Prepping For the big three day weekend (chicken wings/Chuck roast)

[Jeff_Carley]

Preliminary pictures of the big weekend, i have a three day and plan to put it to BBQ use!! I have been craving to smoke a chuckie after seeing all of you PBC users posting all these great pictures, the one that stands out most was the out of this world Philly cheesesteak. Sooooo, i bought one.



I wet brined with 1/2 tsp salt per lb. It is a 5 lb slab of meat, choice, and only cost about $7...figured why not give it a try. You can tell from the picture that not all the meat was touched by the salt. shouldn't affect it at all, just thought that was interesting the meat color change, went in dark red, came out light pink. Brined wet for 24 hrs, is now wrapped in foil waiting for the spices and smoke tomorrow.

Given that this is a big long weekend, for me, i wanted to try out something else on the smoker. I have "mastered" pork and wanted something challenging for me to try. I decided to go with chicken wings, grabbed some big ol' boys.



These i dry brined with the same salt ratio, as advised by most everyone out here on this sight. A twist with these wings is the sauce that i plan on trying with it, been eye balling this sauce for a while and didn't really know the right time to use it, figured better now than never i guess.



Ill post more pictures tomorrow, or sometime this weekend once i cook them.

[Danjohnston949]

Jeff_Carley, Sounds Like a Fun Week End! You might want to take a gander at kjozsa 's Post on the Weber Kettle and the Vortex for Chicken Wings!
I look forward to Your follow up Post!
Eat Well and Prosper! From a Backyard Cremator in Fargo ND, Dan

[Jeff_Carley]

i briefly read that earlier, wings were crispy. i think i might try the part garlic ones as well. 1/2 and 1/2

[emil.glatz]

Why sure Jeff, I'd be happy to help you chomp that down. What time should we stop by? Looks great!

[Jeff_Carley]

open all day. here is to hoping they don't flop on me

[Steve B]

You're gonna love the chuckie. I've done these a couple of times. They make amazing cheese steaks. Just curious those wings look more like drum sticks to me. Or are they that big, I don't see any flats?? But sounds like you're gonna have a great weekend. Good luck with your cook and show us some pics.

[Jeff_Carley]

they are all sticks. 100%. more protein, couldn't find a set of wings worth a darn, they were all so small

[abandonedbrain]

Ah, good. I thought for sure I was incorrectly calling wings 'drumsticks' for my entire life when I saw that pic. Whew!

[PappyBBQ]

Smoked chuckies also fab in enchiladas, tacos, chili... The list goes on and on. Very versatile cook! Enjoy!!

[Jeff_Carley]

using them as philly's first then enchiladas after that. Very stoked. Smoking them today.

[Jeff_Carley]

started the smoke. Entered the stall 2:30 into the cook @ 166. Sounds rather early to me. But i wet brined it and all so who knows. thew on some chicken wing legs (massive buggers) as well, took a picture while i had it open of the chuck.


When i put the chuck on, 32-33 degrees meat temp.


What the "stall looked like. Normally i would wrap and move this indoors and cheat my way to the finish line. Figured i would try this 100% on the PBC no wrap and no cheating, for once.

Now for the stall question....I didn't think that the stall would happen so quickly. I added the graph below so you could see what i am talking about. Also, the drop is due to the lid being opened after the 1120 mark. since then it has dropped a tad and then plateaued again. I am guessing it will pick back up again. My coals didn't look spent, they were less lit than i expected though.

[Jeff_Carley]

The smoke was a success. The only issue i am having is the shrinkage of the chuck, that surprised me. Also, i cambroed for a few hours, and the roast reabsorbed every drop of liquid back into itself. Half was super tender, very much like the point of a brisket, the other half was overcooked and almost unstable by sauce. I am guessing i overcooked it. The entire piece was probe tender and super soft at the time i pulled it and placed it wrapped into the cambro.

[abandonedbrain]

It looks absolutely fantastic, and I want some NOW. The shrinkage doesn't surprise me; the raw pics look like the chuckeye roasts we get here, LOTS of fat to render out over that many hours.

[DWCowles]

Beautiful

[tomk62]

... the other half was overcooked and almost unstable by sauce. I am guessing i overcooked it.

What was your end temp when you pulled it off?

[Jeff_Carley]

at 200 it wasn't probe tender, so i kept checking, it became prob tender at 204

[abandonedbrain]

Jeff_Carley Are you tracking your cooker temp, as well? Where did the heat level out temp-wise over the first couple of hours?

[Jeff_Carley]

i figured out what i messed up. i should have separated the side that was already at temp vs keeping them both in