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Smoking Food Thread

Think I should inject? I know you said you used to inject all butts, but have since stopped. Does beef tend to dry out more?

I'd leave it uncovered until you reached 140 internally, the use the Texas crutch and wrap it with some added moisture before injecting it. Beef and injections just have never turned out well for me.
 
Thanks all for the tips! I will take some pics and let y'all know how it turned out.
 
45+ pounds of pork going on the smoker in a couple hours.
 
I have 3 butts going on 10.5 hours right now. Set up the WSM last night around 9 pm, meat on at 10, and went to bed at 11:30 after I was comfortable the temps were stabilized. I got up at 6:30 and the WSM was holding steady at about 240 so I went back to sleep for a couple of hours. She's still holding 230 nicely, but I went ahead and opened the vents back up to increase the temp for the final push. I really freaking love that thing. So easy to use once it gets going.
 
Did some Kansas City style back ribs last night. I used the following recipe, cooking at 225 on our Akorn Kamado.

3 slabs pork back ribs
Rub:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup paprika
3 tablespoons seasoned salt
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
1 tablespoon celery salt
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons ground sage
1 teaspoon dry mustard

Mix 1 cup your favorite barbecue sauce and 1/2 cup honey, warm mixture and brush on ribs 20 minutes before end of cook.


Guess I should add that the ribs were great
 
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2 of the 3 butts I smoked ended up a little dry - they pulled fine, but needed sauce. They were off a wild pig my buddy shot in July (used the butts, not the hams as I originally planned) and I think they were just too lean to go as long as I let them. The store bought butt that I used was VERY good though. Mixed it all together and the dry pork wasn't a big problem. Not my best effort, but everybody took some leftovers home, so I'll take that as a good sign.
 
2 of the 3 butts I smoked ended up a little dry - they pulled fine, but needed sauce. They were off a wild pig my buddy shot in July (used the butts, not the hams as I originally planned) and I think they were just too lean to go as long as I let them. The store bought butt that I used was VERY good though. Mixed it all together and the dry pork wasn't a big problem. Not my best effort, but everybody took some leftovers home, so I'll take that as a good sign.

They were definitely drier because it was a much leaner meat. All of the wild pig that I've eaten in the past was a little drier and tougher than storebought unless they were heavily injected and foiled.
 
I'm drawing out the new firebox today, and taking it to the fabricators tomorrow to have them cut the pieces out with the water jet. I decided to go with new metal that was jet cut rather than trying to use the plasma cutter that I've used for the rest of the cuts. I want this thing to be airtight, so I'm going with precision cutting.
 
tsy, out of curiousity, how big is the smoker you use for the pig?
 
Its 5.5' long by 30" in diameter. I cut it down from 7.5' long, and at 5.5' its the ideal size for a 125lb hog.
 
Cool. I got a crazy idea to do a pig next spring for mine and my roommate's birthday (two days apart) and would get together with a friend and build it. Would be quite an adventure and I'd need to be pretty committed to it of course.

The alternative of course is buying a box like the Cubans (how we do it at our tailgate)
 
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If you get serious about it, let me know. I've got an excel spreadsheet that will calculate the dimensions you need for the smoking chamber, burn box, air intakes, and exhaust. It was really helpful when I built mine. I'm already on my 3rd remodel of the original smoker. I love tinkering with the thing, and cant wait to build another one.
 
I'm drawing out the new firebox today, and taking it to the fabricators tomorrow to have them cut the pieces out with the water jet. I decided to go with new metal that was jet cut rather than trying to use the plasma cutter that I've used for the rest of the cuts. I want this thing to be airtight, so I'm going with precision cutting.

Unless you know someone who is cutting you a deal, waterjet is very slow and will probably be expensive. You should see about laser cutting.
 
Unless you know someone who is cutting you a deal, waterjet is very slow and will probably be expensive. You should see about laser cutting.

I just assumed that TSY pays for it in smoked pork. I have this image of TSY as a guy who lives in a money-free micro-economy funded solely by pork-based barter. :)
 
Unless you know someone who is cutting you a deal, waterjet is very slow and will probably be expensive. You should see about laser cutting.
It may end up being a laser cutter, I just assumed it was water. I just tell them what I want and it magically appears, much quicker and easier than I ever could do it myself.
 
They're going to end up shearing the pieces instead of laser or water cut them. I dont care, as long as its air tight. I hope to have it designed this weekend and then fabricated next week. They claim it should only take them a day or so to complete it.
 
One step closer to being completed. She'll be ready for a NCSU tailgate roll out.
30jn31k.jpg
 
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