First time using the smoker since July...

[AmosMoses01]

After experiencing severe dysgeusia/dysosmia (distorted sense of taste/smell) after taking an antibiotic in August, I just couldn't bring myself to cook anything on the smoker (or much of anything at all.) Over the past few weeks taste and smell have started to return (maybe 50 - 60% back), just in time for our team's holiday potluck lunch.


I put a 9+ pound butt on last night at 9:15 pm, and when I got up at 4:00 am found that it was sitting in the stall... It didn't budge at all in the next hour, so I decided to wrap with foil to crutch my way out - the meal has to start on time at 11am. I was pretty surprised at the impact - nothing much for 30 minutes or so after wrapping, but wow did it take off after that. Another 50 minutes was all it took to get to 200. I let it go to 203 and pulled it from the grill.



Now I'm waiting for the pork belly burnt ends to finish, and will be packing up to head to the gathering. Glad to be back in the saddle, so to speak. Pork butt and belly are great ways to shake off the rust.

[ofelles]

Glad your getting better. That does not sound like any fun. I have heard that the lost of the sense of taste is about the worst sense to lose.

[Spinaker]

Glad you are feeling better and you have the smoker going again. Pork belly is a great way to get back into the game. Keep the smoke rollin'!

[HawkerXP]

Nice to see you back in action! That looks like a great return to service.

[mountainsmoker]

Welcome back and hope all goes well with the tasting

[Steve R.]

Welcome back! That sounds like a terrible ordeal, glad you are on your way to putting that behind you.

[tbob4]

Glad you are feeling better. Usually I write "your food looks great". In this instance, it smells delicious.

[jfmorris]

Glad to see you cooking again!

I did my first butt since summer this past Monday, an 8 pounder that had an IT of 27F when I dropped it on the kettle on Monday morning around 7:30AM (I took it out of the deep freeze 1 day earlier). My solution was to set the temp to 275F instead of 225F, and it was done by dinner time - about 10 hours total. Sure beats waiting 14-16 hours for a butt to get done at 225F. While I've crutched before, and its amazing how fast it can push you past a stall, lately I've just been cranking up the heat (as high as 300) to get it done.

[fzxdoc]

I've only smoked one brisket at 225° and that was for purely research purposes to see whether it was in any way better than one smoked at 250-275°. It wasn't. End of research project. Everything gets smoked at 250 and above on my deck.

Kathryn

[Steve R.]

Back when I was just starting out with my Masterbuilt electric smoker, and I thought 225 was carved into a stone tablet somewhere, I would routinely have butts that took 18 - 20 hrs to finish. I would reason that they were done when they were done, but I lost patience for that as soon as I figured out that life is too short to cook at 225.

[au4stree]

Hope you continue to recover, glad you're cooking again. Pork looks good too!

[RonB]

Congrats on getting better. And what better way to celebrate than pulled pork.

[klflowers]

Glad you are feeling better, and what a way to return! Nice looking butt - I mean piece of meat - I mean, well you know what I mean lol.

[fzxdoc]

AmosMoses01 Nice looking pork butt. Congrats on getting your senses of smell and taste back. That must have been awful. Good to hear it's in your rearview mirror now.

Kathryn

[Greygoose]

Looookin’ SWEET !
I couldn’t imagine not having my normal sense of smell and taste,,,,,excluding getting a bad cold.
If you have a relapse,,,,,, do not,,,I repeat ,,,,,do not stop cooking,,,
I know you must have a ton of friends to reassure you how good it tastes and smells!!!!

[AmosMoses01]

Thanks y'all, for all the kind words! This place is a really special spot on the Internet, and I appreciate it a ton. The distorted part of dysgeusia/dysosmia for me made a lot of stuff taste and smell like a burned chemical - if there's a positive to it, it helps with weight loss, since nothing is appealing. As far as avoiding any potential relapse, as far as I can control things, it will be 1) never take one of the 3 antibiotic families that have caused it for me (or my mom who has this happen too) and 2) do everything I can to avoid getting an infection/cold/flu that could result in a situation that needs an antibiotic. That, and pray to not have it happen again.

The pork belly burnt ends didn't get any photos, since I was in a rush to get out of the house and to the gathering - but they were a big hit at the potluck. Both the butt and the pork belly ran out earlier than anything else. I also got to try sous vide brisket for the first time, as a co-worker did that (he does sous vide 72 hours, then finishes on his wood stick grill for a couple hours before the event.) I was very impressed!