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Smoking Food Thread

twincitiesdeac said:
BGE is what I use for all the slow cooks
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I've been happy with my Maverick ET-73s, after a recommendation on here. The probes tend to wear out and need to be occasionally replaced, but I've been impressed with them so far. The high and low alarms are great when you want to catch some zzzzz's while smoking.
 
tsywake said:
I've been happy with my Maverick ET-73s, after a recommendation on here.
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Yup, I've been using the same one for years now. Even have one of the original probes that still works. It's "cheap", but get's the job done, and has enough wireless range that I can set the high/low alarm by my bed and sleep for 6-8 hours after I get temps stabilized.
 
How do you clean yours? Every so often I'll get one to blitz out and scream temps of like 4-500, and from the reviews online the company tends to blame the cleaning of them. You arent supposed to submerge the mesh in water, yada yada yada.
 
I typically wipe the cable with a wet cloth and then scrub the probe with a scrubbing sponge, careful to prevent as much water as possible from getting through the rubber seal where the cord and probe are joined.
 
RacerDeac said:
185 is just barely done in my experience with my thermo...I'd consider that a chopping/slicing butt. Due to limited time, I was only able to hit 185 at the Army game and the butt had to be chopped up because parts of it couldn't be pulled, even with bear claws. I cook to 200-210 for butts that literally fall apart when pulled. They are hard to even get off the grate in one piece most of the time. It's really hard to overdo pulled pork...anything up to maybe 230 internal temp is fine, and even then it depends on how long it's there. I know a few folks who go 14+ hours on their pulled pork at about 225-230 cooking temp.

When you say taking off the foil, you mean you put it back on the cooker with foil? That will definitely speed up the cook. Also, a big green egg, given it's relatively small size and heat holding abilities should reflect a lot of heat back, so I would expect a quicker cook.
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Interesting, Ive never heard of going above 200. Ive never tried it but always figured that at some point you are just going to dry it out. I smoke with applewood at 240-250 degrees until internal temp of 165-167, then foil and stick back in egg until internal temp of about 185ish, then crank the egg up to about 300 degrees for a final 30 mins and add bbq sauce glaze. End temp is usually around 193 or so. I might try getting up to 193 or so before the final glaze and see if that makes it more tender, easier to pull.
 
In my experience, it's best to get above 190 and then try and hold that for at least an hour. That's when the magic happens.
 
Wuffey said:
In my experience, it's best to get above 190 and then try and hold that for at least an hour. That's when the magic happens.
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When I pull the pork, I go to 190 and then cut the heat off to let it slowly go back down to 150 or so to serve. Its so damn hot to try and pull it at 190.
 
tsywake said:
When I pull the pork, I go to 190 and then cut the heat off to let it slowly go back down to 150 or so to serve. Its so damn hot to try and pull it at 190.
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I've got thick rubber BBQ gloves and bear claws. Once you rip it into 4-5 chunks on your board, it cools down to manageable temp pretty quickly.
 
RacerDeac said:
I've got thick rubber BBQ gloves and bear claws. Once you rip it into 4-5 chunks on your board, it cools down to manageable temp pretty quickly.
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I think it has more to do with the sheer number that I regularly cook. I typically dont cook less than 4 shoulders or butts at a time because its a waste, and when the rubber gloves get hot on the inside, they tend to stay hot for a while. I have 4 pair of gloves that I'll cycle through if needed. Typically by the time the 3rd set heats up, the 1st set is cooled down enough to use again.
 
tsywake said:
I think it has more to do with the sheer number that I regularly cook. I typically dont cook less than 4 shoulders or butts at a time because its a waste, and when the rubber gloves get hot on the inside, they tend to stay hot for a while. I have 4 pair of gloves that I'll cycle through if needed. Typically by the time the 3rd set heats up, the 1st set is cooled down enough to use again.
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Nice. I need to grab another pair...these are starting to get gross after years of smoking and frying turkeys. I've never had that problem, but these gloves are pretty thick and I typically pull the butts into 4 sections or so with bear claws to let the initial heat escape. Pulled 4 butts in secession at homecoming right off the smoker.

twincitiesdeac said:
Ordered a Maverick on Amazon yesterday. Looking forward to it.
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Enjoy!
 
Doing a butt tomorrow. Three wood options for me here: Hickory, Cherry, and Apple wood. Any thoughts?
 
twincitiesdeac said:
Doing a butt tomorrow. Three wood options for me here: Hickory, Cherry, and Apple wood. Any thoughts?
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For butts, I prefer Hickory and Pecan. I've used some Apple in the past, but save it for ribs now. That said, Apple pairs well with pork. I've used Cherry on butts too in the past, but typically save it for ribs and brisket now.
 
twincitiesdeac said:
Doing a butt tomorrow. Three wood options for me here: Hickory, Cherry, and Apple wood. Any thoughts?
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Hickory obviously, and you can use the cherry or apple at the beginning if you want a little sweeter flavor. Keep in mind, it'll only flavor the bark and wont penetrate the meat very far. Meat only absorbs smoke up to 140 degrees, at which time it'll continue to absorb heat but no more smoke flavor. After you reach 140, you're doing nothing but wasting the flavoring woods. So when you get there, go with hickory the rest of the way and save the others for another smoke.
 
14 lbs of pork butt going smoothly so far. I did use some Cherry wood at the very beginning but am only adding hickory. Coocking between 225-240.

I put a simple dry rub I make & love with pork on them first.
 
At 165 degrees internal right now. Really starting to look good.

I would upload an image if I knew how....
 
You can do it one of two ways. Either host the image on Facebook or tinypic and drag and drop or use the insert image tab. The other is to go advanced and add it as an attachment.
 
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