Hi there,
I just had to post a little note here to thank you guys for all of your advice and to share my amazing smoking session. I recently bought an OKJ Highland for only $75 and wondered what I had gotten myself into. I have done a few cooks on this thing now and most have been very successful. We have wind conditions called Santa Ana wind here in Riverside. The last time that I tried smoking was during one of these winds. The easterly wind was maddening on trying to maintain a temp. That was a fail and I would much rather talk about success...
I got out to the yard about 6:00am to get things ready. On the advice of Ray here on SMF I decided to try the Embers brand of charcoal from Home Depot. I am very happy to report that it was a very good choice. By 6:15am I had the first chimney of coals fired up. The sun was just about to peek up over the horizon. The air was crisp but sadly it was supposed to be in the mid 80s again. No Winter in So Cal this year. The slight crackle of the charcoal as it pierced the morning chill was amplified by the silence of the morning stillness. I had already placed about a half chimney of unlit charcoal in the firebox to build some coals. Once the chimney was fully engaged and raging I dumped it over the unlit charcoal in the firebox and began to monitor the temp. Once the temp broke 275 I closed up the firebox but left the damper wide open. The temp continued to climb and I wanted to start building smoke for the shoulder. I used pecan chunks. I dropped a large chunk at the edge of the coal pile and put another on the warming plate for a bit later. By 7:30am the smoke was thin and the heat had stabilized at about 250 from the damper adjustments i had made by then. I placed the shoulder on the grate and closed the lid. Oh the smell of an offset smoker is a new nirvana for me. I have been entranced by the smell of burning pecan. This should be the new cologne for next Christmas. At the one hour mark I began spraying with a mix of apple juice and apple cider vinegar. The Embers charcoal burned nicely. The smoke that it produced when first lit was not too acrid and it didn't have any particular chemical smell. it smelled natural. Not like lump from Red Oak but just normal burning. Once the pecan smoke began to roll though I never noticed the charcoal again. I wrapped the shoulder at four hours and just rode the temp up to 203 before I pulled it. When poked with an instant read thermometer it had that recommended warm butter tenderness. I rested the shoulder as some chicken wings smoked for the next two hours. By far the best pork shoulder I have ever made or eaten. I don't like to give myself kudos but this was superior stuff. This was also the first time that I ever used an injector on a pork shoulder. I will never cook it any other way again. It was some moist when I pulled it. So tender I can't describe it. The only word that seems fitting is luscious. The wings were good but nothing was going to compare to that pork yesterday. The nine hours of total cook time between the shoulder and wings I only used 1 1/2 bags of that charcoal. Considering that I ran through more than 40 pounds of lump with my last six hour smoke, I am calling Embers a huge success. The stuff was only $4.97 a bag. Dude, I'm sold.
Since this is the first post I have made other than the roll call I am not sure how we can post images. I didn't look for a sticky or anything but I do have some Qview for you guys once I figure out the method in use here.
Thanks again to all of you guys who share your talent and experience to improve others.
George
I just had to post a little note here to thank you guys for all of your advice and to share my amazing smoking session. I recently bought an OKJ Highland for only $75 and wondered what I had gotten myself into. I have done a few cooks on this thing now and most have been very successful. We have wind conditions called Santa Ana wind here in Riverside. The last time that I tried smoking was during one of these winds. The easterly wind was maddening on trying to maintain a temp. That was a fail and I would much rather talk about success...
I got out to the yard about 6:00am to get things ready. On the advice of Ray here on SMF I decided to try the Embers brand of charcoal from Home Depot. I am very happy to report that it was a very good choice. By 6:15am I had the first chimney of coals fired up. The sun was just about to peek up over the horizon. The air was crisp but sadly it was supposed to be in the mid 80s again. No Winter in So Cal this year. The slight crackle of the charcoal as it pierced the morning chill was amplified by the silence of the morning stillness. I had already placed about a half chimney of unlit charcoal in the firebox to build some coals. Once the chimney was fully engaged and raging I dumped it over the unlit charcoal in the firebox and began to monitor the temp. Once the temp broke 275 I closed up the firebox but left the damper wide open. The temp continued to climb and I wanted to start building smoke for the shoulder. I used pecan chunks. I dropped a large chunk at the edge of the coal pile and put another on the warming plate for a bit later. By 7:30am the smoke was thin and the heat had stabilized at about 250 from the damper adjustments i had made by then. I placed the shoulder on the grate and closed the lid. Oh the smell of an offset smoker is a new nirvana for me. I have been entranced by the smell of burning pecan. This should be the new cologne for next Christmas. At the one hour mark I began spraying with a mix of apple juice and apple cider vinegar. The Embers charcoal burned nicely. The smoke that it produced when first lit was not too acrid and it didn't have any particular chemical smell. it smelled natural. Not like lump from Red Oak but just normal burning. Once the pecan smoke began to roll though I never noticed the charcoal again. I wrapped the shoulder at four hours and just rode the temp up to 203 before I pulled it. When poked with an instant read thermometer it had that recommended warm butter tenderness. I rested the shoulder as some chicken wings smoked for the next two hours. By far the best pork shoulder I have ever made or eaten. I don't like to give myself kudos but this was superior stuff. This was also the first time that I ever used an injector on a pork shoulder. I will never cook it any other way again. It was some moist when I pulled it. So tender I can't describe it. The only word that seems fitting is luscious. The wings were good but nothing was going to compare to that pork yesterday. The nine hours of total cook time between the shoulder and wings I only used 1 1/2 bags of that charcoal. Considering that I ran through more than 40 pounds of lump with my last six hour smoke, I am calling Embers a huge success. The stuff was only $4.97 a bag. Dude, I'm sold.
Since this is the first post I have made other than the roll call I am not sure how we can post images. I didn't look for a sticky or anything but I do have some Qview for you guys once I figure out the method in use here.
Thanks again to all of you guys who share your talent and experience to improve others.
George
