I like big butts and I cannot lie

With apologies to Sir Mix-A-Lot. (Can I be Sir Smoke-A-Lot?) I need to thank someone for letting me leave my motorcycle on their premises until I can come up back with a trailer to fetch it. Of course the first thing that comes to mind is BBQ! I hastened to my local Sams and bought four butts totalling about 42 lb.

Weather is hot at 83°F and sunny with winds light at about 5 mph.

I used my standard rub recipe as follows:

• 2 Tbsp black Pepper (whole)
• 2 Tbsp Rosemary (dry, whole)
• 1 Tbsp Coriander (whole)
• 1 Tbsp mustard seed
• 2 Tbsp Hungarian Paprika.
• 1 Tbsp Adobo seasoning
• 1 Tbsp powdered onion
• 2 Tsp Cayenne pepper
• 1 Tbsp Cumin
• 2 Tbsp powdered garlic
• 2 Tbsp Kosher salt
• 2 Tbsp sugar

Butts have been rubbed and are sitting in the kitchen while I set up the cooker.

This cook will be done on the 22.5 Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) using Royal Oak Briquettes. Additional smoke provided by hickory, oak and box elder. The water pan is foiled. I've embedded the smoking wood chunks in the bed of briquettes and lit a fill mini-chimney of briquettes, While they were still starting, I set the chimney on the charcoal bet which ignites some of the fuel under the chimney while the rest of the charcoal in the chimney gets started.  I'll be using the ET-732 to measure temperature at the top grate of the cooker.

time	temp	comment
1:15 PM		A fully lit mini-chimney of charcoal was dumped on the bed and the smoker has been closed up. Three bottom vents are left about 1/3 open. (Top vent is fully open as it always is until the cook is complete.)
1:35		Meat on! Dome temp is about 275° and smoke looks good! Oops, meat probe is sitting on the SS table of my Performer and reads 122°!
2:05	61°/246°/240° (meat/grate/lid)	Good start! Well... late start. I'll be up late tonight or very early in the morning.
2:43	81°/259°/255°
3:53	115°/275°/?
4:34	133°/262°/275°	Three hours and no adjustments or fiddling needed!
5:22	151°/253°/270°
6:26	163°/237°/?
7:05	167°/221°/200	5:30 w/out touching the cooker - not bad! I just stirred the coals to knock the ash off. They're a bit more than half consumed.  Minutes later the temperature is already starting to recover.
7:32	169°/230°/?
7:44	169°/228°/?	Cooker not really going where I want so I'll add some fuel - threw in some left over lump and briquettes from the other cookers and a little more smoking wood. Opened one bottom vent full.
8:27	171°/239°/220°	Seems to be back on track.
9:56	183°/264°/240°	Really smells good!
10:45	190°/259°/235°	Opened the cover and the bones still feel pretty firm as I try to wiggle the bone. I picked one up and a small piece stuck to the grill (for some cook's treat - really good!) They still need a little more time.
11:24	194°/252°/225°	The bone did not wiggle but I declare them done. While trying to pick them up, they were falling apart! The little bites that stick to the grill are particularly good. Now they need to rest. I closed the fire up mostly, hoping to bank it to save some coals to start tomorrow's fire in the stick burner. May not work as it looks like heavy rain is just moving in.

Results: Flavor excellent. Texture a bit firm. It could have been easier to pull. Perhaps I should have allowed it to cook a little longer.

What to do differently next time: Give the bone wiggle test another try.

Two racks for Sister Sarah.

No, not really. No Sister Sarah involved. We have no more ribs left in the freezer and we're doing stuff around the house so I broke two racks of spares out of the freezer to smoke today. I'll be giving them a try using the hanging method. I did back loin ribs this way before. One will be using my previous rub and one using Harry Soo's Slap Yo' Daddy rub. Both got a little oil as well.

At about 10:30 when I'm firing up the cooker, it is a gorgeous 72°F with some clouds and wind light at 10 mph.

I had some rub left from this cook and used that on one rack. On the other one I'm trying Harry Soo's Slap Yo' Daddy rub. (Note: Commercial link) As noted, I am hanging these and this time I've added some support string to prevent the phenomena of the rack falling apart and falling into the fire. <roll eyes> I also squirted some oil on both racks because I think that helps to keep them moist. I started to remove the membrane and then decided to leave it on to help support the ribs. And it was not coming off very easy.

This is going on the 18.5 WSM with the hanging supports in place. I'm using a charcoal ring mostly full of Royal Oak briquettes with some hickory, black walnut, maple (box elder), and some apple for smoking wood. I had a few small pieces of cherry left over from a previous cook and threw them in as well. I lit the fire with a mini-chimney full of briquettes. It's perfect size for lighting enough charcoal for a Minion method fire. After the fire was starting to spread I closed up the cooker and left two vents about half way open.

time	temp	comment
10:50 AM	°	Meat on!
11:00	221°/220° (remote/lid)
11:35	250°/240°
12:30 PM	286°/285°
1:21	279°/?°	It is surprising how consistent the two temperature measurements are.
1:30	268°/263°	Temps are running surprisingly steady with no adjustment on the bottom vents. I just opened the cooker for a bend test. Meat is not pulling back on the bones too much and the racks don;t bend much. More time!
2:25	268°/260°	Done (by bend test) - meat off!

(remote/lid) => (ET-732 cooker probe stuck in the grommet near the top grate supports/lid thermometer.)

Here they are at two hours.

And done.

They were good but not great. The end towards the fire was sort of like jerky. They seemed like they were a little overdone and didn't have as much meat as I have come to expect with spares. Both rubs tasted good, the chief difference is that my rub had a little heat to it. Could be a little oversmoked as well.

What to do differently next time? Little less smoke, little shorter cook? Maybe do spares on the racks but w/out the water pan.

Beef Ribs (and some veggies.)

Pulled a four bone rack of beef ribs from the freezer. Just over 2 lb. Not an excess of meat on them, but should be good enough for dinner. They'll go on the mini-WSM for a nominal four hours.

Weather is warm and windy. Temperature is reported at 82°F and wind is about 20 mph and gusty. The sky is mostly cloudy. We may get some rain/thunderstorms before the cook is done.

Beef will be simple with salt (coarse sea salt) and coarse ground black pepper. I drizzled a little canola oil on the upper surface of the beef as well to promote moistness.

Cook is on the mini-WSM using mostly left over charcoal from previous cooks. A couple chunks of mesquite were added for smoke. I may throw some apple, oak and mesquite chips in later. With the smoker closed up, the top vent is full open (as always) and the two bottom vents are open about 1/4" each. I'd like to see temps around 275-300°F. On the 18 kettle, I've started some lump and plan to roast some red peppers. When they're done, I'll put some foiled spuds on the coals. Eventually I'll roast some broccoli and green onions as well.

A few new coals and the potatoes go right on them.

When the meat came off the mini-WSM, I dumped the remaining coals in the kettle to replenish that fire for grilling vegetables.

time	temp	comment
2:25 PM		Ribs on!
2:49	243° grate	I'd like to see a little more heat so I opened the second bottom vent a little.
3:01	248°	Light rain starting and I can hear the rumble of distant thunder.
3:08	246°	Raining harder now. :( Hopefully will pass by momentarily.
3:20	244°	Sun is out and smoker temp is recovering - Yay! Foil wrapped spuds on the kettle in the coals.
3:51	264°	Sun is back out, thunder in the distance and it is hot and muggy!
4:10	264°	Threw some oak chips on the fire. Spuds may be done. Need to squeeze them with some oven mitts to see.
4:22	240°	Temperature inexplicably dropping following application of oak chips so I stirred the fire a bit. Spuds off the coals and onto the safe zone.
4:53	273°
5:21	261	Meat off. OK, done in three hours.

grate => ET-732 cooker probe sticking in the grommet in the mid-section.

This picture is about half way through the cook.

And the closest I came to a plated picture.

The beef was good - these are probably the best beef ribs I've made and the difference was cooking them a little longer. That renders off more of the fat. Though these had little meat on them, the meat was tender and juicy. The food cooked on the other cooker came out well too. Most of the peppers were reserved for making a spread but I put a little in the salad. Potatoes, broccoli and onions were good. The onions are actually a little stringy but flavor is mild and sweet. I guess we get more fiber from them. ;)

There is nothing I need to do differently next time. I could have used a second Smokey Joe instead of the 18" kettle, but I'm not sure I have a cast iron grate that will fit a Smokey Joe.

Four Boston Butts

Need some pulled pork for the ChiTech tech fair tomorrow and some more to take to Kamp Koegel over the Memorial Day holiday. We also plan to serve pulled pork when the kids visit tomorrow. I purchased two twin packs from Sam's Club that were just over 13 lb each.

(The labels have older labels undrneath. Last week butts were $1.28 at Sams. Grrr...)

Weather at the start of the smoke is 67°F with light clouds and no wind - ideal conditions! We expect to hit mid 70s and there might be some scattered showers (though none on the radar yet.) We peaked at 74° at about 1:00 and now we're at 67°. It did eventually drizzle for the last hour or two of the cook.

I prepared a rub similar to the one I used for this cook with the addition of Ancho powder and some salt and sugar and some mustard seed. Something else I did differently was to not make a slurry with the rub and oil. I just put it on dry. It seems like the rub went a little farther as a result.

• 2 Tbsp black Pepper (whole)
• 2 Tbsp Rosemary (dry, whole)
• 1 Tbsp Coriander (whole)
• 1 Tbsp mustard seed
• 2 Tbsp Hungarian Paprika.
• 1 Tbsp Adobo seasoning
• 1 Tbsp powdered onion
• 2 Tsp Cayenne pepper
• 1 Tbsp Cumin
• 2 Tbsp powdered garlic
• 1 Tbsp Kosher salt
• 2 Tbsp sugar

One butt will get Slap Yo' Daddy original meat rub as a comparison. (I scored 'X' marks in the fat on this one to identify it.)

I'm also doing a Jimmy Dean Sage Sausage fatty. Half of it got some Big Poppa Happy Ending Finishing Rub.

Here are the butts rubbed and ready to go. They probably sat there about 2 hours while I prepared the cooker and the fire settled.

My initial plan was to smoke on the 18" WSM (Weber Smokey Mountain) but after looking at the size of the butts and the 18" grate, I decided to use the 22" WSM. It is fired with Royal Oak briquettes and for smoking wood I'm using hickory, apple, box elder and one chunk of black walnut. I'm going with a foiled water pan to see how that goes. After starting the fire I closed up the cooker which seemed to be producing a lot of smoke. I let it run for about 40 minutes before putting the meat on. Temperatures are being measured using using both ET-732 and ET-73.

time	temp	comment
9:10 AM		Smoker closed up. Closed bottom vents to one about 1/2 open.
9:18		Lid at 200 and smoke shooting out of the lid vent and every other crack. Need to let the fire settle a little before proceeding.
9:50		Meat on! (Grate was about 260°)
10:05	57°/230°/116°/235° (pork/grate/fatty/lid)	Off to a good start.
10:33	70°/246°/165°/	I think I need to probe the fatty with a hand held probe. It may be done! No. Repositioned to get a better reading - 132°.
11:11	93°/261°/166°/255°	Fatty off and resting. (And a little carved from the end is delicious!) At this point the meat probe from the ET-73 is left on the top grate to provide a second cooker temperature measurement.
12:22	133°/280°/280°/265°	Cruising along, doing fine, having a fatty sandwich for lunch!
1:37	167°/253°/253°/240°	Knocked the coals about a bit. Threw in a couple small pieces of hickory and apple.
2:27	178°/253°/248°/235°
3:10	181°/241°/243°/235°	Time to throw on some more briquettes.
4:12	187°/259°/250°/255°
5:19	192°/253°/251°/230°	Bone wiggle says top butts are done. They're coming off and butts on bottom racks will be checked. Two butts on the bottom need a little more time. Bottom butt is presently probing at 181°. Light rain starting.
6:22	187°/284°/***/220°	Light rain continues. I wiggled the bones on the remaining two and I think they need a little more time.
6:58	189°/228°/***/210°	Need to stir the coals. Coals nearly gone - threw a few more in. Butts nearly done.
7:37	190°/293°/***/***	Last two butts off and resting.

(pork/grate/fatty/lid) => pork and grate are on the ET-732 and the fatty is on the ET-73. The grate temperature is measured at the bottom grate.

The fatty came off after about an hour and twenty minutes and was delicious! I sliced a little and made a sandwich for lunch. This was a nice little treat while I waited for the smoke to proceed.

The two butts on the top rack were done first.

They came off at 5:20 PM. As is typical when I lift them, some of the meat stuck to the grate and provided some small pieces to taste. :D Very good! I think it was some with the S-Y-D rub. It seemed a little salty. Here are the first two to come off the cooker.

And all four done and ready to rest.

The butts were very tasty. I'm not sure I could tell much difference between the two rubs except that mine had a hint of black pepper whereas the Slap Yo' Daddy was a little salty. These flavors are only noticeable when tasting the bark. In the final mix I doubt they will make anything more than a very subtle difference.

I could probably have left the butts on a little longer. This is the first time I tried to determine doneness using the 'wiggle the bone' technique. The butts were still a little firm. Not making an oil based slurry for the rub did not seem to make any difference.

Country Ribs and Ground Turkey

Cindy wanted to get a pork shoulder to make Carne de Puerco. She couldn't find a shoulder (not knowing it was also called a pork butt) and got country ribs instead. Not to worry... country ribs are just a butt sliced into 2" thick slabs. There is actually a benefit for smoking since there is more exposed area so there will be more smoky flavor. (I should mention that while Carne de Puerco is traditionally made by boiling the pork in a pot with the seasonings, I'll start it in the smoker and then we'll finish it in the traditional method.) The other thing to cook is ground turkey to be used for some  Moroccan White Bean Turkey.

Weather is gorgeous with full sun, temperature already at 70° and wind light at 3-5 mph.

I rubbed the pork with Slap Yo' Daddy original meat rub to which I added some ground Ancho and a little ground Chipotle for a Mexican slant. To the turkey I added garlic cloves and a the spices that substitute for the PC Moroccan rub.

This is going to smoke in the mini-WSM. The turkey is in a medium Dutch oven (with no cover) on the bottom rack and the pork on the top. I'm using Royal Oak bisquettes with a mix of smoking wood including hickory, cherry and maple chunks with some Jack Daniels oak chips and mesquite chips. The water pan is still foiled from my last cook (smoking a ham last Thursday.) This is using the Smokey Joe Gold and I have a single bottom vent cracked open to keep temps low. Temperature is measured using the Maverick ET-732 with the long curved cooker probe stuck between the Dutch oven and the side of the cooker.

time	temp	comment
10:09 AM	°	Meat on!
10:24	189°	Cooker temperature is pretty much where I want it.
10:56	187°	Going to open the cooker so I can stir the turkey.
11:16	234°	Following the last opening, I opened the vent a bit.
11:40	252°	time to stir turkey again.
12:52	277°	time to take the pork off.

Turkey was very tasty.

The pork was a little heavily spiced and a little chewy. That was by design because I expected to use it in another recipe but we wound up having some for dinner. It was a little hot but still good.

The only thing I would like to do differently is put food to be smoked in a shallower cast iron pan (which I do not have.) Perhaps I should get a 12" fry pan and cut the handle off. :D

Tea Smoked Duck

I found a couple small (2 1/2 lb) frozen skinless ducks while defrosting the freezer. I put them in the refrigerator for a slow thaw with plans to smoke them. I've done them before using the info from Steve Raichlen's site Primal Grill.

Weather... Holy cow! Last night and yesterday we had the most rain and flooding since we moved here in '87. Water is flowing over our street by the creek and parallel streets on either side are closed due to flooding. Right now it is raining lightly, temperature is 60°F and wind is light.

I put the ducks into a ziplock gallon bag (they barely fit) and added a double recipe of the marinade last night. This morning I flipped the bag over to help distribute the marinade.

I decided to fire up the 18.5 kettle - my oldest Weber - for this cook. It has the daisy wheel dampers (like the WSM) which will provide better temperature control compared to the one touch system on modern kettles. I'm using some of that funny shaped Royal Oak briquettes with some apple and cherry chunks as well as the tea smoking mix wrapped in foil. I used about half a chimney of briquettes. One bottom vent is closed and two others are open about 1/3. They're a little loose so they are probably admitting more air than I really want. The charcoal slightly overflows a single charcoal basket. Temperature is monitored using the dual purpose probe on the ET-732 stuck through the vent. This is probably not the best, but I don't think temperature is critical for fowl. I'll check for doneness using the Maverick Weekend Warrior probe.

time	temp	comment
2:21 PM		Ducks on!
2:38	361°
3:05	358°	Brushed birds with some sesame oil.
3:30	325°	Threw a couple more briquettes on though there seemed to be plenty left of the original charge. Poked a thermo in the duck breasts and they were 155-160° so they should be done soon. I also rotated them to put the other side closer to the fire.

They were good!

No need to do anything different. :D

What to do with those Easter eggs?

Smoke them!

Weather is frosty at 32°F and wind light at just under 10 mph.

Eggs were boiled and peeled. We never got around to coloring them. :(

This is going to be a quick smoke on the mini. I did use the mini-chimney again. :D I added a couple small chunks of cherry for smoke wood. I started out with both vents on the SJG (Smokey Joe Gold) about 1/3 open but at about 5 minutes I closed one completely. I also then added an empty water pan which I had left out.

time	temp	comment
9:45 AM	°	Eggs on!
9:49	333°/255° (grate/lid)	Added empty water pan.
9:55	271°/?	That's better - I don't need too much heat in the eggs.
10:05	289°/240°	Eggs off!

Results

I just need to remember to put the diffuser pan in place before starting the smoke.

But wait! There's more. I was wondering what else to do with a hot smoker and decided to throw the three rib bones on that I had trimmed off the standing rib roast when carving it. That should make a nice lunch. :D


Outside temp is now up to 34°F.

I opened the mini-WSM up and threw on a few more pieces of lump. I had already closed it up, but the vents on the SJG do not close very tightly so some coals were still burning. I also threw on a couple pieces of oak and a chunk of mesquite. In a few minutes the wood was smouldering so I closed things up and put the meat on. I also opened one bottom vent about 25%.

time	temp	comment
10:45 AM		Bones on!
10:51	307°/?
10:56	322°/210°	Closed the single bottom vent to just a crack open. (Top vent still wide open.)
11:30	319°/?	Meat off.

The ribs and other piece were very tasty but the rib was pretty gristly. I put the other two back on a much cooler grill (225-250°) and left them on for a couple hours. I'll find out if that helped when I eat them.