It's hot down here in Georgia, humid too. I wanted a Butt for the Fourth because that's what we do at my house on Independence Day, but the thought of getting up early and managing a fire in my wood-burning smoker all day just didn't appeal to me this year. That's when I decided to break out my old ECB (El Cheapo Brinkman) and sit on my butt (no pun intended) in the air conditioning and let electricity do all the work.
My ECB is slightly modified; it has an electric burner in the bottom that I got from Bass Pro or somewhere several decades ago that has no temp control. It will maintain a constant temp around 250 degrees depending on the ambient temp. Other mods include a seal around the lid, a couple of holes drilled for temp probes, and a vent on the top.
After dusting it off and removing the cobwebs, I plugged it in and (given its advanced age) was a little surprised that it began to heat up. With a quick search, I found some pecan chunks that I got from a large limb that fell from one of the trees on my property. I had chipped up the limb for this very purpose several years ago and the chips had been sitting in a Walmart bag on a shelf in my garage, forgotten until yesterday. I took a large handful of those chips, wrapped them in foil and poked a few holes to let the smoke escape, then placed it in the chip pan on the electric burner. For rub, all I used was a liberal sprinkling of salt.
Because of the foil wrapped wood, the smoker puffed small tendrils of smoke from the top vent for several hours until the butt reached an IT of 195. At that time, I pulled it from the smoker and let it rest in a metal pan in a warm oven. After an hour or so, we pulled and chopped the meat and served it on buns with Texas Pete hot sauce and coleslaw. For sides we had potato salad and Brunswick stew.
All I can say about the finished product was "WOW". The texture of the pork was perfect. The flavor of the pecan smoke was excellent, and the salt only enhanced the overall flavor without overpowering the meat. Additional seasoning wasn't needed.
My days as a wood-burning smoker snob are definitely behind me.
My ECB is slightly modified; it has an electric burner in the bottom that I got from Bass Pro or somewhere several decades ago that has no temp control. It will maintain a constant temp around 250 degrees depending on the ambient temp. Other mods include a seal around the lid, a couple of holes drilled for temp probes, and a vent on the top.
After dusting it off and removing the cobwebs, I plugged it in and (given its advanced age) was a little surprised that it began to heat up. With a quick search, I found some pecan chunks that I got from a large limb that fell from one of the trees on my property. I had chipped up the limb for this very purpose several years ago and the chips had been sitting in a Walmart bag on a shelf in my garage, forgotten until yesterday. I took a large handful of those chips, wrapped them in foil and poked a few holes to let the smoke escape, then placed it in the chip pan on the electric burner. For rub, all I used was a liberal sprinkling of salt.
Because of the foil wrapped wood, the smoker puffed small tendrils of smoke from the top vent for several hours until the butt reached an IT of 195. At that time, I pulled it from the smoker and let it rest in a metal pan in a warm oven. After an hour or so, we pulled and chopped the meat and served it on buns with Texas Pete hot sauce and coleslaw. For sides we had potato salad and Brunswick stew.
All I can say about the finished product was "WOW". The texture of the pork was perfect. The flavor of the pecan smoke was excellent, and the salt only enhanced the overall flavor without overpowering the meat. Additional seasoning wasn't needed.
My days as a wood-burning smoker snob are definitely behind me.
