Smokin' Number 3

[clairbare]

Cracking post Chris.....sounds like they are the "if it's black on the outside it's done" bbq griller - we have many friends like that - and many that don't seem to care either!

Ok..........update of events so far for this weekend:

Pork rubbed and in fridge
BBQ sauce - MADE
Fattie filling - MADE
Whole Turkey and some chicken thighs (yes, mixed meat! ) in fridge brining MADE
Water Pan filled with sand & coated with foil - DONE
now on with the cook............................tomorrow at 8am..........very ISH

[Chris__M]

Cracking post Chris.....sounds like they are the "if it's black on the outside it's done" bbq griller - we have many friends like that - and many that don't seem to care either!

To be fair, I also have quite a few friends who are far more capable around a charcoal kettle than I am, and when they step forward to help, I go and grab a beer.

So far, the majority of them haven't seen the Traeger yet, but I'm guessing it won't take them long to come up to speed on it.

[clairbare]

http://s774.photobucket.com/albums/yy27 ... %20No%203/

Here are some prep pics

Well we failed to get up early, bit hungover, Lee (Mr Blue) managed to cawl out of bed at 7.30 so the pork went on at 9am
(you'd think with having 2 young children we would have cracked the getting up by now )

We have had a great steady temp of 230/240 (that's the pro-q therm which i had calibrated) and the probe in the meat is now showing 67c

The turkey is also in now

The smoking beast smells great

Will do another update later

[clairbare]

ok the verdict - again we were disappointed, we got a good flavour but our meats were too dry - apart from the chicken thighs!!

We managed to get the pork up to 194f, this was quite a small piece of meat by the time the fat crap came off - this ended up being cooked for 7 hours

The turkey, hmmm by the time the pork came off, i probed the turkey and this was already up to 165f so not sure how long it had been there for (this was cooked for 5.5 hours)

The fatty, well Lee dropped this coming in from the garden all over the carpet (pillock) hit the floor like a giant meat explosion, salvaged quite well

the thighs well they were pretty much perfect - we got something right!!

We managed to maintain a temp of 230/240 however we peaked a few times at 250 - but this is using the pro-q therm that may have not been accurate even though i calibrated it (would anyone else agree that this could still be out?)

AARRRGGGHHH - doesnt help we are using poor joints of pork i am sure - ordering from a proper butcher next time!!

PLease help want my butt our butt to look like Dr SweetSmoke's Butt

All feedback greatly welcomed xx

Pics - here is the link - http://s774.photobucket.com/albums/yy27 ... %20No%203/
hope the link works

[Swindon_Ed]

With pork shoulders i've been getting mine from Sainsburys to practice on, as in their basics range they have British bone in pork shoulders and they're only about £5.00 and i've always managed to get them to pull. I'm not normally one for basics range but i spent a lot of time looking at these before i bought them. I think the only reason they're in the basics range is because it's an unfashionable cut of meat which is great for us.

Also when you trimmed off the fat did you take this completely down to the meat or did you leave a little layer of fat on top?

194f internal is probally a bit high for a small bit of meat.

Have you thought about injecting marinades into the pork to keep them moist. I'll post the one i've been using in the recipies area for you to look at.

[clairbare]

Trimmed ALL fat of the pork
Probed the Turkey at the breast although Lee had gone out and when he got back he said I possibly should have probed at the leg area I thought he would have approved of the breast

Do we need to aim for an internal temperature or is it the length of time that is most important?? We have a chart that guides us on internal temps but from your comments, this would depend by the size of the joint of meat - confused.com

We really value your comments as need to improve - we will be visiting the competition in May for a sneaky peek and some taste tests - although when we get this right we are hoping to very much compete

[MrBlue]

We're gonna try the pulled pork again tomorrow - and hope this time it's better. I feel one of our biggest problems is finding decent quality meat.
Will also take your advice Doc, and leave a nice layer of fat on the beast this time round. We are just hoping for more success than our last 3 attempts, and may even introduce some foil this time round!
We got ribs too, the mighty meaty ones from Bookers - now our ribs last time were superb - so not concerned about those, as they just fell apart!

[esselle]

I struggled to explain to my meat supplier exactly what I wanted until All Weather Griller kindly got me a Butt the way they should be. I took it into my supplier and he said 'Oh you mean a neck end!' So that may be worth a try asking for that at the butchers.

[Swindon_Ed]

Hi Mr Blue,

Here's a couple of guides on cooking a pork butt which you might find usefull.

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/pork2.html

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/pork4.html

The second link gives a better view of how the trimmed butt should look.

Thanks,
Ed

[MrBlue]

Here's a couple of guides on cooking a pork butt which you might find usefull.

Super cool - thanks Ed - looks like this might have been part of the problem in the past

Well, at least I hope so - might even try the marinade injection process too, although there are 2 downsides to this -

1 - We bought a plastic needle syringe and I don't think it's up to the job at all.
2 - I'm no good with needles as they make me feel VERY uneasy! - So Clairbare can do that bit!