I hope I'm not in over my head. *Q-View**

[webowabo]

good lord oh mighty... You've done it... once everything is pulled and combined.. its all gonna taste perfect.....nice bark!

 

[gone4nc]

That looks fantastic. Wish I were there .
Sure beats chicken wings.

 

[themule69]

Fine job. It all looks great.

Happy smoken.

David

PS no need for a larger crock pot

 

[woodcutter]

Looks great from here! The butts and the enormous smoke.

 

[thsmormonsmokes]

More just came off. I couldn't help but snitch a few pieces before foiling and toweling. I must have let my smoke run too smudgy. It's not horrible, and once it's all pulled it will take a pretty discriminating tongue to notice it, but the perfectionist in me is a little disappointed in that.

That said, it's really good, and certainly better than any I've had in a restaurant recently. I used cherry wood (my new in-laws own an orchard, so I can get all the cherry, apple, or peach wood I want. That's been handy). Cherry is probably my all-around favorite for pork. Light, but you notice it, and slightly sweet-ish almost. I'm salivating just thinking about it.

Also, Jeff just absolutely crushed that dry rub recipe. It never ceases to amaze me.

 

[webowabo]

Well with the smoker so full like you said in the beginning stages.. you mentioned little air flow.. so the smoke more than likely couldn't escape like it needs to.. causing it to be stale maybe? Is that what you mean by 'smudgy' ? Are you using fresh cherrywood or has the wood from the orchard been seasoned?

 

[thsmormonsmokes]

It's been seasoned for a couple of years, so that's not the issue. You might be right about the air flow issue though. I hadn't thought about that. It seemed to be rolling out the stack fine, but if it were moving too slow, that could allow some bitterness to build up, I suppose. But yes, that's what I meant by smudgy. It's the only way I can think to describe the process and result.

Having said that, I did plenty of snitching as it came off (everything is foiled in the cooler now), and the other bites I took were DIVINE. I ran shy of Jeff's rub last night so I ad libbed one loosely based on it, but heavier on brown sugar, and heavier on the cayenne. Super tasty. It's the extra dark bark one pictured below. I'm super excited to see how it is on a good kaiser roll with some slaw and fresh local corn. Gonna be a good day.

 

[webowabo]

well they look great. Im sure that's what the bitter is.. just some stale smoke that didn't get out fast enough. Once its all mixed.. it will blend in. Like I and everyone one said.. its gonna beat the crockpot liquid smoke thing.. are you gonna use any kind of finishing sauce before you serve? It might help mask the bitter taste if its present after its pulled (which Im sure it wont be)

 

[themule69]

That my friend is some good looking eats.

Happy smoken.

David

 

[radio]

WOW!!!  What an undertaking!!!  Congrats on the marriage

Sure looks like you nailed 'em though!  Don't think I could set still and let the crockpot cooks do the cooking either, or at least show up and have to eat any of it

 

 

[wade]

For smokes that large I like to split it up and do a couple batches. I always do my pulled pork a day or two in advance and reheat. That way I can enjoy the party and not be too tired from an all night smoke at to stressed about getting it all done on time.

I would have done too - however from what you have said it looks to be going OK. You probably had quite a temperature gradient in there with such little space for the heat to move round the meat. It would certainly be worth turning them several times during the smoke to try to even out the cooking.

Congratulations by the way :-)

 

[wade]

Looks fantastic - well done 

 

[jarjarchef]

Great job! I am sure they will all love it. I love doing cooks for large groups!

Can't wait to try and push my smokehouse. The most I have had in there was about 60# and had a ton of room left......

 

[smokngun]

I'm sure after the guy that offered up his wife's crock pot pork tries some real "Q" there maybe a tragic accident in their house where the crock pot mysteriously "broke" and a sudden need to purchase a smoker. Great job on some awesome looking pork.

 

[smokeusum]

Everything looks YUMMY!! But really what I want to know, did you skin crawl when dude mentioned his wife's crock pot and at the same time wonder if she kept his cahones in there, too?

 

[the zil]

So how did everyone like it? Maybe the crockpot lady will be shopping for a new smoker after this. Congratulations on the marriage. May the years be blissfully smokey!

 

[thsmormonsmokes]

So the pork was a huge success. Got lots of rave reviews with lots of people going back for seconds, and a few heavy hitters going back for thirds. I saw a couple of people pack a Dixie cup full to take some home with them. That's as good of a compliment as a cook could ask for.

As many of you predicted, once it was all pulled, there was no noticeable bitterness. It evened out beautifully.

Anyway, here are a few last bits of Q -view.

This one was with my ad hoc rub I made up on the spot. Similar to Jeff's, but heavier on brown sugar, an heavier on black and cayenne pepper. Beautiful bark, and plenty of bite. I really liked it.



This one didn't quite make it to ideal pulling temps, so it didn't shred well. But it had as pretty of a smoke ring as I've ever seen. Pictures never do it justice.



Probably my favorite wedding present has been the vacuum packer my family got us. You get to customize your bag size, and it's super easy to vacuum seal it. We kept some for my wife and me, but we're going to donate the large majority (and we had a TON left over) of the leftovers to some folks in a tight financial spot.


Thanks for the feedback.

Now, probably my most important question if the thread. Does anyone know how to get a big spot of pig grease out of concrete? You know, speaking purely hypothetically, of course.

Yeah, there was a bit more grease produced in this one than I was ready for. My catch cup didn't do its job right, and it exposed a few leaks in my cooking chamber. It would make my wife much happier with me if there is a way to get that cleaned out of there.

 

[webowabo]

lol.. oh man.. sorry about the grease stain.. between my older vehicles.. two motorcycles.. and of coarse all my smokers and my clumsy self.. I don't worry about them stains... but.. someone will know ..

but..

as far as the turn out... COngrats.... sit back and relax this sunday.. cuase I bet your gonna be a busy busy neigherbor around the community smoking Everything now... GLad it worked out in the long run.. You got a good heart for taking on the chore... and for donating the rest of that said chore....

til the next time...

mike

 

[themule69]

Vinager or simple green

David

 

[thsmormonsmokes]

Three points by way of follow up.

1. Smoked pork makes for an AWESOME Southwest style pork quesedilla the next day.  Cooked it with liberal amounts of diced red pepper, diced sweet peppers, green onions, black beans, colby jack cheese, leftover PP, and garnished it with my favorite avocado mix: cube 1/2 avocado, then toss with 1/2 lime's worth of juice, diced cilantro and salt to taste.  Dad gum that was good.

2. Wustof knives are really sharp.  We got a set as wedding presents, and I came really close to carving a 1/3" deep slice out of my thumb while dicing red peppers.  Luckily I felt it quickly and stopped before I needed to bust out the super glue.  I don't know where my wife has it hidden and if I cut myself that deep, she probably would make me go in to have it stitched instead of just gluing it.

3. Most importantly, if a fellow CGSP owner stumbles onto this page, please know that I recommend against tackling a smoke this large.  Do as I say, not as I did.  This size of CGSP just isn't cut out for that much meat (although I was in a Sportsman's Warehouse recently and saw that CharGriller has come out with one that is about 25% larger, IIRC).  I almost got myself in trouble on this smoke.  I couldn't monitor cooking temps accurately, and but for some real quick thinking and 4 of those aluminum roaster pans I keep on hand, I would have had pork stay in the danger zone longer than it should.  As much as everyone loved the results, I will not take on a smoke that big again on this smoker.  That was a stressful night, especially knowing I was cooking pork for ~200 people and realizing about 2 hours in that I had to be extra on my toes to observe proper food safety procedures.

As always, thanks for looking and thanks for your feedback.  I learn a lot on every smoke.