Practice cook w/pics.

[Kirk]

Watcha think? All opinions welcome.
Click the pics to enlarge. (Let me know if you get pop-ups from this picture hosting site please)






These are my speedy butts which were injected heavily, smoked at 300+, foiled at 160, pulled at 205 and allowed to rest awhile before finishing with a doctored up Lexington style sauce. I think I need to get a darker bark on the pork to give the finished product a little more visual appeal but the flavor was awesome.
The chicken needs work. It was brined before grilling but I think I need to leave it in the brine for a while longer next time. The first time I tried it, the chicken was way too salty. This time I think it needed more salt and the rub / sauce combo was a bit too spicy. The skin wasn't very good either so I guess I'll jack up the heat a bit next time too (first time cooking on the kettle). Oh well, that's why you do the practice run right?

Here's a stuffed pork loin I did for personal consumption (figures, this wasn't for the comp but it came out perfect):

 

[FatDad]

I think you did good brother.
I also had to get used to the kettle.
Started using the offset method and chicken comes out good.
(Grub Rub works very well)

As far as brine goes ....some of the brothers can chime in on that.

GOOD JOB....made me hungry.

 

[Bigmista]

How long did the Pork butts take?

 

[MilitantSquatter]

Kirk,

That pork loin looks fantastic... very similar to one I did a few months ago.

I brine my chicken and have had best success keeping in brine for 2-4 hrs max for cut parts with a good rinse afterward.

P.S. - I did get a pop-up advertisement box.

 

[Kirk]

As far as the kettle goes, I was real happy with the temp control on that. I was conservative with how many briquettes I put on either side of the drip pan for the first go 'round and I checked the temp by sticking the thermometer from my gasser in the top vent. I was suprised how quickly I could effect changes fom 300 to 400 degrees and back down again. I think these kettle things could catch on! :wink:

Mista, the butts (5 lb'ers) were done in around 6 hrs. It took 3 1/2 hrs to get to 160 and once they were foiled, I was really suprised how fast they went past 200. This is the second time I've done butts this way and I can honestly say that I don't think that I'm giving up anything from my days of doing them low and slow. The finished product is every bit as good IMHO. In fact, I think you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. As an added benefit of injecting and foiling, you get a ton of juice to do with as you please after the butts have rested for a while. I think the hardest thing about doing butts this way is keeping the WSM that hot for that long. I used new K and no water in the pan but I still had to prop the door open and stir and add to the coals a few times to keep the temp up. I burned pretty much a whole bag of new K in the process.

Thanks Vinny and sorry about the pop-ups. I think it's time to find a new image hosting site. I only brined the chickies for an hour this time. Last time I did it for 4 hours in a brine twice as strong as this one and the result was chicken too salty to eat. I think I'll stick with this brine concentration and do 2 hours next time. That pork loin is one of my favs too. I sprinkle it with a garlic and herb blend from McCormick, then stuff it with provolone, roasted peppers, sauteed mushrooms and broccoli rabe that's blanched and then sauteed with garlic and red pepper flakes. I think it adds great flavor as well as color.

 

[wnkt]

That loin looks REAL good.....what did you stuff it with?
<edit>
Guess I better read replies before I ask questions that are already answered.... what is "broccoli rabe"?

Yes I got pop-ups, but Firefox blocks them with no problems.

 

[Kirk]

Thanks wnkt, I just edited the post above to list the stuffing ingredients. You gotta try one of these things. They only take an hour or so to cook at the higher temps I was talking about and they come out really tender and juicy. I only take them to about 145 - 150 in the stuffing since it's already cooked. By that time, the surrounding pork is cooked nicely. The pork loin and sriracha meatloaf (done with hot Thai chili sauce instead of ketchup) are quickly becoming two of my favorites to do in the smoker.
Broccoli rabe is kind of leafy and a little bitter. You could use blanched spinach too.

 

[Kevin]

Thanks wnkt, I just edited the post above to list the stuffing ingredients. You gotta try one of these things. They only take an hour or so to cook at the higher temps I was talking about and they come out really tender and juicy. I only take them to about 145 - 150 in the stuffing since it's already cooked. By that time, the surrounding pork is cooked nicely. The pork loin and sriracha meatloaf (done with hot Thai chili sauce instead of ketchup) are quickly becoming two of my favorites to do in the smoker.
Broccoli rabe is kind of leafy and a little bitter. You could use blanched spinach too.

Sriracha meatloaf! I love that stuff (Sriracha) and have 6 pounds of ground beef and 2 pounds of ground pork in the fridge as I had planned on smoking a meatloaf or 2 for pre prepared meals for next week. I must have missed this. Please elaborate.

 

[big brother smoke]

Very nice, Kirk, very nice!

 

[stan]

looks good to me!

 

[tommykendall]

Nice sushi roll :mrgreen:

 

[BBQ_MAFIA]

That loin looks great.

 

[Kirk]

Thanks again guys.
The details on the meatloaf are as follows, I just substitute the Sriracha for the ketchup and breadcrumbs for the cracker crumbs (this is Chris' meatloaf from the TVWBB):
[FONT=Verdana,Helvetica,Arial]Basic Meatloaf [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Helvetica,Arial]1 pound ground beef (preferably 80% lean/20% fat, but 85%/15% is OK)
1 pound ground veal
1 pound ground pork
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup ketchup [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Helvetica,Arial]1/4 cup milk
2/3 cup saltine crackers, finely crushed (about 15 crackers)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic powder
Freshly ground black pepper to taste [/FONT]

Form into loaf, place on parchment paper cut to the shape of the loaf, smoke at 300 + until 160-165 internal. Go easy on the smoke.

I never do, but you can also sauce the loaf with the following:
[FONT=Verdana,Helvetica,Arial]Mom G's Meatloaf Sauce[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana,Helvetica,Arial]1/2 cup ketchup
6 tablespoons dark brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg[/FONT]
Mix ingredients thoroughly. To avoid clumping of the dry mustard, sift it into the ketchup and combine before stirring in the remaining ingredients. Score meatloaf and brush on sauce after one hour cooking.

 

[we'll smoke u]

Kirk,
That lion looks out of this world. Thanks for the recipe

 

[pqbbq]

I am getting hungry!

I brine chicken and turkeys about half the time. They sell these 2 and 1/2 gallon ziplock bags that will hold a turkey.

Trick is to be sure and rinse it off well.

 

[Kevin]

Made the Sriracha meatloaf tonight with a few mods. Week night and I can't stay up too late so it was speed smoked @ 500* on the Chargiller, 165* internal in 40 minutes. Realy good flavor, though not much smoke (guess I know why). Very good anyway. Thanks Kirk.

 

[Samichlaus]

That pork loin looks so fantastic I was FORCED to purchase two loins.

 

[Kirk]

If you try the loin thing in your smoker, chances are yours will come out darker and have more of a smoke ring. I did this one on the kettle with a chunk of hickory in the coals just to get some practice (the OTG was a Father's Day present and is actually my first charcoal grill). It wasn't the same as it is from the WSM but it didn't suck either. :wink: