First smoke ever.

[marsbike]

Yep. First smoke. Bought about 25 lbs of pork butt from sams last night, and got a layer of Jeff's rub on it, let it sit overnight, then did another layer with a little mustard. Got it going somewhere around 730 MST. As things progress, I will be in with q-view.

I'm smoking on a Char Griller Duo with a smoker box, and using hickory possibly augmented with oak, depending on how this supply lasts me

 

[bbud55]

Congrats on the first smoke, marsbike! 25 lbs is huge! You sure you didn't get the whole pig? Any pics?

 

[bigsteve]

Sounds great. What time did you plan on eating?

 

[rons]

that's a single 25 pounder? Or a bunch of them?

 

[scubadoo97]

25 pounds is a significant first endeavor. Have fun, yell is you have any questions. Enjoy and look forward to some qview

 

[marsbike]

Thanks for the support. As soon as I figure out why the autofocus on my camera is going screwy, I'll have some pics up. The 25 lbs is between 4 butts, and I plan to eat on wednesday. I'm going to leave them whole, wrap them in foil, and reheat them to 165* before the party. We've got about 30 people coming over so I figured that about a pound per person should be good. It's a pot luck kinda thing, so I figure that the other food will make up the rest.

In addition to Jeff's rub, I am spritzing with 1 cup apple juice mixed with 1/2 cup brandy. Hope it works out.

As far as the "incidentals" and unwritten rescipe, I AM listening to SRV, wearing my NRA hat (considered cleaning my rilfe while doing it, but I didn't want to get gunoil on my food), and am partaking in my next favorite hobby, violin making.

 

[rons]

cool 4 big roasts, that's gonna be some good eats at the party!

 

[marsbike]

qview up!


What I started with:


My setup, and general placement:





And finally..... What we've all been waiting for:




I'll be doing the dryer vent mod as soon as I'm done with this smoke. I already sealed it with foil (until I can get some gasket) and turned over the charcoal tray as a baffle.

 

[pigcicles]

Awesome! A pound per person might be a little high since it's pot luck but oh well the left overs are great! Try it on top of a juicey hamburger - it's awesome!

Bring on the pics buster - we need more pics!

 

[rons]

wow you smoke right there by the road, that must KILL the neighbors smelling that good smell! I bet you get a lot of people passing by drooling!!!

Great photos too btw!

wow you have our EXACT same kitchen counter tops!!!! check it out

 

[marsbike]

Thanks! The photos are from a Nikon D50 with the stock 18-55 glass shot at 800 ISO.

And yes, my neighbors are drooling. There have been a few near accidents already (I should have a video camera instead of a still one :P) and I have had a few people just stop to talk to me while I'm sitting out there.

I guess it's one of the "curses" of not having a back yard.

 

[rons]

Man I tell ya though, that looks like more fun that a back yard. Across the street the playground area seems like a nice view and your street is so neat and tidy, I'd be out there too!

Hey cool, I use a Nikon D40. It also came with the same kit lens and later I bought a 70-300VR lens for wildlife shooting. What types of subjects do you shoot with your cam?

Man, I bet people stop by, I'd be afraid to run in and use the can as you might come back to an empty smoker lol

 

[marsbike]

I mainly use my camera to do business photos. I'm a guitar maker and violin maker by trade, so when I need to document something (a repair, restoration, or a new instrument) I take photos. As for lenses, for recreation, I use the stock 18-55 and 55-200 ones as well as a Tamron Macro lense. Stuff like this:









The last one, I did not make the guitar, but I did do the vine of life inlay. I did make the other instrument, with the detail of the pearl inlay and engraving.

 

[rons]

Hey that is very cool!

I've played guitar since I was about 16, those look great. Very cool to use photography as part of your work. Nice work!

 

[marsbike]

Thanks a bunch! I really enjoy that I get to play with those sorts of toys when I work :)

Update on the Q. My smallest butt is plateauing (I think) at 140. At least, It's been holding steady there for quite a while. My largest is still down around 115. I only had two probe thermometers so I figured it'd be smartest to measure the temp of the smallest and largest, and figure that the other two are somewhere between the two readings that I'm getting. Let me know if I'm wrong!

 

[rons]

man yes, you get to play with guitars and cameras, talk about cool!

your logic on the temps makes sense to me, but I'm a newbie at this lol

I wonder why and how things plateau, love to know the science on that

 

[bigsteve]

Geeze. Just saw the photo of your smoker. That thing needs a steam whistle from an old locomotive engine!

 

[pinkmeat]

Setup a BBQ stand and make some $$. Maybe the kids next door can come out with the Lemonade and make some bucks too!

 

[marsbike]

Funny pinkmeat, My wife suggested the same thing. Unfortunately, I don't know any of the kids in the neighborhood. Oh well.

Here are the butts about 6-7 hours into it. I'm spritzing them down with apple juice and brandy.

 

[rons]

those are looken quite tasty!