russell swift
TVWBB Super Fan
14 lbs of pork and 12 lbs of chicken turned out great! Everyone complemented me on the great taste of the meats....good smoke ring, great tasting bark, not too dry, etc. etc.
Some observations from my smoke:
1. Started the pork butts at 9pm, and by 9am the next morning, the larger of the two had already split in half and was breaking down. Put the Polder in the largest muscle and it read 180F. Internal temps were higher than I planned while cooking a steady 230-240F.
2. Have learned that you can drink beer until 3am and still have enough motivation to wake up at the crack of dawn and check on the meat. Really was worried that I would forget about the smoker by partying with my friends, but the Minion Method is fool proof! The only work involved was adding more water to the pan.
3. Probably mixed in too much smoke wood (hickory/apple chunks) with my charcoal. Although the meat didn't have an overbearing smoke taste, I think that caused my fire to run hot??
4. Was able to fit 3 whole, butterflied chickens (4lbs each) on the bottom grate. As soon as they were added, the temp dropped big time. Really had to stoke the fire to get back up to 225F. Couldn't get it past 250F. The chickens cooked about 5 hrs as a result. The pork cooked until 1pm, for a total of 16 hrs and was done.
5. My sauces on the chicken and pork were very good. Did not add a marinade or mop to the pork (only rub), and my guests enjoyed adding sauces to it. Mopped 2 of the 3 chickens--couldn't really taste the sauces. And on a personal note, I thought the Big Bob Gibson's White Sauce tasted like pepper-laced Mayonnaise and I threw it away.....sorry Big Bob.
Some observations from my smoke:
1. Started the pork butts at 9pm, and by 9am the next morning, the larger of the two had already split in half and was breaking down. Put the Polder in the largest muscle and it read 180F. Internal temps were higher than I planned while cooking a steady 230-240F.
2. Have learned that you can drink beer until 3am and still have enough motivation to wake up at the crack of dawn and check on the meat. Really was worried that I would forget about the smoker by partying with my friends, but the Minion Method is fool proof! The only work involved was adding more water to the pan.
3. Probably mixed in too much smoke wood (hickory/apple chunks) with my charcoal. Although the meat didn't have an overbearing smoke taste, I think that caused my fire to run hot??
4. Was able to fit 3 whole, butterflied chickens (4lbs each) on the bottom grate. As soon as they were added, the temp dropped big time. Really had to stoke the fire to get back up to 225F. Couldn't get it past 250F. The chickens cooked about 5 hrs as a result. The pork cooked until 1pm, for a total of 16 hrs and was done.
5. My sauces on the chicken and pork were very good. Did not add a marinade or mop to the pork (only rub), and my guests enjoyed adding sauces to it. Mopped 2 of the 3 chickens--couldn't really taste the sauces. And on a personal note, I thought the Big Bob Gibson's White Sauce tasted like pepper-laced Mayonnaise and I threw it away.....sorry Big Bob.