Neither rain nor thunder nor lighting shall keep me from my Pulled Pork Q-View

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whtplainssmoker

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Apr 9, 2011
346
15
White Plains, NY
Severe thunderstorms

Ha! I'm smoking Boston Butts

Nothing will stop me.

-Haiku

So I planned on smoking some Boston Butts to make pulled pork for the fourth of July.  Weather report said threat of severe thunderstorms. Not a problem.  I'm smoking anyway.

Picked up two 4.5 lb bone in shoulders, which I know are a little small, but I wanted to cut the cooking time down.  Plus, the pulled pork will be served with all the other 4th of July fare (burgers, hot dogs, sausage and peppers) so I figure I don't need the yeild to make full servings for 22 adults. Here they are waiting for the rub.

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Prepared "Wild-Willy's Number One-derful rub" from the "Smoke & Spice" cookbook by Cheryl & Bill Jamison.  An excellent read for anyone wanting to learn alot about smoking. Essentially, that rub is Paprika, ground pepper, salt, sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne.  Applied Saturday at around Noon and let them sit in the fridge overnight.

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This morning at around 7:30am, I prepared the smoker and the "weather-resistant" cooking station, got the brinkmann verticle up to around 230 using mixture of lump and kingsford.  Used chunks of hickory and cherry for the smoke.  The shoulders went in at around 8:00 am.

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Pork went it at roughly 45 degrees and has had a fairly steady climb.  I'm about 4 1/2 hours in now and the pork is just reaching around 162 degrees so we are almost to the foil time.  Here's how they looked about 30 minutes ago.

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Things are looking good.  I may finish this one off in the oven since once its wrapped in foil its not going to take any more smoke in any event. I'll keep anyone who is interested updated.

A word ont the Brinkmann verticle.  Its a nice little unit, but it does require some of the mods people have mentioned. (i.e. the square wok as a charcoal basket instead of the original pan).  I tried a slightly different charcoal placement this time.  Placing on half of the pan unlit, then dumping the lit charcoal on the other half.  This method worked ok, but the problem is that with such a small charcoal basket (and a lot of air intake even with the vents closed) you have to baby the smoker a lot.  (by that I mean checking it every 30-45 minutes) and adding charcoal. I've added about three batches of charcoal already (each time when it dropped to around 190).  So unlike what I read about the WSM or other smokers, this one takes some more monitoring.  As I've said in previous posts, this was my first true smoker (other smokes were done on the Webber gas grill with a smoke box) and I'll definitely have to upgrade at some point.  But so far I can't complain with the results from the Brinkmann.

UPDATE 5:00pm

So you want to hear about remote BBQ. I set up the laptop's webcam and had it fixed on the thermometers at around 3:30pm and went over to my inlaws for burgers and dogs around the corner. Used the ipad to watch the thermometers remotely. (since they were finishing in the oven I didnt have to worry about tending to the charcoals). When the thermometer reached 204* (at 4:45) I drove back to the house, walked in and seconds later the thermometer alarm went off when it reached 205* (about 8 hrs and 45 min of cook time). Roughly 2 hours per lb since they were both 4.5 lbs. Took the probe out of one and into the other, both were exactly at 205*. Took a quick peak. They were falling off the bone. But they were quickly rewrapped and into the cooler and blanketed under a towel. I'll pull them around 7:00 and post the pictures later.

UPDATE 9:20 pm

As promised, here are the the photos.  First the Bear-view.  Looks like the Cherry had some nice smoke penetration.  The bark was savory, I think as a result of the rub, which had some more spices that the one I used the last time. Definitely a little more depth of flavor.  

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The two 4.5 lb Boston Butts, yielded a full 1/2 aluminum tray of pulled pork. I've got the drippings from the pan cooling in the fridge to separate the fat from the au jus, which I will add and mix in tomorrow. Here's a shot of the tray of pulled pork.

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Every thing is done, dishes are all washed and everything is ready to go for tomorrow.

I assume that after I mix in the au jus there should be plenty of lquid for reheating.  I plan on serving over sternos and offering two types of finishing sauces.  I'm thinking of reheating covered in the oven then transfering to the sternos.  Any recommendations for reheating temperature?       
 
Last edited:
Thanks Al and Craig!  Moved them to the oven wrapped in foil to finish them off (and so I don't have to baby sit the Brinkmann any more today).   Final results and Bear-view later!
 
So you want to hear about remote BBQ.  I set up the laptop's webcam and had it fixed on the thermometers at around 3:30pm and went over to my  inlaws for burgers and dogs around the corner.  Used the ipad to watch the thermometers remotely. (since they were finishing in the oven I didnt have to worry about tending to the charcoals).  When the thermometer reached 204* (at 4:45) I drove back to the house, walked in and seconds later the thermometer alarm went off when it reached 205* (about 8 hrs and 45 min of cook time).  Roughly 2 hours per lb since they were both 4.5 lbs.  Took the probe out of one and into the other, both were exactly at 205*.  Took a quick peak.  They were falling off the bone.  But they were quickly rewrapped and into the cooler and blanketed under a towel.  I'll pull them around 7:00 and post the pictures later.
 
Just edited the original post to add the finished product pictures.  Also, if anyone has a recommendation for reheating method it would be appreciated.  Plan is to add the au jus and reheat covered in the oven then put on the sternos for service.  Do I need to add anything else and is there any recommendation for the reheat temperature?
 
Great idea on using the webcam. I have an IP camera I can use if I need to leave for a while. Thanks for the idea. Ya'll are great.

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Thanks.  I was thinking how my going to finish this pulled pork AND go get some burgers at my in-laws.  Then it just came to me. The webcam idea was definitely fun when you are out of range of the remote thermometer. But not something I would do with the smoker.  I'm not going to leave my laptop out on the back deck when I'm not home.   Now if I could buy some kind of small, battery powered wi-fi webcam, maybe then we are talking.  

 
Great idea on using the webcam.

 
By the way, the Pulled Pork was the hit of the 4th of July BBQ.  My wife made some homemade coleslaw for on top and some homemade potato salad for a side.  No need for the burgers, dogs, or sausage and peppers IMHO.
 
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