Hi everyone! Just joining from Pittsburgh PA.
I'm a long time cook and a lifelong BBQ lover. After years of faux BBQ I finally am stepping in to the world of low and slow with smoke. Last week I purchased a 22" Weber OTS. The reason being the propane grill finally died and I refused to by another, and I wanted a device I could start to smoke in, with the long time goal being a dedicated smoker unit.
July 4th I did a 6 hour smoke on a rack of St Louis ribs for me and the wife. Used a homemade rub and sauce that I been using for oven/grilled BBQ for years. Turned out great.
Then the big first job!! My daughters graduation party was Saturday and I committed to 25lbs of pulled pork. I wanted to knock it out of the park, so I went full smoke! I used boneless shoulders I got from Costco cut down into smaller pieces and rolled and tied where needed. Used the homemade rub again. Set up the Weber to use the snake method, lining the snake almost all the way around the circumference and topped with hunks of pecan. Started it up at 11:30 and had the butts on at Noon.
Here's where it gets interesting. I yet to purchase thermometers so I was flying blind with only the aid of my digital meat thermometer as somewhat of a guide. Anyway, I was relatively confident from its reading in the upper vent that I was surfing around 210-225 at food level, so I just left it. Every 2 hours or so I would check, rotate the meat, spritz with vinegar and close. About 7PM I had the starts of a nice bark but was hitting the stall. I kept it up until 12:30 AM then pulled them from the smoker to a hotel pan with a mix of vinegar and apple juice. Here's how they looked at that point:
Covered them in foil, set the over to 220 and went to bed. Back up at 6 to shut the oven off. I was confident they hit 195 by then as I have baked many an unsmoked but this way. After resting in the warm over for about an hour they were pulled. FELL RIGHT APART. I dressed with a mixture of cider and white vinegar, red pepper flake and my rub, then off to the party. Put my homemade Carolina style sauce on the side and a load of buns and let people have at it. THEY WERE THE HIT OF THE PARTY AND PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY ASKED ME TO CATER BBQ FOR THEM!!
Anyway, I have to say thanks to all the contributors here as the techniques I learned made this all possible. I will be around to learn and share! Thanks everyone!!
I'm a long time cook and a lifelong BBQ lover. After years of faux BBQ I finally am stepping in to the world of low and slow with smoke. Last week I purchased a 22" Weber OTS. The reason being the propane grill finally died and I refused to by another, and I wanted a device I could start to smoke in, with the long time goal being a dedicated smoker unit.
July 4th I did a 6 hour smoke on a rack of St Louis ribs for me and the wife. Used a homemade rub and sauce that I been using for oven/grilled BBQ for years. Turned out great.
Then the big first job!! My daughters graduation party was Saturday and I committed to 25lbs of pulled pork. I wanted to knock it out of the park, so I went full smoke! I used boneless shoulders I got from Costco cut down into smaller pieces and rolled and tied where needed. Used the homemade rub again. Set up the Weber to use the snake method, lining the snake almost all the way around the circumference and topped with hunks of pecan. Started it up at 11:30 and had the butts on at Noon.
Here's where it gets interesting. I yet to purchase thermometers so I was flying blind with only the aid of my digital meat thermometer as somewhat of a guide. Anyway, I was relatively confident from its reading in the upper vent that I was surfing around 210-225 at food level, so I just left it. Every 2 hours or so I would check, rotate the meat, spritz with vinegar and close. About 7PM I had the starts of a nice bark but was hitting the stall. I kept it up until 12:30 AM then pulled them from the smoker to a hotel pan with a mix of vinegar and apple juice. Here's how they looked at that point:
Covered them in foil, set the over to 220 and went to bed. Back up at 6 to shut the oven off. I was confident they hit 195 by then as I have baked many an unsmoked but this way. After resting in the warm over for about an hour they were pulled. FELL RIGHT APART. I dressed with a mixture of cider and white vinegar, red pepper flake and my rub, then off to the party. Put my homemade Carolina style sauce on the side and a load of buns and let people have at it. THEY WERE THE HIT OF THE PARTY AND PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY ASKED ME TO CATER BBQ FOR THEM!!
Anyway, I have to say thanks to all the contributors here as the techniques I learned made this all possible. I will be around to learn and share! Thanks everyone!!
