First smoke.

[va_connoisseur]

What you know good fellow smokers. I am taking a shot at my first smoke this morning. Thanks for all the help thus far. I will keep you updated on the progress. It is 12 degrees here in the national capital.

 

[bustedluckbarbq]

Sounds good neighbor to the south!! remember to take some qview shots!!

 

[homebrewru]

Have fun VC. I fired up the Bandera last night to cook a couple of steaks. When they were done I threw a couple of logs on the coals and smoked some turkey legs for lunch today. I always put some water on the deck around the smoker to keep any coals that may drop from burning down the house and it froze before I got the legs on. Usually not that cold in GA. It's 20 here right now.

I'm sure your smoke will go well. Just be patient and watch the temp. (Of the smoker!)

 

[va_connoisseur]

Just had a major temp spike. Put in a couple of big hickory chunks at the 2 hour mark, look back out 30 minutes later and the temp was over 300. Shut off the vents and trying to get it back down.

This learning on the fly is interesting...LOL. There may be (burnt) Q-View coming up.

 

[kookie]

Good luck. I am always learn with every smoke I do. As long as its eiable then its all good.

Kookie

 

[va_connoisseur]

OK. After the temp fiasco at the 2.5 hour mark, the smoker has settled at 250 for the past 3 hours. That makes it 2.5 hours at 270, about 15 minutes at 370, and the last 3 hours at 250.

My two temp probes are reading the shoulder at 178 and 180. Is this too high for only 5 hours on the heat?

It is being smoked fat cap up over Cowboy Charcoal lumps with hickory wood chunks thrown in. It is all in a Brinkmann Vertical Smoker with play sand in the water bowl.

 

[ds7662]

Nah, temps aint to high for that time period. If there was no plateau you are doing fine.
As far as temp spikes go. Next time you might not want to close all vents. Try opening the door and letting the heat out.
Closing off the vents like that can create creosote. Plus opening the Door will get the heat out quicker anyway.

 

[charles1056]

Main thing is to relax and enjoy the experience.

 

[va_connoisseur]

No plateau and she hit 200 for the past hour (one temp probe read 207, the other 204). Going to give her some more time, need to prep the cooler and towels.

Q-view on the way

 

[va_connoisseur]

I was getting the shoulder out and decided to snap this picture...


And then the pan of play sand burst into flames.

.

I slammed the door shut to cut off the oxygen but the flames was roaring, couple of handfuls of snow later, the sand inferno was out.

Well, it's been wrapped in foil and a couple of hearty towels and placed in the cooler. I'll let yall know how it pulls.

 

[bbq bubba]

What the hell kinda sand are you using??? Flammable??
Nobody told ya to put foil over the sand, did they??
Need finished pic's............

 

[va_connoisseur]

LOL...I put the foil under the sand to make clean up easier...LOL...of course when it all burned up clean up was a breeze...LOL...Here is the finished product...shredded with two plastic forks...

 

[longshot]

Lookin real good VA,
Keep up the good work

 

[capt dan]

Wish ya could have snapped a pic of yer face when the sand burst into flames..............................priceless!:ico n_razz:

The pulled pork looks very nice.

 

[ds7662]

Glad it all worked out VA and nice pics.

 

[va_connoisseur]

This was the "plan b" of the smoke. I was not sure how the shoulder was going to come out so I had a couple racks of ribs on standby.



Used the 3-2-1 method. Actually was closer to 2-2-1. Spritzed every 30 minutes with the following mix:

1 cup apple cider
1 cup apple vinegar
1/2 cup Virginia Bourbon
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of paprika

The brown sugar and paprika was melted in the liquid and applied through spray bottle. The rub was a cinnamon spice rub I purchased from the local Shoppers market.

 

[gramason]

Looks good.