We bought a new house 2 months ago, and the layout of the kitchen doesn't really make sense for a stove hood. Our solution was to get a grill for outside. I have played around with gas and some charcoal in the past, but was never serious about grilling, and never really thought much about smoking. But since moving to Texas a couple of years ago, I have been fascinated with the concept of smoking meats--having easy access to Rudy's, Blacks, Styles Switch...and Franklin's is motivational, and my first time having real hill country brisket was eye-opening. So when we decided on a starter grill, the super multi-purpose and cheap Char-Griller Texas Trio seemed like the way to go.
I've used the gas for burgers, and I've char grilled chicken a few times, and then a few weeks ago I smoked chicken breasts with good success. And then I smoked some pork ribs and some chunked pork butt with good success, although both were over-spiced. So far I had been using lump charcoal with wood chips.
Then this weekend was the break-though. First I started on Saturday with a bacon cheeseburger fattie! Very simple. I rolled it up and smoked it at 300 util the bacon was crispy and the internal temp was 155. It turned out amazing.
Then Labor day was for the port butt (and whisky and biking). 7.6lbs. And for the first time I got some chunked up splits instead of using wood chips. I followed Franklin's video on pork butt as close as possible--TX style. I got it going easy enough at 8am with lump charcoal and a few wood chips. After about 2 hours I transitioned entirely to chunked wood splits. I was able to quite easily maintain 250*, but it took some babysitting. Now the reason I bought this house is that it is right next to a local mountain bike park--I'm on the trail out of the garage in 2 minutes. So I put a few extra larger chunks on, choked the vent a little, and headed out for a 45 minute trail ride. When I got back and checked it...250*. Nice! After about an hour, I repeated that again with similar results. By now it was 3pm, and my internal temp was around 170*, and my bark was setting in nicely. So I spritzed it all down with Corona, and gave it a good foil wrap and put it back on (along with some bacon cheddar jalapeno poppers my wife wrapped up). Same story again--set it up and left it for nearly an hour. At 6pm I decided to pull it off and check the internal temp..195! So I wrapped it back up, and let it set for about 45 minutes. And it was perfect. That bone pulled out completely clean. And I didn't have to "pull" any of it apart. It just fell apart by pushing on it! So juicy, so moist. So good.
So, a great first real smoke, about 10 whiskies and 2 beers consumed on the day, and an easy 28 miles on the trail bike. A great Labor day.
(You can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning.)
(A nice clean bone. And it all just pushes apart.)
I've used the gas for burgers, and I've char grilled chicken a few times, and then a few weeks ago I smoked chicken breasts with good success. And then I smoked some pork ribs and some chunked pork butt with good success, although both were over-spiced. So far I had been using lump charcoal with wood chips.
Then this weekend was the break-though. First I started on Saturday with a bacon cheeseburger fattie! Very simple. I rolled it up and smoked it at 300 util the bacon was crispy and the internal temp was 155. It turned out amazing.
Then Labor day was for the port butt (and whisky and biking). 7.6lbs. And for the first time I got some chunked up splits instead of using wood chips. I followed Franklin's video on pork butt as close as possible--TX style. I got it going easy enough at 8am with lump charcoal and a few wood chips. After about 2 hours I transitioned entirely to chunked wood splits. I was able to quite easily maintain 250*, but it took some babysitting. Now the reason I bought this house is that it is right next to a local mountain bike park--I'm on the trail out of the garage in 2 minutes. So I put a few extra larger chunks on, choked the vent a little, and headed out for a 45 minute trail ride. When I got back and checked it...250*. Nice! After about an hour, I repeated that again with similar results. By now it was 3pm, and my internal temp was around 170*, and my bark was setting in nicely. So I spritzed it all down with Corona, and gave it a good foil wrap and put it back on (along with some bacon cheddar jalapeno poppers my wife wrapped up). Same story again--set it up and left it for nearly an hour. At 6pm I decided to pull it off and check the internal temp..195! So I wrapped it back up, and let it set for about 45 minutes. And it was perfect. That bone pulled out completely clean. And I didn't have to "pull" any of it apart. It just fell apart by pushing on it! So juicy, so moist. So good.
So, a great first real smoke, about 10 whiskies and 2 beers consumed on the day, and an easy 28 miles on the trail bike. A great Labor day.
(You can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning.)
(A nice clean bone. And it all just pushes apart.)
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