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Smoking Food Thread

Nice. My fiance's family (female members) were down from Ohio this weekend and was fascinated with the term Boston Butt. Apparently they dont call them that up there. So they all giggled when they talked about eating my butt.
 
I also cooked for some Japanese and Chinese exchange MD's this weekend. They kept referring to the smoker as a "bbq car". After correcting them 10 times, I finally gave in. They took pictures of it, and thought it was the most amazing thing ever.
 
I cooked 2 butts for memorial day, here's what I did:

@11pm
1) Slathered yellow/spicy mustard half and half all over butts
2) Put homemade rub (Raichlen's from How to Grill p 440) all over butts. Basically:
Brown Sugar
Salt and Pepper
Hot pepper
few other small things, like garlic salt, I think
3) Lit hardwood charcoal in big stack
4) Put charcoal in side containers, put water trays beside them under cooking grate
5) Put 2 butts in grill, closed it up 95% to keep temps down

@4am
1) Put more charcoal in fire

@10am
1) Put more charcoal in fire

@2pm
1) Wrapped butts in aluminum foil

@4pm
1) Took butts off of grill for neighborhood party
2) Made 3 sauces: mustard, eastern nc vinegar, western nc ketchup

@5pm
Eat amazing food.

This was the first time I've done butts with foil the last few hours. The meat literally fell off the bone when I opened them up. I thought it would be too greasy but it was very good.
 
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I have found that the foil works even better if you take them off the grill, wrap them in foil and then towels and put them in an empty cooler for 2 hours.
 
I saw that a couple days ago. They've got a huge turnout of competitors, but doing it Easter weekend seems to be an odd choice. It would be fun to enter it next year though.


Just ordered 8 cases (16 shoulders) to pick up tomorrow afternoon. Throwing them on Saturday morning. Pictures to follow.
images

^ Is that supposed to look like NC?
 
I'm late to the party, but I'm here.

Saw a barrell smoker with side box at Target tonight, marked down insanely.

Couldn't resist, so here goes nothing.

BTW, I asked the guy why it was discounted, and the guy said "Year round school starts next month. We're clearing out our summer stuff to get ready for back to school."

I never would have guesed that "Back to School" would start before the official start of summer (June 23, usually).
 
Interesting you mention that. I never noticed that before. At Ribfest yesterday, there were tons of different designs and concepts. It was interesting to say the least.

Okay Sheik,

As noted above, I am the owner of a 24 hour old barrell charcoal smoker, with side box. I assume I should be a man and use actual hardwood, rather than briquets, right?

Any advice for a brand-newbie? Places to buy materials? Hardwood? Where do I look on the web for a primer?
 
Okay Sheik,

As noted above, I am the owner of a 24 hour old barrell charcoal smoker, with side box. I assume I should be a man and use actual hardwood, rather than briquets, right?

Any advice for a brand-newbie? Places to buy materials? Hardwood? Where do I look on the web for a primer?

Barrel smokers are great smokers to start smoking on. Like every smoker though, after the first half a dozen smokes, you'll come up with a few modifications to help make a better product. With something that size, you have a couple different heat options.

Most people use lump charcoal and add in some hardwood chips or chunks. You couldnt burn straight hardwood, because the box is so small and your heat differential would be immense between the source end and the exhaust end, like 50 degrees different. Another option would be to burn the hardwood down to coals in another container and then shovel them into the firebox on the smoker. Regardless, you're going to have warmer temps at the source, which will mean you need to turn the meat in the middle to cook more evenly.

I buy my supplies off Amazon. I've got prime, so I get the items within 2 days and there is no tax. Like a boat, smoking is a hobby that can be a real money pit if you let it. I'm constantly seeing something that someone else has that I want, or something that would make the cooking that much easier.

When you say primer, do you mean high heat paint primer or a starter for your coals?
 
The foil trick (aka Texas crutch) has its pro's and con's. If I'm pressed for time, I will foil at 165F to get over the plateau and pull off at 195F. Its also ideal to leave wrapped in foil/towel/cooler when storing meat....no doubt about it. However, if I'm cooking for a comp, I will not foil. You lose your bark by foiling. Yes I've tried unwrapping and throwing back on the heat to crisp up the bark, but its just not the same. Just my 2 cents.
 
So I've begun the process of renovating the tailgate trailer. For stability reasons, I'm moving the smoker from the side to perpendicular across the front of the trailer. It's going to involve a lot of cutting and welding, but I think in the long run it'll make it much more stable while pulling it down the road and will make the layout more accessible.
 
So I've begun the process of renovating the tailgate trailer. For stability reasons, I'm moving the smoker from the side to perpendicular across the front of the trailer. It's going to involve a lot of cutting and welding, but I think in the long run it'll make it much more stable while pulling it down the road and will make the layout more accessible.

Nice. It sounded like the right move from everything you described at the ribfest.
 
Last week I drew a scale model of the inside of the trailer and played around with different layouts. I think the best design would be leave the back door (where the firebox is) as the main entrance to the trailer, move the smoker to the front and have the grill and kegerator on the left hand side. The chopping block will stay where it is. The only thing we'll be losing is the elevated cooler shelf, but the cooler will be fine sitting on the trailer floor.
 
Yeah, you'll enter from the back corner. It'll be good in the long run, because it makes easier access to the area where the tents are. I dont forsee it impacting the trailer standing at all.
 
At this point, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that I can get it all done before the first game. Some idiot planned an activity later this month that is going to spill into early August.
 
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