Well, the BB got broken in yesterday!!! Decided to put on ABT's, Baby Backs, a few Leg quarters and of course..............Earls "Stuffed Pork Loin"!
First, let me congratulate Big Earl on a recipe worth trying. Kudo's my friend! The only problem I encountered had nothing to do with his recipe. A few weeks ago, a local grocery chain had Pork Tenderloins (not Loins) on sale for "Buy 1, get 1 free!". How could any self respecting Pit Master pass that up? They were in nice 2 LB. cryovac packages, but when I openned them up...............out pops 2 tenderloins! I'm thinking, how on earth am I going to fillet these babies? Well, it was a chore, but I got 'er done!
Now, my evaluation of the new gas smoker. Being a "Stick Burner" for all these years it was a lttle awkward at first, but I got the hang of it pretty fast. I will say that it is a much more Heat Efficient unit than my all wood smokers. I can see that it will take me a few times (like any other cooker) to adjust times and temps. My ABT's cooked much faster in this unit, and I should not have left them on for my usual 3 hour mark. This thing will allso eat through a bag of wood chunks in no time! For a 6 hour total cook, I used a bag and a half. Thankfully, the Big Block has a huge cast iron wood box, so I wasn't constantly having to refill it. The one drawback I did notice, was that even with a good steady flow of "Thin Blue Smoke" the end product never achieved the Smokey flavor I get from my All Wood units. This is something I've heard before, I guess it is true.
Here are some pix of the food and cooker. For those paying attention, the yardbird was temporarily moved to the top rack so I could access the Baby Backs. For those unaware, always have your Chicken on the bottom rack so there's no chance of cross contamination.
In all, I am pleased with the Cooker and it will make those All Niighters a bit more pleasurable and give me that extra needed space for my big events (especially when I need to finish off a wrapped Brisket or Butt).
Jeff
First, let me congratulate Big Earl on a recipe worth trying. Kudo's my friend! The only problem I encountered had nothing to do with his recipe. A few weeks ago, a local grocery chain had Pork Tenderloins (not Loins) on sale for "Buy 1, get 1 free!". How could any self respecting Pit Master pass that up? They were in nice 2 LB. cryovac packages, but when I openned them up...............out pops 2 tenderloins! I'm thinking, how on earth am I going to fillet these babies? Well, it was a chore, but I got 'er done!
Now, my evaluation of the new gas smoker. Being a "Stick Burner" for all these years it was a lttle awkward at first, but I got the hang of it pretty fast. I will say that it is a much more Heat Efficient unit than my all wood smokers. I can see that it will take me a few times (like any other cooker) to adjust times and temps. My ABT's cooked much faster in this unit, and I should not have left them on for my usual 3 hour mark. This thing will allso eat through a bag of wood chunks in no time! For a 6 hour total cook, I used a bag and a half. Thankfully, the Big Block has a huge cast iron wood box, so I wasn't constantly having to refill it. The one drawback I did notice, was that even with a good steady flow of "Thin Blue Smoke" the end product never achieved the Smokey flavor I get from my All Wood units. This is something I've heard before, I guess it is true.
Here are some pix of the food and cooker. For those paying attention, the yardbird was temporarily moved to the top rack so I could access the Baby Backs. For those unaware, always have your Chicken on the bottom rack so there's no chance of cross contamination.
In all, I am pleased with the Cooker and it will make those All Niighters a bit more pleasurable and give me that extra needed space for my big events (especially when I need to finish off a wrapped Brisket or Butt).
Jeff