Orion Cooker Charcoal Saving Mod And Improved Tender Rib Cooking

This video shows a little modification that I made for my Orion Cooker that both saves charcoal, as well as cooks a bit slower (and so results in a more tender meat).

EDIT: June 2015 - I created another video using a similar technique and got reaaaly fall off the bone result, and with about a half-a-bag of standard (not match-light) charcoal.    • The Perfect Orion Cooker Technique fo...  

The recommended cook time for three racks of ribs in the Orion Cooker is 70 minutes. That is with a full bag (12.5 lb) of charcoal. The resulting ribs come out so that you need to chew the meat off of the bone. In other words, it cooks too hot and too fast, IMHO. Because the standard method had this result, I decided to try to make a modification to move towards a bit slower and a bit lower (temperature).

For $4, I bought a steel HVAC duct and cut it so that the entire ring of the Orion did not need to be filled with charcoal. In the video, I monitor the temperature of the inside of the Orion, as well as the ribs that I'm cooking to make sure that the heat is sufficient to cook the meat.

I show you the result: fairly clean bones (after I ate the ribs). This technique, as shown, is not perfect yet, but it is much better than the 70 minute "hot cook" that is in the Orion manual. When I say "better", I mean that the meat comes off the bone much easier and the meat is more tender.