Backwoods Smoker

I've done 10 pork butts at one time, 70 pounds of meat. I've also done beef, but had challenges when trying to cook at higher temperatures.

Starting the Fire

The fire pan is heavy gauge steel, using natural charcoal is best, not because of the heat but it burns more completely, so you don't have to dump ashes when cooking for 10 - 16 hours.

Don't light all the coals

It is best to have the center line of coals started first, let the heat work out to the ends. Note the water pan is removed while starting the fire. You can light away from the smoker, definitely pull the pan out from inside the smoker

The Patio

I put the unit on blocks, under my porch. A fan keeps most of smoke away from the house.

The Fan

Ribs

I started these ribs with just a little salt and pepper. I removed the membrane on the back side, (thank heavens for a phillips screwdriver).

Ready for the ribs

The unit came with six racks, five fit in groves, the 6th one I consider an extra, but it could go over the water pan. You can get 15 racks of ribs in the unit. The water pan is well contructed, heavy duty stainless steel.

Top heat versus bottom

The smoke system in the Backwoods is really unique. The insulated interior section has vents to move smoke from the bottom to the top. You will get higher temperature at the top, and plan on rotating your ribs during the cooking process

Six Racks of Ribs

These will be cooking for 2 hours with smoke, then 2 hours in foil, then another hour or so back out of the foil.

About 45 minutes later

Fire at one hour

Hickory Wood

Wild cherry

Two hours in the smoker

Remember, they don't have any real seasoning yet

Foil -

After two hours of smoke, I put each rack in two layers of foil, along with a half cup of brown sugar and a mixture of seasonings. I used as a base, a recipe from Rick Browne's "Grilling America".

Fire

I put one small hickory log on the fire, I'm discovering that using wood chunks just cost more money with no real benefit. Especially true when using foil.