Maintenance & Restoration

Perry J · 12-02-2012, 10:56 PM

I did my first roast beef in my new Cobb.
It's the best I've ever done.
After about 90 minutes it was a perfect juicy, med. rare.
I did a 5 pound Chicken two days ago.

My question, how long does your charcoal last?
At about an hour I noticed it was cooling off.
I ended up adding 3 more briquets to complete the cooking.

I'm leaving my little gas BBQ home when I go camping from now on.

Thanks for the heads up Lil.

John

Lil M. · 12-02-2012, 11:36 PM

You're welcome, John.

The first roast I did on my Cobb was a pork tenderloin, and I cooked it outside in a Minnesota winter (cuz I got mine for Christmas last year), so I remember the coals burned up pretty quickly. Not used to cooking with coals, I had to put the roast in the oven for about 15 minutes while I got more coals going.

From watching videos online, I think it's pretty common to be adding coals to cook larger cuts of meat like roasts. I also like to cook the veg and potatoes (wrapped in foil) in the moat while the meat is cooking.

Gosh, I'm gonna have to get mine out and cook something on it!

Following are pics of first attempt.

deryk · 12-03-2012, 12:25 AM

Yum, looks delicous!

Eddie Longest · 12-03-2012, 06:58 AM

Perry
Your experience with the briguetes is about right. The longest lasting charchol is the single big round briguete sold by Cobb but it is very expensive. I use Cowboy charchol it is the natural charchol not formed into briquetes and it lasts much longer than the briquetes. I usually buy it at Lowes.
Eddie

Perry J · 12-03-2012, 09:30 PM

Thank's Eddie.
Next to Home Depot Lowe's is one of my favorite places.
I'll give it a try.
John

Terry R. · 12-06-2012, 07:23 AM

We ordered some Charcos coconut charcoal from Amazon. It came in as a box of nicely shaped cubes. It seemed to last much longer and burn hotter than regular wood charcoal. It burned cleaner with much less ash to clean up. It had a neutral odor and less smoke.

Even though it was more expensive to buy, we used less of it, so in the long run may be cheaper. As long as I can get it, we will continue to use that in our Cobb.

cpaharley2008 · 12-06-2012, 07:44 AM

I purchased a case of the Cobb briquets (6x 4 packs) when I got my Cobb. I only use one of the round briquets, it will last 2-3 hours, enough to overcook the roast. I find using frozen pieces cook up better than fresh, because of the length of time. You can get them on sale every now and then. the interesting thing about these briquets is the little green tag telling you which side to light, when I got my case, all the tags had fallen off the packages. I called and said that this must be a old batch due to the adhesive drying out, they sent me another case, gratis, and these were fresher!! So now I have enough to last for awhile.

Donna D. · 12-08-2012, 07:05 AM

Too, there are vastly different qualities in charcoal. Dutch oven cooks prefer Kingsford brand because it's 100% charcoal. Some brands have fillers, including sand, and don't last as long.

cpaharley2008 · 12-08-2012, 07:09 AM

You do know the story behind Kingsford charcoal, started by Ford burning the oak pallets his engines were shipped in on, to heat the factory, and then repacking the waste charcoal and selling it again!! Brilliant men, Henry and his brother.

GerthT · 12-25-2012, 06:42 AM

Santa Claus brought me a Cobb! I look forward to learning about it and incorporating into our Fiberglass RV adventures!

GerthT · 01-06-2013, 09:02 AM

WOW. The best chicken I've ever tasted. Not kidding. The BEST! Nice and moist. Did some veggies in the moat and they were excellent, too.

My only gripe...boy, what a pain to clean up! Particularly the bowl (the piece that has the moat and charcoal "pit")....how do you easily get the grease out of the moat and the charcoal dust out of the middle without mixing it all together? Also, hard to soak, due to the "breathe holes" in the bottom. I can see that this would be tough while camping. I'm going to try it again tonight and see if I can improve things.....Anyone have experience with this?

cpaharley2008 · 01-06-2013, 09:18 AM

While camping I normally just dump/empty the bottom and just clean the platter. I wait until I come home to soak the entire bottom in water to clean. But, yes, in response to your statement, it is a pain to clean, particularly while camping. But the flavor result outweighs the hassle. Even with a propane or conventional grill, you have clean up, so the taste is what makes it worth while.

Eddie Longest · 01-06-2013, 05:40 PM

I spray the inside with Pam before cooking and line the moat with foil. It helps a lot but it is still a job to clean.
Eddie

**Pam Garlow** · 01-13-2013, 02:27 PM

...guess I'll wait for the Cobb II to come out with a self cleaning moat..

GerthT · 01-13-2013, 05:51 PM

OK, by now I've cooked pork chops, St. Louis style ribs, and (as I type this) doing a London Broil. Observations....wow, very, very good meat....moist and delicious. I did overcook the pork chops a bit, but still had good taste. Putting beer in the moat made the meat even more moist, gave it terrific taste, and made cleanup a bit easier. Still the unit is a chore to clean. I'm with the others, though, the hassle of the cleanup is outweighed by the taste of the grilled food! I've done veggies in foil each time as compliment. Amazing how much stuff you can get in there, and it doesn't seem to be a problem to stack it. I do find myself having to put more coals on after an hour (Kingsford) - lifting the cooking surface up to put more coals in is a 2 person job. Additionally I really need to find a smaller diameter charcoal chimney - it's hard to heat up 4 or 5 briquettes!

Otters · 01-13-2013, 07:48 PM

I'd never heard of the Cobb cooker until I read this thread. I'm very interested in getting one. Looks like a fabulous way to cook delicious meals on the road. So I googled Cobb cooker and learned there are numerous cookers from $69-300. So what's the difference in them. What's the best one to haul in a little 13' Scamp???