MSU-GT BBQ

It's Football Season, what better way to celebrate than having a Whole Hog BBQ. Fortunate Scheduling has put the Mississippi State Football team in Atlanta to play the new-look Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Please RSVP in the comments section.

Pictures Finally

Been Too Long...

It's been way too long since I've added a post. Far too many massive hulks of meat have been smoked to even wager a guess about the quantity. However there is some news that is worthy. Relocation and enlargement of PS1 has been stalled due to the recent Tornado here in Atlanta.


As you can see one of the new pots is still on the porch. Not too worry I'm still BBQ'n. In the interim we've got some sort of Franken-Pot Smoker cranking out delectable treats.


She works pretty good, I think it is a true testament to the terracotta. The large base is a bit of an overkill and I don't have near the control in temperature that the PS1 has but it gets me by for now. Most of the backyard is clean now from the tornado damage. And my neighbor had a huge Pecan tree fall over in her yard. We've got a deal worked out. I'll have smoking wood for a couple of years probably! Hopefully this year will be the year I finally get the commercial version of the PS1 in production. But I'll be happy if I can just keep smoking and enjoying the good BBQ.


Here's a little sampling of the Franken-Pots handy work. This Smoked Chicken was unbelievable tender, great smoke flavor, juicy, spicy, sweet, salty... everything you could ask for in smoked chicken. Made me think I should smoke chicken more often.

Visit to PS2

I'm going to come back and update with more text but I know there are folks eagerly anticipating these pictures. In the meantime the synopsis is that we took PS2 added a trash can with some modification and lots of tin foil and smoked a wild boar, which was succulent. Then we reconfigured PS2 to it's original state and took the Garbage Can added a 10$ grill like the ones you see at State Parks on the 4th of July, and made a second smoker/indirect grill. Hopefully the pictures will tell the story. And yes PS2 looks eerily like Brancusi's Infinite Column, I guess great mind's think alike.

Spring Cleaning and Upgrades

Springtime means Spring Cleaning. After a couple cold months here I figured I'd break down the Pot Smoker and do a little maintanence. Leaves, dirt, and who knows what had made it's way into the rubble masonry base. The black marks you can see on the pots is rendered pork fat that has seeps through the hairline cracks in the pots and the gap between the pots. The gap between the pots is completely sealed now with the carbonized fat grout.

Here's a closeup of the pork fat grout.

The new base constructed with more stone and brick than previous as well as 50lbs of pea gravel and 100lbs of sand.

Finished product and as you can see the base level is so much higher.

The Boston Butt on the right is a new rub, Juniper Berries, Black Pepper, Celery Seed and Orange Peel. Turned out great.

Got to try it out! Worked great, maybe even better than before.

Pot Smoked Roast Beef

I decided to break out of the mold and try some Beef on the PS. It's a bit of unfamiliar territory for me, at least on the smoker. I made a simple rub equal parts; salt, black pepper, celery seed, and garlic salt.


Here it is sprinkled with the seasoning and ready to go on the grill. I usually really cake my rubs on heavy for the Boston Butts but Beef is a different critter all together, it needs much less seasoning and does'nt have as much fat as Pork does.

Here's a shot into the smoker. I accidentaly bought Mesquite charcoal instead of the usual Hickory. So I was surely going out on a limb with it, I also used a bit of Oak that I had, some left over Hickory chunks, and My neighbor Henrietta asked me if I would clear some big limbs of Pecan wood out of her yard. So Pecan was used heavily in this smoke.

Here we are just getting on the grill, one solid chunk of Beef. I'd probably cook more Beef if it were'nt higher than a cat's back.

Smokin' away. The Pot Smoker is a thing of beauty.




The final product, a bit more medium to well done than I would have liked but I have to please the crowd and that's the way she likes it.

Holiday Parties and such

All most too much to talk about this time, I guess I should'nt wait so long between posts! We had a Christmas BBQ/Fish Fry with fried catfish and boston butt, as well as whatever else ended up in the deep fat fryer. Locally caught Bream, sweet potatos, and onion rings just to name a few others. We also smoked two 6lb Boston Butts just to make sure we had enough food.

350 degree peanut oil, a thing of beauty.

Catfish ready for the table.

These Bream tasted like buttered chicken they were so fine.

Homemade Sweet Tater Chips.

Rubbed and Ready to go.

Butts after about 8 hrs on the smoker.


I had to preapare a meal for some weary travellers passing through. I think I hit max capacity on the smoker. The rice and italian suasage stuffed bell peppers were a first.

What's Christmas without presents for friends and family, homemade bbq sauce is always appreciated.

Thanksgiving day spirit

For my Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner with the In-laws I was told that 'Were having a bbq and your bringing the meat'! I was fine with that. So being Thanksgiving a Turkey was pretty much a pre-requisite. As traditional as I am I'd never fire up the smoker without some Pork to go on, so the smoker was a crowded house. Here's the turkey front and center and the pork is being bashful hiding in the back.


I used my tested dry rub on the Pork as usual, no need in fixin something that is'nt broken. But for the Turkey I concoted an injectible marinade hoping to keep the bird from doing it's usual impersonation of the 'Sahara Desert'. Also shortly after the glamour shot you see was taken the bacon strips went on to provide some good fatty juices. The injector was basically Apple Cider Vinegar with a good amount of spices like mustard,celery seed, cayenne, molasses etc...


Also I've been working on air-flow regulation. This is a pic of the new and improved coal chute. Fire Bricks are used to dampen down the opening and that 3-holer is also a fire brick. By really limiting the air intake I've gained much more control of the temperature and amount of charcoal and wood that the smoker consumes. Initially I was worried that there would not be enough air but I was pretty much dead wrong. By the way the birck to the right with the re-bar in it is my coal pusher which I use to push the hot coals into a neat pile.


Here's a shot of the finished Pork, just look at that smoke ring. The Turkey got away before I could get a pic of it. Next time perhaps. It turned out fantastic, Juicy and Flavorful with that distinct smoke flavor. I've had regular Turkey and Fried Turkey but nothing really compares to Smoked Turkey. The in-laws quickly snapped up all the left over turkey and left the pulled pork for me, now that's good turkey! Also the cornbread never really got off the ground. I just did'nt have the time to get it all baked and then in the bird. Sooner or Later there will be cornbread stuffing cooked on the pot smoker.

Construction of the Pot Smoker

Since this blog is about BBQ and unusual cooking methods then I feel I should share how I made my 'Pot Smoker' or 'Flower Pot Smoker'. Basically one of my friends, Arthur, had mentioned to me that he'd heard of someone trying to make their own 'Big Green Egg' out of terracota pots. The idea was intriuging so I did some scouting of the local hardware stores and after pricing and sizing a few pots I felt I could come up with a workable design. The initial sketches came out a bit more Tandoor oven than green egg but I felt that was alright.

The design evolved from the nature of the pot itself, and how big of a hole I could make.


In a move of complete serendipity a replacement grill I bought for a 22.5'' Weber fit perfectly.

You have to have a good foundation. This one mode of old concrete pavers.


CMU for the foundation wall, and a few long pieces of flagstone for a nice lintel over the shoot.

Here we are with a good amount of the brick and flagstone base, which has since been upgraded with random sample brick from our material library at work. I hope nobody was using them! Also I've added some thin gauge sheet metal over the fire shoot to keep the smoke from seeping out of the flagstone.

Ok BBQ'n I know, blogging I'm getting the handle of. The pics sideways but you get the idea, this was my 'topping out' with the second chamber where the grilling happens. I think this is one of the things that makes this smoker unique from an offset barrel smoker, the lower chamber holds all the fire where the upper chamber really captures all the heat and smoke evenly through the meat. And the Terracotta holds the heat very well, and if you soak the walls of the pot before hand it acts like one giant water pan. There's no flipping meat around to be on the hot side. Although only one 18'' rack of ribs fits on at a time.

There it is, a thing of beauty if you like homemade smokers made of junk and flower pots. Another act from god was that the top to my 18 1/2'' Weber just fits on perfect and with the addition of a 10$ temp gauge I'm set.

Well the proof is in the pudding, or in this case the pulled pork! So far I believe there might be 2 new 'pot smokers' in the works. Hopefully they can improve upon the design some. My next posting will be about what I'm cooking tommorrow, a 8lb Turkey and a 10lb Pork Shoulder for an early Thanksgiving feast. I plan to even smoke the cornbread stuffing in the cavity.