Yesterday was a bit to crappy here in North Texas for golf (yeah, I know most of the north east is immobile due to snowmageddon and I feel your pain, but…) Lil’ Puffy was beckoning. My goal was to not replay my last attempt but to pay attention to what was going on so I found a 3-2-1 recipe I could follow. Now I know why they’re called butchers – it’s pretty much what I did to the meat. Next time I’ll look at this refresher.
Anyway, I cut open the pack of pork spares. Sprinkled them with Jeff’s wonder dust and set them aside and went out to complete Puffy’s setup.
Got the fire going, got to temp, and on went the meat. Apple juiced them after hour one and two, foiled after 3 hours with some apple juice, unfoiled after two, and back into the smoker naked for another hour.
I fried some spuds for steak fries and added the obligatory veggie or two. They didn’t look pretty like a competition slab, but they were outstanding.
Lessons learned – take time trimming because presentation is important. Cut the ribs instead of whacking – a smooth cut is much prettier than a ragged tear.
Learn how to smoke with lump – I’ve tried it but am challenged with temp control. Lump burns a lot hotter but it’s also a cleaner burn. Advice here is welcome. The ash build-up into the 4th hour needed too much attention – the temp would fall until I tweaked the fire box and gave the charcoal enough oxygen to burn.
Anyway, I cut open the pack of pork spares. Sprinkled them with Jeff’s wonder dust and set them aside and went out to complete Puffy’s setup.
Got the fire going, got to temp, and on went the meat. Apple juiced them after hour one and two, foiled after 3 hours with some apple juice, unfoiled after two, and back into the smoker naked for another hour.
I fried some spuds for steak fries and added the obligatory veggie or two. They didn’t look pretty like a competition slab, but they were outstanding.
Lessons learned – take time trimming because presentation is important. Cut the ribs instead of whacking – a smooth cut is much prettier than a ragged tear.
Learn how to smoke with lump – I’ve tried it but am challenged with temp control. Lump burns a lot hotter but it’s also a cleaner burn. Advice here is welcome. The ash build-up into the 4th hour needed too much attention – the temp would fall until I tweaked the fire box and gave the charcoal enough oxygen to burn.
