Hey team,
Nice to meet you all in this sub-forum! Newbie here; I’ve just acquired a Char Broil Kettleman to up my BBQ game, a little gift to myself after hosting a successful cook-up for my birthday every year for the last however many! Last Saturday a pal and myself decided to try smoking for the first time, after reading some positive reviews for the Kettleman in that regard. The sun was out, it was warm-ish - we were good to go!
We decided to opt for a couple of medium size beef short ribs (less bothered about them in this thread) and roughly half a pork shoulder (so bone out). I removed the skin / fat, applied the famous household rub recipe I've been making for years and left them to soak in overnight. Meanwhile I bought a bag of hickory and apple chips, and treated myself (again) with an iGrill Mini thermometer to keep an eye on the ambient temperature and, later on in the cook, the internal meat temperature. Pics here:
I had lump wood in the house but figured that would be too much like hard work to maintain a steady temperature so bought a bag of non-chemical briquettes and stuck them in a fuse layout, before heating the first batch of 10 or so up in the chimney. Waited till they were white, added to the BBQ - no cigar. They burnt out fairly quickly without catching the next batch and, even though the lid was down, I put this down to the fact it’s still not that warm over here (13-14c, so I guess 55-60f for you guys). We couldn’t clear 120f.
We decided to opt for the other suggested configuration and stuck the coals on one bank of the bbq, heating up a quite a few more along the way, and sticking the lid down. Result; hit around 220f before too long, and on went the meat on the opposite side with a drip pan underneath. We left the meat thermometer nearby the meat (but not too close) to try and gain an idea of the temperature in the area where it was cooking.
Over the next however many hours, we kept a real close eye on things, adding a few pre-soaked chips after the first 30 mins or so before topping them up a couple more times over the next 6-7 hours. We kept the temperature pretty much exactly between 220 and 240 for the duration (apart from the moments where we had to top the coal up, as you can see from the huge drops in the graph!). The vents on the Kettleman’s lid seemed pretty effective for moderating the temperature as required (sorry for the below pic, running in centigrade in the UK!)...
After a few hours, we basted in apple juice; the bark was developing nicely. Okay - after this it got a little hazy as a long day in the sun with a LOT of beer took hold, but we didn’t take our eyes off the ball! Even after it got dark. Jeez, it almost feels like looking after a needy child who won’t go to sleep (and I’m sure that’s been said on here before).
… Anyway, this is the interesting / confusing bit. After nearly seven hours at a constant 220-240f ambient temperature, the bark looked beautiful by this stage and we decided to check the internal meat temperature instead. It was around 160f for the beef and 170f for the pork. Curiosity (okay - hunger) soon got the better of us and we decided to take them off the grill and prod them a bit.
This is where I’m probably revealing my naivety, but hey - I’m happy to be corrected! Cutting into the pork, it was actually quite tough to the point of almost drying out in places. Definitely not pulling in any regard. Parts of it had more the texture of a pork chop. The beef was more pleasing and quite juicy but still, more resembled a steak than tender, flakey meat. Again, see the pics:
(Pork)
(Beef)
What I don’t understand is this. With the pork drying out and feeling quite overcooked, it doesn’t feel like cooking it any longer would have changed this effect and left it tender and easy to pull? Am I wrong? It almost feels like it cooked on too high a heat, and too quickly - but if we maintained the correct internal bbq temperature, how can this be? It also hadn’t risen in internal temperature for a good 30 mins by the time we took it out. I thought they'd be ready to foil-wrap by the time they hit the temperatures we served them at, but it sort of feels / tasted like they were beyond saving texture-wise.
Part of me is wondering if it’s the Kettleman. You need a lot less coal to cook as the grate is so much nearer the grill, but we still needed quite a few briquettes (maybe 15 constantly) to maintain the 225f level. I'm also debating if we should've left the thermometer somewhere more central, rather than adjacent to the meat? And maybe the meat should have literally been right on the opposite corner of the grill.
It's also worth noting that the bbq's own ambient temperature gauge was off the chain throughout (I mean, pushing 450-500f so literally double what the iGrill said). This was a bit disconcerting, even though I know these are notoriously inaccurate.
I’m wondering what experiences other Kettleman users have had when smoking, and if you guys had any advice for me? Bottom line is, I’m cooking for a LOT of people this Saturday and would love to try it again, but I really don’t wanna screw it up or leave everyone with thick, chewy chunks of pork like we had last week. I can pass on the short rib. I’ve been slow cooking pork shoulder in my kitchen for years with great success, and am determined to nail smoking if it kills me!
Essay = over. Thanks for reading, guys!
Nice to meet you all in this sub-forum! Newbie here; I’ve just acquired a Char Broil Kettleman to up my BBQ game, a little gift to myself after hosting a successful cook-up for my birthday every year for the last however many! Last Saturday a pal and myself decided to try smoking for the first time, after reading some positive reviews for the Kettleman in that regard. The sun was out, it was warm-ish - we were good to go!
We decided to opt for a couple of medium size beef short ribs (less bothered about them in this thread) and roughly half a pork shoulder (so bone out). I removed the skin / fat, applied the famous household rub recipe I've been making for years and left them to soak in overnight. Meanwhile I bought a bag of hickory and apple chips, and treated myself (again) with an iGrill Mini thermometer to keep an eye on the ambient temperature and, later on in the cook, the internal meat temperature. Pics here:
I had lump wood in the house but figured that would be too much like hard work to maintain a steady temperature so bought a bag of non-chemical briquettes and stuck them in a fuse layout, before heating the first batch of 10 or so up in the chimney. Waited till they were white, added to the BBQ - no cigar. They burnt out fairly quickly without catching the next batch and, even though the lid was down, I put this down to the fact it’s still not that warm over here (13-14c, so I guess 55-60f for you guys). We couldn’t clear 120f.
We decided to opt for the other suggested configuration and stuck the coals on one bank of the bbq, heating up a quite a few more along the way, and sticking the lid down. Result; hit around 220f before too long, and on went the meat on the opposite side with a drip pan underneath. We left the meat thermometer nearby the meat (but not too close) to try and gain an idea of the temperature in the area where it was cooking.
Over the next however many hours, we kept a real close eye on things, adding a few pre-soaked chips after the first 30 mins or so before topping them up a couple more times over the next 6-7 hours. We kept the temperature pretty much exactly between 220 and 240 for the duration (apart from the moments where we had to top the coal up, as you can see from the huge drops in the graph!). The vents on the Kettleman’s lid seemed pretty effective for moderating the temperature as required (sorry for the below pic, running in centigrade in the UK!)...
After a few hours, we basted in apple juice; the bark was developing nicely. Okay - after this it got a little hazy as a long day in the sun with a LOT of beer took hold, but we didn’t take our eyes off the ball! Even after it got dark. Jeez, it almost feels like looking after a needy child who won’t go to sleep (and I’m sure that’s been said on here before).
… Anyway, this is the interesting / confusing bit. After nearly seven hours at a constant 220-240f ambient temperature, the bark looked beautiful by this stage and we decided to check the internal meat temperature instead. It was around 160f for the beef and 170f for the pork. Curiosity (okay - hunger) soon got the better of us and we decided to take them off the grill and prod them a bit.
This is where I’m probably revealing my naivety, but hey - I’m happy to be corrected! Cutting into the pork, it was actually quite tough to the point of almost drying out in places. Definitely not pulling in any regard. Parts of it had more the texture of a pork chop. The beef was more pleasing and quite juicy but still, more resembled a steak than tender, flakey meat. Again, see the pics:
(Pork)
(Beef)
What I don’t understand is this. With the pork drying out and feeling quite overcooked, it doesn’t feel like cooking it any longer would have changed this effect and left it tender and easy to pull? Am I wrong? It almost feels like it cooked on too high a heat, and too quickly - but if we maintained the correct internal bbq temperature, how can this be? It also hadn’t risen in internal temperature for a good 30 mins by the time we took it out. I thought they'd be ready to foil-wrap by the time they hit the temperatures we served them at, but it sort of feels / tasted like they were beyond saving texture-wise.
Part of me is wondering if it’s the Kettleman. You need a lot less coal to cook as the grate is so much nearer the grill, but we still needed quite a few briquettes (maybe 15 constantly) to maintain the 225f level. I'm also debating if we should've left the thermometer somewhere more central, rather than adjacent to the meat? And maybe the meat should have literally been right on the opposite corner of the grill.
It's also worth noting that the bbq's own ambient temperature gauge was off the chain throughout (I mean, pushing 450-500f so literally double what the iGrill said). This was a bit disconcerting, even though I know these are notoriously inaccurate.
I’m wondering what experiences other Kettleman users have had when smoking, and if you guys had any advice for me? Bottom line is, I’m cooking for a LOT of people this Saturday and would love to try it again, but I really don’t wanna screw it up or leave everyone with thick, chewy chunks of pork like we had last week. I can pass on the short rib. I’ve been slow cooking pork shoulder in my kitchen for years with great success, and am determined to nail smoking if it kills me!
Essay = over. Thanks for reading, guys!