One awful and One decent cook

Hey guys,

So since my last cease and desist letter from the POS HOA, I've done two illegal cooks - A pork tenderloin stuffed with bread and onion stuffing + feta, and then a rack of baby back ribs last night. Guess which was awful, and which was decent.....

The tenderloin was anything but... I did it at 325, and it only took an hour, may have been the cheap hormel tube I used....not sure what I did wrong. It was just too chewy, so I chucked most of it.

The baby backs on the other hand came out decent. They never really passed the bend test until I forced it to after running about 5 hours with pretty consistent temp of 225.... crutched in apple juice for 30 mins after 1.5 hours ala Meathead method. Could've been more tender, but bark and flavor was good. I few pulled clean off the bone, and others didn't. I'm not sure what I did wrong on either cook, but it could've partially been the quality of the meat - the ribs were those kroger moist and tender brand (seemed like they were pre-brined or something).

These were my 3rd and 4th smokes ever - used the mini wsm. So far the only things that were awesome were the fatty and spatchcocked chicken. I've got a lot to learn from you all....

The issue is that it's a condo complex in richy rich suburb -- the smoke is not the issue (it's only a little mini wsm), but rather the fact that it's charcoal.

The narc that came by last night told me that I was going to burn her house down with it and that she was going to report me again. I gently reminded her that she bought an apartment, and that I was in compliance with the fire authority (10+ feet away from anything combustible), but she was not going to hear it. I'll have to go to war with them during the next HOA meeting on the 24th :roll:

about the HOA - we are just renting for now, never signed anything involving the HOA rules, but since the condos are attached, it's basically just an apartment complex - I get their point, and I'm always super safe (never dump coals anywhere, and watch the chimney like a hawk), but I think I'm going to lose this battle and get a fine. Hopefully nobody cries if I drag everything to the pool area.

As for the pork tenderloin, the stuffing was leftover and pre-cooked the day before. I followed meathead's guide to smoke it at 325 on amazingribs, but maybe that was too hot.

I'm also thinking that the altitude may have something to do with my jacked up cooking times and results (I've always used a maverick et732 and pull at the recommended temps). Pizza and things like leavened bread generally suck up here due partially to that.