Summer means smokers!

[Eric]

I can't say when the last time before this past weekend the last time I had smoked food, but I'm guessing it was in August or September.  I think I've finally settled upon my preferred way of preparing a pork shoulder for pulled pork.  You've likely read this in different forms in this thread, but below it's coalesced into a more solid form.  If anyone is interested, that is.

I'm still shocked that so few people around here use smokers.  The Boston Butt/Pork Shoulder is such a forgiving hunk of meat -- it's not rocket science.  Granted, it's a bit more time consuming than flipping on a gas grill for some burgers.  But oh, so worth it ...

This is what works for me, and produces my favorite style of pulled pork.  I've gotten some great compliments, including a new one yesterday from someone who went vegetarian a year ago.  "I can't resist your pulled pork."  I think she had two sandwiches.

Hehe.  Smoke-E, corrupting vegetarians one at a time.

So this is probably too much info, but here it is if you're interested: 

The night before:

- Use the "Boston Butt" portion (not the Picnic)
- De-bone or buy without the bone
- Rub with olive oil and then favorite rub mix
- Tie with butcher's string to make it fairly uniform in thickness.  I rubbed-then twined to get rub in all the crevices, but it's messier this way.

Day-of:

- Charcoal chimney-starter, Wicked Good lump charcoal The Minion Method.
- Hot water in the water bowl (I haven't yet tried without water, which some claim is better).
- The usual low-and slow.  I like 225F smoker temp for about 90/minutes per pound.  Remove when the meat temp is 190-195F. 185 if in a hurry but plan to let it rest an hour or so.
- 30 minutes before removal, prepare a small cooler as a faux cambro.  Seriously, this thing is awesome.  Put very hot water in the cooler for 20-30 minutes, empty, cover bottom with old towel and it's ready for the meat. 
-Wrap the pork shoulder with foil, and put in the faux cambro.
-Let rest for sixty minutes.  The faux cambro will keep it at a safe temperature for hours.
-Serve with favorite barbecue sauce.  We prefer the Famous Dave's brand which can be purchased at any of their restaurants.

My beef brisket recipe is close to the above except:

- Inject with beef base the night before (for that extra beefy flavor).
- At about 150F, tightly double-wrap in heavy-duty foil w/1/2 cup of broth, water or beer poured into the bottom.
- At 200-205F, remove and put into faux cambro.
- Let rest in the faux cambro for two hours if at all possible.
- Cutting against the grain is a an absolute must, and probably no thicker than 1/4".

Beef briskets are harder to get right.  I've done pretty good with them, but the second I made was a bit tough.  I suspect it was due to not properly cutting.  It's pretty amazing, but I firmly believe the cut is a big difference between falls-apart-in-your-mouth and my-gosh-this-is-tough brisket.

[TinkTanker]

Thanks for the info! Any tips on ribs? Ann said she's ready for me to get to work...

[Eric]

Thanks for the info! Any tips on ribs? Ann said she's ready for me to get to work...

I've only done that once, and followed the Amazing Ribs Last Meal Ribs recipe.  T'was pretty tasty.  The recipe doesn't call for a rack but I used bamboo skewers so I could fit them in my WSM. Maybe only necessary if you're cooking a bunch?

This isn't Meathead, but he has it linked on that page.  It's a how-to following that recipe:

http://youtu.be/_9pG4iitttY

Now I want to make some too.

[TinkTanker]

Those look just a tad more done than I like. IMHO, they should feather a bit more when you bite into them. It might have been the lighting, but they looked a little on the dark side as well.

I got a pack of ribs last year from Sam's. I thought there were two racks but there were three and I had a tough time getting them all on the Weber, even with the upright rib holder. It took me a while longer to prep them as well and I had to rush things towards the end, so I'll probably cut and trim and season and all the night before. The ones I cooked last year were good, not great. I'll use this guy's techniques but maybe not go quite so long. I didn't sear mine with the sauce on but put it on in the last 30 minutes or so, near as I can remember.

[Eric]

When I was very young my dad loved to BBQ ribs.  I don't know what the problem was, but I couldn't stand them.  I remember there being some significant gristling that grossed me out (hey, I was very young!).  So, I never acquired the desire for them.

But when I see meaty chunks like at the website and video... *drool*

I agree the video ribs looked pretty dark.  His fire was probably hot enough that he did not need to go a full minute.  I do the same technique with chicken wings and whole ham.  Smoke, then toss on a hot grill long enough to caramelize. Sizzle, but don't burn.

[TinkTanker]

Sizzle, but don't burn.

Those looked a little burnt to me.

[Eric]

Sizzle, but don't burn.

Those looked a little burnt to me.

I agree!  If I try it, I probably will keep a closer eye than he did. Granted, I never did get a charcoal grill, so it'll take longer for me.

If I had it all to do over again, I'm pretty sure I'd have gone your route w/a Weber grill.  ;-)

[TinkTanker]

It's a damn good grill, but it lacks the room to smoke a lot of meat. When the season ends, I'll probably pick up a smoker. To go with my collection. 

[Eric]

If I had $1100, I'd probably get the Good-One Open Range 3rd-gen grill and offset smoker.  I only found out about it this weekend, but it looks nice.  Thankfully, I don't have to be burdened with the question if I spent my money in a good way.   

For future reference, I wonder how good one of these extenders would work for a grill like yours?  http://cajunbandit.com/

I really need to figure out how I can get Obama to pay for my grilling habit.

[Eric]

BTW, if you do ribs please do tell (show?) us your results and what worked/didn't work!