Let me preface this by saying it has ended up being the most challenging smoke I've done to date. It was a real struggle to keep the temps correct because of the rain showers and trying to keep the temp at 225. Lump coal would be a much better fuel source for the conditions present.
I was never really able to achieve TBS due to the fact I was always having to add wood to keep the temps up. In fairness, I knew this wasn't really having to meet "presentation quality" due to the menu. It is going to be chopped up for bbq sandwiches anyway. The trick was to keep too much smoke from hitting it and making the meat bitter. I achieved this with the turkey breast, but have not tasted the beef or pork yet to know how it turned out.
For those of you that met Chuck, you know what is about to follow. For the others, Chuck is a 26.5 lb beef shoulder that was drafted to make bbq sandwiches for a wrestling team banquet this Thursday. Since there is plenty of room on the grill, I added a few of Chuck's aquaintances to the party. Here are the players in this wonderful, smoky adventure:
Chuck, Tom, the turkey breast, and the Pork Brothers--conjoined twin pork loins Larry, and Darrel. Larry and Darrel will be surgically separated before finding their way to the fire. Larry and Darrel are also joined by bacon and hot links for the fun.
The spices:
Old Bay, Garlic salt, black pepper, Grill Mate Burger Blend, butter and creole seasoning (for the turkey)
My Q-view gets a bit messed up after this. I had two visitors to the shop and the rain storm we are getting is longer and more intense than forecast. With the rain, I didn't take as many picks on the smoker.
Chuck, rubbed down and then placed on the grill.
The turkey was injected with a stick of butter, blended with the creole seasoning. I had one of two visitors at the shop during preparation, so no pics were taken until the bird was removed from the grill. Evidently, I forgot to upload the picture of the breast when I pulled it. I've since deleted all the pics on my card. I'll try to take a pic tomorrow when we reheat it and eat it for supper.
Chuck was injected with a mixture of two sticks of Blue Bonnet margarine, olive oil, garlic powder, and pepper. He was also basted about four times with olive oil and pepper.
My second visitor was present when prepping the pork-u-pines. One was an experimental model with two sticks each of pepper jack cheese and marble jack cheese stuffed inside with the hot link. Both were covered in a blanket of bacon. Once again, the cheese has tried to run out of the incision, but the bacon did help it stay in better this time. When I try it again, I will leave the loin longer and either tie the loin closed or use skewers to try and keep the end sealed. Here they are joining chuck on the grill.
Chuck has just reached an internal temp of 145 degrees. I have wrapped him in foil and will take him all the way to 190 before taking him out to rest before placing him in the roaster with Saucy.
Edit: Clouds prevented me from uploading my pics until now. Chuck is at 170 currently.
Final report and pics to follow.
I was never really able to achieve TBS due to the fact I was always having to add wood to keep the temps up. In fairness, I knew this wasn't really having to meet "presentation quality" due to the menu. It is going to be chopped up for bbq sandwiches anyway. The trick was to keep too much smoke from hitting it and making the meat bitter. I achieved this with the turkey breast, but have not tasted the beef or pork yet to know how it turned out.
For those of you that met Chuck, you know what is about to follow. For the others, Chuck is a 26.5 lb beef shoulder that was drafted to make bbq sandwiches for a wrestling team banquet this Thursday. Since there is plenty of room on the grill, I added a few of Chuck's aquaintances to the party. Here are the players in this wonderful, smoky adventure:
Chuck, Tom, the turkey breast, and the Pork Brothers--conjoined twin pork loins Larry, and Darrel. Larry and Darrel will be surgically separated before finding their way to the fire. Larry and Darrel are also joined by bacon and hot links for the fun.
The spices:
Old Bay, Garlic salt, black pepper, Grill Mate Burger Blend, butter and creole seasoning (for the turkey)
My Q-view gets a bit messed up after this. I had two visitors to the shop and the rain storm we are getting is longer and more intense than forecast. With the rain, I didn't take as many picks on the smoker.
Chuck, rubbed down and then placed on the grill.
The turkey was injected with a stick of butter, blended with the creole seasoning. I had one of two visitors at the shop during preparation, so no pics were taken until the bird was removed from the grill. Evidently, I forgot to upload the picture of the breast when I pulled it. I've since deleted all the pics on my card. I'll try to take a pic tomorrow when we reheat it and eat it for supper.
Chuck was injected with a mixture of two sticks of Blue Bonnet margarine, olive oil, garlic powder, and pepper. He was also basted about four times with olive oil and pepper.
My second visitor was present when prepping the pork-u-pines. One was an experimental model with two sticks each of pepper jack cheese and marble jack cheese stuffed inside with the hot link. Both were covered in a blanket of bacon. Once again, the cheese has tried to run out of the incision, but the bacon did help it stay in better this time. When I try it again, I will leave the loin longer and either tie the loin closed or use skewers to try and keep the end sealed. Here they are joining chuck on the grill.
Chuck has just reached an internal temp of 145 degrees. I have wrapped him in foil and will take him all the way to 190 before taking him out to rest before placing him in the roaster with Saucy.
Edit: Clouds prevented me from uploading my pics until now. Chuck is at 170 currently.
Final report and pics to follow.
