This was my first time doing a full packer. I picked up a nice 15.36 pounder from Wal-Mart. I had done flats before without injecting but decided to inject this one. I found an injection on here that I really liked. Sorry, but I can't remember who posted it. It was simple and sounded good. Nothing but beef broth, worcestershire, onion powder, garlic powder, and cayenne.
For my rub(s), I wanted a saltier, bolder rub on the flat (just my preference), and a sweeter, more barbecue-ish, rub on the point since I knew I would be saucing the burnt ends and wanted some good sugar to carmelize with the sauce. So, for the flat I used montreal steak seasoning, CBP, onion powder, and garlic powder. But the primary seasoning was the steak seasoning. I'd like to give a shoutout to my main man, SmokinAl, for that advice. For the point, I used a commercial, but local, rub from a catering company here in town called Charleston Pig Company. A guy I went to high school with started the company and I love his rub. It's got a perfect balance of sweet and heat, just what I wanted for the point. Oh, and I rubbed em both with OO before rubbing. Here's the flat and the point injected and all rubbed up. I threw them back in the fridge to marinate and soak up the seasonings for a few hours before I got ready to smoke. Also, I kept all the fat and put that on the top rack of the smoker to baste the meat as it smoked. Once again, props to Al for that suggestion.
I got the Master Forge rolling to about 225, smoking with some hickory chips and hickory dust in the AMNS. Some people might think that's overkill, but I'm having trouble with my AMNS going out. I think it's just not getting enough air. Because once I get it loaded and burning outside the smoker, it rolls fine, but within about an hour of going in the smoker, it dies out. So I've been using chips as a backup. I need to work on that though.
It took about 6 hours for the flat to hit 165. So I pulled em and foiled em, back on the smoker. Total time was about 8-ish hours. Quicker than I thought. But oh well. Here they are before slicing: (also, great trick I saw someone else on here with the toothpicks)
Here's a cross-section cut of the point prior to cubing, decent smoke ring, IMO:
Hit the soon-to-be-burnt ends with more of the CPC rub:
Hit the cubes with the hickory bourbon Stubbs sauce. Mehh...it was ok, best I could do in a pinch.
Now let's see how that flat turned out...Not bad at all, good smoke ring, however, this was near the end so the smoke ring should be deeper there anyway, I would assume, nonetheless, I'm happy with the smoke:
Here you can see the smoke ring pretty well:
And finally some burnt ends: (I cooked the hell out of these things until finally I said screw it let's eat)
Overall, I'd call it a successful smoke. I will say next time for the burnt ends I want something with more sugar in it. Also, the flat was a teeny bit dry, but that's my fault. It was done way earlier than I would have liked, and I made the mistake of slicing it then. So I had to reheat it on the smoker with some more beef broth in the pan to keep it most, but it just wasn't the same. In hindsight, I probably should not have sliced it until I was ready to eat it. Oh well, live and learn. Hope you enjoyed the picks. I will definitely do another packer. Only this time I will plan more accordingly. Now for my next project I want to do pastrami...
-T
For my rub(s), I wanted a saltier, bolder rub on the flat (just my preference), and a sweeter, more barbecue-ish, rub on the point since I knew I would be saucing the burnt ends and wanted some good sugar to carmelize with the sauce. So, for the flat I used montreal steak seasoning, CBP, onion powder, and garlic powder. But the primary seasoning was the steak seasoning. I'd like to give a shoutout to my main man, SmokinAl, for that advice. For the point, I used a commercial, but local, rub from a catering company here in town called Charleston Pig Company. A guy I went to high school with started the company and I love his rub. It's got a perfect balance of sweet and heat, just what I wanted for the point. Oh, and I rubbed em both with OO before rubbing. Here's the flat and the point injected and all rubbed up. I threw them back in the fridge to marinate and soak up the seasonings for a few hours before I got ready to smoke. Also, I kept all the fat and put that on the top rack of the smoker to baste the meat as it smoked. Once again, props to Al for that suggestion.
I got the Master Forge rolling to about 225, smoking with some hickory chips and hickory dust in the AMNS. Some people might think that's overkill, but I'm having trouble with my AMNS going out. I think it's just not getting enough air. Because once I get it loaded and burning outside the smoker, it rolls fine, but within about an hour of going in the smoker, it dies out. So I've been using chips as a backup. I need to work on that though.
It took about 6 hours for the flat to hit 165. So I pulled em and foiled em, back on the smoker. Total time was about 8-ish hours. Quicker than I thought. But oh well. Here they are before slicing: (also, great trick I saw someone else on here with the toothpicks)
Here's a cross-section cut of the point prior to cubing, decent smoke ring, IMO:
Hit the soon-to-be-burnt ends with more of the CPC rub:
Hit the cubes with the hickory bourbon Stubbs sauce. Mehh...it was ok, best I could do in a pinch.
Now let's see how that flat turned out...Not bad at all, good smoke ring, however, this was near the end so the smoke ring should be deeper there anyway, I would assume, nonetheless, I'm happy with the smoke:
Here you can see the smoke ring pretty well:
And finally some burnt ends: (I cooked the hell out of these things until finally I said screw it let's eat)
Overall, I'd call it a successful smoke. I will say next time for the burnt ends I want something with more sugar in it. Also, the flat was a teeny bit dry, but that's my fault. It was done way earlier than I would have liked, and I made the mistake of slicing it then. So I had to reheat it on the smoker with some more beef broth in the pan to keep it most, but it just wasn't the same. In hindsight, I probably should not have sliced it until I was ready to eat it. Oh well, live and learn. Hope you enjoyed the picks. I will definitely do another packer. Only this time I will plan more accordingly. Now for my next project I want to do pastrami...
-T
