Barbecue Defined
First, let’s take a moment to define barbecue. Cooking meat directly over a high temperature heat source is defined as grilling. Barbecue, on the other hand, is the practice of cooking:
- typically (but not limited to) less-than-tender cuts of meat,
- at low temperatures, between 212 and 250 degrees Fahrenheit,
- for long cooking times, usually four or more hours,
- preferably over a charcoal, or wood coal fired, indirect heat source,
- typically including the additional burning of smoke woods to impart certain desired flavor characteristics,
- the end result being tender and flavorful in a way not possible using higher
temperatures and shorter cooking times.
History
I’ve had a cheap, no-name meat smoker sitting on the back porch for, oh, about 20 years. It was a freebie, so I never gave much thought to using it, except for once, and that was to grill some steaks. The fire flared up and burned the paint off of one side. After that, it pretty much served only to shelter nocturnal critters from the midday sun.
Some years later— after attending a real barbecue, where the meat was cooked “low and slow” to succulent perfection– I realized I needed to learn the ways of authentic barbecueing. My only experience trying to do barbecue had been a disaster. All I’ll say about that episode is, if you don’t know how to cook ribs, don’t serve your first attempt to guests, and don’t even think about using a gas grill.
Anyway, I got ambitious, cleaned up the old smoker, and gave it a shot. I was amazed that– even flying blind on this old hunk of junk, putting my faith in the “LOW-IDEAL-HIGH” built-in “thermometer”– it didn’t turn out half bad. Certain it could be better, I set out to try to improve the results. After some web research, I found the answer in the form of the Weber Smoky Mountain Cooker, a/k/a the Weber Bullet.
Why the Bullet?
| Weber Bullet | Offset Smoker |
| High quality under $200 | $200+ unless you buy one with cheaper too-thin metal |
| Porcelain enamel inside and out– Rust highly unlikely | Repainting necessary at some point– Rust likely |
| Virtually airtight | Vents, doors, etc. not airtight |
| Cook to fit the amount of meat desired | Not worth firing up unless cooking large quantities |
| Great results right out of the box | Modifications almost mandatory for best results |
| High quality cover included | Cover optional, extra |
Following the definition at the top of the page, we find that the part of the process that requires the most control is the maintenance of temperature in that given narrow range. It’s pretty straightforward: fire needs fuel and oxygen. Reduce oxygen or take it away, and the fire burns fuel slower or goes out. Increase oxygen, and fire burns fuel more quickly, and hotter. If you have an adjustable means of regulating the amount of oxygen the fire gets, you can control the amount of heat generated, and, therefore, the cooking temperature. The Bullet accomplishes this task fairly well, by virtually closing off all sources of oxygen other than it’s four vents– three in the charcoal chamber, and one in the dome lid. All you need do is provide sufficient, properly ignited fuel in the beginning, monitor the temperature during the cook, and adjust the vents as necessary. It is also of benefit that the Bullet raises the charcoal up off the bottom of the cooker so that, as it burns down, the ash can fall away and not smother the burning coals.
In contrast, the no-name cheapo has no venting, save for the gap around the entire circumference of the charcoal pan, and the two small slits in the bottom of that pan. Using the old no-name on a windy day is pretty much a lost cause.
The biggest plus for me with the Bullet, though, is that I can get real barbecue results on a scale that fits my household. I don’t need to cook large quantities of meat to justify the amount of fuel a larger pit would consume. But, if need be, I could easily do ribs for 16 to 20 people on it, too.
Why this Webpage?
I thought this online chronicle of my experiences BBQ’ing with the Weber Bullet would be of value, not only to me– to help me better remember and be able to reexamine my methods– but to others who might come across it and perhaps see something they may find useful. You will see from these pages that I’m no expert at this– at this point, I’m only trying to put what I’ve read into practice– but I hope, with experience, I’ll become somewhat proficient.
Getting Started
I received my Bullet as a birthday gift. Available in stock from only one store in the entire metropolitan area, I was able to obtain my cooker fully assembled and in perfect condition, due to the fact that the store receives them via truck freight rather than via parcel delivery. I had to wait an extra week, though, as the store sold their last one the day before my birthday, and then received boxes of nails in error on their next order. No matter, it gave me a week to read up on some BBQ techniques.
The day before my inaugural cook on the Bullet, I did two things: I burned about a pound of charcoal and a chunk of hickory in the cooker, and I prepared some spareribs in advance for the next day. This accomplished the following: The smoker usually burns hotter than desired the first few times because the porcelain coating reflects heat back into the cooker. Giving it a four-hour dry run coated the interior with a layer of soot that will assist in absorbing and conducting excess heat out of the cooker. The ribs being rubbed the day before and spending the night in the fridge makes for better overall flavor. To make the rub stick better, I coated the ribs with a thin layer of yellow mustard first.
The next day, at noon, I filled a charcoal chimney with coals, lit two sheets of crumpled newspaper in the bottom to get it started, and gave it about 30 minutes to get going really well. I poured the hot coals into the Bullet’s charcoal chamber and added an equal amount of unlit charcoal. I filled the cooker’s water pan with cold tap water. I removed the ribs from the refrigerator at this point to take the chill off. At 1:00pm the coals were ready and I added the meat to the cooker. The 4 lb. slab of pork spareribs went on the top grate, and the attending ribtips and skirt meat on the middle grate. I placed two chunks of hickory– about 2 by 2 by 3 inches each– on top of the coals.
I found that a New Braunfels 3″ thermometer I have would sort of thread into one of the holes in the top vent. To be extra certain, I placed the probe from my Polder Digital Thermometer/Timer through another of the vent’s holes. At this point, I had the three bottom vents open halfway each, and the top vent was technically two-thirds open because the NB thermometer was filling one of the 3 holes. The Polder told me that the temperature about 3 inches above the top grate was 230 degrees, which is fine because that means that the temp at the grate should be around 225– right in range. The NB gauge, however, read only 200 degrees, from a point about 3 inches higher up than the Polder– the reverse of the expected scenario. So I went in the house, and boiled some water to test it. It read 212 dead on. Maybe the proximity to the vent caused it to read lower. Anyway, I decided, correctly, to trust the Polder.
For the first three hours, I monitored the temp frequently, even though I was only doing a single slab of ribs. The Bullet got to show its stuff for this initial cook– at 1:00pm the weather was hot and sunny; at 1:30pm it sprinkled rain briefly and the sky remained overcast. Throughout these weather changes, the cooker’s temp showed no noticeable variations. I had to improvise some rain protection for the Polder, though.
At 4:00pm, three hours into the cook, I opened the smoker for the first time, and basted the ribs by spraying them with apple cider vinegar. I also turned them over at this point. I additionally took the opportunity to add two pounds of fresh gourmet chicken sausages to the top grate. I added another chunk of smoke wood to make sure the sausages got their due.
At 5:30pm, I again turned and basted the ribs, checked them for doneness, and turned the sausages as well.
At 6:15pm, the ribs were done, so I brushed on some of my no-sugar-added homemade finishing sauce. Poking the Polder probe into one of the sausages showed it to be done at 165 degrees, so I removed them at this point. I let the ribs stay on for 15 more minutes, just to glaze the sauce, and then removed them and let them rest, loosely covered in foil, for about 15 additional minutes.
What have we learned? Trust in your thermometer, but check it for accuracy. Other than that, this cook was smooth sailing. These ribs were perfect– tender and moist– not falling-off-the-bone, but rather the meat pulled from the bone cleanly, as it should. And the sausage was an added bonus– the slow smoke cooking really made them quite a treat.
And best of all, it was all done the right way– just consistent low and slow. I can’t wait to fire this thing up again next weekend.
No Sugar/No Salt Quick Barbecue Rub
- 2 parts Paprika
- 1 part Fine Black Pepper
- 1 part Cayenne (Red) Pepper
- 1 part Garlic Powder
- 1 part Onion Powder
Mix to taste to make about 1/4 cup of rub per 4 lb. slab of ribs.
No-Sugar-Added Barbecue Finishing Sauce
- 1 cup Estee Ketchup (No Sugar Added)
- 2 tsp. Fine Black Pepper
- 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp. Colgin Liquid Smoke (optional)
Mix all ingredients well, and heat in medium microwave oven until warm. Use as finishing sauce no sooner than last 30 minutes of cook, and as dipping sauce at the table.