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The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Posted: February 28 14, 3:17 pm
by AWvsCBsteeeerike3
It's been a long winter, and about sometime in January I really started jonesing for a good day of drinking beer, watching baseball, and smoking some sort of meat which is really my excuse to sit on the deck all day and do the two former things. Then, my brother came down last weekend and told me how awesome he was at it, and despite how decent I've become, I had to admit, he was better. So...now I have to improve.

Anyway, pointers, stories, successes, failures, etc. Post em here.

I think we're going to start off with a pork butt this weekend. Dry rub overnight. No marinade. Inject with an oily based mixture of the dry run. Smoke with indirect heat for 2.5 hours at 225-240 using charcoal and apple and hickory wood. Keep on charcoal indirect heat 210-225 for 3 hours. Cover with foil and keep on indirect heat until just shy of 170 internal temp (presumably a couple hours). Then steam it for an hour over apple juice until the temp hits 170.

In the past I've always had a good outside, nice and crispy. But the inside was a little tougher. Not bad, but not as tender as you'd like. My brother thought it needed longer on the indirect heat and thought foil would help with that. So...we'll see.

Regardless, the process is awesome and I can't wait to get back to it.

Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Posted: February 28 14, 3:20 pm
by go birds
not what i expected

Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Posted: February 28 14, 3:25 pm
by AWvsCBsteeeerike3
what was that?

Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Posted: February 28 14, 3:38 pm
by planet planet
Does anyone have a Big Green Egg?

Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Posted: February 28 14, 3:44 pm
by haltz
Brine it. Makes all the difference in the world.

Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Posted: February 28 14, 4:04 pm
by AWvsCBsteeeerike3
I've heard green eggs are amazing, but they're expensive.

Haltz, do you brine it the day/night before then add rub the morning before smoking? I have heard this is a good solution but always been hesitant about the flavor and possible dilution.

Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Posted: February 28 14, 4:22 pm
by StL Dan
go birds wrote:not what i expected
LOL

Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Posted: February 28 14, 4:53 pm
by haltz
AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:I've heard green eggs are amazing, but they're expensive.

Haltz, do you brine it the day/night before then add rub the morningso before smoking? I have heard this is a good solution but always been hesitant about the flavor and possible dilution.
Yeah, that works. Just dry it off and add a little olive oil and rub. The spice won't really penetrate the meat, it just adds a little flavor and crust to the exterior, so letting the rub sit overnight on a large piece of like a pork butt is a waste of time.

Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Posted: February 28 14, 6:56 pm
by IMADreamer
I don't think you are cooking it long enough. If you are doing the butt you are probably looking at 12-15lbs of meat uncooked and you should be cooking for an hour and a half per pound.

Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Posted: February 28 14, 8:39 pm
by haltz
IMADreamer wrote:If you are doing the butt you are probably looking at 12-15lbs of meat