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sunday 12jun09 - PPB

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tasunkawitko

tasunkawitko

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
May 27, 2008
2,397
26
Chinook, Montana
it's a beautiful day and i'm having a great weekend, so i'm going to treat myself to one of my favorite things - some good southern style pulled pork barbecue.

got up an hour late this morning but was able to have meat on the grate at 0800. i slathered with mustard as usual (why re-invent a great wheel?) and applied a new store-bought rub that i've been wanting to try called famous dave's. i also bought some turbinado sugar and want to try making a rub with that as it is well-known for drastically reducing the problem of carbonization.

things are looking good and temps are a couple of degrees low on the grate, but amazingly consistent. i'll be bucking up temps here in a few minutes. i tend to like temps a little low at first anyway, as i believe this promotes a good smoke ring, which only forms when the meat is under 120 degrees.

094139_14jun09_-_2pork_shoulders_-__0800_-_meat_on.jpg


i closed the lid immediately after taking this picture and haven't touched it so far. when it has been on for two hours, i will rotate the meat and give it a quick spray with a&w root beer to which i have added just a little olive oil. when finished, we will hopefully have some outstanding pulled pork barbecue with RIVET'S extremely-awesome finishing sauce.
 
alright, qucik update - i am using royal oak lump in the green bag (i love this stuff!) for fuel, and am getting a dramatic lesson in just how much more efficient it is, especially with my "quick and dirty mods" and my new charcoal basket. just adding half a coffee can, the temps which had fallen down to around 195 shot up to 260 very quickly. i spread out the charcoal in the basket to bring them down around 250 and things are looking ok now. i am smoking with hickory chunks today and keeping a pretty darn good TBS and getting smoe good, sweet-smoky smells. it's abeauiful sunday morning and we're having a great time so far!
 
at 1000 i rotated the shoulders and applied a mop consisting of a can of a&w and about a quarter-cup of olive oil:

_14jun09_-_2pork_shoulders_-__1000-_rotate_and_mop.jpg


temps are holding pretty well - i lvoe the mods i have made so far to this SnP. instead of adding charcoal by the coffee-can-full, i am now adding it by hadfuls as needed.
 
a few minutes before noon, i had the temp flare up inexplicably to 288, so i took the opportunity to open the smoking chamber and mop again with my a&w/olive oil mop. i also rotated the meat and things are looking good:

2009-06-14_125121_14jun09_-_2pork_shoulders_-__noon_-_rotate_and_mop.JPG


interestingly, these pork shoulders are almost a matched pair of very close to the same weight. i know that it doesn't really look like it, but each rotation, i ahve been rotating bottom to top and as you can see i have also been swinging fromt to back. up to now, i ahve also been keeping them with fat cap down, but may switch that around here on the next mop, which will probably be at appx 1400.

come to think of it, i think i know why the temps suddenly went up. i had been using a small aluminum foil loaf pan as a water pan to add a little mositure in the form of steam and also a stabilizing heat sink, but it probably went dry at the same time i added some charcoal. previously, i've been using a larger pan, but cut down to the smaller one in an effort to keep teps up where they should be instead of not hot enough, which always seems to be the case. i am always tempted to just forget the water pan altogether, but until i ahve a bullet-proof manifold there, i figure it's a good idea to keep it there in order to insulate from any flare-ups and heavy heat from the firebox.
 
Congratulations on your smoke Tas~ some OUTSTANDING looking fare! Also, good for you on your mods working out...they make the SnP a lot of fun to smoke on. Gotta try that rootbeer mop.....man o man that sounds perfect for pork
PDT_Armataz_01_34.gif
 
learning some good stuff today, RIVET - the more i get to know the SnP, the better i like her!

1400 - six hours into this smoke and all is well. i rotated and flipped over the shoulders so that the fat ap is up and added a bit of charcoal and a chunk of hickory. i also mopped both top and bottom:

2009-06-14_150048_14jun09_-_2pork_shoulders_-__1400_-_rotate_and_mop.JPG


the camera angle is deceptive - these shoulders are still nearly identical in size, alhotugh judging by their spacial relationship to the thermometer probe, it is evident that they are shrinking a bit right on schedule.
 
1600 and i couldn't ask for much more than this:

2009-06-14_170312_14jun09_-_2pork_shoulders_-__1600_-_rotate_and_mop.JPG


applied the a&w/olive oil mop for the last time and will begin checking internal temps at 1700. as you can see, someone's been picking a bit at the top of the fat cap (it was quite thin, so i left it on this time...) - it wasn't me! when i find out who it is, though, they are in trouble for sure.

temps are holding fairly well although on average they are falling off a bit. this seems to be mostly related to airflow and i may have to start adding slightly-larger amounts of lump charcoal to compensate. will see how it goes. the TBS continues and so far i really have no complaints as this seems to be the best, most consistent and most efficient smoke so far....
 
at 1800, 10 hours into smoke, things are looking great. forgot to get a pic, but internal temps were in the high 170s and i think we're getting close to the final push. i rotated one of them around and a chunk fell right off - had to sample it, of course and it was excellent! i've been rotating sides around every two hours, and cooking should be pretty even.

i'm bumping cooking temps up slightly- instead of an average cooking temperature of 240, i'ts now an average of around 260. i'm able to keep a pretty darn constant temps with some concepts that became evident to me today and am thankful for that. things looking good, things smelling good.
 
Outstanding smoke so far, Tas~ You are really getting to know Southern style barbecue!

Good for you, and keep the pics coming~
 
1900 and these guys ae in the 180 range - looking good and normal:

2009-06-14_195918_14jun09_-_2pork_shoulders_-__1900.JPG


the probe of the thermometer slides in very easily all the way up to the middle, then gets a little resistance. i am hoping another half hour will do the trick. mrs. tas is starting to get a little exasperated at the amount of time it's taking. i've pushed temps up in the 260-265 range for cooking, so we should be very close to the end, i hope.
 
>>>pull it already<<<

pun intended!

i would, but i just love it when the dang things come apart and the gelatin is sliding all around and the juices are bursiting out of every bite - that last 10 degrees or so is worth the wait!

having said that, i am pulling tehm off at 1945 no matter what the internal temp is and no matter what kind of resistance i meet in the middle. as much as i love the things mentioned above, i love being married even better! i just checked temps and the probe is pretty much falling in right upt o a tough spot in the middle. i am hoping another 15 minutes will take care of that last little bit.

quick question - is there a way to cut back on the resting time without sacrificing final product? i usually go a half-hour with great results, but i am hoping a little elstt time will ork out OK - 15-20 minutes would be ideal, but i will rest for the full half-hour if necessary.
 
pulled them off at 1945 - foiled and wrapped and in cooler while side dish (bush's grilling beans) heats on stove and lemonade chills. as soon as beans are heated through - we're eating!

i'll try for q-view but can't guarantee it - folks are hungry here! might get a quick one of it pulled and on the plate if i am lucky ~
 
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