Lump Charcoal
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pr0wlunwoof That’s awesome that you did that, thank you for sharing! What do you like to do for BBQ? Have you heard of or tried the Steak Cookoff Association? We were going to host an event for them but it got canceled (Covid-19) and then we were going to have one of the founders on the podcast but he had to cancel last minute. Still, last years event was awesome and we look forward to having them in future years.
First off thanks for the great content on youtube. It really got me hooked on researching sausage/cured meats.
I had not heard of the the Steak Cookoff Association, I will have to look over their site.
Here is a link to the Retort build.
Few pics for perusal.

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pr0wlunwoof Looks great, once I get my wife and I out of the suburbs and onto some land I might give that a try! If I did now the HOA would probably have an enormous issue with it because they are stupid and annoying! Actually, I have never made charcoal, I am assuming that it smokes excessively but…am I wrong on that?
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Don’t get me started about HOAs. I got introduced to them around 40 years ago & had high hopes wanting to be part of it all & help folks with real solutions, etc. Then I realized in a short while what I was really dealing with & want nothing to do with the boards. They are not about helping folks, but controlling folks & they really have no idea what they are doing in many cases, at least regarding building & design, but are just about control. I will no longer live in an area that has them if I can help it, so we have pretty much stuck to rural settings. I will say nothing more as I have probably said more than enough. I did not think there was that much smoke when making my own once I shut it all down & sealed it off. However, mine never looked quite as good as yours, Prowling Wolf, I don’t believe. Your operation looks very serious.
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pr0wlunwoof Also thank you for the compliment, it actually does mean a very large amount to Austin and I that we have so many users who have enjoyed or benefitted from the videos we have put out. Some videos like the will it bbq or recipe for disaster stuff is more so we can do something fun but it is nice to know.
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pr0wlunwoof Looks great, once I get my wife and I out of the suburbs and onto some land I might give that a try! If I did now the HOA would probably have an enormous issue with it because they are stupid and annoying! Actually, I have never made charcoal, I am assuming that it smokes excessively but…am I wrong on that?
It does smoke a good bit as your pushing off the moisture up until you get the combustible gasses ignited. After ignition it is pretty clean. I think the worst part of my setup is the noise the Air Compressor makes.
The setups which use two 50 gallon drums would probably be the best setup for a suburban area. I will try and find that video. Most ordinances/HOAs require you to burn/bbq in an enclosed apparatus such as a drum anyway so you might be able to argue that your following the rules etc.
If I had a more unlimited source of wood I would probably go that route as the oil burner is a PIA to get dialed in. I have a good supply of waist oil though and we were talking at one point about getting into forgery so it was a two bird one burner type project.
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pr0wlunwoof Looks great, once I get my wife and I out of the suburbs and onto some land I might give that a try! If I did now the HOA would probably have an enormous issue with it because they are stupid and annoying! Actually, I have never made charcoal, I am assuming that it smokes excessively but…am I wrong on that?
Found the video. Its a 3 part series, watch it at 1.5 to 2x. Based on supplies and effort I think his method has a great ROI.
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Found the video. Its a 3 part series, watch it at 1.5 to 2x. Based on supplies and effort I think his method has a great ROI.
pr0wlunwoof THANK YOU , not sure I would do this on a regular basis, but great information to know if we ever need it (not trying to be political, just want to be prepared just in case…)
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pr0wlunwoof THANK YOU , not sure I would do this on a regular basis, but great information to know if we ever need it (not trying to be political, just want to be prepared just in case…)
Yeah Its not that hard, and for those who like projects its a fairly easy one to accomplish. I have read about Chefs that make their own charcoal out of the bones of the animals they process on site and then cook the meat over that bone char. That seems pretty cool even though charcoal by definition should impart no flavors being pure carbon. Still an interesting approach to farm to table and cutting down on the waste cycle of production.
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I worked as a line cook for a few years when I was high school and I’m happy to not pull those hours anymore. I BBQ in South East Georgia. It’s a hobby, but I get pretty serious about my hobbies. I would like to get into competition BBQ at some point, but I lack the extra time at this point, maybe in a few years. Most of my hobbies feed each other (welding to smoker fabrication, fabrication to cooking, electronics to controllers, brewing cause beer makes everything better) so sausage making is the next venture.
pr0wlunwoof Just be careful about those “serious hobbies”. Look at what it did to me!

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pr0wlunwoof Just be careful about those “serious hobbies”. Look at what it did to me!

That is a very nice cooker. You must cook for entire Armies. Fortunately I do not have that many friends or I would have my whole paycheck going towards feeding them. This is my little cooking space with my other cooker I built, a reverse flow tow behind from an old 120 gallon propane tank. It also has a gas burner down the middle which helps it double as a grill for burger burns. I am still in hobby land, but maybe one day I will get to play for a living.

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pr0wlunwoof He does, he posts pics of some of his spreads and they are pretty amazing, color me slightly jealous!
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That is a very nice cooker. You must cook for entire Armies. Fortunately I do not have that many friends or I would have my whole paycheck going towards feeding them. This is my little cooking space with my other cooker I built, a reverse flow tow behind from an old 120 gallon propane tank. It also has a gas burner down the middle which helps it double as a grill for burger burns. I am still in hobby land, but maybe one day I will get to play for a living.

pr0wlunwoof This is my living now. Sadly, only about 20% BBQ, but I still love it. That’s a very nice rig you have. So glad you joined us, I have really found this community to be some of the best people. Everyone helping each other enjoy what we love best. ( Okay, making sausage as well, but eating does come first LOL)
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pr0wlunwoof He does, he posts pics of some of his spreads and they are pretty amazing, color me slightly jealous!
Jonathon BTW I have done 3200 people, but before I die, want to do 5000. Time to have a party!
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Jonathon BTW I have done 3200 people, but before I die, want to do 5000. Time to have a party!
Chef Well Chef, then just make sure you at least invite all of us & don’t forget the Tequila & the Topo Chico too! By the way, isn’t that ##!!%4 storm headed your way or are you far enough to the west of it. We hope you are all OK.
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Chef Well Chef, then just make sure you at least invite all of us & don’t forget the Tequila & the Topo Chico too! By the way, isn’t that ##!!%4 storm headed your way or are you far enough to the west of it. We hope you are all OK.
calldoctoday I’m about 50 miles west of Houston, and we got nothing. It’s been so long since we had any rain, my poof well pump has been running 24/7 for weeks.
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Chef Well Chef, then just make sure you at least invite all of us & don’t forget the Tequila & the Topo Chico too! By the way, isn’t that ##!!%4 storm headed your way or are you far enough to the west of it. We hope you are all OK.
calldoctoday I’m essentially in southwest Houston. We got a little rain yesterday afternoon, but not enough to show up on the rain gauge near my home. We got a little wind, but nothing I would think twice about if I didn’t know there was a storm out there.
I have a good deal of family and friends around Lake Charles, and I’ve been busy checking in with them through this morning. Reports are good (perhaps I should say “fortunate”) so far. I know plenty got hit badly around there, so I’m grateful.
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calldoctoday I’m essentially in southwest Houston. We got a little rain yesterday afternoon, but not enough to show up on the rain gauge near my home. We got a little wind, but nothing I would think twice about if I didn’t know there was a storm out there.
I have a good deal of family and friends around Lake Charles, and I’ve been busy checking in with them through this morning. Reports are good (perhaps I should say “fortunate”) so far. I know plenty got hit badly around there, so I’m grateful.
TexLaw We are glad to hear that you & your family are all OK. We still know folks in Port Arthur, but they went on over to Ft. Bend County & are all OK. Same basically for folks we still know in the Lake Charles area. Reading the news early this morning, you would think otherwise, but sometimes, that is normal for the news. Keep your fingers crossed & hope all stays that way. It looked to me yesterday late like that thing was going to follow the path or Rita & it just about did. Based on personal or might I say professional experience with that & many others in the area, it would be amazing if things were not a whole lot worse.
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TexLaw We are glad to hear that you & your family are all OK. We still know folks in Port Arthur, but they went on over to Ft. Bend County & are all OK. Same basically for folks we still know in the Lake Charles area. Reading the news early this morning, you would think otherwise, but sometimes, that is normal for the news. Keep your fingers crossed & hope all stays that way. It looked to me yesterday late like that thing was going to follow the path or Rita & it just about did. Based on personal or might I say professional experience with that & many others in the area, it would be amazing if things were not a whole lot worse.
calldoctoday It went east of Rita’s path and also looked like it was a smaller storm (just more intense). All my family and friends in the Beaumont/Port Arthur seemed to have come out just fine, as the storm only grazed them (they were expecting worse, but the storm went further east at the last minute). You don’t have to go very far east to start finding significant damage, and it just gets worse from there.
I’m sure things are far more terrible around Lake Charles than what I’ve heard, especially if you go a little south. Much of the good reports I’ve heard from family are a lot of good fortune (such as a tree falling but missing the house).
Reports like those just make you grateful. We had two trees in our yard fall during Ike. One fell across the street but did not hit anyone’s car (not that many folks left them parked there). The other, a large live oak, fell across our front yard and only hit a silly ornamental pear tree that I didn’t like in the first place.
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calldoctoday It went east of Rita’s path and also looked like it was a smaller storm (just more intense). All my family and friends in the Beaumont/Port Arthur seemed to have come out just fine, as the storm only grazed them (they were expecting worse, but the storm went further east at the last minute). You don’t have to go very far east to start finding significant damage, and it just gets worse from there.
I’m sure things are far more terrible around Lake Charles than what I’ve heard, especially if you go a little south. Much of the good reports I’ve heard from family are a lot of good fortune (such as a tree falling but missing the house).
Reports like those just make you grateful. We had two trees in our yard fall during Ike. One fell across the street but did not hit anyone’s car (not that many folks left them parked there). The other, a large live oak, fell across our front yard and only hit a silly ornamental pear tree that I didn’t like in the first place.
TexLaw I am with you on every item. From slightly east of Rita (but still just about same basic area) to those darn Bradford Pears that don’t give you any pears to eat. Speaking of Pears, my son finished his work early today so he & my wife are out picking a load of real Pears that just ripened. Looks like I have more work ahead.
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TexLaw I am with you on every item. From slightly east of Rita (but still just about same basic area) to those darn Bradford Pears that don’t give you any pears to eat. Speaking of Pears, my son finished his work early today so he & my wife are out picking a load of real Pears that just ripened. Looks like I have more work ahead.
calldoctoday The big difference between Rita and Laura is that Rita mowed down Beaumont and the surrounding area. Laura didn’t do much until you got to Orange County, from what I’ve heard. It’s a small difference by geography, but a huge one when it comes to population and damage. Lake Charles got mowed down by both.
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