New to smoking....

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chipgiii

Newbie
Original poster
Aug 10, 2015
15
10
I am originally from NJ, but have spent the last seven years in NC, specifically Youngsville, NC just twenty miles north of Raleigh.

I fell in love with Pulled Pork. I could eat a Pulled Pork Sandwich with Cole Slaw every day of the week.  Anyway I was never much of a barbecuer  other than Burgers, Steaks, Dogs and Brats.  I looked up how to cook pulled pork on a gas grill and gave it a try, using a tray of water, hickory wrapped in aluminum foil all to the right of the grill and a single burner on.

After 14 hours it still had not reached the internal temp (8 pound pork butt) that the recipe called for, 190 degrees. The temp was 170 and we pulled it off the grill anyway (8 pm at night and wanted to feed the company).  We had used a rub, injection, and mop (did even know what that was) we found in the same article on using a gas grill to smoke pork.  Well it wasn't pull-able but we cut it up anyway.  My wife makes a killer slaw (that she also stole off the internet) and we put the pork and slaw on a bun.  The flavor in the pork was so good I almost fell out of my chair.  I went right back to the store and bought four more 8 pound roast and threw them in the freezer.  

This, of course, piqued my curiosity around smokers.  So on a whim I decided to buy a cheapola 99 dollar Brinkman with the tacit agreement from my wife that if we use it any amount we could go for a real good one next Summer.  I am torn between the Pellet type and the regular offset better quality smokers....that's for another day.

So yesterday I put it together, seasoned it.  Today I ordered the food grade high temp silicone sealer, high temp BBQ Smoker gasket and two more temp gauges.  I also thought about one of those charcoal baskets but wanted some feed back on those first.  Everyone seems to agree about sealing a smoker up.

Anyway I am pretty excited about trying this thing out, even if it is a cheap one.  Also excited to try some other things on the grill.

My ability at this point on a scale of 1-10 is probably close to zero....but I am excited - that pork was so delicious I even bragged!

Meanwhile I will need to learn how best to control temp, whether I should l use large chunks of hickory, killer rubs, etc.  I also want to try a slow cooked flank steak.  I heard they are excellent.
 
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  Good afternoon and welcome to the forum, from another hot day here in East Texas, and the best site on the web. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about  everything.

Gary
 
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Welcome from SC. In your 2nd paragraph you made a typical northern faux pa. BBQ is a noun, not a verb. LOL. I'm sure that you will enjoy this site and all of the folks who are always eager to share their ideas, tips, recipes and anything that you may need. All you have to do is ask. Regarding your butt, you may have gotten into a very lte stall. Did you wrap it? Good luck and keep on smokin', Joe
 
Joe,

I didn't wrap it!  Since then I've read a few people say that you should wrap it the last three or four hours.  The next one I do, I am going to try that.  All and all though it was delicious!
 
With a butt, you will experience a stall around 150-160* that will last several hours before the IT begins to rise again. When it hits, wrap the butt in heavy aluminum foil with about 1/2 cup of apple juice. The wrap and apple juice will help power the butt through the stall and add some moisture and tenderness to the meat. Normally, I don't like to cook by time, but a rule of thumb for butt is about 1-1/2 hours per pound. Give the wrap a try and good luck. Joe
 
Thanks.  That sounds great.  I intend to do another one in the next couple of weeks.  I have four more in the freezer.  Even with the screw up the meat was some of the most flavorful I've ever had.  I don't take credit for that because everything (rub, injection, mop) was someone else's recipe.  

I also want to try a Brisket (heard you do this similar to the Butt), and I saw where a guy did a chuck roast...not a fan of chuck roast but it looked fabulous.  

BTW I am copying and pasting your tip into my tips file in MS word!
 
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