2 Stage Cook on the Bronco Pro: Pork Shoulders and Beef Ribs

[jdsegra]

Trying to get a Sunday afternoon dinner rolling again post pandemic. Will be feeding 8 adults and 3 kids. I over did it when I went to the butcher.


Left tray has a 9.6# shoulder from Sam's Club and a 6.5# shoulder from the local butcher. Both were dry brined, coated with Frank's Hot Sauce and Rubbed with MMD.

Beef ribs were fresh from the butcher, 8 bones. Left the membrane, dry brined over night, then basted with Frank's and Black Pepper.

Dinner is at 6PM. I don't have a lot of experience cooking hot and fast, so my plan is to go low and slow on the big shoulder over night. Put on a chunk of Pecan, and a chunk of Hickory.

In the morning, it'll probably be in the stall, so I'll wrap it, check the charcoal, add more smoking wood, put on the smaller shoulder and the ribs, and get the temp up around 275.

I expect that the large shoulder will be done around lunch time, the ribs around 4, and I'm not sure if the smaller shoulder will make it for dinner at 6, but we don't really need it. (we're going on a camping trip week after next, so we'll likely just pull it and freeze it).

Using a 17.5 bag of B&B. First time, but excited to see if get the kind of extending cook time everyone has been raving about. The big shoulder went on around 10PM.

[Jfrosty27]

Where’s the meat? Your house!!!
Awesome cook going there Pitmaster. Can’t wait to see the results. Smoke on!

[jdsegra]

If you can get a flight to XNA in the next hour, you might make it.

[RiverJeff]

Looking Great! Keep on Smoking!

[Uncle Bob]

Go big or go home................

[CHNeal]

Well played! I miss the big cooks. Not a better way to spend a day!

[Sid P]

Nice! Was it good and stable overnight?

[jdsegra]

Yeah, no problem sleeping. I set a pretty wide temp range (190-300) and just let it roll. it was around 260 when I woke up around 6.

[Sid P]

I doubt it varied more than +/- 20°F. What was your last reading the night before?

[jdsegra]

Sid P about 240

[jfmorris]

Wow! Just the pulled pork alone will be enough to feed 30 people, and you are doing beef ribs too! You ought to be able to send everyone home with leftovers...

[jdsegra]

haha. yeah, I overdid it for sure.

Originally the cook was the ribs and smaller pork shoulder, but we also have a week in the camper coming up, so decided to get another shoulder from Sam's and it was a monster.

[DTro]

Nice plan. Curious to know how the overnight went. I have left my Bronco cooking alone for up to two hours without any issues and have been thinking about just letting it roll overnight.

[jdsegra]

Super stable. No complaints. First time using B&B Charcoal. I'm a convert.

[jdsegra]

Bronco Pro was a champ overnight. Still learing the vents, so it took me a bit to get everything stable, but once I did, it was rock solid all night. Went to bed around midnight with it around 240, woke to it at 260 (with a few checks waking up overnight).

The large pork shoulder was actually a little ahead of schedule, but looking mighty fine and apparently through the stall around 180.

Decided to go ahead and wrap and check the charcoal to see if I needed a touchup.



There was a LOT of charcoal left! This is about 10 hours into the cook. Decided to throw a couple of additional chunks on and add the rest of the meat.


I tried to load everything with the big shoulder wrapped, but I ran out of room on the grate.

No big deal. Fired up the pellet grill and moved big boi over to finish up post wrap.

All loaded up.



And about 2 hours later. I rotated the pork shoulder a little and moved it away from the lid after the shot.

Everything going super smoothly.

Everytime I open the door, Grizz begs to go out to the deck for some reason.

[jdsegra]

Just before wrapping the shoulder.

[Panhead John]

I gotta hand it to ya, you’re doing a helluva good job here….posting, and cooking on your new Bronco! Keep up the good work!

[jdsegra]

My friends are getting the cliff notes via SMS. It's fun to have a group to nerd out with.

[jdsegra]

Right before wrapping and holding

[jdsegra]

Started to lose the fire, opened up the vents all the way, and started to see it fall again after a brief rally.

Lit the fire at 8PM, started cooking at 9PM. Gained an hour for moving back to Standard time.

Wrapped the first shoulder, added chunks, and put the rest of the meat on 8AM. Fire burned for another 7:15!!

20:15 (19ish of actual cook time). from first light to moving the last piece to the oven.

At’il do OBJ. At’il do.

[jdsegra]

Raging success. Everyone came for the beef ribs, and they were incredible, but the pork shoulder may have been my best of all time. I took a rib and some pork over to a neighbor, and he commented on the pork before he mentioned the beef rib, which is saying something.

Made a little Rodney Scott's Signature Vinegar Sauce to go with the pork.








It was very tasty, but hot on it's own. On the pulled pork, it was heaven. I'd use a little milder cayenne next time, but otherwise, A+.

[Sid P]

Great cook and post! How do you like Rodney’s book?

[jdsegra]

I like it! East Carolina BBQ is very different than what we have locally, so I really like the change of pace. We're basically half way between KC and Dallas. Texas style brisket has really come on here. Pork is can have sauce or dry rub, but vinegar / hot flavors aren't big here.

He does a great job of walking through his process to cook a whole hog. There's also a lot of regional sides outside of traditional BBQ fare.

As a book, better than Franklin BBQ, but not Meathead.

[Sid P]

I appreciate the detailed review!

[jdsegra]

Couple more

[FireMan]

You would have to throw in a grin huh, show off! 🕶

[Finster]

Great looking cook.
interesting idea using the Frank's as a binder. What was the inspiration for that, and does it add to the flavor profile noticeably?

[jdsegra]

It's from the Franklin BBQ PBS series. He mentions using hot sauce for a binder for beef ribs. We like Franks for the flavor. We did it once and now do it on everything.

I'm a bit biased at this point, since it's automatic for us. The first time I did it, I thought, "That's really tasty" and have just kept going.