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So the pork roast tasted good but came out dry. I brined it for Over 12 hours. Smoked it for 6 and cooked it 11 hrs @ 230. Then wrapped it in foil and let it sit for an hour. Any suggestions on where I went wrong? I continued to let it cook after the internal temp hit 160. Should I have taken it off then instead of following the recommended period of time?

Diddy wrote:So the pork roast tasted good but came out dry. I brined it for Over 12 hours. Smoked it for 6 and cooked it 11 hrs @ 230. Then wrapped it in foil and let it sit for an hour. Any suggestions on where I went wrong? I continued to let it cook after the internal temp hit 160. Should I have taken it off then instead of following the recommended period of time?

Something is amiss. Is this a pork butt? No need to brine a fatty butt IMO. You can always sneak some some apple juice in the tray after it's been pulled apart.

Shoulder roast. Guess I could be clearer about this. The pork shoulder roast isn't part of a Boston butt its the thinner part farther up the hog. I guess some would consider it part of the butt but really I had the butt cut into pork steaks.

Tomorrow I'm doing 3 racks of baby back ribs, a turkey breast, and a whole roaster chicken. I have no idea what I'm thinking. I don't see how I'll fit it all on the smoker. Did get a rib rack, so I think I'll be ok there, but the chicken and turkey are going to be tight.

This is just my second run at smoking. First try was ribs and two chickens a few weeks ago. Was a huge success. Best ribs I've ever had. My secretary gave me a cheap Brinkman smoker that I made some modifications to -- added a thermometer, and separated the charcoal pan from the legs. Great practice setup so I can see if it's worth it to invest in my own smoker. Works shockingly well for an old, cheap, and borrowed smoker.

Tomorrow's ribs are already coated in mustard and a rub from my local butcher. That is unbelievably good. Great on pork steaks, too. Turkey and chicken are brining in a simple solution -- just salt and sugar. Have two separate store bought rubs for those tomorrow. Schedule is tight, so ribs are getting 3 hours at 225, then to the oven for 2 more hours - 1 hour covered, 1 hour open. Chicken and turkey breast are getting 3-4 hours on the smoker and then to the oven to bring them up to temp, while I head out for a few meetings.

I know that a purist might not do it, but I'm not ashamed at all to finish my food in the oven. Especially since I'm on a tight schedule. It's about the results for me. Finishing everything in the oven seems like the safest way to get good results.

Sounds awesome. Good luck. Post some pics!

1.5 hour update... Got the smoke rolling, but I had to replace my first chimney of charcoal. Fire would not get above 175. I'm at 250 now to try and make up some time. Not sure what happened. Poor air flow, maybe.

The rib rack didn't fit in the smoker, so I had to improvise using wooden skewers to hold the ribs upright. Can't lay them all down. Not enough space. The turkey and chicken are doing just fine.

Smoking a pork butt on the Eve of the Birth of the Lord.
In case you were wondering what that great smell is wafting over inner burbia St. Louis.
Hope you all have a nice Christmas.

I'm gonna stop by.

if you are a John Candy look-alike, we will welcome you into our home* on this Eve of the Birth of Our Lord.

*actually you'd have to sit outside by the smoker in the rain. Plenty of beer on ice there though.

Looking to have a pig roast--anyone wanna throw out some tips?

We're gonna be looking to feed around 30-50 people. After consulting with one of my friends who used to throw one of these every year, he said he always got a 30 pound suckling for around $120.

Well, since im going into this blind, i was calling around local butchers and the first lady i got through to quoted me at right around $300 (for everything) for a 250 pound hog. 250 pounds seemed pretty obscene, so after double checking with my friend he laughed at how silly that was and said to get a suckling. I didn't know the difference--but yea now i do. Anyway, i'm still in the process of locking down a "pig".

Anyone wanna comment on the actual cooking process? I know my friend would usually just build a firepit on his patio out of bricks and had a makeshift grill.

Again since we're kinda going into this blind--just looking at tips on the actual cooking process, assuming im able to lock down a pig--it's a month a way, so im not sure if that's a enough time or not.