Hi All,
I've been extremely out of sorts lately so I unfortunately have misplaced my camera and was not able to get pictures of the Father's day work weekend cookout. but I will tell you about it, if you are interested.
My friend (Marc) in Connecticut called me up to let me know he was getting a Brinkmann Smoker. He needed help with some work around the house as well as some assistance in showing him how to use the smoker.
So up to Connecticut I went. When I got there on the Friday night before Father's day Marc had already put the smoker together. He also had picked up a pork butt and 2 racks of spares from Stew Leonard's. I took a walk out back to see what I had gotten myself into.
Marc had picked himself up a top of the line Brinkmann Barrel Smoker (Can you see my tongue sticking out the side of my cheek?) Maybe I'm spoiled but I'm used to using an offset smoker with a decent amount of space. This unit was made of metal barely thicker than the sheet metal they use for HVAC ducts. The seals were, well, not sealed. There is no way other than the stack cover to regulate the heat and the meat sits directly above the coals.
I had a feeling I was going to have my work cut out for me, but I didn't realize it would be this challenging.
Needless to say the temps ranged anywhere from below 100 to over 600 (I was using my digital which I brought with me to judge the correct temperatures).
Somehow, though, we were able to salvage the whole thing. The butt was a beautiful 7+lb piece of meat (bone out) and barely needed any trimming. The ribs were pre-trimmed down to St. Louis cut but they had included the rib tips.
We were able to get the ribs and butt on, though the rib tips would not fit, ,by utilizing both the standard grill space but the warming rack as well.
All in all we were able to keep enough of an eye on the pork (while stripping and staining 3 porches) that even though we spiked over 600 the butt came out pretty easy to pull, the ribs were tender, pulled nicely from the bone without just falling apart, and the rub (my personal blend) didn't scorch.I thank the liberal use of foil for that.
So all in all it was more like a crap fight at the zoo than a good grilling/smoking day but we still ended up with a good product. Once I find my camera I will make sure to get some q-view up.
I've been extremely out of sorts lately so I unfortunately have misplaced my camera and was not able to get pictures of the Father's day work weekend cookout. but I will tell you about it, if you are interested.
My friend (Marc) in Connecticut called me up to let me know he was getting a Brinkmann Smoker. He needed help with some work around the house as well as some assistance in showing him how to use the smoker.
So up to Connecticut I went. When I got there on the Friday night before Father's day Marc had already put the smoker together. He also had picked up a pork butt and 2 racks of spares from Stew Leonard's. I took a walk out back to see what I had gotten myself into.
Marc had picked himself up a top of the line Brinkmann Barrel Smoker (Can you see my tongue sticking out the side of my cheek?) Maybe I'm spoiled but I'm used to using an offset smoker with a decent amount of space. This unit was made of metal barely thicker than the sheet metal they use for HVAC ducts. The seals were, well, not sealed. There is no way other than the stack cover to regulate the heat and the meat sits directly above the coals.
I had a feeling I was going to have my work cut out for me, but I didn't realize it would be this challenging.
Needless to say the temps ranged anywhere from below 100 to over 600 (I was using my digital which I brought with me to judge the correct temperatures).
Somehow, though, we were able to salvage the whole thing. The butt was a beautiful 7+lb piece of meat (bone out) and barely needed any trimming. The ribs were pre-trimmed down to St. Louis cut but they had included the rib tips.
We were able to get the ribs and butt on, though the rib tips would not fit, ,by utilizing both the standard grill space but the warming rack as well.
All in all we were able to keep enough of an eye on the pork (while stripping and staining 3 porches) that even though we spiked over 600 the butt came out pretty easy to pull, the ribs were tender, pulled nicely from the bone without just falling apart, and the rub (my personal blend) didn't scorch.I thank the liberal use of foil for that.
So all in all it was more like a crap fight at the zoo than a good grilling/smoking day but we still ended up with a good product. Once I find my camera I will make sure to get some q-view up.
