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It's easy. I have had 3. It's great for wanting to get sleep and not have to worry about fire management. True wood fires taste better, so that's your tradeoff.
Social Saturday is BBQ Day V3 - How big is your meat?
- Thread starter MASShole
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It's easy. I have had 3. It's great for wanting to get sleep and not have to worry about fire management. True wood fires taste better, so that's your tradeoff.
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Hello Gentlemen!
So my smoker arrived and I have seasoned it so its ready for use.
I've got a great big pile of nice hardwood to burn
and, per recommendations from
@MASShole
@usmctanker242
@Te Huna Matata
@Saku's Son
I've bought a pork butt to smoke. It's a collar butt, so no bone, but i understand it is nearby and similar to the boston butt cut. It's very nicely marbled.
I got a 2.8kg = 6.6 lb cut. no bone.
SO, my bbq friends, can i ask for some advice for my virgin smoke?
Couple of queries below. I want to have a tasty outcome of course, but for my first smoke i think simple is best. So I would like to do the minimum fancy stuff whilst i get used to temp management/fire control etc. I am going to throw it on in the morning, and not planning to needing to have it ready at any particular time. So I'm not stressing about hitting a stall and missing dinner or anything.
So my smoker arrived and I have seasoned it so its ready for use.
I've got a great big pile of nice hardwood to burn
and, per recommendations from
@MASShole
@usmctanker242
@Te Huna Matata
@Saku's Son
I've bought a pork butt to smoke. It's a collar butt, so no bone, but i understand it is nearby and similar to the boston butt cut. It's very nicely marbled.
I got a 2.8kg = 6.6 lb cut. no bone.
SO, my bbq friends, can i ask for some advice for my virgin smoke?
Couple of queries below. I want to have a tasty outcome of course, but for my first smoke i think simple is best. So I would like to do the minimum fancy stuff whilst i get used to temp management/fire control etc. I am going to throw it on in the morning, and not planning to needing to have it ready at any particular time. So I'm not stressing about hitting a stall and missing dinner or anything.
- What temp should i be aiming for throughput the cook and for final meat temp? I have a 4 probe wifi inkbird so i'll have a nice live temp reading for the chamber and the meat.
- How should i prepare this cut? it's pretty homogeneous, well shaped, and doesn't have a thick fat layer on the surface, so i don't think i need to trim or prep the cut for smoking?
- What do you recommend for rubs/marinades etc, if anything?
- Should i think about wrapping mid-way through the cook, and if so, at what temp? Wrap in butchers paper or foil ?
- Resting the meat - what should i do? I read so much about wrapping in a towel and then in an esky (cooler box) etc, is this necessary?
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Smoke between 225-250 for your first time. It'll generally be roughly 1.5 hours per lb. Truss the pork if any small parts are sticking off - that happens when a bone is removed so if you truss it (tie it with cooking twine) the small parts don't get burnt.
Preparation: truss (if needed) then just rub. Nothing fancy. For your first cook, go buy a rub from a store designed for pork butts or even pork ribs. Either will work fine.
You can wrap if you want when the bark is nice and set. That's usually between 160-170*F. Wrap, add a bit of apple juice and apple cider vinegar, then put back on smoker or in the oven until desired temp/doneness. For pork, foil is fine.
Resting is absolutely crucial. The outside of the meat is hotter than the inside, so resting prevents moisture leaving the meat. It slowly cools down, and all that moisture that was leaving comes back into the meat, absorbing the juice. It helps with tenderness and so much more. I always rest my meats for 1 hour minimum. Last week I did an 8 hour rest in a Cambro with two briskets (after hitting 203*F) and they were still at 151*F. Imagine cutting a normal steak right after taking it off the grill versus letting it sit for 15 mins. The juices matter! The rest is crucial.
Preparation: truss (if needed) then just rub. Nothing fancy. For your first cook, go buy a rub from a store designed for pork butts or even pork ribs. Either will work fine.
You can wrap if you want when the bark is nice and set. That's usually between 160-170*F. Wrap, add a bit of apple juice and apple cider vinegar, then put back on smoker or in the oven until desired temp/doneness. For pork, foil is fine.
Resting is absolutely crucial. The outside of the meat is hotter than the inside, so resting prevents moisture leaving the meat. It slowly cools down, and all that moisture that was leaving comes back into the meat, absorbing the juice. It helps with tenderness and so much more. I always rest my meats for 1 hour minimum. Last week I did an 8 hour rest in a Cambro with two briskets (after hitting 203*F) and they were still at 151*F. Imagine cutting a normal steak right after taking it off the grill versus letting it sit for 15 mins. The juices matter! The rest is crucial.
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Tomorrow we smoke a lot of meat! This is my custom smoker. I am pretty sure I can fit 9 briskets on one side and 18 butts on the other side at the same time. Tomorrow I'm going to do a test run of 5 briskets (roughly 60 lbs pre-trim) and 8 butts (roughly 80 lbs). I've done 30 lbs of pork belly, 40 lbs of boneless thighs and 10 slabs of ribs at once before, so I think this 140 lb smoke fest will be ok. Doing oak and hickory at 275*. Two pics in the link: closed, then open.
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When I bought my first house I thought I would be able to get myself a grill in 6 months to a year's time.
Fast forward 5 years later and I have just now picked up my very first one: a weber e-215 spirit 1. It's taken me a week to gather the grill cover, grill tools, smoker box, wood chips, and propane.
Tomorrow I'll turn it on for the first time. I'm nervous as fuck about the propane connection cause it looks a bit loose on the hose end. I know I'm supposed to wet it with soapy water, but if I see some bubbles, wtf do I do then? Replace the whole damned thing??
Anywho if all goes well I'll be cooking up some top sirloin I got from costco. Right now its marinating in what is basically homemade chinese dumpling sauce, my aunt's not so secret version of meat tenderizer. May Saint Lawrence watch over me when the sun rises to the highest tomorrow.
Fast forward 5 years later and I have just now picked up my very first one: a weber e-215 spirit 1. It's taken me a week to gather the grill cover, grill tools, smoker box, wood chips, and propane.
Tomorrow I'll turn it on for the first time. I'm nervous as fuck about the propane connection cause it looks a bit loose on the hose end. I know I'm supposed to wet it with soapy water, but if I see some bubbles, wtf do I do then? Replace the whole damned thing??
Anywho if all goes well I'll be cooking up some top sirloin I got from costco. Right now its marinating in what is basically homemade chinese dumpling sauce, my aunt's not so secret version of meat tenderizer. May Saint Lawrence watch over me when the sun rises to the highest tomorrow.
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Hello Gentlemen!
So my smoker arrived and I have seasoned it so its ready for use.
I've got a great big pile of nice hardwood to burn
and, per recommendations from
@MASShole
@usmctanker242
@Te Huna Matata
@Saku's Son
I've bought a pork butt to smoke. It's a collar butt, so no bone, but i understand it is nearby and similar to the boston butt cut. It's very nicely marbled.
I got a 2.8kg = 6.6 lb cut. no bone.
SO, my bbq friends, can i ask for some advice for my virgin smoke?
Couple of queries below. I want to have a tasty outcome of course, but for my first smoke i think simple is best. So I would like to do the minimum fancy stuff whilst i get used to temp management/fire control etc. I am going to throw it on in the morning, and not planning to needing to have it ready at any particular time. So I'm not stressing about hitting a stall and missing dinner or anything.
Thanks boys. Appreciate your expert help!
- What temp should i be aiming for throughput the cook and for final meat temp? I have a 4 probe wifi inkbird so i'll have a nice live temp reading for the chamber and the meat.
- How should i prepare this cut? it's pretty homogeneous, well shaped, and doesn't have a thick fat layer on the surface, so i don't think i need to trim or prep the cut for smoking?
- What do you recommend for rubs/marinades etc, if anything?
- Should i think about wrapping mid-way through the cook, and if so, at what temp? Wrap in butchers paper or foil ?
- Resting the meat - what should i do? I read so much about wrapping in a towel and then in an esky (cooler box) etc, is this necessary?
Nice bro, that's what I'd be aiming for if I went for a stick burner. My thoughts:
- Temp around 250 Fahrenheit, don't want much higher especially if you have sugar in the rub
- The general rule is to trim off any of the hard fat, so if there is none you're good to go I reckon
- For rubs https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/spice-rubs-and-pastes/meatheads-memphis-dust-rub-recipe. This whole website is a great reference for all things BBQ, there's a shitload of info on there, all types of meats, info on sides etc
- Generally if you wrap it's quicker but you may lose some bark. Butchers paper is meant to help you keep some bark but I usually use foil, butchers paper is hard to get here but I think Bunnings sell it now?
- Definitely rest the meat, wrap in foil then an old towel and an esky, will stay hot for hours. It makes it much more tender and moist, much easier to pull.
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Fuck yeh thanks man. I'm a 100% smoking noob. So assume I'm retarded and that's my level.
I have got a few different rub receipes and most use sugar so I will keep that in mind RE: temps. I have got it all setup to go tomorrow so I will put a couple before and after photos and maybe progress as I go.
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Cool man, good luck. It will take a bit of time to figure out how to get your smoker to the temp you want, some say you do a practice run to figure it out, but fuck wasting fuel, might as well give it a crack.
What sort of wood is that anyway? You're sorted for a while!
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I fucked about seasoning a bit and also watched like 50 YouTube videos on fire management so I think I'm just gonna go at it. Worst case the meat is average and I'll just eat the good bits and save the rest for my dogs and the neighbourhood dogs.
That wood is Ironbark, I bought it off FB marketplace, some fella dropped it off got 200 bucks. Not sure if I got a good deal or ripped off!
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Smoking wood is expensive so I reckon you got a decent deal. And yeah trial and error, you'll have a few fuckups, but you've got a very good smoker so maintaining temp should be fine.
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Tomorrow my smokin' virginity gets torn apart like a hymen at a year 11 formal.
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225-250f for barbecue temp for me too.
If you're pulling your pork, it's usually ready at 195-200f but you'll know by probing when it's ready.
I prefer a nice bark so try not to wrap if I can help it.
Resting meats I use 3 teatowels on the chopping block because I'm too tight to buy a decent cooler/esky.
It works well enough.
I usually dry brine all my barbecue meats the day before.
For rub I like paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and ground black pepper in equal parts, sometimes I'll put some cayenne pepper or chipotle flakes on too.
Sometimes I'll mix muscovado sugar in with the rub, sometimes not.
I usually rub when I take it out of the fridge before lighting the coals.
I hadn't barbecued anything before this year but had eaten enough to know what I like.
I'm getting to the point now where I feel like it's not entirely a fluke when my meat turns out well.
Hope that helps mate
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everything mass and tank said...I’d add...when the bbq hits your target temp range...wait 20 minutes to make sure it holds before opening up and dropping the meat on...I’ve learned that with my Akorn kamoda....it’s best to dial it in to the higher end of my target range as I don’t freak out when it drops due to adding the meat...also, get your meat in there quickly
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Thanks, men. Some great advice. I am going to use a similar rub and have that fucker dry brining right now.
Gonna get the UFC card going tomorrow when I put the meat on. Wife is taking the kids somewhere so that's a double bonus.
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You likely won't have issues with a propane connection. Just hand tighten it until it doesn't turn more and you should be fine.
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Yeah we went over it this morning with some dawn/water. No bubbles and the ignition started up just fine. Holy shit that grill heats up fast.
The wood chips turned out to be a bust. I dunno if we soaked them too long or what but they didn't smoke at all. Gonna try em a bit more dry next time.
The steak came out like shit, turns out I bought a round cut that costco mislabeled, probably for the exact purpose of fooling dumb nubs like me. I'll cut it up and get some bread, make cheesesteaks later.
We did burgers, zucchini and corn and those all came out god tier. Overall I'm happy just to have arrived in this grill game.
Yes I know my placement sucks, wife made me move stuff around for the photo.
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I think soaking wood chips is a shit idea. You want smoke, not steam/white smoke. I know people swear by it, but I never had any success with soaking the chips prior to smoking them in a box.
If I was going to add smoke to a gas grill, I'd use a pellet tube and get some pellets, light about 2" worth and use that. It works very well.
If I was going to add smoke to a gas grill, I'd use a pellet tube and get some pellets, light about 2" worth and use that. It works very well.
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0 reason to soak your wood
