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LGerber
09-19-2007, 09:14 PM
On Monday morning my brother gets a call from his ex father-in-law telling him that his wife had passed away. The family is very close to us even though there was a divorce and we are saddened by the loss. These folks are very well loved in our little local community and a dinner was planned for everyone after the services. After the first night of viewing with over 200 people stopping by there was some concern with the funeral dinner not having enough food for everyone as there are so many family members and no one really in the right frame of mind. So this morning my brother and I was discussing it on the way to the job site and we decided at the last minute to do up about 50 pounds of pork to help them out. So its going to be a long night for me as we got the pork on about 8:20 this evening and the butts average about 8 pounds each. Here are some of the pics to get started and there will be more as the night progresses. This is also my first cook totally with Rancher charcoal. I have used it before but tonight I really wanted to see if my previous results on the temp holding good was because of the fuel.
Now on with the pics!!!!

Just click on the pic to get a bigger view

Here are the butts rubbed down getting ready to go.
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b176/alliedawn_98/BBQ/Funeral/th_Vonda003.jpg (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b176/alliedawn_98/BBQ/Funeral/Vonda003.jpg)

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b176/alliedawn_98/BBQ/Funeral/th_Vonda002.jpg (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b176/alliedawn_98/BBQ/Funeral/Vonda002.jpg)

Heres a shot of the Brinkman loaded down ( The most I have ever had going at once)
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b176/alliedawn_98/BBQ/Funeral/th_Vonda007.jpg (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b176/alliedawn_98/BBQ/Funeral/Vonda007.jpg)

Heres a shot of my Rub........Since I am a bald headed farker....or at least on my way to being one!!! We call my rub Baldy's Rub

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b176/alliedawn_98/BBQ/Funeral/th_Vonda005.jpg (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b176/alliedawn_98/BBQ/Funeral/Vonda005.jpg)


As I said its going to be an all nighter with maybe a few naps here and there so if there are any nightowls that wanna talk I will be here off and on all night....

Thanks for looking

CrimsonSmoke
09-19-2007, 09:28 PM
good luck

Puppyboy
09-19-2007, 09:56 PM
Good luck with your first big cook.

You got a mod on that bad boy to ease up that hot spot next to the firebox?

Azinine
09-19-2007, 10:02 PM
Good luck for sure. You're doing a great deed.

FYI: I would not want the butts to be touching each other as shown in the 3rd pic. The smoker looks overloaded already but this will only compound the problem. Do you think you could give each of them a 20º - 30º turn? Maybe that would help. You don't want them touching end to end as you have it now. This is gonna increase the cook time.

good luck.


EDIT: Just went back and looked at your pics again. Dude, your smoker is WAY overloaded. You're probably gonna have trouble keeping the temps up. Also, you better rotate them butts. The ones sitting right next to the firebox are gonna get crispy...

LGerber
09-19-2007, 11:16 PM
Thanks for the tips brethren, Yes I have rotated them and keep trying to space them out as I go. This is really the first big cook I have done on this cooker as all my previous ones have been smaller amounts. As far as my temps go I have been keeping a close eye on them as this is the first time in over a year that I have done it overnight. I understand from my reading that the Smoke N Pit Pro has issues with keeping temps and I was concerned with the cooling temps during the night. So far I have been doing pretty good with maintaining a temp on the mounted thermometer at around 250 so that should give me a little cooler grate temp. Let me go out and move the meat around and see if I cant get a little better spacing.

LGerber
09-19-2007, 11:34 PM
Alright, went out there and evaluated what my options were, and there was a piece of loin roast that I placed in there along with the butts that I removed to free up some space. So now there is no touching of the meat anywhere in the cooker. As stated before the meat is being rotated on a regular basis so it doesn't get crisped. As it stands right now things are happening slow and low so I am going to try to catch a nap

keale
09-20-2007, 01:30 AM
Good luck, you're helping a family in need, which is awesome.
Hows the temps going?

LGerber
09-20-2007, 02:30 AM
OK, Just checked it after a 2 hour nap and the temp in the thermometer in the lid was right at 250 so we are doing good right now. Sorry brothers but at 3AM I am gonna have to be short so I can catch a little more nap......LOL

LGerber
09-20-2007, 06:42 AM
This is the other half. I checked at 6:30 and the pit temp was 225. The pork was up to 180 so I went ahead and foiled it. I have it holding steady at 225 again. The ole man is sleeping.

Meat Burner
09-20-2007, 07:16 AM
sounds like a successful cook. Great job for half and the other half !!!!

Azinine
09-20-2007, 08:48 AM
Good job

LGerber
09-20-2007, 08:52 AM
This is the other half again........he just left to pick up some roasters to put it all in. Before he left, we pulled 4 of the butts. Two of them weren't up to 200 yet so we left them on for a while longer. We also threw the loin back on to finish cooking. The others are resting comfortable in the cooker. I am ready for the taste test! LOL I think that's the hardest part of cooking.....smelling it and not being able to eat any for hours. When we pull it, I'll take the finished pics to share.

LGerber
09-20-2007, 09:35 AM
Well brothers as this cook dwindles down there are a few things that I have noticed. One is that this Smoke N Pit Pro needs to have a reverse flow mod done to it. While there are 2 levels of racks the lower ones dont get as hot as the uppers. Also I want to get away from the hot spots near the fire box. While I dont mind rotating the meat around to avoid the high heat it is a pain....especially at 1:00AM. I think if it is done right the the reverse flow mod will allow a more even distribution of the heat over the cooking area.
Another thing I want to think about is the coal area. While I do like using the Rancher Charcoal it does seem to create a lot of ash and I found it has the tendency to want to smother the coals. Not real sure how I can improve my burning get better ash drop so the coals dont cool too much. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
All in all I think this cook went pretty well, as the last 2 butts are coming up to temp from setting on the lower racks. As Allie said in a previous post there will lots of pics this afternoon as we are gonna pull the pork right there where the dinner is being held.
I wanna thank each and everyone that has contributed in this cook. I received alot of good tips from the brethren over night and I did learn alot that will help me be a better cooker.
Thanks again

Les

michiana mark
09-20-2007, 11:56 AM
It's a good thing you have done. Your rewards will be in heaven.

Smokin Gator
09-20-2007, 01:03 PM
Great job on the cook bro and well done on the thoughtfulness as well.

LGerber
09-20-2007, 05:39 PM
As promised here are the finished pics. The dinner went off very well. We are both happy with the results from our efforts and wouldn't hesitate to do this again.
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b176/alliedawn_98/BBQ/Funeral/th_DSCN0980004.jpg (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b176/alliedawn_98/BBQ/Funeral/DSCN0980004.jpg)


http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b176/alliedawn_98/BBQ/Funeral/th_DSCN0977001.jpg (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b176/alliedawn_98/BBQ/Funeral/DSCN0977001.jpg)

CrimsonSmoke
09-20-2007, 05:42 PM
good job.