Anyone using the "Franklin Formation?"

[Moseph]

In reading Aaron Franklin's newest book "Franklin Steak" I notice him talking about using the "Franklin Formation" when setting up his grill, and mentions it can be adapted to a Weber. Anyone here tried this method?

For those that might not know, it involves placing a not fully-cured log of smoke wood (oak, hickory, etc.) right in the middle of your cooker and banking your coals against it on one side. It's supposed to act as a heat barrier, so you have 2 heat zones, plus contributing smoke to the cooking environment.

I plan on trying this as soon as I can get a big piece of hickory or oak, but I was curious if anyone else has tried this out.

Best,
Moe

[1911Ron]

Interesting concept for sure.

[P0234]

Sounds interesting. Let us know how it ends up. It seems like it wouldn't leave a lot of room. I have had really good luck placing chunks of wood on top of the cooking grates right above my coal snake. It doesn't catch fire but produces plenty of smoke.

[bbqking01]

Very interesting. I know the slap yo daddy guy puts his wood chunks under the coals on the wsm. A 26" would probably work well for the log/wood bank.


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[Stoneage]

I've done it with a 1/4 log. it works. I soak mine, I know some don't maybe thats relevant..

[FatBottomGrills]

No, I haven't heard of this method but echo what others have said, sounds interesting. I have been watching Aaron's Masterclass though. Good stuff!

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[Moseph]

@FatBottomGrills - Yeah, I'd heard about Franklin from a magazine article many years ago, so when I saw he had a Masterclass I went ahead and signed up to watch it. Very entertaining, but more focused on smoking which I don't do much of. But his video on cooking steak intrigued me. So when he wrote a book specifically about grilling, it was an instant buy decision. It's like a more focused version of McGee's "On Food and Cooking" chapter about meat (which Franklin quotes from liberally).

Thanks @Stoneage, that's a great idea! I was going to look around for some less cured wood, but soaking a log in water in much simpler.

[randy]

He has a cool show on PBS, I think you can still watch it on their website


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[P0234]

Funny story about Franklin. I'd been struggling with good brisket for a long time. I figured I was missing a magical spice.

We had a long power outage and I ended up offering some generator power to a neighbor to keep his fridge going. He made me some brisket as a thank you. It was so good I asked for the recipe. First he said it was only salt and pepper. I was in total disbelief. He told me to watch the Franklin YouTube's.  And it really turned my bbq around, not just the brisket.

[Moseph]

Yeah, I've come full circle on spices too. Wound up the same place as Franklin. Dry brine with salt, add pepper and olive oil before grilling, nothing more. That was the best steak I ever made, then tried all sorts of crazy marinades and rubs, sous vide stuff, nothing made it better. So I'm back to good old S&P. Focusing on meat selection and craft now.