Was at a BBQ competition in Kansas City and saw a guy using a hair dryer on his coals

Last month at the American Royal in KC I watched this old timer fire up his smoker with a hair dryer. I laughed at first but then he took home second place in pork shoulder. He told me it's all about getting a clean hot burn without any ash taste. Now I keep a cheap hair dryer in my gear bag and it's cut my startup time by half. You guys ever see anyone using weird tools like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_julia16d ago

Did you ever try using a leaf blower for that same clean burn trick?

haydenp9515d ago

Huh, are we really comparing a leaf blower to a proper burn? I mean, sure it might blow the debris away but you're still gonna have ash and soot all over the place... gotta be careful with gas around any kind of open flame too, that seems like a bad idea waiting to happen. And the noise alone would drive me crazy for something that takes like two seconds with a torch or a lighter. Seems like overkill for a little clean up job.