It's no secret that we love barbecue. And it's no secret that we like to talk about barbecue. We've shared the best bbq smoker, which wood chips you should use, the right way to smoke a brisket and all the grilling tips we can collect. It doesn't matter if you're doing your outdoor cooking on a charcoal grill, an electric smoker, a pellet grill or your own DIY grill/smoker, we're all for any kind of cooker that turns meat (and veggies) into delicious barbecue.
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Which means that we are huge fans of the way Terry Folsom does barbecue. Everything is bigger in Texas and that definitely goes for the Folsom's 18-wheeler barbecue pit.
No, really, this is a truck-sized bbq smoker. At 76-foot long, a weight of 40 tons and an 800-square-foot cooking area, Folsom says it's the largest mobile smoker in the world. The bbq rig was custom-built in 2000 by a world-champion barbecue pitmaster from Louisiana; Folsom bought it about seven years ago.
The truck has 24 smoking compartments that can cook between 8,000 to 12,000 pounds of meat at one time. Check out the rear of the truck and you'll find a firebox in the shape of the state of Texas and custom Texas-shaped dampers as well.
Folsom told the Houston Chronicle that "It takes a special escort to haul down the highway." Even moving it out of their driveway takes blocking traffic.
The wood smoker takes about two and a half hours to preheat the cooking chamber; you can imagine how hard temperature control is on this giant bbq smoker.
Folsom offers his bbq grill to give back to Houston-area charities. So far, he's worked with the Salvation Army in Galveston and for Hurricane Harvey relief, feeding over 55,000 people. He's also fed local first responders.
"It's rewarding to see people happy," Folsom said, "It's not an ego thing."
Check out the 18-wheeler bbq smoker from a recent episode of "Ridiculous Rides" from YouTube in the video below. Just be prepared, because you're probably going to have a case of meat smoker envy after watching.
This article was originally published on April 29, 2020.
