So, a report the day after. The whole weekend was a great success. On Saturday evening I went to sleep at 20:00, and set the alarm at 22:30. I actually managed to sleep, and at 22:45 I fired up my smoker. I added the nine briskets (full packers, avg 15 lbs each), and went to work. At 02:00 I started to freak out, thinking the wood wouldn't last. I think it was a brain fart, due to the late hour and all. At 03:00 I added the 25 pork bellies. And I started to calm down. I did have plenty of oak wood.
Overall the cook went fine. I did have to move the briskets around, due to their difference in size. I placed the biggest ones close to the fire, and the smaller ones in the back. Normally there's a real good air flow in my smoker, and very even temps, but when you load that sucker up the thermodynamics change quite a bit. So at two or three times during the night I moved briskets back and forth. I did the same with the pork bellies.
After the briskets had stalled I decided to wrap them in butcher's paper. It took 10 minutes or so to get all briskets out, wrap them, and add them back in.
The thing is I didn't see the rise in temp I was expecting (roughly 1.5 hours after wrap). So I decided to take them all out, re-wrap them, this time with aluminum foil, and get them back into the smoker. Sure enough, I got the response I was looking for, and around 06:40 they were all done and I could drop them into the (three) faux cambros. I went to bed at 07:00 and slept till 09:30.
I also made 20 liters (5.3 gallons) of creamed corn in the middle of the night.
Right before 10:00 I sliced the first brisket and pork belly and served the crew. They all rolled their eyes and smiled ear to ear. I absolutely nailed this cook, it was great to see, and the 400 people that came to eat kept complimenting my food all through the day.
There were a few things about this cook that I really appreciate: 1. I did several adjustments during the cook to compensate for/avoid future problems. This is really cool, as I feel I can rely on, and trust, my experience. Like re-wrapping for example. Being able to get 9 briskets of varying size to the right doneness/tenderness felt good. Makes me feel like a pit master 2. The roaring reviews. That makes it worth everything. 3. My smoker. Man, that is a meat machine! And it's easy to operate. I love it. 4. The fact that I alone cooked food for so many people. A lot of pressure, for sure. But I pulled through. Awesome feeling.
Now for some well earned rest. I didn't take many photos, as I was busy, but here's a few.
The pork belly sandwich plate, with bourbon beans and creamed corn.
The pork belly. Juicy as can be. Rubbed with Hank's KC Royale Pork Rub
The brisket. Super-juicy, with great flavor. Rubbed with Hank's Bonafide Beef Rub.
JGo37 - yes I am. I usually separate the point and flat by cutting the brisket in two (point to the left, flat to the right). I then proceed by slicing the two separately, in separate directions.
Comment