- Oct 4, 2013
- 255
- 48
oi
So based on the last couple I did (which were also the first couple I did) I planned my smoke for today's (actually tonight's) football game. I've got people coming over so I decided to pad my cook time an hour and this was based on the last two. My notes leads to believe that my average cook time should be about 20hrs given I don't foil, keep previous temps and yadda yadda yadda. Last time I didn't foil and it still took that long. This time I was planning to foil at 160 with a nice spray of apple juice & apple cider vinegar 50/50 to see how it turned out. I know some like the 'bark' but I'm actually looking for less of a 'crusty' bark and more of a caramelized bark. In my mind foiling at 160deg and spritzing down with that mixture gets me closer to that goal. So, I do my math, throw it on at like 8:00 last night and was surprised when I was already at 160 at about 2:00am... 6hrs later. Now I'm WAY ahead of pace so the idea of foiling it at 160 is out the window because now I'm actually hoping for another stall or two so this thing isn't done like 5hrs early and foiling won't help that. As I type this I'm at 176deg and am predicting it will be at 200deg within a couple of hours. I wasn't planning to be ready to eat this until tonight so I guess I will foil, towel and throw in a cooler for at least a few hours. Not sure how this is going to work out being done this early as every other time these things have taken longer than planned & been done hours after I wanted them to be done. I started my temp about 25-20deg warmer for the first hour or so and it looks like that had an effect but I never expected to see this much of an effect. Maybe I'll get lucky and it will stall in the 170's here for a few hours and get me into the afternoon at least. Even a few hours worth of stalls barely gets me to noon before a few hours resting.
How long can I rest it? Last time I rested and it went from about 202deg to about 175ish as I recall (don't have my notes in front of me) in a couple of hours and I'm thinking 3hrs puts it near 160deg and I think I've read that people often rest it to 160 or so before pulling.
Also, what are some tips for trying to prolong this? Rest it longer? Pop in the fridge at a certain temp and then just microwave when company arrives?
I've still got my 50/50 mixture in my spray bottle and I was planning to spray the pork once it was pulled too give it more moisture. I'm assuming I wait until I re-heat to do this? How much should I use? I really, really, REALLY dislike the idea of re-heating because no matter how much I try to warm and not cook it still is not as good as when it's first pulled. Any tips here?
Thanks for the help!
So based on the last couple I did (which were also the first couple I did) I planned my smoke for today's (actually tonight's) football game. I've got people coming over so I decided to pad my cook time an hour and this was based on the last two. My notes leads to believe that my average cook time should be about 20hrs given I don't foil, keep previous temps and yadda yadda yadda. Last time I didn't foil and it still took that long. This time I was planning to foil at 160 with a nice spray of apple juice & apple cider vinegar 50/50 to see how it turned out. I know some like the 'bark' but I'm actually looking for less of a 'crusty' bark and more of a caramelized bark. In my mind foiling at 160deg and spritzing down with that mixture gets me closer to that goal. So, I do my math, throw it on at like 8:00 last night and was surprised when I was already at 160 at about 2:00am... 6hrs later. Now I'm WAY ahead of pace so the idea of foiling it at 160 is out the window because now I'm actually hoping for another stall or two so this thing isn't done like 5hrs early and foiling won't help that. As I type this I'm at 176deg and am predicting it will be at 200deg within a couple of hours. I wasn't planning to be ready to eat this until tonight so I guess I will foil, towel and throw in a cooler for at least a few hours. Not sure how this is going to work out being done this early as every other time these things have taken longer than planned & been done hours after I wanted them to be done. I started my temp about 25-20deg warmer for the first hour or so and it looks like that had an effect but I never expected to see this much of an effect. Maybe I'll get lucky and it will stall in the 170's here for a few hours and get me into the afternoon at least. Even a few hours worth of stalls barely gets me to noon before a few hours resting.
How long can I rest it? Last time I rested and it went from about 202deg to about 175ish as I recall (don't have my notes in front of me) in a couple of hours and I'm thinking 3hrs puts it near 160deg and I think I've read that people often rest it to 160 or so before pulling.
Also, what are some tips for trying to prolong this? Rest it longer? Pop in the fridge at a certain temp and then just microwave when company arrives?
I've still got my 50/50 mixture in my spray bottle and I was planning to spray the pork once it was pulled too give it more moisture. I'm assuming I wait until I re-heat to do this? How much should I use? I really, really, REALLY dislike the idea of re-heating because no matter how much I try to warm and not cook it still is not as good as when it's first pulled. Any tips here?
Thanks for the help!
