Day 2 w/ Lang - Ribs, Salmon, ABTs...and Hot Dogs?

[Stlsportster]

Day 2 with the new Lang. Planned on 2 slabs of spares, 1.5lbs of salmon and about a dozen ABTs.

Had some successes and now some new questions/issues to figure out. Seasoned the spares with a mix of Plowboys Yardbird and my own rub.

SUCCESS 1 - Got the Lang going much quicker today. Built a hotter fire to start and was able to throw the ribs on about 40 minutes after I threw the first stick on. Started with a bigger base of charcoal too which I started on the burner off my gasser. Worked great all around.

ISSUE 1 - slabs were about 18-19 inches long. Thought they would fit front to back but had to go diagonal. Later in the cook when they shrunk up a bit I was able to fit them but not raw. Going to have to trim a little shorter if I ever need to load it up full.

After about 2 hours.

SUCCESS 2 - Fire management was much better. I was able to maintain a pretty steady 250-275 measured on my Maverick. Probe was in the center of the bottom grate. Every time the temp dropped below 260 I would reload and it would go back to 275-280 for another 45 minutes.

After about 3 hours and 15 minutes I threw on the salmon. Intended to cook it in the warmer as I like to smoke it at about 200-225.

ISSUE 2- Temp in the warmer. During the first two hours of the cook I had the baffle to the warmer closed and the exhaust vents closed. I slid one of the maverick probes in there to see. When the cook chamber was running 265-275 the warmer was at about 200...as I expected. When I opened the damper and the exhaust the temp DROPPED and I could not keep it above 175. Too cool to smoke. If I can't get it hotter with smoke flowing it turns into just a warmer for beans and a jerky smoker.

Ok. Move the salmon to the main chamber. Throw on the ABTs. Wife says...oh invited the neighbors. Throw on some hot dogs. Their son doesn't eat ribs or salmon. Uh..ok. Plenty of room!

Overall turned out pretty well. Overcooked the ribs a bit. Fall off the bone. Everyone liked them but I wasn't happy. Sauced one rack and left the other plain. The smaller plain rack was a little dry too. I ran them for 4.5 hours with no wrap. Guess I'm gonna have to pull them a little earlier. ABTs and salmon turned out great. No feedback on the hot dog.

All in all a successful cook. Not many leftovers. So far I'm loving the Lang. Can't wait to figure more out soon!!

 

[SmittyJonz]

:thumb: ......Can't offer any Advice on the Warmer as I've only used Friends' traditional flow smokers with warmers opposite of the firebox - I Don't like them - as most have smaller cook chambers and warmer doesn't get Hot enough for cooking.

 

[KORND4WG X]

Good looking grub :hungry: Seems you'll be having some fun with it this summer :thumb:

 

[m-fine]

175 is perfect for smoking fish. Otherwise, I guess that is why they call it a warmer?

 

[16Adams]

A #8 or #9 cast iron skillet of cobbler or green chile cheese grits (or both) sure would be photogenic in that new cooker )

 

[mcdeadstein]

Did you measure the temp difference between your top and bottom grates? I notice my lang 48 run around 40-50 deg hotter on the top grate.

 

[Stlsportster]

Did you measure the temp difference between your top and bottom grates? I notice my lang 48 run around 40-50 deg hotter on the top grate.

Same here. The firebox side is also 30-40 degrees hotter. So ironically the temp gauge is in the coolest spot of the cook chamber which is the lower left side.

Does your Lang 48 have a warmer?

 

[MN-QUE]

I recently took delivery on my Lang 36 Hybrid and I had the same trial with some baby backs where they were too fall off the bone at 250 they were probably done in 4 hours but I had them wrapped and was using the 3-2-1 method for smoking them. Next time I will use 2-2-1 to see if that helps otherwise lower my cook temp to 225 on the gage. I was running 250. Chicken halves cooked in just over 3 hours and came out great. You are right when you say the top rack runs significantly higher in temp. I noticed it took several hours for the warmer box to hit 225 with the flu open the whole time. I was burning around a stick of Hickory every 45 minutes also. The ribs were good but I like a little pull to get them clean off the bone. Trial and error I guess . I did not run a water pan in the chamber but will probably add that on the next cook later this week. First Brisket on Saturday!!

Greg

 

[Springram]

Same here. The firebox side is also 30-40 degrees hotter. So ironically the temp gauge is in the coolest spot of the cook chamber which is the lower left side.

Does your Lang 48 have a warmer?

I always thought a reverse flow cooker was designed to have pretty even temps side to side after an hour or so. Am I missing something here?

 

[BillN]

Nice job on the cook, looks delicious.

 

[fwdiii]

Great job.....it all looks delicious!!

 

[Stlsportster]

I always thought a reverse flow cooker was designed to have pretty even temps side to side after an hour or so. Am I missing something here?

Good question. So far I'm finding the side by the firebox is still hotter. And the top rack is hotter too. I've only done 2 cooks so maybe someone with more experience will chime in.

 

[chet8888]

I loved the "no feedback on the hotdog" line. Made me laugh real hard. Good looking cook!

 

[m-fine]

I recently took delivery on my Lang 36 Hybrid and I had the same trial with some baby backs where they were too fall off the bone at 250 they were probably done in 4 hours but I had them wrapped and was using the 3-2-1 method for smoking them. Next time I will use 2-2-1 to see if that helps otherwise lower my cook temp to 225 on the gage. I was running 250. Chicken halves cooked in just over 3 hours and came out great. You are right when you say the top rack runs significantly higher in temp. I noticed it took several hours for the warmer box to hit 225 with the flu open the whole time. I was burning around a stick of Hickory every 45 minutes also. The ribs were good but I like a little pull to get them clean off the bone. Trial and error I guess . I did not run a water pan in the chamber but will probably add that on the next cook later this week. First Brisket on Saturday!!

Greg

Try cooking your ribs between 4-0-0 and 5-0-0. 3-2-1 is an easy to remember recipe to ruin ribs.

 

[m-fine]

I always thought a reverse flow cooker was designed to have pretty even temps side to side after an hour or so. Am I missing something here?

There is a learning curve. With the right fire building and airflow, I can run my Lang 84 with a 50+ degree end to end differential or a 5 degree differential. Usually I am in the 10-20 degree range

 

[Free Mr. Tony]

My 36 was pretty even on the bottom with the exception of the area overlapping the firebox being hotter. The top rack was way hotter when the fire was going, then would come back to 30 or 40 degrees hotter when you were just running coals. I don't see a way to really avoid it in a small 36 based on how the heat flows for such a short time through the cooker.