SC Newbie

[Carp]

Hello everyone. I'm joining from the Greenville SC. I love me some good barbecue and have been dabbling in smoking for the past 10 years. Done the whole chip packet on a gas grill, 2 zone charcoal grill with wood chips, and even have the dreaded Orion cooker. Have probably put close to 500 lb of Boston Butt through it over the years, a few pork loins and at least 2 dozen turkeys. Family and friends love the food that I pull off of it. In fact, my wife won't let me fry a turkey anymore, only smoked. My biggest "complaint" is that the Orion struggles to create a bark, there's just too much moisture, but the meat is really good.

I joined because I really like the Central Texas style of barbecue and want to tackle and perfect brisket. I've been fortunate enough to spend about 2-3 weeks a year in Texas for work, and loved the access to good Q and Brisket. Unfortunately, those trips are over with the recent new job. I've been working with the acquisitions department at home for permission to buy an offset smoker, probably something like the Old Country Pecos or the like. I realize the limitations of the Orion and want to graduate to real barbecue. Any advice would be welcome. I also just joined the BBQ-Brethren forum, so if this looks familiar, I'm sorry. Figure there might be some overlap in the forums.

Now, to thank you for reading my long-winded introduction, here are some pics from one of my 16lb Boston Butt cooks in the Orion.

There are 2 hunks of meat in there, you can barely see the bottom one.


All lit up


The Payoff!

[limey]

Big Welcome, that is a cool looking smoker!

[Canadian Smoker]

welcome gif.gif (107.58 KiB) Viewed 446 times

[OldUsedParts]

Howdy and Welcome, Carp

[Arto]

Welcome looks Good

[JustinCouch]

Howdy carp. I have been wondering about those Orion cookers. Is that 1 butt cut in half or 2 smaller butts on the meat picture. What diameter is the cook grate. I look forward to hearing from you. I look forward to seeing mote of that Orion too.

[Carp]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

Howdy carp. I have been wondering about those Orion cookers. Is that 1 butt cut in half or 2 smaller butts on the meat picture. What diameter is the cook grate. I look forward to hearing from you. I look forward to seeing mote of that Orion too.

Justin,

The cook was actually 2 8 lb boston butts, but I can't remember if the finished product picture was one or both butts pulled together. The cooking grate is close to 2 feet in diameter, if my memory serves. I could look tonight when I get home, but I do know that it's close to the size of a turkey fryer.

The Orion is a neat little cooker. It cooks through a convection cook, similar to a boy scouts dutch oven, with the wood chips on the inside and the charcoal on the outside. The wood chips smolder inside, giving it the smoky flavor. It produces very moist meat (considering that it's basically a sealed unit when cooking), with decent smoky flavor. It' won't give smoke rings to the meat or crispy bark. The best part about it is that the Boston Butts in the pic took about 3.5 hours to cook and I can cook a whole turkey in about 2.5 hours by lighting it and coming back in the allotted time. It will never win any decent barbecue competitions, but it impresses a lot of people with the quality of the meat it puts out in the short time.

[Rambo]

Welcome; some smart BBQ'ers here