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Kettle Kicks Gasser's Butt

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    Kettle Kicks Gasser's Butt

    My first butt cook in a kettle and it looks far better than anything I’ve done in the vertical gasser. Not that the butt cooks on the gasser were bad. The overall appearance looks far better. The butts are for the gent’s lunch tomorrow, but for some or other reason the wife had the idea some was for supper. Started the cook at 14:10 and at about 19:30 the smaller of the 2 chunks IT was 76 so I removed and sliced a few pieces for the wife and daughter. The cook wasn’t without it’s niggles. After stabalising the cook chamber at about 266F and the wood had a nice burn and smoke I presented the meat to the cooker all dressed in MMD. Typical of Port Elizabeth weather another weekend of blustery wind. I set my XR50 oven alarm at a low of 230 and a high of 257F. The oven hovered around 245F with spikes every now and then that went as high as 270F but recovered without any interference from myself within a short time. I also had one or two occasions when it dropped just below 230 also short lived.I assume the wind was playing a part in that scenario. The top vent was fully open and bottom vent had only a slight crack. After around 3 ½ hours I had to peak and that was a good thing because the coals were nearing the end of the burn. This is when things went a little haywire. I had to remove the top grate meat and all to add more charcoal. This done and everything back in place I just couldn’t get the oven temp back down to my target range. The temp was up and down between 270 and 285F. I after ignoring it for a good while (the bottom vent was completely closed) I decided to try a few things. Cracked the lid open to allow heat to escape. Bad idea just increased the temp even more. Closed the top vent completely and still did not help. I decided to live with the temp hovering at higher than I wanted. Not too sure how long that lasted but it was some time after I had snuck / sliced a couple pieces for the hungry that it stabalised again, to a temp more to my want. It is now almost 23:00 and I’ve moved the butts into the inside oven that I have set at 220F to finish the cook. I have set the meat alarm to wake me when it reaches 195F. The big butt IT is 165 and the smaller at 176. This is one time I hope the stall goes on and on, so I don’t get woken in the middle of the night.

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    and some crackling from one of the butts rind.

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    #2
    I sure hope that you meant 76C when you cut the pieces for the wife and daughter off - if it was 76F you must not like them very much!

    Don’t worry about the temperature so much, a Boston butt or pork shoulder has so much fat it can take the heat, and I’ve had them get up over 300F on an overnight cook and they were just fine. As you learned, any time you open the lid it dumps a lot of oxygen on the coals and the fire will increase in temperature for a while. Leave the vents set the way they were and it will stabilize after a while.

    Research the snake method of setting up a kettle for smoking. You should be able to do that and run for at least 8 hours before adding more fuel.

    Comment


    • holehogg
      holehogg commented
      Editing a comment
      76C it was. A big must on the snake method. I think I did bulk load the charcoal that I imagine would contribute to more heat. Thanks for the tips.

    #3
    Nice write up. I'm guessing that your grill grate does not have a hinge. If that is the case, and your grill is 22.5", (57 cm), a Weber sized grate with a hinge should work. I like the ABCBBQ grate because it will spin for reverse searing, the hinged part is removable, and it's stainless steel, so it should last a long time.

    Comment


    • JGo37
      JGo37 commented
      Editing a comment
      Does it 'spin' just because the grate's rods are mounted on top of the rings? My Weber hinged and gourmet grates are the same... I guess my challenge is my ambient temp probe is kind'a semi permanent mounted next to the probe grommet. I may have to rivet mount the ambient probe to the kettle body to bust a spin move.

    • RonB
      RonB commented
      Editing a comment
      JGo37 - Yes. The ends of the handles are below the bottom of the ring and hang on the supports. If you have an angle grinder, you can grind the ends of the handles off, but be careful to leave enough to keep the handles attached. Grinding plated grates will shorten their lives. SS works best for this.

    • holehogg
      holehogg commented
      Editing a comment
      Hinged grate is on list of to buy along with a lot of other goodies.

    #4
    Great Cookin, Brother!!!!
    If it was only half as good as it looked, it had to be one Great Meal!!!!
    Nice Job!

    Comment


    • holehogg
      holehogg commented
      Editing a comment
      Was Dang Good Mr. Bones. Thank you.

    #5
    Great looking cook, butts look like they turned out good. I just have four little words to impart to you. First one is use "paragraphs", I got lost in your write up. Next 3 words should help immensely, "Pit Viper Fan"....

    Comment


    • holehogg
      holehogg commented
      Editing a comment
      Learning to cook first then study journalism.


      3 words "On the list."
      Last edited by holehogg; October 29, 2018, 08:24 AM.

    #6
    Very nice! Kettles rule!

    Comment


    • Mr. Bones
      Mr. Bones commented
      Editing a comment
      True Dat, Brother!

    • holehogg
      holehogg commented
      Editing a comment
      So far I can relate.

    #7
    Nice

    Comment


      #8
      The title of you post is worth framing. Great lookin cook!

      Comment


      • holehogg
        holehogg commented
        Editing a comment
        Thanks Sir.

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