What should I attempt this weekend? Ready to step it up a bit - Page 2

Lake Dogs · 11-04-2011, 04:50 PM

Sorry to just now get back to this. BigRed, where in Dekalb? I grew up in Tucker, off of Chamblee Tucker Rd.

Yeah, the minimize sugars is with all barbecue early on especially. Sugars can burn fairly easily. Mind you, there are people that like the flavors of burned sugar (ala. my father), but most dont. Know that you're early-on in the learning curve. One of the hardest things to learn early on is fire/temperature control, and learning to let your smoker smoke at the temperature that it likes best (so that you're not constantly fighting it). It'll have a sweet spot. It might be around 230, 250, 270.

You can always add sweetness back in with sauce. I/we do this. Even with having a nice sweet spot right at 255, I keep the sugars low and then just add them at the end.

You'll do fine.

Oh, I know that a lot of vendor supplied instructions say to soak wood chips or chunks. Please disregard that advice. It doesnt take much smoke over many hours to do the trick nicely. White billowy smoke is not desired/preferable. It tends to blacken the meat and leave a bitter taste on the outside. One or two chunks, dry, placed on a nice hot bed of coals will work wonders and will produce a very thin blueish smoke; we call it "sweet blue". It can be so thin sometimes that it's almost not visible. When you have this you will be in barbecue nirvana.

Best of luck!

tortaboy · 11-04-2011, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarlWayne

Speaking of stuffed jalapeños instead of cream cheese I used crab meat. Good alternative. I'm not fond of cream cheese but will eat it out of a jalapeño but would so crab meet stuffed oh my gosh...

Hey CarlWayne.....

I'm not a cream cheese lover either. Do you mix anything with the crab when you stuff your peppers?

El Ropo · 11-05-2011, 07:41 AM

I've always been partial to a nice simple pork loin. They are fast and easy, with great flavor. Makes wonderful lunch meat sliced deli thin.

euclid · 11-05-2011, 08:50 AM

I used to just have an 18" Weber Grill up until I bought my WSM 22.5" - I used to do butts, chuck roasts and briskets on it all the time. Was it competition cue? Nope; but was it tasty? Heck yeah.

If you want to get adventure-some, try a small little brisket (4-5 lbs if you can find one.) What I found is that while the brisket came off nowhere near the way you think a brisket ought to be cooked, (not like butta, not especially tender) if you chopped it up with some onions, garlic and bbq it made the best damn sloppy joe ever. The way I see it, you can pretty much salvage anything as long as you don't burn it to a crisp. If the meat doesn't come out tender, well chop it up so you don't have to chew it so much! Hope this inspires you to test the waters a bit.

posey's_pork_pit · 11-05-2011, 09:09 AM

Good morning neighbor ~ have you got the pork butt on?

I used to smoke exclusively on my Weber 22.5 and if I may offer a few tips:

Bank the coals to one side; I used firebricks to keep them in place ~ you could use your charcoal baskets.

For minion method, mix wood chunks in with banked, unlit charcoal. Fire up a 1/2 chimney full and dump on top of the unlit charcoal. I can get a 12 hour burn without refueling this way.

Foil pan on the other side to catch drippings.

Bottom and top vent wide open until up to temp, 250° - 275°, then shut down bottom vent completely and maintain temp using the top vent only.

No peeking! Although the Weber kettle is quick to recover, you are just slowing everything down by peeking.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Good luck and post some pics if you can.

tmehlhorn · 11-05-2011, 09:36 AM

Yep boston butt would be good choice. Pulled pork is hard to beat. Rub with mustard coat generously with rub and smoke. I have a performer too. I just bank one side with bricks and a couple bricks on top to block heat, minion method with some cherry chunks. I usually do mine around 300. Smoke to at least 195 when temp probe slides in like butter (usually about 200) it is done.

bigred1 · 11-07-2011, 03:02 PM

Well thanks again for all the input. I did go with a Butt. Got a big 11 pounder and cut it in half, one for the smoker and one for the freezer. I trimmed all the fat off, leaving maybe just a thin film. Went with the minion method and only raised the lid once to foil and add/push around the coals a bit. I did start to dip in temp around the 4 hour mark and this is when I foiled and got the temp up.

At about the 7 hour mark I opened it up and the temp was just under 200. Pulled it for the rest for an hour and it was perfect.

So my first butt was a great success, and very easy. I’ve done so much cooking in my time and trimming meats and knowing when something’s done has never been a challenge. Working the smoker I’m getting better at thanks to great resources like this forum.

My one question has to do with the juices in the foil after the rest. I added some of it back to the pan I shredded the pork in. This is obviously high in fat and I was curious as to what others do? The pork was really moist. Do most folks just dump this juice out or do as I did and save a little?

Posey you said with the Weber:
"Bottom and top vent wide open until up to temp, 250° - 275°, then shut down bottom vent completely and maintain temp using the top vent only."

Interesting, I haven’t been doing it this way and will have to give that a try thanks.

Lake Dogs · 11-07-2011, 04:17 PM

Congrats!

<-- typed as I'm eating some leftover pulled pork from Saturday with a little Blues Hog on the side...

11-04-2011, 04:50 PM	#16
Lake Dogs Quintessential Chatty Farker Join Date: 07-14-09 Location: Lake Sinclair, GA Name/Nickname : Hance	Sorry to just now get back to this. BigRed, where in Dekalb? I grew up in Tucker, off of Chamblee Tucker Rd. Yeah, the minimize sugars is with all barbecue early on especially. Sugars can burn fairly easily. Mind you, there are people that like the flavors of burned sugar (ala. my father), but most dont. Know that you're early-on in the learning curve. One of the hardest things to learn early on is fire/temperature control, and learning to let your smoker smoke at the temperature that it likes best (so that you're not constantly fighting it). It'll have a sweet spot. It might be around 230, 250, 270. You can always add sweetness back in with sauce. I/we do this. Even with having a nice sweet spot right at 255, I keep the sugars low and then just add them at the end. You'll do fine. Oh, I know that a lot of vendor supplied instructions say to soak wood chips or chunks. Please disregard that advice. It doesnt take much smoke over many hours to do the trick nicely. White billowy smoke is not desired/preferable. It tends to blacken the meat and leave a bitter taste on the outside. One or two chunks, dry, placed on a nice hot bed of coals will work wonders and will produce a very thin blueish smoke; we call it "sweet blue". It can be so thin sometimes that it's almost not visible. When you have this you will be in barbecue nirvana. Best of luck! __________________ Hance - MiM/MBN/GBA CBJ and comp cook Lake Sinclair, GA (strategically about an hour from darn near anywhere) My competition daze are probably behind me now; I pretty much cook for family, friends, and frankly the peace and solitude I get from smokin' on an offset... Was Lang 84DX, now Bubba Grills 250R and many Weber grills

11-05-2011, 07:41 AM	#18
El Ropo Quintessential Chatty Farker Join Date: 10-06-10 Location: Austin, TX Name/Nickname : Roger	I've always been partial to a nice simple pork loin. They are fast and easy, with great flavor. Makes wonderful lunch meat sliced deli thin. __________________ 22.5" WSM nicknamed Fuel Hog! Rescued 22.5" OTS. 18.5" OTS. SJS Mini-WSM. Building UDS ver 2.0. HEB briqs (rebranded Royal Oak). Pecan/Hickory/Cherry/Apple/Peach woods. 2016 Fuji Absolute 2.0 LE (for burning off all the great BBQ)

11-05-2011, 09:09 AM	#20
posey's_pork_pit is one Smokin' Farker Join Date: 05-11-10 Location: Doraville GA	Good morning neighbor ~ have you got the pork butt on? I used to smoke exclusively on my Weber 22.5 and if I may offer a few tips: Bank the coals to one side; I used firebricks to keep them in place ~ you could use your charcoal baskets. For minion method, mix wood chunks in with banked, unlit charcoal. Fire up a 1/2 chimney full and dump on top of the unlit charcoal. I can get a 12 hour burn without refueling this way. Foil pan on the other side to catch drippings. Bottom and top vent wide open until up to temp, 250° - 275°, then shut down bottom vent completely and maintain temp using the top vent only. No peeking! Although the Weber kettle is quick to recover, you are just slowing everything down by peeking. That's all I can think of at the moment. Good luck and post some pics if you can. __________________ Super fast Purple Thermapen Shirley Fabrication Offset 24x60, Weber SS Performer date code EE, Weber 18 and 22.5 OTS Kettle w/Marty's handles, Smokey Joe Silver w/wooden handle a.k.a. Mini Me, Weber Smokey Joe Platinum date code ER Sipsey: Secret's in the sauce.

11-05-2011, 09:36 AM	#21
tmehlhorn Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 06-20-11 Location: pratt, KS	Yep boston butt would be good choice. Pulled pork is hard to beat. Rub with mustard coat generously with rub and smoke. I have a performer too. I just bank one side with bricks and a couple bricks on top to block heat, minion method with some cherry chunks. I usually do mine around 300. Smoke to at least 195 when temp probe slides in like butter (usually about 200) it is done. __________________ Weber performer, Smokey joe, Weber go anywhere. Mini-wsm, WSM-Soon

11-07-2011, 04:17 PM	#23
Lake Dogs Quintessential Chatty Farker Join Date: 07-14-09 Location: Lake Sinclair, GA Name/Nickname : Hance	Congrats! <-- typed as I'm eating some leftover pulled pork from Saturday with a little Blues Hog on the side... __________________ Hance - MiM/MBN/GBA CBJ and comp cook Lake Sinclair, GA (strategically about an hour from darn near anywhere) My competition daze are probably behind me now; I pretty much cook for family, friends, and frankly the peace and solitude I get from smokin' on an offset... Was Lang 84DX, now Bubba Grills 250R and many Weber grills

11-05-2011, 08:50 AM	#19
euclid Knows what a fatty is. Join Date: 04-05-11 Location: Wilmington, DE	I used to just have an 18" Weber Grill up until I bought my WSM 22.5" - I used to do butts, chuck roasts and briskets on it all the time. Was it competition cue? Nope; but was it tasty? Heck yeah. If you want to get adventure-some, try a small little brisket (4-5 lbs if you can find one.) What I found is that while the brisket came off nowhere near the way you think a brisket ought to be cooked, (not like butta, not especially tender) if you chopped it up with some onions, garlic and bbq it made the best damn sloppy joe ever. The way I see it, you can pretty much salvage anything as long as you don't burn it to a crisp. If the meat doesn't come out tender, well chop it up so you don't have to chew it so much! Hope this inspires you to test the waters a bit.

11-07-2011, 03:02 PM	#22
bigred1 Found some matches. Join Date: 10-10-11 Location: Atlanta	Well thanks again for all the input. I did go with a Butt. Got a big 11 pounder and cut it in half, one for the smoker and one for the freezer. I trimmed all the fat off, leaving maybe just a thin film. Went with the minion method and only raised the lid once to foil and add/push around the coals a bit. I did start to dip in temp around the 4 hour mark and this is when I foiled and got the temp up. At about the 7 hour mark I opened it up and the temp was just under 200. Pulled it for the rest for an hour and it was perfect. So my first butt was a great success, and very easy. I’ve done so much cooking in my time and trimming meats and knowing when something’s done has never been a challenge. Working the smoker I’m getting better at thanks to great resources like this forum. My one question has to do with the juices in the foil after the rest. I added some of it back to the pan I shredded the pork in. This is obviously high in fat and I was curious as to what others do? The pork was really moist. Do most folks just dump this juice out or do as I did and save a little? Posey you said with the Weber: "Bottom and top vent wide open until up to temp, 250° - 275°, then shut down bottom vent completely and maintain temp using the top vent only." Interesting, I haven’t been doing it this way and will have to give that a try thanks.