Saturday Q-View...

Well, I won't wish a hurricane on anyone, but if it'll keep you working, then be my guest and have all the hurricanes that form!  We would rather not have one if possible. 

I am using this cook to experiment a bit.  I have never injected brisket or chicken, so since I picked up a cheap one at Academy earlier this week, it was time to give it a try.  The briskets were injected with beef broth, worcestershire and some of Bad Byrons Butt Rub (haven't been impressed by it yet, I'm using a modified version on my ribs today, I added brown sugar, some cayenne and black pepper to the mix).  The chicken halves got liquid butter injected in the thighs and breasts.  I also always brine my chicken, but I did not this time.  Just a few experiments, the best part is, no matter how they turn out, I get to try them out when they're done! 

A few pics of finished product.  Used a combo of oak and mesquite plus the 20# bag of Kingsford to get things kicked off.  Ribs were great, good flavor, nice glaze, good smoke ring.  Chicken was good, but not as good as when I brine.  I had tried injecting butter instead of brining, flavor was still there, but lacked a bit of moistness that brining gives you while slow smoking chicken.  Olive oil spritzing helped quite a bit with bite through skin on the chix.  I really need to work on scraping the fat off the skin prior to cooking, this will help alot.  The modified rub for the ribs had a little more kick than the standard Butt Rub, but could stand more heat.  Brisket is still cooking, foiled at 170 IT.  Injecting has caused this brisket to move a bit slower in it's cook time than I'm used to.  8 hours in, its at 180 IT, usually with my RF rig, in 8 hours I'm nearing 200 IT.  Oh well, we'll see if it pays off in flavor and moistness.   

Cobbler turned out great.  No smokiness since I kept it under tight foil wraps the entire time in the smoker.  Brisket didn't come out until almost 10 PM, so no pics of it.  Tender and juicy, but not any noticeable difference from when I don't inject.  Not sure if it helped at all, but will try again.  The injection did make the brisket take longer to reach 205 IT.  Not too much longer though, a 12-14 pounder usually takes 8 1/2 hours, this one took 9 1/2.  I can live with that.  I might try a bit more seasoning in my next injection.  It's been a few weeks since my last comp, I think my ribs are ready to place again.  They were literally devoured by the bunch around the house Saturday evening.  I used a modified 3-2-1 method, smoking for 2 hours at 250 meat side up, then flipped bone side up for an hour, foiled at 3 hours.  After an hour in foil, I checked them, had good tenderness, but could stand a bit more steaming so let them go for another 30 minutes.  Opended up the foil and glazed them and set them back in the smoker for about 30 minutes.  Still might be a bit too tender for comps, but were great for eating.  I'll just have to monitor them more while they are foiled to make sure I don't pass the tenderness point in comps.  Thanks for looking!