey man, I live in Saudi Arabia and we cook in underground pits all the time. Even the most experienced fail from time to time.
A pro tip, you have to build a huge fire the first time you cook on it to heat up the ground too.
If I may request that you put some science into this and put a temp prob to map the heat chart. This will allow us to replicate the results in regular smokers.
Keep up the good work
Thank you for being truthful about your experience. As anyone that does a lot of outdoor cooking knows for sure is it doesn't always go as planned. Thanks for sharing. I love your videos!
When i first built my pizza oven it failed, it took about 10 hours to get to temp, but each time i lit it, it improved in a quicker time and better result, now it's ready in about 90 mins because all the moisture from building is gone and so the the bricks give back the heat and it cooks brilliantly, so will your pit. Cheers
Hey bro , I'm from meddle east. Iraq ,
This is one of our ways of bbq.
U did a good job but u need things to adjust, first use the fireplace stone in pit building, and the other thing is don't use the tin paper , leave the lamp just like u made it without covering it and don't forget the salt and some seasoning , for 4 to 6 hours in the pit after making a good fire , and cover the pit over the steel edge with wet cloths then cover the edges with mud then above all it put the sand .. i hope i was helpful for you , god bless you .
sorry to see the cook didn't go so well. happens to us all when we try a new method, they can't always be zingers! glad to see you saved it in the end. Looking forward to seeing this pit in action again!!! Cheers from Melbourne mate!!!
You have to retain heat by adding rocks or metal beams... when those are blistering hot, add your lamb and such.. close the gap and wait👍
A friend and I done a Hāngi, a traditional New Zealand Māori method of cooking food. We used engine crank shafts. worked sweet az
Yeah, pretty sure the fire died because there was no oxygen. In that environment, you really need some hot rocks or something.
Don’t give up! I know how it feels not to succeed, but keep trying until you get the results!
In Peru we have pachamanca. The pit is unlined. Stones are heated up and put them in the pit. No fire.
Beef, chicken, pork. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, and favas. Each layer is covered with cloth.The pit is then covered and you wait 90 minutes
It takes a real man to own his mistakes/failures and even post them online. Props for that!
I've done (in smaller scale) the same idea but what we did is we buried the meat in the sand and made fire above the meat. And as I understood it, the main part in this is that the meat is stolen! Preferably a neighbouts lamb.
It’s great to show your failures especially for new people coming into this, for me this is very valuable.
Props to you for being honest makes you much more likeable. Keep killing it, dude.
We do this a lot in Pakistan, the pit you made has no air inlet for the feul so once its closed the ambers almost immediately die. So the fire in the pit needs to burn for longer so there is more residual heat and secondly you should make a fire on top if the pit once closed. This top fire will keep adding heat. Let it cook for 5 to 12 hours. Also add a tray of water under the meat to steam and collect drippings.
With pit cooking, hot ash usually goes over the meet as well as under it. This insulates the meat for the cooking process. There is also a lot more fuel for the cook which you need as there is less oxygen on the pit to sustain the fire. Look forward to the next pit attempt.
To all the commentors saying that the pit needed more air: The idea with this kind of cook is not to keep a fire burning. Its actually the opposite. The hole is supposed to be lined with stones that retain a lot of heat. You burn a large fire to begin with, but its actually the heat from the stones that is supposed to cook your meat. My grandpa used to do goat like this and it would always come out amazing!
It's ok, bro. You did a good job. I enjoyed watching the video. All the best for next time !
Here in Texas we use river rocks they retain alot of heat. You can also use lava rocks also! Also you need to cover the lid completely try wet burlap sacks then cover with a tarp then put dirt all around the edges and on top.
Very proud to see an honest video..so many successes before and this is something we all do..mistake then master..
Well done for not cooking it on the gas grill and pretending to get it out the pit. Your honesty is appreciated
Appreciated that you posted the video even though you failed. Like Aaron Franklin said - You won't learn how to make good barbecue unless you make bad barbecue (paraphrased...). Look forward to the next pit cooking video.
Can't wait to see the next pit cook and thanks to the patriots keep up the good work 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
You had to fill the whole pit to isolate temperature from going out, it seemed that you had lots of gaps around the pan, and that dimms the temperature real quick. In the deserts, they put it in a metal barrel, they roll the cut with whatever big leafs they have such as banana or palm leafs, and they cover it completely with sand making no gaps or space to let the heat go out. Keep it up!
We did this with a buddy some years ago and we we're successful. Your coal was way too little and you also needed to cover the tray (with the lamp... foiled) with hot burning coal. Then cover the top with some rocks to retain heat. We also covered with some coarse sand and dry soil but placed two metal pipes for aeration. I'm sure you'll get more remedies from many people. This was our own unique Kenyan way though we don't bury our food here... It was all experimental and it worked. All succulent, tender, tasty... mmmmh... Yummy Kenyan meat.
Great content ! I think you didn't fail, you are just learning, as long as you do next one.
It's Pitmaster-F! Only kidding. A pit is for life, not just for one dinner
I really appreciate that you uploaded this learning experience. Its easier to just not upload this but I like that you stay real and show that when it comes to BBQ you are always learning.
Your just showing that your human despite your godly cooking your human side showed through brother. Always a good thing to post videos like this shows us that we don't have to be down when we fail if even the pros fail. Although not as often as us keep up the great content and I can't wait for the revenge against the lamb.
You need to get some real big rocks in there and get them heated up real hot before you close it, that way the heat from the hot rocks will cook it over night.
I have had more then a few epic bbq fails but I learn from them like you did and I get back to the same cook till I get it right great vid
I've never done lamb like that but I have assisted with some hog roasts in the ground. Each time they make the fire the night before and just have a small fire going up until the cook time then get it hot! Whole hog wrapped in banana leaves with the actual earth around it nice and warm too.
Roel:
Zoals we hier in de VS zeggen; Kak gebeurt! Wat de meeste indruk op me maakt, is dat je de video hebt gepost. Het bewijst verder dat je een man van je woord bent, betrouwbaar en nederig. Dit is waarom we je allemaal komen zien koken!
Overigens: het pakket met rubs en sauzen ligt momenteel bij de Nederlandse Douane en wordt binnenkort vrijgegeven.
-Doc
I got a lot more out of this video than the "picanyah. ketchup mayonnaise" videos that come out perfect every time.
You are doing great! Keep up the good work.
dude, im from brazil! and im your fan. bad things can happens! for sure. i think the bad issue, was the sand in the edge. the fire in that hole, needed oxygen, to keep tempeture.
Soms mislukken dingen, maken we allemaal mee. Tof dat je ze deelt! 👌
In New Zealand Maori use volcanic rock in the base of the oven. The fire is built (much higher than yours) so that it heats the rocks which then store the heat and maintain the ovens temperature. I would suggest you light a fire in the pit as you did( as a preheat only). Separately heat rocks in a steel drum( like a Charcoal starter for a Webber BBQ) when the rocks are glowing hot (Never ever use river stone) place them in the bottom of the pit( this will be a 2-4 person job). You also need to have much more sand/soil over the lid. To seal the heat in a minimum 300mm thickness of sand/soil completely covering the lid is needed If you can see any part of that steel lid it won't work! When you start to open the pit 12 -14 hours later the soil above the pit should still be hot and steaming if it isn't you have failed. . If you can't get igneous ( volcanic) rock then find large hunk's of Iron( train brake shoes with the brake lining removed work very well) alternately train track cut into 20-40cm lengths (you will need alot). Also fill the gap between the lamb and the lid... that huge void also allows the oven to cool down. instead of tipping fluid in as you did over the stone place clean wet sacks( or better still sacking cloth), also place that sheeting between the vegetables and the lamb. Seal the lamb in with multiple layers of wet cotton cloth top with more wet sackcloth and then fill the rest of the void with sand. If you have access to a few hundred cabbages you can replace the sack cloth with cabbage leaves. But still wrap the lamb and veges in clean ( wet) cotton cloth. Also place the veges above the lamb not below it. If you find you worried about steam burns as you putting the cloth in your doing it right.
Edit( final one) Its easier with a bigger pit.... the smaller the pit the harder it is to maintain the heat for the necessary cooking time. If you try again rebuild that pit so it can cook a whole pig, or at a minimum two lambs ( without cutting them to size). Make the pit fit the meat... not the other way around.
Total credit for posting this fail vid. I have more respect not less. I've screwed up my bbq trying new things and its life. All people fail at some point but they rarely have the courage to call it. That's how we get better ✌️🙂. Well done
Good job man I love the honesty with your videos. Win or lose you always have great videos.
Great video I’m from Mexico and we cook goat that way the only difference is we make a fire on top not to big and it holds the heat longer for it to cook
I’m sorry about your failure with the pit.
My Father Jose Palofox Valerio was a ground pit master when it comes to this style it’s a learning process and sometimes luck.
I remember learning from him that a key was keeping the pit seal as best as possible.
We would mix water and dirt to make a creamy mud so it can seal the heat in and obviously this starves the embers but it will take time for it to lose its heat you worked hard to start with.
The dry sand sealed enough to starve the fire but not enough to contain the heat in.
I hope you try it again soon.
Thanks for posting such a great video. I know you were heartbroken and I would have been too but this is something I've been wanting to do for quite some time and I hope to learn from your experience. I look forward to future pit cooks as you adjust your method. Thanks again.
Im happy you posted this, everyone fails at something eventually, but how else do we learn?
If I can make a suggestion, I’d say you starved your pit of oxygen, like opening or closing the vents on your komado, think of how you stop the coals in the komado, you seal it up, I’d love to see what you do to fix it.
keep up the tasty videos!!
Fair play! Many UA-cam channels would NEVER show their failures! You guys really put the effort into your videos, and I love your enthusiasm!
I never tried to cook in a pit like that, and I always wondered how it could work without airflow. Could that have been the problem, that the fire went out?
Vallen, opstaan en vooral doorgaan. Een "fail" maar toch een wijze les 💪🏻 En Nice dat je het toch ook laat zien Roel 👍🏻
I believe that choked the fire pretty much instantly because in that pit it probably wasn't more than cubic metre of air so if you were to try this again I would recommend having a small tube or such flowing air to the bottom of the pit, it's important that the airflow is in the bottom otherwise a lot of heat will escape because hot air rises up and cold air sinks, this should do the trick.
Love your channel
Kinda reminds me to my Weber Smokey Mountain. When i add cold water and the meat the temps drop drastically, learned that i have to put in boiling water, or at least hot water.
Sucks it happened with such a giant piece of meat but glad you still could save it.
Better Luck next time, keep on grilling :)
My friend came to visit me from New Zealand in December and he told me about the Hangi method they use over there. Also a pit in the ground but altogether different though.
Hope you try this again and succeed, no better feeling of overcoming a hurdle and feasting on delicious lamb. Keep on grilling!!
Maybe adding a small intake vent so that the fire can continue to burn after the hole/pit is covered will keep the temp from dying down.
Great video & I hope it works out well next time.
this was a great video, thanks for what you give to us grill and bbq addicts. 👍💪🥩
Heat sync is required, in NZ we use volcanic rocks but a good chunk of steel or anything that retains heat will work as long as there’s enough of it!
In the middle East, the lamb isn't cooked in a tray but hanging from some steel wires or hooks. In this manner, the hot air can circulate around the meat.
The ground of course isn't wet and doesn't cool down the pit. Those pits are very deep but narrow and are completely closed with an insulating cover. The pits are very narrow at the top to prevent heat from escaping. They use clay to seal the lid. They use a wooden lid or a piece of earthenware. It should be as airtight as possible.
They use a lot of wood to really heat up the fire and let it die down (only embers). You need to get the pit as hot as possible.
Your biggest problems were: pit too wide, you used a steel cover which will dissipate the heat and the layer of sand was too thin.
Concrete will also dissipate heat. In the middle east, the ground ovens are lined with clay (dried out of course) or tiles.
Of course in our country digging a decent ground oven is hardly possible. It could be done in the east of our country or in Limburg. In most of west Brabant and Holland, Friesland, Groningen etc this can hardly be done because the ground water level is too high. The very wet ground will cool down the pit too fast and the steel lid will speed this up. This is hard to do in our wet country.
So my advice would be:
Replace the steel lid with possibly wood. The fire should have died out and there won't be any oxygen, so the lid won't catch fire easily.
Don't use a tray but suspend the meat . Use a shitload of sand or as in some country, old blankets but a whole layer of them.
The key is not to loose heat.
Looking forward to the next one. Cheers to everyone responsible for this one and the next.