New Family Member and First Cook
Thanks to my best friend and fellow pit member Nightrayne, I have moved from a homemade UDS to a proud owner of a PBC. It was quite the surprise and compelled me to dig something out of the freezer for a weekend cook. Found a big Boston butt in there after a bit of digging and my first cook was on.
Trimmed it a bit and it weighed in at a whopping 8.25lbs. Did a dry brine, but only 12hrs or so. Would like to have gone longer, but this weekend was crazy busy so you do what you have to. After watching videos and reading forum, I decided to stack my charcoal to make sure the fire would last the cook. Lit 40 coals as recommended and rubbed the butt with Memphis dust about the same time. After letting the coals burn down a bit the temp was at 310 or so when I put the meat in. From there it was pretty smooth sailing. I used my DigiQ to watch temps, but did not have the fan attached. Temp hovered around 280-270. Would constantly trickle down a few degrees an hour until I peeked under the lid and then it would shoot back to 280-285 and start the process over. I didn't initially play with the damper, but I did open it up a tiny bit to help steady the temps. I went from the 1/4 spot to probably 3/8 or so. Based on my altitude it should be 1/2 but with the west Texas dry air and wind I was hesitant to let it go too open. Figured it's easier to open it up and stoke the fire than to try and choke it down. When the meat reached 165 I decided to wrap it and speed up the cook. Late in the cook after I had wrapped it the temp did start to go a bit lower into the 260-250 range, but again it would recover if I just opened the lid for a bit. Pulled it at 200-203 depending on where you stuck it. Most of it was probe tender with only a few spots maybe still needing a bit more, but the kids and wife were getting restless. Let it cool wrapped in a towel for an hour and then pulled the bone out and pulled the meat surrounding the bone for dinner. The meat pulled easily and had a good flavor. I went simple on this cook to try and get a better idea of the taste from the smoker itself. No wood or injection. The smoke flavor is definitely unique. You can tell it's smoke but doesn't have that wood taste. Don't know how to describe other than it tastes good. While not a perfect cook, it ranks very high on my list and was very impressive for a first time. I can't wait to get some ribs and a brisket going soon. Hope you enjoy the pictures and let me know if you have any suggestions.
Trimmed it a bit and it weighed in at a whopping 8.25lbs. Did a dry brine, but only 12hrs or so. Would like to have gone longer, but this weekend was crazy busy so you do what you have to. After watching videos and reading forum, I decided to stack my charcoal to make sure the fire would last the cook. Lit 40 coals as recommended and rubbed the butt with Memphis dust about the same time. After letting the coals burn down a bit the temp was at 310 or so when I put the meat in. From there it was pretty smooth sailing. I used my DigiQ to watch temps, but did not have the fan attached. Temp hovered around 280-270. Would constantly trickle down a few degrees an hour until I peeked under the lid and then it would shoot back to 280-285 and start the process over. I didn't initially play with the damper, but I did open it up a tiny bit to help steady the temps. I went from the 1/4 spot to probably 3/8 or so. Based on my altitude it should be 1/2 but with the west Texas dry air and wind I was hesitant to let it go too open. Figured it's easier to open it up and stoke the fire than to try and choke it down. When the meat reached 165 I decided to wrap it and speed up the cook. Late in the cook after I had wrapped it the temp did start to go a bit lower into the 260-250 range, but again it would recover if I just opened the lid for a bit. Pulled it at 200-203 depending on where you stuck it. Most of it was probe tender with only a few spots maybe still needing a bit more, but the kids and wife were getting restless. Let it cool wrapped in a towel for an hour and then pulled the bone out and pulled the meat surrounding the bone for dinner. The meat pulled easily and had a good flavor. I went simple on this cook to try and get a better idea of the taste from the smoker itself. No wood or injection. The smoke flavor is definitely unique. You can tell it's smoke but doesn't have that wood taste. Don't know how to describe other than it tastes good. While not a perfect cook, it ranks very high on my list and was very impressive for a first time. I can't wait to get some ribs and a brisket going soon. Hope you enjoy the pictures and let me know if you have any suggestions.
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