Much to my wife’s dismay, I’ve upgraded….for the second year in a row.  Last year, I acquired a Backwoods Smokers Fatboy.  That upgrade more than doubled my capacity from the Big Green Egg, and I’ve really enjoyed cooking on a vertical, insulated cooker.  However, I learned very quickly that the stated capactiy of the Fatboy really wasn’t accurate.  To cook pork butt & brisket well, the cooker really could only accomodate half of the available cooking racks due to limited clearance between them.

Traveling GearAdditionally, it seems that the more I cook, the more chances I have to cook.  And I’m talking about cooking for larger groups, fund raisers, family reunions, wedding receptions, and so on.  While I don’t need the extra capacity every day, there are a half dozen opportunities per year to really take advantage and put on a big feed.

So, when I stumbled upon an opportunity to acquire a larger Backwoods Smoker, the Pro Jr., I couldn’t pass it up.  A competition cook out of Columbus, GA had decided it was too large for cooking competitions and had downsized.  That may be the only time I’ve ever heard of a pitmaster downsizing.  Usually, Pitmasters are like boat captains and jonseing for bigger pit or boat respectively.  So I borrowed a trailer, made arrangements to meet Quenut halfway, and headed out to pick up the new cooker.

Before & AfterAfter a 700 mile round trip, a stop over in Nashville to hang out with Carey Bringle of Peg Leg Porker, and lunch at Martin’s BBQ Joint, I made it home with the new cooker and the capacity to cook 35 pork butts, 36 sides of ribs, or 16 full packer cut briskets.  

That ought to hold me for another year!

Cheers,
Braddog 

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