After getting in my new 22.5 WSM and playing with it last week, I couldn’t wait to smoke something over the weekend. So, I thought I’d just try a couple racks of spare ribs and a double-smoked ham. But, then I got to thinking, let’s push it and see if it will do what my old stick burner will not. Let’s smoke the ribs and ham together on Saturday, then do an all-nighter Saturday night with a pork shoulder for pulled pork. Let’s just have an all-pork weekend!
The spare ribs and ham went without incident Saturday. The ribs smoked for about 6 hours total at 230* and ham on the bottom rack for about 4 hours. I found I could close 2 of the 3 bottom vents, and leave one about ¼ way open to get a consistent 230* grate temp…absolutely amazing. I did take the ribs off at about the 4 ½ hour mark to slather them in barbecue sauce. And, they were disturbed at the 2-hour mark for me to move them to add the ham. So, I would say the actual smoke time for the ribs was closer to 5 hours. Both times I disturbed it, I was amazed at how fast the WSM recovered temp. The spare ribs were amazing, and not a one was left over. Not much ham was left over either. Overall, a very successful cook…and by-far the easiest one I’ve ever done.
But, we had company over and during the conversation and alcohol, I never thought about pics. The company was all family who’ve eaten my barbecue many times. And, both my brother and brother-in-law said those were the best ribs I’d ever smoked. My brother-in-law even told my sister that this was going to cost her money, as he was going to have to purchase a WSM now. He said he never had time to smoke meat like I always have in the past, on a stick burner that you had to watch constantly. And, when I told him the two times mentioned above were the ONLY times I disturbed the fire, that it held right on 230* for 6 hours, and that I was afraid it was going to make me lazy…he decided that was the smoker he needed.
So, all the above had me psyched about the over-night cook, and I was looking forward to it. I’ve smoked a lot of pork butts, but this was my first shoulder, which is basically a picnic ham. And, I knew no smoke would penetrate that skin, so I removed it before I rubbed it up Friday afternoon. I slathered it in Tabasco sauce to hold the rub, then I used this rub, and put her in the fridge covered for about 32 hours.
Here you can see that big piece of skin that I cut off.
I started the WSM about 10:00pm Saturday night. I opened one bottom vent about 1/3 to get to 250*, where I wanted to run, put the pork shoulder on at 11:00, and went to bed. I woke up about 8 hours later and checked my Maverick on the night stand. My smoker grate temp had dropped to 200* and the shoulder was stuck in the stall at 160* internal.
I went out, stirred up my charcoal, saw it was low, and added about 4 double handfuls of charcoal into the coal door and closed it back. Then, I wrapped the shoulder up in a foil pan covered in foil. Within about 15-20 minutes, the grate temp was back to 250* and we were rocking along again. I just don’t know how long it had been in the stall, or how long I’d been low on charcoal. It set on 160* internal for about another 45 minutes, before it finally started rising again. At the 12-hour mark, around 11:00am, I had an internal temp of 202* and pulled it off. Then, I put the entire foil pan in an ice chest to rest for a while.
I took it out of the ice chest after a couple of hours, and let it rest on the counter top for about 30 minutes. Finally, the smell was driving me crazy, and I had to test it. It fell off the bone, and was so easy to pull. The bark was perfect, and I could taste just a hint of the hot sauce I used to bind the rub...a really great, sweet, spicy, smoky taste.
This was only a 7 lb shoulder, but it sure made a lot of good pulled pork.
When eating pulled pork, even though I’m from Texas, I like a good spicy Carolina-style vinegar based sauce. So, I use this:
Bottom line is…I LOVE THIS SMOKER!!
The spare ribs and ham went without incident Saturday. The ribs smoked for about 6 hours total at 230* and ham on the bottom rack for about 4 hours. I found I could close 2 of the 3 bottom vents, and leave one about ¼ way open to get a consistent 230* grate temp…absolutely amazing. I did take the ribs off at about the 4 ½ hour mark to slather them in barbecue sauce. And, they were disturbed at the 2-hour mark for me to move them to add the ham. So, I would say the actual smoke time for the ribs was closer to 5 hours. Both times I disturbed it, I was amazed at how fast the WSM recovered temp. The spare ribs were amazing, and not a one was left over. Not much ham was left over either. Overall, a very successful cook…and by-far the easiest one I’ve ever done.
But, we had company over and during the conversation and alcohol, I never thought about pics. The company was all family who’ve eaten my barbecue many times. And, both my brother and brother-in-law said those were the best ribs I’d ever smoked. My brother-in-law even told my sister that this was going to cost her money, as he was going to have to purchase a WSM now. He said he never had time to smoke meat like I always have in the past, on a stick burner that you had to watch constantly. And, when I told him the two times mentioned above were the ONLY times I disturbed the fire, that it held right on 230* for 6 hours, and that I was afraid it was going to make me lazy…he decided that was the smoker he needed.
So, all the above had me psyched about the over-night cook, and I was looking forward to it. I’ve smoked a lot of pork butts, but this was my first shoulder, which is basically a picnic ham. And, I knew no smoke would penetrate that skin, so I removed it before I rubbed it up Friday afternoon. I slathered it in Tabasco sauce to hold the rub, then I used this rub, and put her in the fridge covered for about 32 hours.
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1/3 Cup Chili Powder
1/4 Cup Paprika
3 Tbsp Kosher Salt
3 Tbsp Course Black Pepper
2 Tbsp Cumin
2 Tbsp Coriander
2 Tbsp Allspice
3 Tbsp Granulated Garlic
2 Tbsp Onion Powder
1 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper
Here you can see that big piece of skin that I cut off.
I started the WSM about 10:00pm Saturday night. I opened one bottom vent about 1/3 to get to 250*, where I wanted to run, put the pork shoulder on at 11:00, and went to bed. I woke up about 8 hours later and checked my Maverick on the night stand. My smoker grate temp had dropped to 200* and the shoulder was stuck in the stall at 160* internal.
I went out, stirred up my charcoal, saw it was low, and added about 4 double handfuls of charcoal into the coal door and closed it back. Then, I wrapped the shoulder up in a foil pan covered in foil. Within about 15-20 minutes, the grate temp was back to 250* and we were rocking along again. I just don’t know how long it had been in the stall, or how long I’d been low on charcoal. It set on 160* internal for about another 45 minutes, before it finally started rising again. At the 12-hour mark, around 11:00am, I had an internal temp of 202* and pulled it off. Then, I put the entire foil pan in an ice chest to rest for a while.
I took it out of the ice chest after a couple of hours, and let it rest on the counter top for about 30 minutes. Finally, the smell was driving me crazy, and I had to test it. It fell off the bone, and was so easy to pull. The bark was perfect, and I could taste just a hint of the hot sauce I used to bind the rub...a really great, sweet, spicy, smoky taste.
This was only a 7 lb shoulder, but it sure made a lot of good pulled pork.
When eating pulled pork, even though I’m from Texas, I like a good spicy Carolina-style vinegar based sauce. So, I use this:
2 cups Apple Cider Vinegar
3 Tbsp Ketchup
2 Tbsp Paprika
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp Kosher Salt
1 Tbsp Tabasco sauce
1 to 2 tsp Cayenne Pepper- 1 to 2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
Bottom line is…I LOVE THIS SMOKER!!