nervouse about smoking.

[bigdan]

I am going to smoke a picnic shoulder this sunday and I am a rookie to smoking pretty much. I think it weighs about 5-7lbs. I have a small Brinkman
electric smoker. Any advice would be awesome.

 

[smokin' joe]

Big Dan, rub it the night before with your favorite mixture...wrap in saran for the overnight. Take it out while you get your smoker ready and up to temp. Toss it on and keep your pit temps between 225 and 250. Cook that badboy to an internal temp of 200 degrees then foil, wrap with an old towel and put it in the cooler for an hour or 2.

When time is up...pull and enjoy and dont forget the finishing sauce,

spritz with fruit juice or your favorite hard liquor (or a combination of both) every hour during the smoke. Just remember...the more sugar the harder the bark. Have a great smoke! You will do fine.

 

[capt dan]

read the sticky in the top of this "pork" forum about basic pulled pork! Meowy's tutorial will get ya through it, no problem. In the last few days, there have been quite a few other threads about shoulders and butts that will also help, or get ya fired up!

Most important things are:
Know your temp AT THE GRATE, not on the door, or the lid!
Be patient, don't rush the meat.
If your gonna pull for shredded pork, take it to at least 195 internal temp(200) is better. Use a good thermometerinserted in the deepest part of the shoulder, not touching bone.
Always wrap the meat when it gets to temp, and rest it for at least an hr if you can, but 2 hrs is better.

There are alot of other lil things to make good pork great, but you study Meowy's sticky, and remember the important things listed above, and you'll be the hero in the house for sure!

Good luck, take a few pics while you are enjoying the experience.

 

[smokin' joe]

come on Dan you know people dont use the search feature...that would be wayyyyy to easy. I am getting used to explaining over and over again.

 

[bigdan]

LOL I used the search and found Meowys sticky but was unsure about the electric smoker. It seems like the last few things I have smoked have taken longer than you guys say on that thing. I don't know if I should wrap the wood chunks in aluminum foil and put it next to the electric coil or leave them out bare next to it. I am pretty excited, just am a little nervous. Cooking for about 6 long time buddies and the wife. I will be sure to study Meowy's stick through out the week. Thanks for the advise guys.

 

[desertlites]

hey bigDan these guy's got u covered-all I have to add is a slather of yellow mustard let dry for a hour-than apply your rub-pat your rub morso than rubbing it-you end up rubbing it all off.let her go in the smoker for a hr.than start adding your wood chips.some in here use the foil method and some just use a shallow small can.some soak there wood first some don't! you will be bitten by the bug and have plenty of different smokes to practice.just keep your temps tween 225-250 and u will be fine.thin blue smoke is what u want to see comming outta your lid not strong white.hope this helps and by weeks end you gonna have ALOT of answers to your concerns. good luck

 

[flyin'illini]

I use an ECB electric with no modifications and the info in the sticky applies all the same. good luck.

 

[geek with fire]

Just a couple of simple things to remember:
1.) make sure you have a digital temp probe for the meat. El'cheapo $15 thermo works fine. Just test in in boiling water; 212 is boiling at sea level. Take note of any deviation.
2.) pulled pork is really hard to screw up as it is very forgiving to temperature.
3.) When it reaches your desired temp (200-205 for pulling), wrap in plastic wrap, foil, a towel and place in a cooler. It will stay smokin hot for hours.

Enjoy!

 

[richtee]

For the money, a great insurance policy would be to spend another 12 bux or whatever and do a "practice" butt. If ya have the time, anyway.

 

[capt dan]

If you are having it for lunch, better start it sat night, or smoke it sat, and warm it up for sunday!
Another thing, especially the elctrics have a slow recovery time, so" If Your Lookin,It Aint Cookin"!. Try to keep the door closed as much as possible.Every time you open it, you add time on the length of cook. If folks wanna look at it, make them all look at the same time, and while its open, spray it with some apple juice!

 

[luv2camp35]

The beauty of smoking is that most of our everyday mistakes eat us.....in smoking we get to eat our mistakes.

 

[blacklab]

JUST REMEMBER ALL TIMES VERY. a PROB THERM IS MONEY WELL SPENT, LETS YOU KNOW YOUR TEMPS WITHOUT OPENING THE DOOR. AS FAR AS I CAN REMEMBER I'VE NEVER HAD A BUTT TAKE LESS THAN 14 HRS TO SMOKE. AFTER YOUR FIRST ONE YOU'LL RELIZE HOW EASY THEY ARE

. MY BEST ADVICE IS DON'T RUSH IT. WHEN IT REACHES IT'S TEMP, IT REACHES IT TEMP.

 

[walking dude]

all good advice here.............time is just a ballpark figure.........and with a electric smoker, you mite have diff. times..........my 6 lb butts takes 9.5hours........almost set your clock to it........but i aslo use charchol.........i use the 1.6 hour/lb formula........but that just gives me a idea on when to start the smoke..........thats all.........and MOST important.......you WILL HAVE A [email protected] can last anywhere from a hour to more.........bout 98% of the time.......so don't panic.....stall times vary from meat to meat..........and some pieces won't stall at all.........but thats what is so COOL bout a butt/shoulder......you wrap it early..........and take outta the cooler to pull when YOU are ready..........2-3-4 hours........it will still be hot..........

 

[wmarkw]

Hey BigDan. I have the same smoker you do and have pulled off some really good smokes on this thing. Check out my thread I posted last week and I have some pics of my smoker with the thin blue and also of the pork butt among others. I also try to word my posts as a log of sorts so I can come back and double check what I did for the next smoke. Maybe you can find that thread helpful. http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15192


Here though are some of my tips that I will share with you using this electric ecb for several months now:

• Preheat the electric ECB about 30 minutes before you place the butt in the smoker and place a foil packet of wood chips in at this time.
• I would foil your wood chips or chunks; this will keep a clean smoker and also reduce risk of flame ups. I put a decent size pinch of wood chips in a little tube of foil and poke holes throughout. I get about 60 minutes to 90 minutes of good smoke with one packet.
• I’ve learned a lot from this forum and one thing that sticks in my head is, “if you can smell smoke, then you are smoking.” So don’t overload this thing with chips.
• I get better “bark” results placing the butt on the lower rack, right above the water pan. It runs warmer there but it helps with the bark.
• I would also line your water bowl with foil as well. Less of a clean up chore. I also use a squirt bottle to re-fill my water bowl about 3-4 hours into the smoke through the front door. That should be good enough, but check your water when you add wood.
• Besides placing several foil packets of chips in the ECB throughout the smoke using the front door, I rarely lift the lid, unless I’m cooking something else. Even then I act quickly as you lose heat like crazy with this smoker. I do not spray my pork butt every hour like some do here because of that reason. I still turn out juicy pork and great bark. So I would seriously consider leaving this thing untouched for at least the first 3 hours of your smoke.
• Like another poster said, if you plan on eating this thing for dinner, then I would do it the day before or start real, real early. I did 2 butts last week; 6# took me start to finish, including cooler rest time about 15 hours. (8 on the smoker, 5 in the oven and 2 in the cooler.) I also did a butt close to 9# and it took me 20 hours of cook time. My longest yet. Just depends……..
• Follow Meowy’s thread and smoke until you reach 160-165*, foil and place in the oven until 200*, rest for at least an hour and then pull. I drain the juice & fat, let that cool, scrape the fat off and then use some of the juice back in the pork. Also use that finishing sauce!!

If you have any questions or you need help please contact me!!

Mark

 

[geob]

I have read some of the best advice you could get anyplace on the internet for the question you asked. Great thread.

When you look (and you will) have a spray bottle with apple juice mixed with rum or some other good adult beverage. Makes a great bark.
Set back, watch the smoke, you are about to become famouse.

Smoking

 

[bigdan]

ok got the shoulder out of the fridge. Should I inject it with anything?

Do I need to put anything in the water bowl of my smoker?

Got all of my gear out and ready. Should go on about 8pm tonight!

 

[walking dude]

i always brine my butts and shoulders........the nite before.......

and then i inject with my brine............

i use just plain water.........others use sand, or river rocks.......but summin needs to be in there.......its a thermal mass that will help with temp spikes.....

maybe mix up a quick brine and stick er in there

nutting else........stick er in some pineapple juice till time to smoke......IN the fridge.........

 

[bb53chevpro]

I think you should put water and/or apple juice in the water pan. This will help keep the meat moist. You could always pull the meat out of the smoker and into the oven if you need to (if getting too late).
Hope this helps.
Andy.