Ha-ha!!! Thanks, guys!!! Man, I gotta say, for the simpler prep and rub than I've done in years gone by, I think this PR was pretty close to my best. The guests, and family all raved about it for hours, even after opening our gifts and while playing cards. Taters were a big hit, too, as they always are...can't go wrong with smoked taters.
Sorry for such a late post, but I owed my family their due face-time...and we had a load of QT this evening. Gotta spend that family time wisely...we're not getting any younger.
OK, time was ticking away a bit too slowly for I/Ts I was seeing in the PR, even though the small fella didn't peak out where I thought it would. I cinched the intakes back on the
WSM enough to get it to hold around 195* on the lower grate according to my pit probe...I/Ts were 136* in the big boy and 141* in the smaller PR at the 5.5hr mark, and I had 90 minutes to wait until we planned for everyone to be here and settled in for dinner.
Don't ask me how it happened, 'cuz if I tried to tell you I'd be flat out making up some BS story, but these both held steady for another 1-1/4 hours, and neither one fluctuated more than 1* throughout this time. Call it luck if you want to...I will, 'cuz I would have never guessed it was possible to create a stall at precisely that moment and make it hold for over an hour until time to pull and rest for slicing. So, 136* in the 12.8lb and 141* in the 5.5lb...good to go in my book.
I pulled the bigger russets around 5.5hrs and heaped them up on the platter with
the kettle smoked taters to cover with a towel:
The kettle grill smoked russets are on the left...lots darker color, probably due to higher grate temps and faster cooking...smoke-roasted, if you will. The moist/damp looking tater skins were from the lower grate in the
WSM before I rotated the roasts and taters...that's the meat drippings. I could taste the difference in mine...that richer, more savory flavor from the beef fat. Oh, and yes, I would do it this way again...reminded me of whole ear corn basted in whole chicken drippings throughout the smoke. If I could get drippings onto all of them without opening the lid to baste, now that would be something, indeed:
I held onto the PR in the
WSM for as long as I dared...6-3/4hrs. This is just...well, words escape me...small roast:
Large roast:
I though a white board would be fitting for the moment...I gave them about a 20 minute rest...serious juices began flowing within a couple minutes of slicing:
My trophy plate...smoked beef-fat basted Russet with butter and black pepper, Green Bean Casserole, smoked small-end rare Prime Rib drizzled with Au Jus and smeared with Horseradish Sauce:
That was good...naw, I'm tellin' a little white lie...that was fantastic!!! Our guests have had PR before, but never like this...smoked and finished to perfection (if that's possible...of course, that depends on one's definition of perfection, now, doesn't it?). We all loved it, and the fixings and sides. We finished off the largest roast and I mentioned to my daughter that we didn't need that second smaller PR after all...then one of the guests said, hey, I'll have more if you need to justify cooking that second roast...it was more than worth it, and his saying it the way he did was good for a laugh, too!!! So, there's 4lbs of PR and 4 beef ribs in my daughter's fridge for her and hubby to munch on at will.
On a final note, I have a gift from my dear oldest daughter which will make my q-view sharing much better in the future. Her mother and her conspired on the purchase of a new Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H300 camera...complete with a set of 4 AA rechargeable batteries, travel quick-charger, 32GB card, USB 2.0 SD card reader, mini-flex leg tri-pod, 3-card belt pouch, camera fanny pack style carrying bag, lens cleaning cloth and solution. Not only did she put this all together for me, she packaged and wrapped it in a manner that there was no possible way I could guess what it was. The accessories were small items inside the second of a box-in-a-box-in-a-box, with the third box having some of the larger items...the camera was hidden in her closet, and she didn't go grab it until I opened everything else first. Of course, each item I found was yet one more hint of what was to come...the first accessory which had the brand Vivitar...well, now, that was a dead give-away from there on out, and the anticipation built with every piece I opened. But the little things just kept piling up as everyone started laughing with me while I tried to find the end of the rainbow...it was hilarious. Fun, for all in the end. Now, I have to read-up on this new toy...er...tool...so I can make the most of this wonderful machine that puts my 12-year old Olympus C-765 to shame. Should make candid shots of friends and family quite easy, while with my current camera, there was always a few second delay for point-and-shoot focusing. Anyway, that topped my list of gifts, but I have several new Craftsman mechanic's tool kits which will come in quite handy as well (I do my own vehicle maintenance, for the most part). My wife and kids are great, and they show their appreciation in a big way whenever they can.
Great family, great friends (even here on SMF), great food, great Christmas gathering...I would not ask for anything more, because that's all I ever really want for Christmas (I really am not a materialistic person...I do like to cook with quality gear, though). To see our kids and grand-kids all together under one roof and sharing the experience of loving and giving...that's something you can't put a price on.
WOW!!! What a Christmas this has been!!! No issues all day and everyone had a good time and enjoyed the food...yeah, this was another good Christmas gathering.
Hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did, and hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!!
Great smokes to all and to all a good night!!!
Eric
