Ole Hickory Ace BP

[jimsbarbecue]

We have ordered a Ole Hickory Ace BP from Big Poppa Smokers. I have a business meeting in St Louis this weekend. When checking the Ole Hickory Pits site I saw that "The Legend" Mike Mills was doing a cooking class at Ole Hickory Pits the same weekend I was to be in town for the meeting. Changed the plane reservations so I could attend the class on Saturday and arrange with others in the company to shoot some Skeet on Sunday. Will be driving from St Louis to Cape Girardeau for the class and plan a side trip to Mike's 17th Street BBQ restaurant. My wife and I met Mike Mills at King of the Smokers competition (Nice Man). I can't remember looking forward to a business meeting this much.(Business Meeting Monday, Red eye home).We do plan on using pellets as a smoke agent I promise. Hopefully when I get back I will post some pictures. I'm thinking the Hat and T Shirt in my Pellet Smoking avatar is perfect for the cooking class.

 

[So Cal Smoker]

Wow Jim, what a stroke luck that the class is the same weekend as your meeting. Myself and I'm sure the others are looking forward to you sharing your experiences. Safe travels Jim.

Bill

 

[Big Poppa]

what a get coincidence! have fun I have alerted the ole hickory folks!

 

[jimsbarbecue]

Thanks it should be a great learning experience and the travel was a business expense. On the drive down from St Louis stopped at 17th Street BBQ

 

[jimsbarbecue]

Went to the olehickorypits class today. Very informative , a mixture of food prep, cooking on a Ole Hickory Pit, some restaurant secrets and a tour of the Ole Hickory Pits plant. The plant no photos are allowed. Which after seeing how they are built and finding out how they are designed. If we didn't already have a Ole Hickory Ace BP on order. A order would have been placed. Was privileged to see a Ace BP in all stages of the build. Impressive is a understatement.

 

[Big Poppa]

they are a class act!

 

[MattBPS]

Great pics Jim! Thanks for sharing! Those ole hickory pits sure are something!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jimsbarbecue]

A few more photos

Hole Hog on a CTO DW

Mike Mills and his daughter Amy check temps

Chicken going on a CTO

Showing everyone how to slice up some meat.

I must say it was unique looking at all the BP Ace pits being built knowing one was coming our way. the BP model I predict seeing more and more of these on the competition circuit as they are designed to be just a wood or charcoal cooker. While at class they cooked a brisket that they took out of the plastic wrap trimmed and put on a Ole Hickory Pit to cook. No seasoning, didn't wrap it. Just left it on until probe tender. As a judge it would have been either a high of 989 or a low of maybe 877. Unless it went to the table of death and then all bets are off

 

[Big Poppa]

wow that brisket sounds amazing

 

[Meat Man]

Looks like a great time, I think you are really gonna enjoy your new cooker. I really like that DW, I could see one of those in our future down at the shop.

 

[Big Poppa]

meat let me know....Ill take good care of you....you can do two hogs in one! I have one on the way

 

[Meat Man]

Can't wait to see the pics BP. Wouldn't take our business anywhere else.

 

[jimsbarbecue]

Meat Man the photo of the inside isn't so great. That Hog is on the second rack. As BP mention it can do two at one time. I can see that DW being very popular. A lot of people in class that where in the service part of the food industry that had CTO expressed that the DW was
going to be their next cooker. There was one in the Factory either ready to test and ship or real close.

 

[jimsbarbecue]

Ole Hickory Pits Ace BP arrives

Our Ole Hickory Pits Ace BP arrived today. This thing is a beast. Shipping weight was 860 pounds. I did dismantle the shipping crate and put the wheels on and roll it to the backyard by myself. We presently are burning it in using some BBQ Delights Cherry for extra smoke. It will be cooking all weekend.

Joins the Cooker line with the MAK Grill a BPS Drum and a Hasty Bake grill (not in photo)

 

[Big Poppa]

there is going to be a happy family in northern los angeles

 

[Meat Man]

What ya gonna cook first Jim? Can't wait to see the pics.

 

[NorCal Smoker]

Jim, can't wait to see pics!

 

[scooter]

Your back deck is beginning to resemble Sterling's back deck!!
Congrats on the beautiful new cooker Jim!!

 

[Big Poppa]

pretty solid line up there....We havent heard from Jim He is in a food coma

 

[jimsbarbecue]

Cooking on the Ole Hickory Pits Ace BP

Our Ole Hickory Pits Ace BP arrived Friday. The cargo weight is 860 pounds.I was able to but the wheels one at a time and roll it to the backyard without assistance.

cooked some deboned chicken thighs first. Traditional Butter in pan etc. This is a interesting cook because in this good size cooker cooking only 6 pieces of chicken on a lot of large unit will dry out the food, which it did not. We remove the skin before we eat these thighs which is why I don't do a better job on the wrapping of the skin.

They came out real good very juicy.

Next cook was 6 racks of lion back ribs. You can easy get 5 lion back on each pull out rack. In these photos there are three to a rack as the ribs were done two ways one with foil and one without. The one with foil had Zero to Hero rub and Big Poppa Smokers Money and finished with IPO Barbecue sauce. The non foiled ribs had 17th Street Barbecue Magic Dust for a rub and their regular BBQ sauce.

After foiling the 3 racks I added a cut up chicken quarters with Simply Marvelous Spicy Apple Rub.

Here we are saucing the ribs. I sauce them and let them sit out for 15-20 minutes. The sauce the meat side one more time and back on the pit. A lot neater this way.

I was on a time crunch so cut up photos I don't have this time. The cooked chicken I put in the refrigerator. I wish I had the time to taste the chicken as the skin did not feel like rubber closer to crisp.

Two days in still figuring out the proper amount or Kingsford to load and how much to light.Once it gets to temp it just seems to stay there and the fan that can stoke the fire doesn't seem to run much once it has the Ace BP at temp. We cooked at 225. The Ribs were great. Foil or not foiled didn't seem to matter much. The non foiled ones were spritzed with water three times while the others were wrapped up.Learned the non foiled recipe in the Ole Hickory Pits Class.Which I just outlined, it is that easy.Not spicy enough for a comp rib. Entertaining at parties it is a good all around flavor, which explains why Mike Mills uses it in his restaurants.

This is a scary good cooker. I don't know how or why it works so good, some sort of applied science. If we were going to compete in competition. I would find a way to get this beast on a trailer. I am guessing you will see more teams using these as time goes on. I am glad we got ours when we did, it will be great for our summer parties and BP had some in the pipeline which meant the wait wasn't as long. Next weekend Brisket. Am I nuts for buying a cooker like this for the backyard? Until today I might have agreed. Now I am happy we did. It is fitting that it sits next to our MAK Grill as the workmanship of these two units are very similar.

PelletSmoking Members BP does have a in featured price of $3995 on this unit over $500 off retail. That may seem a lot for a cooker. When I purchased a MAK 2 Star $2499 it seemed like a lot of money too and I have never regretted that purchase and I know the Ole Hickory Pits Ace BP will be in the same league. Notice those two are closest to the door.