First Smoke Q-View!!!

[jasandalb]

Well...here it is.

For those who saw my last posts this was a long smoke.
The first pic is one of the 6 slabs done.
All in all we ended up making over $300 for the A.C.S so my 3 am finish time was well worth it.

One question....when I was done, after I pulled it from the cooler, it was still pretty tough to pull...almost like the meat was dry. Any tips to help avoid this?
I had one tip to keep it in the cooler longer (only had in for 1 hour).

BIG KUDOS TO PINEYWOODS FOR THE HELP THROUGHOUT THE SMOKE!!!! YOU TOOK ALOT OF WORRIES OFF MY HANDS!!!!

 

[richtee]

Nice job! What was the temp when ya cooler'd it? Ya gotta go to at least 180. I go near to 200 for pulled.

 

[smokin' joe]

Lookin good, Nice job!!!

 

[jasandalb]

I set the alarm at 200.....so when it hit there I foiled and then coolered.

 

[walking dude]

i foil at 170.......then remove from the heat at 200..........i believe foiling at 170......retains some of the juices........and it then absorbs the juice while its resting..........and i also spritz before foiling.........did you spritz or mop the beef?

 

[pineywoods]

I thought you foiled at 170* I think this is where you'll find a big difference in moistness.
When you get a chance try another one use a spritz bout every hour after the first couple hours, foil at 170*, also try a finishing sauce. Gotta do it a couple ways and find out what you like the best. The last brisket I did I got to vacuum seal and freeze some of it, its great for quick dinners or lunches for that matter

You took on a heck of a project for your first smoke glad it turned out well

 

[seboke]

This is boston butt according to me, but it works for me. I think if you kept yours unfoiled to 200* you probably overcooked it, leading to the dryness and difficulty in pulling. Smoke it unwrapped at 225* to 250* however long it takes to get internal temp of 150*, anywhere from 5 to 9 hours depending on a lot of factors (size of the butt, wind, outside temp, how long of a plateau, or just how well I'm maintaining the smoker temp). Spritz with whatever every hour, 2 to 1 apple juice/Captain Morgan is my choice.

Next, foil with a good spritzing to get a good pool of liquid in the bottom of the foil. This step is essentially braising the meat. The time unfoiled to reach 150* is going to get you about all the smoke penetration you're going to get. Double wrap the meat in heavy duty foil. You can finish this step in the oven if you like, cause it ain't getting any more smoke wrapped in foil!. Take the foiled butt to 200*, then wrap in a towel and stick in a cooler till ready to pull. I have gone as little as 1.5 hours to as long as 10 hours (no kidding, I lined the cooler with towels and double wrapped the butts in towels - they were at 160* after 10 hours).

Every try since I started using this method has turned out wonderful results. Open the foil, smoosh the top and the bone almost squirts out. Grab a hunk of meat from the butt and just kind of wiggle your fingers through it. Wha-La! Pulled Pork!!! Separating the butt at the natural muscle group lines will let you easily find and discard the hunks of fat lurking in the middle.

I'm smoking 4 butts, 2 fatty s, a brisket, 10 lbs of yard bird quarters and a mess of ABT s Wednesday starting about 1:00. Don't know how far over the Gandy bridge you are, but if you want to hop over the bay and sip a few tastys, breathe the TBS, and tell war stories, I'll be going at it till midnight at the earliest. PM me if interested. From Dale Mabry I'm about a 25 minute ride if ya use the Cross-Town.

 

[fatback joe]

Was the brisket choice or select grade. Select seems real hit or miss on the quality of the end product, where as choice seems much more consistant (better) end product.

Also, did you inject? If not, you might want to try that on the next one, especially if it is select.

 

[jasandalb]

I dont know what the cut was....because I got 25 lbs all at once (donated by our local supermarket) the butcher basically handed me 5 vacuum sealed packages in a box.

As far as how I smoked....I took the internal up to 170-180 on the smoker and pulled it off (I would have stayed on the smoker but by this time it was close to midnight-12:30) then wrapped all 4 in foil and brought the internal to 200. After it hit 200, I wrapped in towels and set in the cooler for an hour.

Granted I probably should have kept in the cooler for another hour, but.
1.) I did not spritz
2.) Did not inject

 

[pineywoods]

It may very well have been the quality or cut of meat which you didn't have control over. Sounds like you did things right you may spritz or you may inject some do some don't but all you can do is try it different ways and see what suits you. Did you get a chance to sample any of it how was the taste??

 

[richoso1]

What Richtee said...

 

[jasandalb]

I did sample it....could definitely taste the smoke. It was dry but tasty.

 

[pineywoods]

Try injecting the next one I inject a creole butter and its pretty good

 

[crewcab4x4]

I used garlic herb on the one I did saturday it was tasty and moist.
Definitely want to foil @ 170 deg. and give it the rest of the time to render the fat and make the juices. I cooler mine for 2 hrs. Your first brisket's turned out good and your on the right track your next one will turn out even better.

Jason