Smokin' Butt

[peculiarmike]

Got little Janie off to work and then got busy. Just put a 6 lb. pork butt on the antique ECB.
Yesterday I dried the butt off with paper towels and gently massaged it with "EVOO". Then I gave it a heavy coat of rub, wrapped it tightly in plastic wrap and took it out to the garage to the "refreshment center" (old fridge used to hold "something cool to drink") where it rested until this morning. Pulled it out this morning to allow temp. to come up while doing other chores.
I always wear latex powderless exam gloves when handling meat and applying rub, keep a box of 100 pr. around all the time (Wal-Mart). Really makes applying rub easier, keeps my hands off the meat.
Tore the ECB down, wire brushed the grills, inside the lid, etc. then filled the fire pan with natural lump charcoal and plugged in the electric starter. Went back in the house and got out the Grill Alert Talking Remote Thermometer, installed batteries and checked operation. Had breakfast then checked on charcoal, it was going good. Put two hickory chunks on the pile.
Installed the water pan and filled it with hot water, sprayed the top grill with Pam and installed it. Brought the butt and the Grill Alert sending unit with probe out. Put the butt on the smoker fat side up and routed the probe cable through the hole I drilled in the smoker lid, inserted the probe in the butt (!) - NOT goin' there.
Ambient temp. 47 deg. F, about a 20 mph wind. Smoker is behind my shop building so it blocks most of it. Smoker temp. 145 deg. F and rising. Meat temp. 67 deg. F. Nice thin blue smoke. Grill Alert defaults to "well done" (170 deg. F) when set to pork. Five deg. before the target temp. the Grill Alert says "Your entree is almost ready", at that point I will take the butt off the smoker and take it in to let it rest. It will be well done and ready to pull.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, as the butt smokes, I will make a batch of creamy coleslaw and clean and put new line on all my 17 reels (this retirement thing is WORKING for me!). Occasionally feed hickory chunks to fire as needed and check smoker temp.
Memphis style pulled pork sandwiches! Oh yeah, Babe.
Little Janie will be proud of me for having an outstanding meal ready when she gets home from a hard day at work on a Friday night. Maybe a bottle of St. James Velvet White wine................. ;)

 

[starsfaninco]

ALRIGHT. Now this is the standard to which all posts should be held to. Complete description of everything that took place. Very good read. Only issue I take is no PICS!!!

On the lighter side, sounds like you're gonna have a great dinner tonight. I'm totally jealous of the 'retired' thing. I'm ready to do it too, but the wife to be says I have to work a while longer because she won't support me :)

 

[peculiarmike]

Got to work on the pics thing. My Jpegs take up too much space.

 

[peculiarmike]

As info to all -
I forgot to mention I wrap the butt in foil after it rests a bit and finish it in the oven at 250 deg. F. Makes it nice and moist and pulls easy.
Rats.

 

[dionysus]

Mike, If you are having trouble with your picture size try this .... http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/d...powertoys.mspx Scroll down and select/Install the Image Resizer tool. It's a great application that should take care of those overly large images for you ....

 

[squeezy]

Hey man ... just outta curiousity, how long was your cook time? also myself being Canadian, I don't know what is Memphis style? Sounds like you got a firm handle on this retirement thing ... keep up the good work!

 

[deejaydebi]

Sounds god mike! Nice description!

Squeezy -

Memphis style when it's a sauce is a kind of tomatoe based thing when it's dry it a chilli powder thing.

http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/

Alot of downloads about different types and styles

 

[peculiarmike]

A Memphis style pulled pork sandwich has a big 'ol pile of delicious pulled pork on a bun or roll with a generous scoop of cole slaw on top of the pulled pork and topped off with the other half of the bun or roll.
They also serve their ribs "wet or dry", Wet is with sauce, as Debi noted. Dry is as they came out of the smoker with a generous sprinkle of rub. Lot of folks take theirs dry. I live on the south edge of Kansas City and dry is rare here, every place serves with sauce unless specified otherwise. The ribs are generally mopped with sauce while smoking.
I put the butt on at 10 AM, it's 2:45 PM now and still going, meat temp. is 138 deg. F. Strong wind keeps shifting direction and is having more effect than I anticipated. Smoker is running 210 deg. F. I put a sheet of roofing tin around the side getting the most wind to shield it, it is helping. May pull it off in 30-45 minutes and finish in the oven. It's plenty smoky by now.

 

[peculiarmike]

Thanks Ron! I will install it and give it a try. Greatly appreciate the info.

 

[smokyokie]

Arthur Bryants and Gates are brushed with sauce? I gues my memory is fading more than I thought. Down here in Oklahoma, sauce is always servrd on the side unless it's one of those "smoke in a cabinet" chains.

I downloaded photobucket (free download). If you upload your pix to PB, it automatically resizes them and gives you 3 options of format. Then all you have to do is copy the image(right click) and paste it into your post.

 

[squeezy]

Thanks everyone for the info ... as is with most BBQ ... anything you like is good! Love to get my smoker out now except it's only 10º above 0ºF now and just to damn cold to be messing around outside. A couple of months should make a big difference ........

Squeezy

 

[peculiarmike]

You are right about Bryant's and Gates. I never get ribs at Bryant's, always go for the pork sandwich. I'm good for half and box the other half for later, they are huge. Seldom go to Gates. Arthur Bryant's is the standard.
Thanks for the info., I'm not a computer wizz. If you need your locomotive fixed I'm your guy.

 

[teacup13]

couple of comments here...

Squeezy - i am from northern ontario and that never stopped me from smoking..lol - Sault Ste.Marie

Peculiarmike
here's some help with your photo's

1. Click on this link http://photobucket.com
2. click on the big red button and register
3. once that is all done you can upload your pictures...it will say choose an image and from there you can put your pics on here...

if you need any more help, pm me or just ask here....

 

[squeezy]

Ouch! I suppose if we had as much snow as you guys, I could build a snow wind break that would remove my excuse ... LOL
Thanks for the tip on Photobucket, much appreciated.

Squeezy

 

[coz]

Mike,only 17 reels?Squeezy now wheres the Canadian spirit on another board the guys there from canada are still smokin their BUTTS off at -34.I thought it was bad enuff here for a few weeks of 0 degrees.

 

[deejaydebi]

Squeezy -

In a few months you'll be telling us it to hot to smoke! You don't have to sit on the smoker just add the fuel bring it up to temperature, add the food and go back inside!

 

[peculiarmike]

Coz,
Yeah, 17. Those are the ones I keep in my boat that is in "cold storage" down at Stockton Lake. I have another 9 I keep here at home to use when I take the little boat to local lakes. The boat down at Stockton is the one I use for tournaments and general fishing on Ozark lakes. Actually took me 3 days to field strip, clean, lube, and reline those guys.

 

[squeezy]

One lesson you guys have taught me is not to complain about the weather ...
I think I'll build me a wind break out of snow and warm things up with a meatloaf on Thursday or Friday!

 

[squeezy]

You will never, ever, hear me complain it is too hot to smoke!!! That's what ice-cold beer is for! Will be smokin' my butt off just about every weekend down at the lake.

 

[coz]

Thats more like it Mike.If your ever here (Wisconsin)in the summer and desire to get a little salmon for your smoker make sure to get a hold of me to see if we can get together for an excursion.This is an open invite to all members.