Using charcoal baskets for mini Minion method

[WNC]

Hi all,
Just picked up a set of charcoal baskets at HD, $1off. My HD wasn't giving the steep discounts we've been seeing.

As I was justifying spending the money, I thought about using them in a kettle like the charcoal ring in the WSM. Has anyone ever tried the Minion method with charcoal baskets, i.e. Filling them with some unlit and dumping a few lit on top?

How many hours do you think you would get?
Thinking about pulled pork for the Super Bowl
Thanks, Justin

[1buckie]

Justin, I can probably inform you more about what NOT to do with charcoal baskets !!!

Best Minion burn idea I'd have is start lit coals in one end of the basket & burn across the length......depending on vent settings, you may try loading up both baskets & lighting one after the other burns down......

Doesn't take too much in the way of burning coals to get to 250+ and that will get you there on pork.....

Others may have a more informed input on what you want to do......

How big a chunk is it?

[MacEggs]

When I do ribs, I use one basket loaded with unlit lump, with 2-3 small pieces of wood within.
Then light maybe 10-15 briquets for the top.  A few more pieces of wood for smoke.  Let that pre-heat ... then add meat indirect on the grill.
I have the intakes at about a third open, and the lid vent is always wide open.  I don't monitor temps, as I figure it's hot enough to cook meat at this point.

I usually stoke the charcoal after 2-2.5 hours, and add more unlit lump.  Open intakes wide for 15-20 minutes, then adjust.

It has now become my go-to method for ribs.  For a butt, I prefer the snake / fuse method for a much longer burn.

[Jammato]

I am experimenting currently with the baskets, I tried the lit coals on top and was not really satisfied with the results
this Friday I am going do the lit coals on bottom with unlit on top, the other basket will be 1/2 full of lit, I figure I can start up half a basket at any time and add them if I need to
I am also going start counting the briquets I use, lit and unlit.

try a few experiments and get back with us and I will post my results also

[1buckie]

Justin, like Jammamto is saying.....I've had not so good results with charcoal in the bottom & lit on top.......just seems there might not be enough airflow thru the sides / bottom of the baskets to get it working right.....

If i envison what you want to try correctly, it's to put the two baskets together in the center or off to one side across from the meat & dump lit on top of both?

Might work, but I would guess you'd need to let in more air than you think......chain / snake may just work better for a long cook?

[Jammato]

I think the actual minion method is used with smokers that have side hot boxes. I have seen them used a lot in those, and they work great. But the entire setup of our grills is different, we do not have a enclosed hot box separate from our grill area. I have used the snake method with much success on long cooks, I just got my Masters Touch 22.5 so the charcoal baskets are kind of a new thing to play with. Trust me I am driven to experiment. I can not help it, I have too.
I am trying to imitate what a Smokenator does, but without having the hot coals sitting on the side of my beautiful grill. Sure I know one day it will not matter but I want it to look good.
My advice is to try different methods, but to always have some hot coals around in case you need to throw them in, you do not need swings in temperature going on if something is not working right.
I am going try doing a beer can chicken both nights this weekend, I am trying to see about an 1 hour and a half cook and jusdge what is happening with the coals. I will keep 10 or o coals in my Smokey Joe as standby fuel.

One great thing about a forum like this is we can all post up results for others to build on.

[1buckie]

Here's a quick history & a picture of Jim Minion......first tried out on a WSM, then all forms of it took off in all kinds of cookers....

https://patronsofthepit.wordpress.com/2013/02/18/the-long-burnthe-method-of-jim-minion/


I see people wanting to fix up setups in log / stickburners (offset firebox) & people tell them it won't work all that good......but some try it & it does work.....

Some of the insulated box cookers are set up to work like that & do very well (Like Humphrey's Battle Box, I think works like that)


"One great thing about a forum like this is we can all post up results for others to build on."


No kiddin' !!!

Keep posting up anything you come across.....I'll even put in things that go wacky, just to demonstrate how it didn't work.....

[CharliefromLI]

I use a basket more than the pair of baskets. For indirect Under 300, I've found that the pair is overkill and will range from 325-400. one basket with a few coals lit in one corner is sufficient to get you started The burn will go side to side instead of the top down in a traditional minion. The tight configuration really concentrates the heat but also leads to a lot of coal catching quickly so ramp up slowly

[1buckie]

Charlie, thanks.....ever do an extra long burn using baskets?

I've not had the circumstance come up to try yet......

[CharliefromLI]

Charlie, thanks.....ever do an extra long burn using baskets?

I've not had the circumstance come up to try yet......

I just got an IQ110 with the hopes of letting that monitor long cooks for me and eventually get to overnighters.

My Last cook was a weeknight so i tried hot and fast ribs at around 300 so they would be done before bed. It ran at 300 for approx four hours. I lowered the IQ setting to 225 to see how long it would hold and it still ran above 200 for another 4 hours in 35 degree weather.

My Adventures and experiments will continue.

I closed the vents up at that point due to threatening weather but there was still coals left. If it ran for 8 hours at higher temp i think i could probably get 10 or more at a lower lower temp especially if the weather outside isnt as cold.

Again the main issue is the coal is packed tight so it will light more sooner so air control is much more important then with the snake that spreads the coal. I do like that the basket protects the kettle, so perhaps some sort of narrow u shaped snake basket would be the best of both worlds.

I should note: i usually use trader joe's briquettes as they get better reviews than kingsford blue so not sure if that affects my results. It does cost a little more but its still affordable enough to make it worth while.

[austin87]

I recently had really good success on a shorter smoke for a bunch of chicken legs for NFL Championship weekends using the baskets with lit on top. I used both baskets pushed to one side with about 25 Kingsford Blue briquettes in each and about 8 lit briquettes spread over the top of each basket. Intake damper was 1/4 open with the top vent getting a little adjustment between 1/2 closed and full open. Used pecan chunks on the cooking grate above the coals.

I was running about 275 and opened the dampers at the end to up the temp to 325 and crisp the skin a little, and only needed to add new chunks of smoking wood to the top of the cooking grate once. I had enough fuel to cook for about 3 hours (2 batches of legs, 1.5 hours each), even with running up the temp a little at the end of each batch.

It would have needed more charcoal to get anything else cooked properly and I haven't tried the snake so I can't comment on that.

[Jammato]

I guess it also refers to what you call the minion method. Most of what I have seen is a box designed so that the charcoal snakes back and forth in an S pattern. I have seen a lot of guys using offset smokers using this method for a ton of success, but then again they are using the box as the heat source, if the minion gets to hot they can vent the box to get rid of heat. My response was based on this, we have the heat source in the same compartment as the cook area so if we vent this area we get a different result. like a giant drop in temperature around the load we are cooking.

One thing is for sure, we have not seen the last of the ideas and that is exciting as we will have a lot of fun trying different methods.

[WNC]

Thanks for all the info guys! Gonna have to start trying it out and get back to you with my results!

[1buckie]

I guess it also refers to what you call the minion method. Most of what I have seen is a box designed so that the charcoal snakes back and forth in an S pattern. I have seen a lot of guys using offset smokers using this method for a ton of success, but then again they are using the box as the heat source, if the minion gets to hot they can vent the box to get rid of heat. My response was based on this, we have the heat source in the same compartment as the cook area so if we vent this area we get a different result. like a giant drop in temperature around the load we are cooking.

One thing is for sure, we have not seen the last of the ideas and that is exciting as we will have a lot of fun trying different methods.

sort of like this, from the Humprey's site I was talking about....

http://www.humphreysbbq.com/accessories/charcoal-maze-snake

Click on the pics to see it better......


Here's also a thing about kettle recovery time after popping the lid......I try to set up ahead & be quick about it......

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/grilling-bbqing/cooking-the-weber-covered-way-recovery-time/msg123794/#msg123794

If it's a large piece of meat, I think it holds the heat a little better, as the piece will keep it's own heat even if the cooking chamber loses some.....

[WNC]

Alright, for anyone following Jammato's and mine experiments with the charcoal baskets...
Tried the method of putting the lit coals in the corner

Must have put about 15 lit coals in that little void and let the extras spill over the top of the unlit coals.
Put the ribs on and left the vents wide open

Took about 40 minutes, but it finally got to 275 and I shut the vent down to about a quarter open. Now we'll see how long it last and holds. It rather windy out today too.
Oh, and I'm using Stubbs