Chad

Okay, here we are at nine hours. Looks good, but internal temp is just 171, which is extremely annoying. I've just popped it into a 240 degree oven to finish up, mainly because my wife is tired of me hanging around outside . And she's getting hungry. Still looks pretty damn juicy, though. So perhaps the juice runoff from the slashing won't do too much damage. We'll see. Fifi, the coals are still going strong. Looks like they'd be good for at least another two hours. I know when I removed the lid they really heated up, flaming the remaining wood chips. Looks like the Minion method works for a kettle, too. I figured nine hours would be enough to hit pulling temp. Any thoughts? Chad

Now I'm all aflutter. Chad

Yeah, I'm not real sure about the slashing, either. As I mentioned, there was so much juice runoff that I doubt there's any vinegar sauce left. The ambient temp has finally settled down to a perfect 250, helped considerably by the sun passing to the other side of the house. The wind has died down a little, too. I've been dealing with a steady 20-25mph breeze all day. Welcome to Kansas . Only here does that qualify as a "breeze." Internal temp has plateaued at 162. It should hold pretty steady until the collagen and connective tissue starts to break down. I'm guessing about another two hours will put me at 190+. Then I'll double wrap in foil, wrap that in an old towel and plop it into a cooler for about an hour. I haven't done that before, but it really makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the great suggestion. Chad

Yep, my garden trowel has come in very handy. I use it to push coals around, shove wood chips down the grate and, in a pinch, to lift the grate. It's cropped out of the right side of the shot showing the pre-slashed butt on the cutting board. Chad

I have slashed my butt! Man that's weird to type. I don't think I'll do it this way again -- not unless the barbecue is absolutely astounding. Man, what a pain in the butt. Hmm, there's got to be a better way to put that. Pork shoulder at six hours of smoking. Looking pretty dang good. On the cutting board, ready to slash. Slashed butt. Looks pretty good inside. Following Villas's instructions, I slashed deeply -- about halfway into the butt -- and slopped large amounts of my sauce into the cuts with a pastry brush. I was not prepared for the huge amounts of pork juice, pork fat and other, less identifiable, liquids that came gushing out. Given the amount of runoff, there's no telling if there is actually any sauce in or on the meat at this point. Getting it back onto the grill entailed spilling the combined juices all over the concrete and my ankles. Not fun. I ended up hosing off the stairs, my legs, my shoes and the patio. Chad

At four and a half hours. Just opened her up to add some more wood chips and this was the sight that greeted me. My God I have a lovely butt! That thing is just freaking gorgeous. Hard to believe I have anything to do with it. Chad

I do have some welding gloves, but they were up in the kitchen. Doh! I generally use them for handling my cast iron pan. I'll bring 'em down for the next part of the adventure. C'mon, the hose was an integral part of the composition of the photos. Didn't you notice the lovely contrast between the bright yellow hose and the hulking black grill? Love, ButtHead

Thanks! Good point about the fat side. I hadn't thought about that. Hmmm. When I get ready to slash & sauce I'll take a good look. If it looks like I'm losing too much fat I'll slash the fat side and put it on top again. If it still looks pretty healthy, I'll keep the fat side down and slash the underside. The underside had plenty of fat, too. Chad

It certainly seems to. It's been three hours, and there's plenty of life left in those coals. I think they'll go at least another three. There are still plenty of completely black briquettes in the mix. That's good to hear. My temp is back up to 300 and there's not much I can do about it. The kettle has three leaf-shaped vents in the bottom with corresponding sliders inside the grill. The sliders serve to cover the vents and scoop ash out into the catch pan below. You can't selectively open or close specific vents. I've got them completely closed at this point. Will do. Dunno whether to slash the fat side or the bottom. I'm thinking bottom just because I'll remove a lot of that fat cap before chopping. Seems like a waste to sauce that side, I also think the sauce will penetrate the bottom side a little better. Chad

Just turned the shoulder. It's been on about three hours. I added some water to the drip pan and put on a fresh batch of soaked hickory chips. That (and having the lid off while turning) brought the ambient temperature back down where it should be. Removing the grate to add the chips was an adventure. I didn't think to bring my welding gloves down, so I used a garden trowel and my tongs to hook under the grate to lift it. Precarious at best. Must remember gloves. How's it look to y'all? Chad

About ready to turn. I'm going to give it another 20 minutes or so. The turn will be right at 3 hours on the smoker. A constant Kansas wind is making temperature control a little tricky. My ambient temp is about 300 right above the meat. I'm a little concerned, but not ovely so. I have the bottom vents completely closed and I've shoved the other half of the thermometer cork into one of the top vents. We'll see how that works. I've got to say, that butt is looking good! Chad

Talk, pig, talk. what's the recipe? It's upthread a little ways, but here it is again: It's a pretty standard Western NC style mop/sauce. I like mine a little hotter than most, so I use 2-3 tablespoons of crushed red pepper rather than the more usual 1 tablespoon. I also let the red pepper, salt, sugar and black pepper steep in the vinegar for several days. I can't be dogmatic about it, but I believe that infusing the vinegar marries the flavors better and leads to a smoother tasting sauce. Some folks add a dash of Worcesteshire sauce and a tablespoon or two of prepared mustard. Hmm, I should note that the line "the rest (of the sauce) will be added once the pork has been pulled and chopped" is not quite right. I'll add it to taste rather than just dumping it on. Less for the kids, more for me . Chad

Barbecue sauce simmering. This stuff is not as thick as it looks. It's extremely thin, as a matter of fact. All I want it to do is add a hint of vinegar, heat and a little salt to the final pulled pork. Just tasted it. Yow! Way too sharp. Added another tablespoon of sugar (pretty close to a tablespoon, anyway; I just dumped sugar into my hand until it looked about right) and another 1/3 cup (or so) of ketchup. Pork shoulder is perking along nicely. Temp at the upper vent is running between 250 and 260, which, I think, is about perfect. Chad

I like big butts and I ain't lyin'! The pork shoulder is on the grill. Here are a couple of pictures of the process. I'll post more as events warrant. Coals about ready to go. Please ignore the dead spots in my lawn. We're working on it. Up to temp. The cork trick is damn handy. Thanks to whomever came up with that. Big salty butt. Ahem. 6lb pork shoulder brined overnight. The other side. Nice fat layer! There's a 9x12 baking pan full of water directly under the shoulder. It'll catch drips to prevent flare-ups, and the water acts as a heat brake to keep the kettle temperature more stable. I did use the Minion Method for the coals. There's a layer of unlit briquettes under the lit layer, both shoved over to the left as far as I can get them. The vent holes on the lid are positioned to the right to draw the smoke across the shoulder. Chad

Thanks for the heads up on the links. I'll peruse them tonight. I swapped the 8 pounder for the 6 pounder to ensure that we'll actually be able to eat dinner tomorrow night. It's brining as we speak. If this goes well, I may do the 8 pound butt later. If not, I've been itching to haul out the sausage grinder, and that butt is looking just about perfect. I have a Polder probe that'll go into the meat and a digital instant read that I'll use for checking ambient grill temp by pushing it through a cork and placing the cork in one of the upper vent holes, making allowances for the 15 degree increase from surface temp to vent temp. Mark's SC style sauce sounds pretty good, but I'm making Western North Carolina style barbecue: 1-1/2 cups of white vinegar (more or less) 1-1/2 cups of cider vinegar (more or less) About an ounce of crushed red pepper flakes (two heaping tablespoons or so) A shot of hot sauce Kosher salt (about a tablespoon) Coarse black pepper About a tablespoon of sugar All of that has been steeping in a Mason jar for about a week. In the morning I'll mix that with A cup of ketchup (Lexington, NC, influence) I'll bring the sauce to a very gentle boil, adjust sugar and salt, and let cool for about an hour before putting it back in the Mason jar and refrigerating. I'm going to try James Villas's suggestion of slashing the butt at about four hours and dousing with the sauce. The rest will be added once the pork has been pulled & chopped. I'll recharge the batteries in the digital camera so I can upload pics of the process. Chad edit to firm up recipe

Ah, hell, I do a two-day Tuscan bread that requires more attention than a purebed Chihuahua. A couple of hours playing with meat and fire? Piece of cake. Chad

Yep, I reread Klink's class last night as a matter o' fact. Just brushing up because I haven't done this in a while. You'd think that with a softball question like this he'd get his lazy ass in here and pontificate. I don't have the hinged grill grate, so there's a little more heavy lifting to do. Of course, I've scheduled nothing else for the day. "No, honey, I can't. I've got to watch the barbecue. Can you get me another beer?" Heh! I've got a good book, a fresh pitcher of tea and a deep and abiding love of laziness. I'm set. Chad

I suppose it's no different than putting "magic stones" in a hat, I can believe that it happened if you say so. Hell, I think I have "magic stones" just for posting that kind of shit in the first place. And if you're willing to believe it . . . well, gullible friends are the best kind to have. Chad

Thanks, folks. I'm not new to barbecue. I'm heir to the one true Lexington/Western NC barbecue recipe, as revealed to my family in a vision of a talking pig many years ago . Sidenote: To those who might be new to eGullet or to the various styles of NC/SC/Georgia barbecue, suffice it to say that religous wars have been fought over the inclusion of ketchup to the vinegar and crushed red pepper sauce. Try bringing SC-style mustard-based sauce into the conversation and, well, you're likely to lose friends. We're serious about this stuff. Please excuse my misguided attempt at humor. I've never tried it on a Weber kettle, before, though, so I really appreciate the assistance. Looks like I'll have to get started a little earlier than planned. So, I'll keep the grill (indirect heat, drip pan full of water & moist wood chips, of course) about 200-225 if I can manage it, finish in a 225 degree oven when I get tired of messing with it. James Villas recommends turning at two hours, slashing and dousing with the vinegar sauce at four hours, then putting it back on to finish. Any thoughts on the efficacy of the slashing/dousing method? Chad

Howdy folks, I just picked up a 6lb and an 8lb pork butt from my friendly butcher. I'm going to do a Lexington/WNC style barbecue tomorrow with the 8 pounder. But I do have two smoking questions. 1) How long should I allow on the smoker to reached proper pulled pork consistency? I'm thinking about 8 hours to reach 190+. This'll be on a Weber kettle, by the way. 2) I've never done this, but several recent BBQ technique articles I've read mentioned trussing the pork shoulder into a compact cube. Do any of y'all do this? Does it help? Thanks! Chad

One of the best examples of eGulleters pitching in to tackle (or confuse) a task: Varmint's Story of a Kitchen Renovation. That was simply amazing. Chad

This could certainly end some careers. And jump-start others. Chad

Bingo! That last post of yours triggered a memory. The February 2004 issue of Discover magazine has an article about Walter Willet's new book. Willet is the chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. He takes on Atkins, Ornish, the food pyramid -- hell, he takes on everybody -- based on a 28-year study of several hundred thousand participants. One of his innovations is taking the Glycemic Index (the measure of how quicky carbohydrates raise blood sugar levels) further. He developed the Glycemic Load that factors in the quantity of carbohydrates eaten in a single serving. Parsnips, for example, have a Glycemic Index of 97 -- extremely high because they convert to sugar very quickly. However, the Glycemic Load of parsnips is only 12 because a single 80-gram serving contains a very small amount of carbohydrates. Sounds like the diet you're working with might benefit from his book, Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating. It's worth checking out. Chad

<sigh> You've come up with the single thing in the universe that would make this diet doable. Good luck to both of you. Chad

Holy Crap! Dude, with those kind of restrictions, the only thing I'd be thinking about eating would be the barrel of a .45, but that's just me . I've already warned my doc that if he ever tells me I have to stop drinking wine or die, my only question will be, "How much time do I have -- in liquid measurement?" I'm sure the resourceful folks at eGullet will come through for you. Chad