New Lang 60 Deluxe

[gamecockinfl]

Hey Guys,
First post on here-been lurking for a while. I reckon Im the designated chef for the church and Ive been doing Q for little over a year on my UDS. I got that thing dialed in and have made many a buck at kids soccer/football games for our league we run there just using this simple system. I love the taste of the charcoal and wood and moisture that stays in after I inject my butts and rub them.

I had one member get real excited about what we had going on and he called up Mr. Lang and got me 60 Deluxe to use for our functions. Needless to say I feel blessed and excited but I'm kind of lost. Ive fired her up twice-once to season and once to cook 2 fattys and 3 racks of ribs. I got it up to temp and running clean without much trouble. My only concern is that the smoke flavor was much more subtle than I expected and seemed like it could cook a little dry. Ben said to steer away from water pan in there-but Im not sold yet and I don't feel like drying out a case of meat and chalking it up to experience.

Anyway-plan for major cook #1 is to try some 5 hr butts! Crazy I know-but I know I can get some smoke in the meat for 3-4 hrs and then foil it for another 2 or so and then let it rest. I then plan to pull it and then let my crew heat it up the next day over charcoal and wood chunks to get smoke back into the cold meat. Anyway-I know I'm nuts and going to eat crow but any Lang users are welcome to guide me in the path of good Q.

 

[SmittyJonz]

Water pans don't do much for the meat itself, they help regulate and even temps. Less Smoke flavor can be type of wood or too dry of wood.

 

[nmayeux]

I've had my Lang 60 for more than a decade, and still love her. I do use wood that's a little green, and never had a problem with dry meat other than due to operator error.... namely under/over cooking. Just do a little more cooking, and you'll find the sweet spot!

 

[BBQ Freak]

water pan will not help in a reverse flow , how old was the wood and what kind ?

 

[Gersidi]

My only concern is that the smoke flavor was much more subtle than I expected and seemed like it could cook a little dry.

I've had my Lang 60 for a month and I am seeing the same thing. I am using white oak and run a good clean fire, and the smoke flavor is super subtle to almost not-there. I have tried cooking in different parts of the grate, on the top, bottom, etc. I have tried choking the fire and producing white smoke, but even that doesn't really help much.

I am thinking it must be the wood. Next batch I get will be a cord of apple or cherry. I am hoping that maybe my wood is just too dry or too mild.

Cheers

 

[Free Mr. Tony]

I have a Lang 36. As with any cooker, the cleaner you run the more subtle the smoke taste will be. Some people have an amount in their head because it's what they grew up with, what their favorite place tastes like, etc.

You can always choke back the fire a little with the dampers. You can still get mostly clean smoke, but a little more robust than straight heat.

I've never used a uds, but my WSM gave me a different flavor than my Lang. And both a little different than pellets. The Wsm had a distinct taste that is probably similar to what you are used to. It just may be a matter of getting used to the difference, switching up your wood and/or process, or getting a larger Charcoal smoker if that is the flavor that you decide you like most.

 

[BBQ Bandit]

Welcome to the Lang gang. Once your smoker comes to temp... you will notice condensation inside the smoking chamber. The beauty of a Lang is its retention of moisture. The steel sweats.

Here's a short list that worked well for me.

Strong - Shagbark hickory

Mild - Pecan, Oak, Birch

Sweet - Apple (green) or Cherry (seasoned)

When making pulled pork - use peach tea after you pull.


No complaints... only smiles.

 

[MOTU]

To help with the dryness make sure your buying the fattiest meat you can find, use a phosphate injection, and spritz during the cook.

Also let all meats rest before cutting into them or they will dry up stat.

 

[G'Daddy]

truly blessed with that congregation. You will do fine...

 

[mikemci]

Hey Guys,
First post on here-been lurking for a while. I reckon Im the designated chef for the church and Ive been doing Q for little over a year on my UDS. I got that thing dialed in and have made many a buck at kids soccer/football games for our league we run there just using this simple system. I love the taste of the charcoal and wood and moisture that stays in after I inject my butts and rub them.

I had one member get real excited about what we had going on and he called up Mr. Lang and got me 60 Deluxe to use for our functions. Needless to say I feel blessed and excited but I'm kind of lost. Ive fired her up twice-once to season and once to cook 2 fattys and 3 racks of ribs. I got it up to temp and running clean without much trouble. My only concern is that the smoke flavor was much more subtle than I expected and seemed like it could cook a little dry. Ben said to steer away from water pan in there-but Im not sold yet and I don't feel like drying out a case of meat and chalking it up to experience.

Anyway-plan for major cook #1 is to try some 5 hr butts! Crazy I know-but I know I can get some smoke in the meat for 3-4 hrs and then foil it for another 2 or so and then let it rest. I then plan to pull it and then let my crew heat it up the next day over charcoal and wood chunks to get smoke back into the cold meat. Anyway-I know I'm nuts and going to eat crow but any Lang users are welcome to guide me in the path of good Q.

Yeah, he prolly don't know.

 

[viking72]

"Crazy I know-but I know I can get some smoke in the meat for 3-4 hrs and then foil it for another 2 or so and then let it rest."

NO FOIL.

Later.
Doug

 

[m-fine]

My advice:

Reduce airflow at the intakes. You don't want to smolder, but you don't want a wind tunnel either. Slow down the flow and get more contact time and less drying.

Don't over mop or spritz, the evaporation slows the cook. Try a fat or oil based basting.

Use different woods. All oak is too weak, all mesquite too strong, wet/green wood is hard to burn and smokes to much, over seasoned/dry wood burns too quick with less smoke. There is no substitute for experience to help you find what will give the result you are looking for which may be different from what others desire.

A timely bump in temp can get you through a stall without resorting to foil.

Adjusting air flow, the nose height of the trailer, and use of water trays can help control end to end temp variation and temp spikes but your primary control should be in fire building and feeding. Also, don't let 25-30 degrees get you panicked. The meat won't tell anyone.

My advice would be to hold off on the 5 hour butts until you get a handle on the 8-10 hour butts. Be patient when learning how the smoker works.

 

[jrichv]

Wait... (insert sound of needle scratching across a record)!!!

You're all burying the lede here - he got a Lang 60 for free!?!?!? Congratulations sir! Use it well...

(the kids won't know what needles or records are...)

 

[Boone6590]

I picked up my Lang 60dl on April 1st and after about 15 or so cooks I've gone from really liking Q to being completely obsessed. Like everybody has said oak gives a really mild smoke flavor. I've started alternating my splits between oak, cherry and the occasional chunk of apple and I've noticed a lot better smoke flavor. Just keep practicing, the right combination for you will click one day and it'll be game on after that.

 

[MOTU]

My advice:

Reduce airflow at the intakes. You don't want to smolder, but you don't want a wind tunnel either. Slow down the flow and get more contact time and less drying.

Don't over mop or spritz, the evaporation slows the cook. Try a fat or oil based basting.

Use different woods. All oak is too weak, all mesquite too strong, wet/green wood is hard to burn and smokes to much, over seasoned/dry wood burns too quick with less smoke. There is no substitute for experience to help you find what will give the result you are looking for which may be different from what others desire.

A timely bump in temp can get you through a stall without resorting to foil.

Adjusting air flow, the nose height of the trailer, and use of water trays can help control end to end temp variation and temp spikes but your primary control should be in fire building and feeding. Also, don't let 25-30 degrees get you panicked. The meat won't tell anyone.

My advice would be to hold off on the 5 hour butts until you get a handle on the 8-10 hour butts. Be patient when learning how the smoker works.

^Great advice right there^

RF's do like a slight nose up stance. I use a small leveler right over the left top side (if your facing the smoker) of the smoke chamber and get that bubble slightly left of center.

 

[aawa]

One of the "smokey" flavors you might be missing is the fat drippings flaring up from the UDS. That is one of the signature things cooking on UDS brings. Some people love that flavor others don't. I personally do.

I cook on a UDS and when i cooked on my friend's Jambo, I was missing that sizzled fat flavor on the meat.

 

[cats49er]

Here is something that works for me.Keep using your oak wood to get up to temp and get a coal bed.But when you need to put another split on use hickory instead of oak.Most of the time I build a big fire to start with oak.By the time this burns down I'm up to temp and start using what ever wood I'm using for smoke flavor.Now if you don't have hickory available you can get chunks from the big box stores.You can use a small split and a couple of chunks each time.If you need more smoke flavor ,add more chunks, less flavor reduce number of chunks.You will love the Lang, I do.

 

[gamecockinfl]

Thanks guys-looking to fire it off tomorrow-will take it all in and try to adjust accordingly. I got a load of fairly seasoned pecan from another church member-might try and incorporate it in a good bit. Also-got some cherry-but its way too green right now. I should have some good stuff here in a few months. This dude runs a tree service and takes care of an estate with lots of good cook wood on it-so the Good Lord is being good to me right now for sure.

 

[gamecockinfl]

Great advice-I followed it and it did a great job on 5 butts-and 50 chicken quarters-had it out at the ball games-sold out in 2hrs and made 700 bucks for the kids. Cooked on cherry and pecan mix and everyone was lined up for more when I sold last box.

 

[Boone6590]

:clap2: Glad you were successful and it's always more rewarding when you hard work goes to a good cause...:clap2: