The Shoulder Bone's Connected To The

[Stone]

The second smoking begins tomorrow a.m. I bought a 14 pount Boston Butt:

Which luckily was cut in half. But I'm figuring that a 7.5 pound pork butt will take at least 8 hours in the smoker. (The other half is in the freezer.) So I rubbed it up well tonight (mixture of paprika, salt, garlic powder, cayenne, chilli powder, cumin seed), and will try to get it in the bullet so it's done at 6:30 -7ish. Since the last smoking took longer than I expected, I'll give myself an hour to spare before people come over at 8 for the 9:00 season premire of Six Feet Under.

And I picked up an 8 pound slab o' ribs:

I got my trimming instructions from the Virtual Webber Bullet site: here. An excellent resource.

The membrane seemed to have been trimmed away by the butcher. You'll see the two rib sections on the bottom, topped by the end flap and the sternum sections. Not many bones in there? Seemed meaty. Up to the right are the two skirts from the underside of the ribs. I'll rub these up and put them in my rib rack. Add 'em to the smoker at about 2:30 or 3. I figure 4.5 hours for the ribs (I'll put the smaller pieces on about an hour after the ribs). Hope everthing fits happy in there.

I've got Kingston briquettes this time (my natural charcoal has been outside through a few rain storms. Even though it's dry under the stairs, it probably got moist from the humidity). And some bags of hickory and mesquite. I'll probably use half and half during the day. Butt on the top rack, ribs and scraps in the middle.

(Aren't the little cutters on aluminum foil and plastic wrap boxes a bitch?)

Edited March 2, 2003 by Stone (log)

[weinoo]

Stone,

I'm jealous and guessing that you don't live in Manhattan. Since I moved back to NYC nine years ago, my Sunday ritual of smoking has gone by the wayside - I used to fire the smoker up at 9:00 a.m., smoke assorted meats fish and birds (have you ever done duck yet?) all day, and have a crowd over for dinner around 6 - sometimes I really miss my backyard in San Jose - 3 meyer lemon trees, an organic vegetable garden, giant weber, even gianter Charbroil coal fired rotisserie grill - oh man, I ate lots of smoke.

BTW, have you used oak, alder or other fruit woods in your smoking? I liked alder for fish, and oak/hickory for pork.

[Stone]

My Apt in Manhattan has a small balcony, overlooking Broadway (at 8th). I used to grill up there, always nervous that the flames shooting up would get me kicked out of the coop. When I lived on 79th, I had a nice tar-beach on the roof. Held many BBQ's up there. Where there's a grill, there's a way.

[Stone]

Everything's going much smoother this time. I started the briquettes in the chimney at 9:30 ish, and put them in the bin a little before 10 and topped it off - 10 lbs total. Threw the soaked wood chunks and put the meat on at 10:15. The temp is up to 225 pretty fast, so I've closed the bottom vents all the way, and the top vent 50%.

What the hell, I'll open beer anyway. It's Sunday, I've got pneumonia, and 15 pounds of pork.

[weinoo]

My Apt in Manhattan has a small balcony, overlooking Broadway (at 8th).  I used to grill up there, always nervous that the flames shooting up would get me kicked out of the coop.  When I lived on 79th, I had a nice tar-beach on the roof.  Held many BBQ's up there.  Where there's a grill, there's a way.

That may be so, but we had a fire in our building around 4 years ago (there used to be a bar called the Velvet Room downstairs where the fire started), and ever since then, I've given up my smoky joe on the fire escape! I do have some friends on the island whom I've "set-up" weber wise- and I get to go out there occassionally and do some grilling and smoking.

[Stone]

The smoker's been going well. Hovering nicely between 230 and 250. At 2:15 I added more wood, and it plunged down to 215. I opened the bottom vents to get the heat back up, but I'm thinking I may need more coal. Hopefully, my old natural stuff will burn. If not, a fast trip to safeway will be necessary. I figure the ribs are going on at 3:15-3:30 for a 7:30-8 appearance.

[=Mark]

The temp is up to 225 pretty fast, so I've closed the bottom vents all the way, and the top vent 50%.

Never mess with the top vent!

[Stone]

Yeah, I know. I closed it only for about 15 minutes to stabilize the temp. Since then, it's been open all the way.

Now for the hard part. I put on another half chimney of coals to start. I've got to take off the top and add the new coals; take off the top rack and put the ribs on the lower rack -- all without losing all the heat. Well, I'm going to lose a lot of heat, so the new coals should get me back up quickly.

[col klink]

With cuts like the butt and ribs where you want slow and low cooking, dropping to 215 isn't anything to worry about. I personally like to smoke my ribs between 200 and 225. I smoke by feel and 250 is a little high for me, reason being the longer the ribs are in the smoker, the better they'll taste.

[Stone]

Hmmm. The air temp has dropped a bit, and my digital probe was reading 219 no matter what I did. I had a regular oven thermometer in the smoker, all caked up with soot of course. I dug it out and cleaned it off -- just what I thought -- about 240!! I took out the digital probe and wiped clean the end. There we go. So I thought I was at 219ish for about 30 minutes. Actually I was a bit higher. Something to look out for in the future.

[Kim WB]

Hmmm.  The air temp has dropped a bit, and my digital probe was reading 219 no matter what I did.  I had a regular oven thermometer in the smoker, all caked up with soot of course.  I dug it out and cleaned it off -- just what I thought -- about 240!!  I took out the digital probe and wiped clean the end.  There we go.  So I thought I was at 219ish for about 30 minutes.  Actually I was a bit higher.  Something to look out for in the future.

e gullet is so cool, I mean...REALLY!!! YOu guys rule!

[Stone]

Ooh baby.

[awbrig]

The Shoulder Bone's Connected To The, Rib Bone

Edited March 3, 2003 by awbrig (log)

[Stone]

According to my instant thermometer, the butt is about 175 ish. I'm hoping to get over 190 in an hour. I wonder if the unintentional high heat created a crust that won't allow the heat to continue penetrating into the center (or is that a myth)?

The ribs have been on for about 3 hours, and I haven't gotten a good look at them. I'll give it anohter half hour before taking off the top to peer in. I figure they're below the butt, so probably cooking at a higher heat. I can get at some of the flap meat through the window -- it tastes great, but not tender enough yet.

mmmm.

(Beer, prednisone, Z-max, cortisone, smoke, hyperventilation -- now that's a Sunday afternoon at home!)

Edited March 3, 2003 by Stone (log)

[IrishCream]

Awesome. We are waiting for a final report. And pics if possible. Did that pork butt get cooked through?

[=Mark]

According to my instant thermometer, the butt is about 175 ish.  I'm hoping to get over 190 in an hour.  I wonder if the unintentional high heat created a crust that won't allow the heat to continue penetrating into the center (or is that a myth)?

The ribs have been on for about 3 hours, and I haven't gotten a good look at them.  I'll give it anohter half hour before taking off the top to peer in.  I figure they're below the butt, so probably cooking at a higher heat.  I can get at some of the flap meat through the window -- it tastes great, but not tender enough yet.

mmmm.

(Beer, prednisone, Z-max, cortisone, smoke, hyperventilation -- now that's a Sunday afternoon at home!)

Myth. What happens when the temp stops rising in the meat is the fat is rendering out and the collagen is breaking down. When the temp starts rising again and goes above 180 is when you want to pull it off and let it rest for about a half hour.

Also, it may seem counter-intuitive but the higher the meat is in the smoker the hotter it is, at least when using the water pan. Even though the lower rack is closer to the heat source, the actual heat goes around the edges of the water pan and rises up along the sides of the smoker, then settles under the lid.

This can be compensated for if you cook Carolina style without the water pan. This involves shoveling wood that has burnt down to coals into the smoker. This allows radiant heat from the coals to assist in the cooking along with the convective hot air. This requires more intensive tending as the fire has to be kept smaller and burning coals have to be added more frequently. Ain't technology grand?

[Stone]

Also, it may seem counter-intuitive but the higher the meat is in the smoker the hotter it is, at least when using the water pan.

You must be right. And, of course, heat rises.

[Stone]

Well, everbody loved the pork. Except I wasn't completely satisfied.

Ribs:

Pile O' Pig:

The ribs were my favorite. They may have been a tad overdone -- I definitely had some thermometer issues. The meat was tender, but still had good bite to it. It didn't fall off the bone -- you had to chew it off. I liked that. The spice rub was good and the smoke flavor intense. The red smoke ring penetrated nicely into each piece. The only drawback was a slightly acrid, chemical taste. My first guess is that this is from the briquettes -- I probably didn't get them fully hot and smoking before putting them on. Or, it could have been from the rub. I bought some 90,000 SU cayenne pepper, being all manly and shit. The stuff if friggin hot (I can't even look at the bottle without sneezing), but definitely has a thin bitterness in the aftertaste.

The butt, not as good. Everyone loved it, but it certainly wasn't pulled. After 9 hours, my digital therm read at only 167-170 interior. My instant read was closer to 180. ( Test my three oven thermometers in the ove today.) Maybe this is just because it was a big ol' butt. (That baby got back.) My last smoke was with 3.5-4 pounds. This was closer to 7.5 But it was about 150 at 4:00. (I flipped the fellow at 4.) At 7, I sliced the thing in half. I took it off at 8:15.

The fat hadn't fully rendered off and there was still a thick layer on the top. (Last time, I had cut off the fat cap and just laid it on top. I think I like that better.) But the outer portion pulled well. The inner was certainly cooked through (not pink at all), but it still had the collegen texture and was, in my opinion too moist. Not that moist pork is not great. But overly moist pork is, to me, like undercooked bacon. It didn't really pull, but certainly sliced up good. Just like a pork roast should. And it sure tasted good. Again, an excellent red smoke ring seeping about 1/4 inch into the meat. Good flavor from the rub.

I had made some coleslaw during the day. Not my best batch of Mayo, and a bit too much salt. I decided to go completely redneck and used untoasted cheap buns from costco. Next time I'll get better. They were like sponge puffs.

Well, I'll be sauteeing the pork for fake-carnitas lunch.

Cheers.

Edited March 3, 2003 by Stone (log)

[Stone]

By the way -- my friend's dog (American Bulldog) ate the whole shoulder blade. Didn't just chew on it. Ate it. In about 10 minutes.

[col klink]

The butt, not as good. Everyone loved it, but it certainly wasn't pulled.

Now you're starting to sound like a seasoned smoker.

I'm surprised that a 5 lb butt after 9 hours didn't reach over 200 degrees, really surprised. Unless your smoker temp was hovering at 200, there isn't any reason given that much time for the roast to come to temp. Maybe if the shoulder bone was still in, but the thermodynamics side of me is still confused.

As for your slight chemical flavor it probably is your rub. If you smoke with briquettes and you use commercial wood chips you shouldn't have a problem, regardless if you soak your chips or not.

[Stone]

The butt, not as good. Everyone loved it, but it certainly wasn't pulled.

Now you're starting to sound like a seasoned smoker.

I'm surprised that a 5 lb butt after 9 hours didn't reach over 200 degrees, really surprised. Unless your smoker temp was hovering at 200, there isn't any reason given that much time for the roast to come to temp. Maybe if the shoulder bone was still in, but the thermodynamics side of me is still confused.

As for your slight chemical flavor it probably is your rub. If you smoke with briquettes and you use commercial wood chips you shouldn't have a problem, regardless if you soak your chips or not.

7.5 lb. But I think I got thermometer issues. I'm doing some testing right now.

Digitial v. Taylor (analog) v. some other analog v. Oven.

[col klink]

Digitial v. Taylor (analog) v. some other analog v. Oven.

I bet the oven wins.

Ever since my SO's analog thermometer read a full 30 degrees under, I haven't trusted analog since. Thermocouples are well defined and if they read correctly in boiling water w/o pinched wires, you have nothing to worry about. In theory.

[=Mark]

Of course I've had issues with some of the digital thermometers as well, especially concerning probes that go haywire. Of course this is usually a fatal situation that does not lend itself to say a steady under or over reading of 25 degrees. When the probes go bad it usually starts registering erratically or a steady + or - reading.

Edited March 3, 2003 by =Mark (log)

[Stone]

Digitial v. Taylor (analog) v. some other analog v. Oven.

I bet the oven wins.

The trick is getting my oven out of the kitchen and into the bullet!

[Stone]

Probably not worth starting a new thread, but here is the results of my thermometer experiement.

I've got an oven, a Pyrex Professional Digital Therm (noticed a little melting on the underside), a Taylor analog, and a Nugget analog.

For each temp, I waited about 5 minutes after the oven registered the temp. Where it says (door), I opened the door a crack to read the analog therms:

Oven P T N

400 Hi 400 Over 500

325 354 375 500

(door) 293 325 400

(door) 336 330 450

250 242 275 350

(door) 213 250 280

I don't think I've learned anything today.

(Sorry I can't get it to format better. It pushes everything to left-justify.)

Edited March 3, 2003 by Stone (log)