Risking it for the Biscuit!! TMG Volunteer vs Biscuits

Today we decided to shoot an informational video to showcase the performance of the TMG Volunteer. Remember you are the pitmaster!
www.tmgpits.com
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[@raphaelnurse268]

For someone who currently cooks on a homemade offset, that top great cook is hella impressive. I’ve cooked more than 200 briskets and it’s safe to say this smoker is amazing, can’t wait to get mine for Xmas. Great video TMG

[@logang865]

Great follow-up video guys. It really does come down to the fire management, wood selection, and just learning a pit. A small well built pit like the volunteer, goldees pit, or Franklin pit will run super efficient but completely different. I think that for those it want to get into offset cooking need to learn that it is a skill and it takes time to learn how to properly control a pit such as the volunteer. Love seeing a local company making an impact on the bbq world and bringing attention to east TN.

[@JosephHaenelt-ur4ro]

Spoke with Brandon this morning. These guys are the real deal and I’m looking forward to getting my volunteer!!! Thing looks like a F***ing BEAST!

[@frankandbeansbbq]

Looks good! All the food I seen come off of a Volunteer looks amazing!

[@joshleslie1845]

I’m saving up now to order my Volunteer. I’m so excited to move up from my UDS!

[@joshuaturner6882]

Will be ordering in the next few months.

[@irvwander8756]

My volunteer is about 4 weeks away , and I am super excited ! Also, everything Jeremy said in both of his videos was super positive about the Volunteer. 3 or 4 burnt biscuits didn't mean a thing to me .

[@bstineman]

I would be super interested in a series of videos from TMG on fire management and the use of the TMG Fire Management Cradel in various versions of their pits. :)

[@joshleslie1845]

That thing runs like a champ!

[@creigdudley3016]

You guys have a lot of good ideas and good looking pits too thanks for sharing

[@tommytude]

I've been saving up to get a TMG smoker. I saw the Jeremy video and that didn't change my mind one bit.

[@tafeej]

I get jeremys thought process on cooking the buscuits at a higher temp because buscuits are cooked at 350-375. But like yall said no one is cooking brisket, ribs, and or buts at 350-375. Im still putting my money on the volunteer. Currently saving now to try and get on the next build list for a volunteer on a trailer. Great video guys!

[@farrisfcs39]

Heck yeah dude. I have a Volunteer and love it.

[@chadirby9769]

Great video. Looking forward to getting my Volunteer soon.

[@jhosoi808]

Great Video 🙌🏽🙌🏽 looks like amazing Barbecue weather throughout the Volunteer 😉 excited to receive mine in the next few weeks 💯👊🏾

[@irvwander8756]

Can we all just get along ? We all love barbecue, we all love being outside with a beer tending our fires , and we all need to focus on what we share , especially in these crazy times . No 2 pits are exactly alike , no 2 cooks are exactly alike , and no 2 outcomes are exactly alike . Those are the things that make this hobby of ours an actual artform .

[@tmgpits]

This video is/was not meant as a stab at anyone. We just wanted to show how the pit reacts at actual BBQ temperatures. We are not mad at Jeremy. He has an extremely busy job and constantly coming up with content is not as easy as people would think.

[@irvwander8756]

I understood that , my comment was directed at those lashing out at Jeremy . I am a huge fan of his .

[@tmgpits]

@@irvwander8756 we are a fan of his too! Honestly, the best lesson learned is that if you operated a pit with different styles of fire management you can achieve different results

[@irvwander8756]

Exactly ! Let's move on !

[@richiesbbq]

I dont care about the Mad Scientist review. I saw what he did with the temp and didnt agree with it but I understood what was going on with his approach. I have a 500-gallon cooker with with a 20 inch pipe inside an insulated box. If I can figure out my cooker I can figure out anything. Every cooker has a learning curve so frankly I didnt see anything that wouldve deterred me from wanting to buy this cooker. The main thing I like is the 27 inch wide chamber.

[@904nole]

Great video

[@beasthunt]

The volunteer biscuits didn't look bad in Jeremy's video and the brisket looked amazing. He even stated he was cooking them a little too hot. I took that video as a compliment to your smoker, tbh.

[@robtroxler4109]

When will the Biscuit Burner 9000 shirts be available?

[@berbeque]

Awesome

[@bobnewhart4318]

Jeremy followed the directions listed on the biscuit Packaging also he was givinen directions directly from the grill manufacturer. So in all fairness Jeremy's test was straightforward and when ran at higher Temps the volunteer burned the most. Respectfully

[@justinthomas5027]

My guess is because he ran it at 350, he built too big of a fire and had a lot of radiant heat from it. An offset smoker is supposed to cook mostly with convection. The reason the Franklin ran better at that temp is it has a smaller stack so it didn’t draw as hard and also a semi insulated firebox so he got it to 350 with a smaller fire. The Goldee’s pit cut most of the radiant heat out with the pipe elbow so that’s why it ran better with a raging fire, it’s basically a redesigned reverse flow.

[@farrisfcs39]

Some good points I didn’t consider.

[@DumbCarGuy]

So did any of you guys taste those smoked biscuits? They look delicious. If i was there with you I sure would have.

[@Smokin_chambersbbq]

Do a test with a fridge 48

[@backtheblue1422]

Every pit is different just like welding machines some run hot some run cold some respond to changes quicker some are slow

[@paullegkobit6089]

Please make a video cooking a full volunteer of briskets

[@tmgpits]

It’s coming!! Just got to get our hands on a volunteer for a day or two

[@doughjoebbq]

All I want to know is what are you doing with all those biscuits?? Hopefully you have some good sausage gravy close by :-)

[@farrisfcs39]

I ate a couple! Lol

[@rpstz7346]

First, what a shock a bias opinion, also Jeremy said he cooked hot on that test, I would like to see from these guy the same test, i'd bet results are similar... love the pits and vids...I bought Primitive Pit...their build time seemed to long.

[@robtroxler4109]

Rib or wing test soon? At the shop

[@bobnewhart4318]

Much more accurate than a biscuit

[@paulhughes8364]

You could tell by the way the biscuits were kissed by heat on the one side more than the other was because Jeremy was running it too hot and had air moving too fast imo. He should have moved his fire back to the door and choked the exhaust a bit to slow it down. I agree that video didn't look good and you guys are doing a good job at showing how to operate this smaller offset. I had my mind made up on the reverse flow but now thinking I'd rather have traditional flow. Kinda like having a hotter spot for chicken, burgers if need.

[@toddf007]

I get your argument, somewhat. Jeremy Kirk at over 300°, as you would normally cook biscuits. You cook that typical barbecue, low and slow temperatures, but pulled them before they even completed the cook. On the can it says to cook at 350-375 for 11-15 minutes. You cooked barely longer than that at a much lower temp. That’s not saying pit does not cook evenly. They do look consistent, but as I said, you’ve got to let them finish cooking. Interesting video nonetheless. It looks like you do build a good pit.

[@tmgpits]

We just wanted to show how the pit reacts at true BBQ temperatures. We as a pit builder wouldn’t even know how to suggest to run the pit at 350-375 as we have never tried to maintain those temperatures.

[@sandyhemingway1943]

You guys are pulling off biscuits that are not done yet because the other ones are still being burnt in the same spot Jeremy showed. At lower Temps like he suggested, biscuits are still being burned

[@jmf420]

Jeremy cooked way too hot for his biscuit test. Makes more sense to cook at actual bbq temps to test a pit for hot spots

[@bobnewhart4318]

Jeremy followed the directions listed on the biscuit Packaging that was the best way to do it

[@jmf420]

@@bobnewhart4318 do you normally smoke meats at 350 degrees on your offset smoker?

[@bobnewhart4318]

​@@jmf420is that even a serious question you've never had to crisp up wings on your smoker yet?

[@jmf420]

@@bobnewhart4318 i’m talking about low and slow, longer cooks, not hot and fast chicken. Chicken is far better cooked on a direct heat cooker anyway so there’s a pro tip for you.

[@MrPanthers23]

I dont understand all the ruckus honestly. I never once thought the TMG was a bad pit after watching that video. It didnt deter me from wanting any of those pits. Theres no such thing as bad press

[@farrisfcs39]

I agree. I think they were planning on redoing an older biscuit test they had done and this seemed like a good time.

[@tmgpits]

All publicity is good publicity!! We wanted to show how the pit reacts at true BBQ temperatures. This is mostly a response to the amount of emails we received requesting us to do a video for informational purposes on how to run the Volunteer.

[@glennevitt5250]

They look good to me 😂😂😂

[@danielmontes9410]

Mad Scientist says your thermometers don’t read the temp correctly, is this true statement from Jeremy?

[@farrisfcs39]

I have a TMG Volunteer and I don’t agree. Yes, if you think about how hot air moves and cools off as it is moving there are going to be space where it’s hotter or cooler than others. I think what happened in this instance was digital provides ALWAYS read 25 plus degrees hotter than tel trus. Depending on how your fire is ran determines where the hotspot ends up. Thats every smoker. But it is up to the pitmaster to manage the fire and adjust the stack damper accordingly.

[@farrisfcs39]

I bet TMG wouldn’t be opposed to drilling a tel tru dead center to prove that it is just as even as the other two. It might read a little hotter but it will not be significant enough to matter in the long run.

[@tmgpits]

We meant to address this… he tested JUST the center section with a digital thermometer. We personally asked if he tested the locations where we have our thermometers with the same digital thermometer and he said no. All of our actual cooking test haven’t shown any truth to his statement. So maybe he is correct or maybe not?

[@SocalReloader]

I think Jeremy was trying to help Goldees using that water pan, unfair comparison in my personal opinion

[@MrPanthers23]

How mad can you really be at the video if he ran the pit like you guys told him to??

[@farrisfcs39]

They aren’t mad they just wanted to show how the Volunteer cooks when the fire is managed like a backyard offset should be managed. If you build a roaring fire deep in the firebox you are bound to burn biscuits lol.

[@tmgpits]

We aren’t mad. This video is to show how the pit reacts when cooking at recommended BBQ temperatures. We would not know what to suggest when operating the pit at 350-375 as we have never operated it that high. Also our suggestion of leaving the stack dampener open was so that he could learn the pit from the firebox end first. Obviously we put the stack dampener on there to fine tune the pit.

[@myporchbbq]

I hate that one video by Jeremy caused such a stir. You guys have spent money on machines, learned a craft, spent countless hours on building a business. Yet, in the end one guy posts a dumb video that was poorly designed and causes all this fuss. You don’t own anyone any type of apology. It’s a smoker not an easy bake oven to cook biscuits. Jeremy should be the one apologizing to you.

[@jacksaloman9513]

I honestly can't stand the guy.

[@irvwander8756]

Can we all just get along? We all love barbecue, we all love being outside and tending our fires , and we need to all love each other , especially in these crazy times .

[@richiesbbq]

​@jacksaloman9513 I thought I was the only one.

[@JH-4058]

Same what does it matter still mot sure what we are trying to prove here. Every pit is different these are some of the best looking pits.

[@-Coaltrain]

That yoder guy is pushing Goldie’s pit now sence fatstack screwed people over made him look bad all he is now is a salesman

[@hulkhuggett]

Dam. That thing runs SUPER even.