I tried out my new homemade UDS this weekend and the results were spectacular. I did a pork picnic in it and had some surprising and lucky results, most born out of a problem early on. I had a lot of trouble getting the heat off my smoker. For the first hour and a half the heat was over 300 degrees and upwards to 325. I finally shut all the bottom vents except one about a half an inch, and cut all the top vents to a quarter of an inch or so. My heat then crept down to around 250 but that was still far more than most had said to do it on here and other forums. I read people talking about nine or ten hours at 220 and less.
To my surprise, when I checked the meat at 5 hours, I was surprised that it was already up to 180 internal meat. I usually wrap at 165 for shoulders and butts. I put the picnic in a pan and just draped some plastic wrap over the meat and tin foil over that inside the pan. I put it back in and gave it another two hours to 202. I figured it would be dry as a board and tough as nails. It was absolutely the opposite of that. It had a lot of juice in the pan and it was just as moist as could be. I let it set for two hours and then pulled it and it was so good we didn't mix any other sauce in it, just salted it a little bit and served it up in sandwiches. It was a wonderful tasting meat and a big success.
I have a theory about the tenderness and moistness. I think draping the plastic over it and then sealing it in the pan sort of made a tent affect over the meat and used it's own juices for baste. It was the best thing we have ever done and it was probably an accident but it is one I am going to repeat many many times over.
To my surprise, when I checked the meat at 5 hours, I was surprised that it was already up to 180 internal meat. I usually wrap at 165 for shoulders and butts. I put the picnic in a pan and just draped some plastic wrap over the meat and tin foil over that inside the pan. I put it back in and gave it another two hours to 202. I figured it would be dry as a board and tough as nails. It was absolutely the opposite of that. It had a lot of juice in the pan and it was just as moist as could be. I let it set for two hours and then pulled it and it was so good we didn't mix any other sauce in it, just salted it a little bit and served it up in sandwiches. It was a wonderful tasting meat and a big success.
I have a theory about the tenderness and moistness. I think draping the plastic over it and then sealing it in the pan sort of made a tent affect over the meat and used it's own juices for baste. It was the best thing we have ever done and it was probably an accident but it is one I am going to repeat many many times over.
