H
Happy Highwayman
Guest
* See Pictures of Smoker on Page II
I'm relatively inexperienced at the art of BBQ, but I've successfully smoked chickens, pork shoulders and ribs on a standard weber kettle grill using patience and a wireless electric meat thermometer.
Recently I decided that using a charcoal grill as a smoker was a Pain in the ___, as I decided to build an electric ceramic smoker from two terra cotta flower pots, a $12 electric single burner heating element from wallgreens, and a standard weber grate for the food (and a pie pan for the wood chips).
I decided to try a small piece of meat, so I used a 4.5 lbs bone in piece of pig shoulder. It cooked for about 6.5 hours before the temp said the internal temp was correct. I kept the temperature of the smoker between 225-250...if it got close to 250 I'd shut it off and then turn it back on when it approached 225...at first it took a lot of on/off to make it the right range as even the "low" setting on the burner easily warmed up the smoker to 250 or higher but as time went on the heat stabilized more.
I immediately knew something was wrong, as in the past when I did it on the kettle, the meat was "fall off the bone" tender and easily "pulled" with two forks. This time the meat was incredibly dry and very tough, though the flavor was good. I put it in a slow cooker with a beer for another few hours to try and add some moisture back in and maybe make it more tender, but it didn't get much better. With the sauce and slaw it was totally edible in sandwich form, but I considered it a failure. I should note I even brined the meat for over 16 hours as well.
Should I have wrapped the shoulder in foil perhaps after the initial 2 hour smoking period? I used wood chips and I found a pie pan full lasted for 45-60 minutes of smoke.
Should I try and add a second grill under the first one and add a water pan?
Should I just do the initial smoking on the smoker and then oven finish?
Or, perhaps the meat was just too small for a 6.5 hour cook? When I did an 8-10 lb shoulder on the kettle it cooked for over 16 hours without drying out before it hit the right internal temp and was fabulous.
Any thoughts on improving the setup?
I'm relatively inexperienced at the art of BBQ, but I've successfully smoked chickens, pork shoulders and ribs on a standard weber kettle grill using patience and a wireless electric meat thermometer.
Recently I decided that using a charcoal grill as a smoker was a Pain in the ___, as I decided to build an electric ceramic smoker from two terra cotta flower pots, a $12 electric single burner heating element from wallgreens, and a standard weber grate for the food (and a pie pan for the wood chips).
I decided to try a small piece of meat, so I used a 4.5 lbs bone in piece of pig shoulder. It cooked for about 6.5 hours before the temp said the internal temp was correct. I kept the temperature of the smoker between 225-250...if it got close to 250 I'd shut it off and then turn it back on when it approached 225...at first it took a lot of on/off to make it the right range as even the "low" setting on the burner easily warmed up the smoker to 250 or higher but as time went on the heat stabilized more.
I immediately knew something was wrong, as in the past when I did it on the kettle, the meat was "fall off the bone" tender and easily "pulled" with two forks. This time the meat was incredibly dry and very tough, though the flavor was good. I put it in a slow cooker with a beer for another few hours to try and add some moisture back in and maybe make it more tender, but it didn't get much better. With the sauce and slaw it was totally edible in sandwich form, but I considered it a failure. I should note I even brined the meat for over 16 hours as well.
Should I have wrapped the shoulder in foil perhaps after the initial 2 hour smoking period? I used wood chips and I found a pie pan full lasted for 45-60 minutes of smoke.
Should I try and add a second grill under the first one and add a water pan?
Should I just do the initial smoking on the smoker and then oven finish?
Or, perhaps the meat was just too small for a 6.5 hour cook? When I did an 8-10 lb shoulder on the kettle it cooked for over 16 hours without drying out before it hit the right internal temp and was fabulous.
Any thoughts on improving the setup?
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