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Any worries of bacteria growth or are you getting it up to over 140 fast enough?
Social Saturday is BBQ Day V3 - How big is your meat?
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Any worries of bacteria growth or are you getting it up to over 140 fast enough?
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So I got the shit kicked out of me...I don't understand it. I had AWESOME fucking food and it was one of the best cooks I've ever hard. We had some terrible weather during turn-ins with heavy wind and thunderstorms, so that certainly played a part. All of the Top 10 cooks were in the trailers and with the weather that game them a massive advantage.
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Hey everybody, so I finally picked up my trailer yesterday!
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Damn man that’s nuts! Do you think they were looking for a different flavor profile than you presented?
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They definitely didn't like my pork... got 3 comment cards and they all said the same thing : "disliked unknown flavor." I was cooking with pear wood and I think that mixed with the rub I was using gave it an unusual flavor. I though it was great but I can see how it might be a turn off if they were expecting nothing but vinegar.... it is eastern NC after all.
My brisket was amazing and 5 judges gave me 9's and 8's, but the last judge hated it and gave me 7's. That low scoring judge game me a comment card as well saying it was "too salty, too peppery, sour flavor, and looked dry in the box." Unreal as I got 9's for appearance from everybody else and 8's or 9's for taste and tenderness. Oh well, win some / lose some.
The weather was pretty brutal for a contest. It was pretty much a constant thunderstorm from about 10am (People's Choice turn-in was 10-10:30) all the way until about 2pm... brisket is the last turn-in at 1:30. haha I had to hold onto my tent while trying to put my box together and the wind was coming in sideways. It was a lot of fun but I was really shocked at how poorly I scored according to the judges.
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That stinks man! I’ve never smoked with pear before but, like with any fruit wood, people are going to love it or feel like it’s just not for them.
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I’m curious, what did you inject your brisket with?
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I used Kosmo's Q "Smokehouse Mesquite Reserve Blend" with a tablespoon of his phosphates from what he calls "Moisture Magic."
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No worries at all. If you're cooking over 4 hours you shouldn't be below 140. I do med rare steaks all the time for 1-2 hours at 130 degrees. It gets to temp really fast. I own two Anova sticks and will do two items at different temps often.
Plus, sous vide carrots are fucking dynamite.
When starting with hot water, you're usually at 100-110 to start. To get to 130 only takes maybe 20 mins when the water is covered.
Tomorrow I'm doing these: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/260585/bbq-country-style-pork-ribs-sous-vide/
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Hi everyone. Love this thread. I got ahold of one of these. I am a BBQ newb so anyone have any advice?
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So that looks like a Dyna-Glo... right? It's an offset cooker designed to run on wood splits, so make sure that's what you're using. You can use charcoal to start the wood splits on fire, but after that you'll need to add a small amount of wood every 20-30 minutes or so to keep the temps where you want them.
DO NOT assume the dial thermometer on the front door is accurate... at all. Do you have some kind of digital thermometer like a Maverick or a Thermoworks? Using those digital probes it will tell you the exact temperature and it will allow you to calibrate your dial thermometer, or at least let you know how far off that dial temp really is.
For the most part I've heard decent enough things about that cooker, with the main complaint being that it won't get hot enough using just charcoal... which it's not supposed to. Do you have any experience running an offset smoker or doing fire management in a confined space?
I'm going to post this video here because this guy is a chemist and goes into some good detail about things to look for when running a fire in an offset smoker. Even though his smoker is designed differently than yours the same principles will still apply :
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Thanks for the help. You are awesome.
Yes it's a Dyna-Glo. I don't have a digital thermometer, but it looks like I will be getting one. Any advice on a good one that is not too pricey?
I don't have any experience, but I have been watching some stuff on youtube. Thanks for the video that is very informative.
What is a good thing to try first for an inexperienced person such as myself?
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I would spend a couple of hours just getting used to running a clean fire before you put any meat in the cooker. Give yourself 4-5 hours practice so you can see how your cooker responds once the firebox begins to fill up with ash. Will the wood still burn clean? Will you need to empty that ash...and if so, how much until you've taken all the hot coals away?
For a first time smoke I always suggest a pork butt. They are cheap, easy to cook, can be cooked at just about any temp, and are very forgiving if mistakes are made. Very easy recipe would be to take it out of the package, rinse it off, pat it dry with a paper towel, apply any rub you like, and then smoke it at about 250° for 8 hours. If you end up getting a digital thermometer you're looking for about 195° internal temp if you want to slice it, and about 200-205° if you want to make pulled pork.
As for a cheap thermometer I'd go with this one to get you started : https://www.thermoworks.com/DOT
Note : Thermoworks is not available anywhere besides their website. If you're able to find it on Amazon it's someone buying them from Thermoworks and reselling them at a higher price (illegally by the way). This probe is great because you can use the probe to monitor the temperature of your smoker, but you can also use the probe to check the temp of the meat (after a quick wipe with a damp paper towel). It's cheap enough to get you started and sturdy enough to hold onto for quite a while.
If you want to stretch your budget a bit further I've heard really good reviews about the Inkbird : http://www.ink-bird.com/products-bluetooth-thermometer-ibt6x.html
That Inkbird comes with two probes, so you can use one to measure the temperature of the cooker and one to measure the temperature of the meat.
Hope this helps but feel free to ask any questions... love talking BBQ.
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A couple more.
First, could I get away with using hardwood chunks to fire this smoker in a pinch? Wouldn't be a long term plan, but I do have some chunks and no split logs at this point.
Second, is this what you would call a pork butt?
Regionally I don't think I ever see the term pork butt used (although I have heard it used during my research). I am not an expert on cuts of meat.
Thirdly, Unrelated to my cooker or how I plan to use it- when people soak wood chips and use them for their smoke (I've seen several use this method) does it create a problem with creating TBS? It seems that they would smolder and produce undesirable smoke.
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You are 100% correct on soaking wood chips... totally the wrong way to go. You don't want smoldering but instead a solid, energetic fire. Wood chunks will work just fine and might actually be easier to use on a smaller cooker like the one you have.
Yes, pork shoulder will work just fine. The entire pork shoulder is made of two main parts; the butt and the picnic. Both are great for pulled pork though the butt has a bit more fat so it's generally more common. The picnic will have the shank and the huge flap of skin that people like for presentation, but both muscles are just fine. So if it says "pork shoulder" or "shoulder roast" or "butt roast" it should all be the same general muscles.
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So should I remove the skin on that or leave it on?
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Skin is a preference thing, but for me I prefer to remove it. If you're doing pulled pork presentation of the skin doesn't really matter at all and it's going to end up taking longer to cook. The skin will also act as a barrier so that you won't be able to get any seasoning onto the meat in that area.
Either way works but I'll post this video by Malcom Reed doing a full pork shoulder. This guy makes some amazing BBQ and his YouTube channel is a very good guide to get things started for just about every type of BBQ meat.
