This was done on my new
Weber Smokey Mountain 1 1/2.
12 lb boneless rib trimmings. Oily rub with:
2 big fresh garlic clove
garlic powder
onion powder
Hungarian paprika
crushed rosemary
black pepper
cumin (not too much – a little goes a long way)
EVOO
Rub was probably not enough, but that will let the smoke flavor shine through.
1 lb fresh Italian sausage.
3 ½ lb chicken, brined in
Slaughterhouse Poultry Brine By Tip Piper of Hillbilly Vittles (Oops – forgot celery seed.)
Minion method – ring overfull of charcoal and about ½ char coal chimney – too much – hits bottom of water bowl.
Using chunks of hickory, mesquite, maple, apple.
Next time put some water in bowl before setting over the coals to avoid temperature shock. The empty bowl heats fast!
Added about a gallon of luke warm water to tray and placed cover on with all vents wide open.
After about 15 min, temp at 200. Closed one base vent.
2:40 PM - Another 15 min, up to 210. and added (most of) pork to lower rack. Thinner pieces were stacked to provide additional thickness for more even cooking.
3:00 PM – up to 225 – close another charcoal bowl vent.
TBS TBS! (I think ;) )
3:20 – up to 260 – close remaining charcoal bowl vent
3:40 – down to 2:40 – left vents alone
4:00 – down to 2:20 – open 1 vent half way – linearly, add chicken and sausage to top rack.
4:24 – creeping up a bit from 220 – left bottom vents alone.
5:10 – back to 220. Found all bottom vents closed – WTF! Opened one half (linear)
<go to hot dog night>
10:00 PM up to 245 – took Italian sausage off – it tastes good. Should have set one aside and fried it to do a side by side comparison. Threw on a little more hickory, walnut and maple. Probably enough mesquite.
10:35 – temp 250 – chicken at 170 so removed. Pork at 180. Shut all vents fully. Will see where temp goes in next few hours
11:00 PM – down to 220
11:30 – 190 – firebox check indicates coals are almost completely out – remove meat and foil to rest.
Done! Almost!
I wrapped the chicken and pork in foil and put in a warm (110 approx.) oven to rest. Since the chicken came off earlier, I pulled it first. It was pretty easy to pull the meat from the bones. I will also note that the usual tell I use for doneness - skinn pulling back from the end of the drunstick - did not happen when slow smoking.
It was getting late so I packed the pork into a sealed container and put it in the fridge. The next morning I put it into a crude double boiler consisting of a big pot set into a large ribbed cast iron pan (with enough water to cover.) I rewarmed the pork so I could pull it.
I pull the pork by smooshing it between thumb and forefinger. That seems to work pretty well. Am I doing OK? I've heard that squishing burgers as they cook toughens them. I'd hate to do that to my pork.
I wonder how long I can store that in the freezer. I'm concerned that the meat is so finely divided that it will freezer burn quickly. Perhaps I should put some sauce on it before freezing.
Only other issue was that the
WSM does not seal enough to extinguish the remaining coals. this morning it was still 150 and remained there after noon. So I turned lemon to lemonade. I'm cutting dome wood on my property (black walnut and box elder - really a maple) so I put some fresh pieces in the
WSM to kinl dry them.
Thanks for following along and I appreciate any comments you have about technique.
-walter
