Good Morning SMF,
I bought a CyberQ Wifi this week, and figured in honor of its first use, to redo my pork butt recipe. I bought a pork shoulder, and not butt, because I figured if I can make cheap meat taste, I figured I did my job.
This particular one I got had the biggest fat cap I had ever seen. I should have known this one would be trouble (later on that). So I did take a decent cut of the fat off but obviously left some on for self-basting, but I wanted to rub hit as much of the pork as possible.
I've won several championships with my old recipe, but the one remark I get back is that it didn't have enough bite. So this new one has a lot more paprika, but also threw in some ginger and some "not so ordinary" chili powder. I did also do an injection (not something I usually do).
I left the shoulder in the fridge wrapped for several hours and then put it on the smoker. For the wood I used Hickory, with some chunks of Cherry. As you can see below I got the CyberQ hooked up. i tried (keyword), to keep it around 215.
All pitmasters, or anyone that has done this more than once, knows a pork butt literally takes on its own personality during a smoke. I say that because this pork butt didn't have one plateau point, it had two. One at about 165 for several hours, and then another at 175 for several hours. The size of the butt was a little over 8 lbs, I started on Friday around 7pm, and finished up around 1pm on Saturday.
My last spray of Captain Morgan and Apple Juice this is what she looked like...
Mind the red tint, it was from the red canopy i had been using. So after I pulled it off the smoker, I let it sit in a cooler for about 90 minutes (wrapped in foil, and with a towel around it). Below is the final result:
Then after I took a knife to get a real sense of how much smoke it absorbed and the texture.....
And one for a close up...
Then finally a "clean off the bone)...
Overall thoughts on this pork:
- I won't say this was my best pork butt overall, but this was the most flavorful one I have done.
- The bark, the best I have ever tasted.
- I did hit a few dry spots in the pork, and I wonder if that was due to the dual temp plateaus, or just not enough injection/fat
This was a test run for a birthday cookout I am doing next week, and I think I will be using this recipe for the cookout.
Thoughts on my first smoke with the CyberQ:
- This was my second overnight smoke, and i realize just how much I need to learn about doing overnight smokes versus in the day smokes. I didn't nearly have enough charcoal at first, and I've realized with the CyberQ, you need to have more for a buffer.
- The CyberQ does exactly as advertised. I am more than happy I got the wifi version. i also downloaded an app on my Android to watch the temperature graph and manage set points.
I'll have another post next weekend after my party, I expect to do a few boston butts, and my third attempt at a brisket.
I bought a CyberQ Wifi this week, and figured in honor of its first use, to redo my pork butt recipe. I bought a pork shoulder, and not butt, because I figured if I can make cheap meat taste, I figured I did my job.
This particular one I got had the biggest fat cap I had ever seen. I should have known this one would be trouble (later on that). So I did take a decent cut of the fat off but obviously left some on for self-basting, but I wanted to rub hit as much of the pork as possible.
I've won several championships with my old recipe, but the one remark I get back is that it didn't have enough bite. So this new one has a lot more paprika, but also threw in some ginger and some "not so ordinary" chili powder. I did also do an injection (not something I usually do).
I left the shoulder in the fridge wrapped for several hours and then put it on the smoker. For the wood I used Hickory, with some chunks of Cherry. As you can see below I got the CyberQ hooked up. i tried (keyword), to keep it around 215.
All pitmasters, or anyone that has done this more than once, knows a pork butt literally takes on its own personality during a smoke. I say that because this pork butt didn't have one plateau point, it had two. One at about 165 for several hours, and then another at 175 for several hours. The size of the butt was a little over 8 lbs, I started on Friday around 7pm, and finished up around 1pm on Saturday.
My last spray of Captain Morgan and Apple Juice this is what she looked like...
Mind the red tint, it was from the red canopy i had been using. So after I pulled it off the smoker, I let it sit in a cooler for about 90 minutes (wrapped in foil, and with a towel around it). Below is the final result:
Then after I took a knife to get a real sense of how much smoke it absorbed and the texture.....
And one for a close up...
Then finally a "clean off the bone)...
Overall thoughts on this pork:
- I won't say this was my best pork butt overall, but this was the most flavorful one I have done.
- The bark, the best I have ever tasted.
- I did hit a few dry spots in the pork, and I wonder if that was due to the dual temp plateaus, or just not enough injection/fat
This was a test run for a birthday cookout I am doing next week, and I think I will be using this recipe for the cookout.
Thoughts on my first smoke with the CyberQ:
- This was my second overnight smoke, and i realize just how much I need to learn about doing overnight smokes versus in the day smokes. I didn't nearly have enough charcoal at first, and I've realized with the CyberQ, you need to have more for a buffer.
- The CyberQ does exactly as advertised. I am more than happy I got the wifi version. i also downloaded an app on my Android to watch the temperature graph and manage set points.
I'll have another post next weekend after my party, I expect to do a few boston butts, and my third attempt at a brisket.
