Well, we finally got a break in the weather....had a nice day so planned out a big cook. (Mistake #1).
Figured I'd cook a pork butt, couple racks of ribs, a whole chicken, sausage, some burgers and beans.
This isn't my first cook on a Lang...owned one for 6 years and sold it about 5 years ago...so lets just say I was out of practice....
I took the meat out of the freezer and put in the fridge on Thursday around noon. Saturday morning about 6 am, all was fairly frozen. I had taken the chicken out Friday evening for wet brine and it too was pretty frozen....pulled it out about 4pm and 7pm I put it in a wet brine mixture....let it thaw out overnight in the brine.
So I let the meat that was partially frozen thaw for a few hours before I started prep. Cranked the Lang up around 9:30am and at 10:15am the smoker was ready for an 8lb pork butt at around 285°F. I figured 10 hours.
Things went well...had no trouble keeping it between 265 and 285°F for a few hours.
Prepped the ribs.
Then about 1:15 the burgers went on.
Used the time cooking burgers to prep for Dutches beans while the burgers cooked. Burgers came out to perfection.
After the burgers were consumed, I tossed on the ribs and a pan of beans.
it was around this time I started having trouble with temperature....the wind did kick up slightly, but not awful. The temp in the smoker dropped significantly...even below 200°F and it was a struggle just getting it up to 225°F....wood, dampers wide open..... I fought with it for quite a long time to get it to stay above 225....temps would crawl up.
Last thing to put on was the beans.
About 7 hours in, the script completely flipped.....the cooker shot up past 300°F and at one point to 345°....and closing down the dampers did very little...finally got it below 300 and it finished its cook around 285-295 for the last couple of hours.
The chicken came off first. the rub turned black (uncle steves fowl rub).....but the meat was wonderful
The ribs came off around 203 but parts were 210.... They were overcooked and on the dry side....hard to carve.
The beans came off...and they were wonderful. I was WAY late taking off the sausage...it was also very dry...way too long hitting internal of 210.
The beans were put on the warmer for awhile but still came out great.
After the heat struggles, the butt came off the pit at 8:15pm at 203°F. I wrapped it and put it in the warmer overnight to pull in the morning.
The meat was on the dry side again..... I doctored it up a bit with rub and BBQ sauce to moisten it up...it ate good the next day.
Made up some Mustard sauce to mix things up a bit for the Pulled pork sandwiches.....a unique flavor to say the least.
The pit used about 2 wheelbarrow loads of splits for a 10 hour cook..... more than I would have guessed.
I'm getting older because at the end of the day I was completely wiped out....I wasn't even very hungry TBH....beer was cold and good.
To learn my pit, I should have cooked one item and concentrated on that instead of a big cook out of the gate..... Too many things going on for a pit I don't fully have down.
I don't understand the issue with the temps ..... not sure if I hit a meat stall period and the meat was giving off moisture cooling off the cooker?? I just don't know yet....and then why the big flip later where I couldn't cool it down? .... These are things I need to learn before cooking large meals.
The warmer box....well...it is aptly named. I had high hopes of smoking sausages or cooking food if the cooker was full...but nope....
2 hours in, the warmer thermostat didn't move....then it was all I could do to get it to 125°F.... Good for warming and jerkey...but not for smoking meats...no matter how much I played with the baffle, it barely changed anything. When my pit got up to 345°, the warmer box finally got up to 150°F.
I mean I can smoke sausage in the big chamber, but not the warmer box. Max the warmer box will hold is a 9x13 pan.
I did sauté the veggies for the beans in a skillet on top of the cooker firebox....used a trivet. Worked very well.
I have much to learn about my pit and that will only happen with use over time.
I have purchase a bunch of new sausage making equipment and I cannot wait to get started smoking sausages on it....still happy with the purchase. I love a challenge....I would get bored with a set and forget pit.
Figured I'd cook a pork butt, couple racks of ribs, a whole chicken, sausage, some burgers and beans.
This isn't my first cook on a Lang...owned one for 6 years and sold it about 5 years ago...so lets just say I was out of practice....
I took the meat out of the freezer and put in the fridge on Thursday around noon. Saturday morning about 6 am, all was fairly frozen. I had taken the chicken out Friday evening for wet brine and it too was pretty frozen....pulled it out about 4pm and 7pm I put it in a wet brine mixture....let it thaw out overnight in the brine.
So I let the meat that was partially frozen thaw for a few hours before I started prep. Cranked the Lang up around 9:30am and at 10:15am the smoker was ready for an 8lb pork butt at around 285°F. I figured 10 hours.
Things went well...had no trouble keeping it between 265 and 285°F for a few hours.
Prepped the ribs.
Then about 1:15 the burgers went on.
Used the time cooking burgers to prep for Dutches beans while the burgers cooked. Burgers came out to perfection.
After the burgers were consumed, I tossed on the ribs and a pan of beans.
it was around this time I started having trouble with temperature....the wind did kick up slightly, but not awful. The temp in the smoker dropped significantly...even below 200°F and it was a struggle just getting it up to 225°F....wood, dampers wide open..... I fought with it for quite a long time to get it to stay above 225....temps would crawl up.
Last thing to put on was the beans.
About 7 hours in, the script completely flipped.....the cooker shot up past 300°F and at one point to 345°....and closing down the dampers did very little...finally got it below 300 and it finished its cook around 285-295 for the last couple of hours.
The chicken came off first. the rub turned black (uncle steves fowl rub).....but the meat was wonderful
The ribs came off around 203 but parts were 210.... They were overcooked and on the dry side....hard to carve.
The beans came off...and they were wonderful. I was WAY late taking off the sausage...it was also very dry...way too long hitting internal of 210.
The beans were put on the warmer for awhile but still came out great.
After the heat struggles, the butt came off the pit at 8:15pm at 203°F. I wrapped it and put it in the warmer overnight to pull in the morning.
The meat was on the dry side again..... I doctored it up a bit with rub and BBQ sauce to moisten it up...it ate good the next day.
Made up some Mustard sauce to mix things up a bit for the Pulled pork sandwiches.....a unique flavor to say the least.
The pit used about 2 wheelbarrow loads of splits for a 10 hour cook..... more than I would have guessed.
I'm getting older because at the end of the day I was completely wiped out....I wasn't even very hungry TBH....beer was cold and good.
To learn my pit, I should have cooked one item and concentrated on that instead of a big cook out of the gate..... Too many things going on for a pit I don't fully have down.
I don't understand the issue with the temps ..... not sure if I hit a meat stall period and the meat was giving off moisture cooling off the cooker?? I just don't know yet....and then why the big flip later where I couldn't cool it down? .... These are things I need to learn before cooking large meals.
The warmer box....well...it is aptly named. I had high hopes of smoking sausages or cooking food if the cooker was full...but nope....
2 hours in, the warmer thermostat didn't move....then it was all I could do to get it to 125°F.... Good for warming and jerkey...but not for smoking meats...no matter how much I played with the baffle, it barely changed anything. When my pit got up to 345°, the warmer box finally got up to 150°F.
I mean I can smoke sausage in the big chamber, but not the warmer box. Max the warmer box will hold is a 9x13 pan.
I did sauté the veggies for the beans in a skillet on top of the cooker firebox....used a trivet. Worked very well.
I have much to learn about my pit and that will only happen with use over time.
I have purchase a bunch of new sausage making equipment and I cannot wait to get started smoking sausages on it....still happy with the purchase. I love a challenge....I would get bored with a set and forget pit.
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. Now you and that beauty, just need to get to know each other lol. Congrats on the new cooker
