So... we were supposed to get 1-3 inches of snow here in the Metro-West Boston area... we got 8. Of course I'm "on the hook" as it were... for the pork butt cook for Super Bowl L (couldn't resist... now you know why the networks din't use Roman Numerals for this one!!!)
First off, I now have enough applewood to smoke pork for about 6 years... yup... it was one of my 4 apple trees. sigh...
So the best part is that it's over 45 degrees today and I'm running a pork butt plus a chicken.
I'm seeing some rather odd behavior in my PBC... at first it was humming along around 310 or thereabouts for the first hour. It was having a tendency to rise in temp... up to around 315 to 316 where I'd bang a bit on the lid (the rim of the lid has one small kink in one spot) and it would settle back down to around 309. About two hours into the cook I added a single 6 lb split chicken... the temp rebounded to around 291 and stayed there for around 30-40 minutes. It then (all of a sudden) dropped 20 degrees (i've been monitoring the temp every ten minutes or so) so now the PBC has a tendency to quasi-stabilize for around 10-20 minutes then it'll just plummet all of a sudden nearly 10 degrees. A bit surprising to be sure. When the chicken hits 160 and gets pulled I'll no doubt have to remove a rebar. But basically like I said it seems to stay stable for a while then there is a sudden drop over a single maverick update interval... Go figure. Well either way I have until 6 pm so I should be good regardless... this thing does have a tendency to keep me on my toes.
Chicken brings copious amounts of water to the game. Not only do you have what is contained in the muscle, but the retained water from the chilling process associated with the skin (a little) and the membranes at the base of the neck (more than the skin), causes it to really jack with things.
Too funny. I cooked a brisket, a turkey, and a chuck roast at the same time. I made sure they all got going at the same time. That way I was only unloading, and only the brisket was on a specific time frame, sort of.
Actually Jerod, it all even makes sense now that I thought about it (I had some scotch handy to help me reflect on the matter)... with chicken, as it cooks you end up getting bursts of fluid coming out as it cooks... that sure as heck can help quench some of the briqs and could help explain a sudden temp drop.
> Weber Genesis EP-330
> Grilla Grills Original Grilla (OG) pellet smoker with Alpha/Connect
> Grilla Grills Pellet Pizza Oven
> Pit Barrel Cooker (gone to a new home)
> WeberQ 2000 (on "loan" to a relative (I'll never see it again))
> Old Smokey Electric (for chickens mostly - when it's too nasty out
to fiddle with a more capable cooker)
> Luhr Jensen Little Chief Electric - Top Loader circa 1990 (smoked fish & jerky)
> Thermoworks Smoke
> 3 Thermoworks Chef Alarms
> Thermoworks Thermapen One
> Thermoworks Thermapen Classic
> Thermoworks Thermopop
> Thermoworks Square DOT
> Thermoworks IR-GUN-S
> Joule Turbo Sous Vide Circulator
> Searzall torch
> BBQ Guru Rib Ring
> WÜSTHOF, Dalstrong, and Buck knives
> Paprika App on Mac and iOS
Too bad about the apple tree ... but at least you can re-purpose it to your smokin' advantage. Around here it's pretty much all evergreens and cottonwood ... nothing you'd want to taste on your chicken, pork, or beef.
yeah so it goes! Turns out the apple trees were not producing much in the way of fruit anyway... they are at least 40-45 years old and the winter moths up here destroy the blossems anyway. Luckily a squirrel planted the black walnut tree behind it and it'll take it's place... btw here is the shoulder at 3:00 pm EST at 153 F...
My toys:
Weber Summit Charcoal Grilling Center (WSCGC) aka Mr. Fancypants
Pit Barrel Cooker (which rocks), named Pretty Baby
Weber Summit S650 Gas Grill, named Hot 'n Fast (used mostly for searing and griddling)
Weber Kettle Premium 22" named Kettle Kid, eager to horn in with more cooks in the future
Camp Chef Somerset IV 4-burner outdoor gas range named AfterBurner due to its 30kBTU burners
Adrenaline BBQ Company Gear:
SnS Low Profile, DnG, and Large Charcoal Basket, for WSCGC
SnS Deluxe for 22" Kettle
Elevated SS Rack for WSCGC
SS Rack for DnG
Cast Iron Griddle
Grill Grate for SnS
Grill Grates: five 17.375 sections (retired to storage)
Grill Grates: six 19.25 panels for exact fit for Summit S650
gasser
Grill Grates for 22" Kettle
2 Grill Grate Griddles
Steelmade Griddle for Summit gas grill
Fireboard Gear:
Extreme BBQ Thermometer Package
Additional control unit
Additional probes: Competition Probes 1" (3) and 4" (1), 3 additional Ambient Probes. 1 additional Food Probe
2 Driver Cables
Pit Viper Fan (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Pit Viper Fan new design (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Thermoworks Gear:
Thermapen MK4 (pink)
Thermapen Classic (pink too)
Thermoworks MK4 orange
Temp Test 2 Smart Thermometer
Extra Big and Loud Timer
Timestick Trio
Maverick ET 73 a little workhorse with limited range
Maverick ET 733
Maverick (Ivation) ET 732
Grill Pinz
Vortex (two of them)
18" drip pan for WSCGC
Ceramic Spacers for WSCGC in Kamado Mode: 2 sets each 1/2", 1", 2". The 2" spacers work best with the 18" drip pan. The 1+1/2 inch spacers work best with the 14 inch cake pan.
Two Joule Sous Vide devices
3 Lipavi Sous Vide Tubs with Lids: 12, 18 and 26 quarts
Avid Armor Ultra Pro V32 Chamber Sealer
Instant Pot 6 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Instant Pot 10 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Charcoal Companion TurboQue
A-Maze-N tube 12 inch tube smoker accessory for use with pellets
BBQ Dragon and Dragon Chimney
Shun Classic Series:
8" Chef Knife
6" Chef's Knife
Gokujo Boning and Fillet Knife
3 1/2 inch Paring Knife
We've been dining on pulled pork sammies and tacos this past week. Gosh that PBC makes good food and butts are so easy to do on it.
I smoked a couple of chickens Saturday to use in a 7layer buffalo chicken dip to take to a Superbowl party yesterday. I use that PBC more than I use my oven, I think!
Comment