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Harvard engineering students devise BBQ smoker

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Re: Harvard engineering students devise BBQ smoker

#11

Post by learc83 »

rubyrescue wrote: post #2

If you don't want to build your own, the green egg is a really solid ceramic smoker/oven. expensive but the results are consistently good.

You can build a really cheap smoker out of a ceramic flower pot. I built one after I saw Alton Brown talking about it.

Mine is almost exactly like this one, except that I replaced the top pot with a ceramic lid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAydLWYGoJA

I've been thinking about building a PID controller for it (I already have the equipment from a project I did for an embedded systems lab in college), but I'm worried I'll end up eating way too much barbecue.

Re: Harvard engineering students devise BBQ smoker

#12

Post by bobf »

rubyrescue wrote: post #2

If you don't want to build your own, the green egg is a really solid ceramic smoker/oven. expensive but the results are consistently good.

The cheaper kamado-style/big green egg clones are pretty good these days. I recently picked up a Kamado Kooker with stand for ~$300 vs. >$1000 for the similar size Big Green Egg and stand, and have been quite happy with it.

Re: Harvard engineering students devise BBQ smoker

#13

Post by crikli »

kwantam wrote: post #5

I wonder if they used the "Texas Crutch," i.e., wrapped the brisket in foil after ~4 hours. The upshot of the Texas Crutch technique is: after about 2 hours on the smoke, the internal temperature of a brisket will plateau for 6-8 hours before climbing toward its final temperature. According to experiments by Greg Blonder[0], this stall is caused by evaporative cooling: once the internal temperature reaches a point wh…

I was under the impression from his book and his videos[0] that Franklin's didn't use the crutch as "policy" unless it was necessary...but I've never been lucky enough to get down there to Austin yet so I can't say for sure.

[0] https://youtu.be/pGZ39yYxeBk?t=5m7s

Re: Harvard engineering students devise BBQ smoker

#14

Post by crikli »

I wonder if they really used mesquite as their wood or if that was some artistic license on the author's part. If so it would be an interesting choice. Mesquite burns hot, produces a lot of smoke and can very easily impart a harsh bitter flavor. It's a tough wood to get right.

Re: Harvard engineering students devise BBQ smoker

#15

Post by QuercusMax »

crikli wrote: post #14

I wonder if they really used mesquite as their wood or if that was some artistic license on the author's part. If so it would be an interesting choice. Mesquite burns hot, produces a lot of smoke and can very easily impart a harsh bitter flavor. It's a tough wood to get right.

Mesquite is the traditional wood for Texas-style beef brisket. Pork and chicken may not be able to stand up to the stronger flavor of mesquite, but beef does well with it.

Or at least that's what I've read. My smoking experience is very limited, but I've done a lot of reading.

Re: Harvard engineering students devise BBQ smoker

#16

Post by lrm242 »

QuercusMax wrote: post #15
crikli wrote: post #14

I wonder if they really used mesquite as their wood or if that was some artistic license on the author's part. If so it would be an interesting choice. Mesquite burns hot, produces a lot of smoke and can very easily impart a harsh bitter flavor. It's a tough wood to get right.

Mesquite is the traditional wood for Texas-style beef brisket. Pork and chicken may not be able to stand up to the stronger flavor of mesquite, but beef does well with it. Or at least that's what I've read. My smoking experience is very limited, but I've done a lot of reading.

Oak is the traditional wood, not mesquite.

Re: Harvard engineering students devise BBQ smoker

#17

Post by lrm242 »

kwantam wrote: post #5

I wonder if they used the "Texas Crutch," i.e., wrapped the brisket in foil after ~4 hours. The upshot of the Texas Crutch technique is: after about 2 hours on the smoke, the internal temperature of a brisket will plateau for 6-8 hours before climbing toward its final temperature. According to experiments by Greg Blonder[0], this stall is caused by evaporative cooling: once the internal temperature reaches a point wh…

Franklin uses pink butcher paper, not foil. While the cook will be shortened with the crutch it is done at the expense of the bark. Crutching makes for a softer less "barky" bark. This is, supposdaly, one of the benefits to using butcher paper as it permits the meat to continue to breath and therefore has less of an impact on the bark formation.

Re: Harvard engineering students devise BBQ smoker

#18

Post by jqm »

learc83 wrote: post #11
rubyrescue wrote: post #2

If you don't want to build your own, the green egg is a really solid ceramic smoker/oven. expensive but the results are consistently good.

You can build a really cheap smoker out of a ceramic flower pot. I built one after I saw Alton Brown talking about it. Mine is almost exactly like this one, except that I replaced the top pot with a ceramic lid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAydLWYGoJA I've been thinking about building a PID controller for it (I already have the equipment from a project I did for an embedded systems lab in college), but I'm worrie…

I've built a couple of smokers out of cardboard boxes and they were fantastic.

I got a large box (like refrigerator might come in), cut the bottom out and cut a door leaving one side for the hinge. I then used a pencil to poke some hole and ran dowels through the box horizontally to put the racks on. An electric hotplate and a cast iron skillet full of apple wood chips provides the smoke. I put it on the concrete and put the box over the top of it. I put a meat thermometer in the top of the box. Warning: the first time I did this, the concrete under the box was also smoked and I had a large black square on my patio. Cover the concrete with tinfoil to avoid this.

This method produces a lot of smoke and not much heat. I've done salmon and a couple of turkeys like this. I let them smoke for 4 or 5 hours, then finish them off in the oven. Rave reviews on the turkey at thanksgiving. The whole thing cost like $10 to make (I already had the hotplate).

Re: Harvard engineering students devise BBQ smoker

#19

Post by hackuser »

Anyone hungry tonight? How about some delicious Boston-style BBQ? Harvard-style BBQ? Engineering student-style BBQ? Anyone?

Harvard is one of the world's great educational institutions, but perhaps it's spreading the branding a little thin to apply it to BBQ made by engineering students.

Now a BBQ smoker from Central TX A&M might be interesting.

Re: Harvard engineering students devise BBQ smoker

#20

Post by jnks »

If you've ever wondered what the real value of going to Harvard is, it's all in this sentence from the article:

> On a hike up Camelback Mountain in Arizona, he pitched the idea to executives from Williams-Sonoma, who agreed to be the client for his class.

Just casually pitched an exec and got a brisket sponsor, no big deal...

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