Current Situation


 
LMichaels

LMichaels

TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
6.5-7# boneless butt on Big Z, off to the side a bit to keep room for the Tri-Tip going on later tomorrow. Got that Big guy set on Super Smoke. I think I will keep it there for the night. Early in AM (thank you Big Z for WIFI remote control) when I am up for my very early AM pee, (usually in the 0430 to 0500) frame I can simply set the temp up to 230. until target is reached and it's pulled for a nap. Tri Tip will hit the grill MAYBE noonish to 1300. And hoping to have both done and rested in time for about a 1700 serve. (Early father's day) with both the girls and all the grandkids, my SIL and the other's SO. Oldest daughter will be seeing my dad tomorrow so she's gonna bring him a grandpa care pkg of some pulled pork at the rehab center. So he should have a nice time. The ambient is showing a bit low on the Chef IQ probes. I think 2 reasons. 1 the internal of the meat is quite cold, and 2 I have them pushed in a little too far so the ambient sensor is being cooled by the transfer from the meat. Not too worried. Preferred to just put the butt on, at 225-230 straight through but I was afraid it will over cook too soon. Then Sunday we're going to the Father's Day special to see the Rockford Rivets baseball game.

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LMichaels said:
6.5-7# boneless butt on Big Z, off to the side a bit to keep room for the Tri-Tip going on later tomorrow. Got that Big guy set on Super Smoke. I think I will keep it there for the night. Early in AM (thank you Big Z for WIFI remote control) when I am up for my very early AM pee, (usually in the 0430 to 0500) frame I can simply set the temp up to 230. until target is reached and it's pulled for a nap. Tri Tip will hit the grill MAYBE noonish to 1300. And hoping to have both done and rested in time for about a 1700 serve. (Early father's day) with both the girls and all the grandkids, my SIL and the other's SO. Oldest daughter will be seeing my dad tomorrow so she's gonna bring him a grandpa care pkg of some pulled pork at the rehab center. So he should have a nice time. The ambient is showing a bit low on the Chef IQ probes. I think 2 reasons. 1 the internal of the meat is quite cold, and 2 I have them pushed in a little too far so the ambient sensor is being cooled by the transfer from the meat. Not too worried. Preferred to just put the butt on, at 225-230 straight through but I was afraid it will over cook too soon. Then Sunday we're going to the Father's Day special to see the Rockford Rivets baseball game.

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I noticed low ambient with my Inkbird as well. It does come up as the protein warms. I think that's pretty common with this type of probe. No big as long as you're aware of it.
 
Bob Bailey said:
I noticed low ambient with my Inkbird as well. It does come up as the protein warms. I think that's pretty common with this type of probe. No big as long as you're aware of it.
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I noticed it because of the reviews on the product vs say TempSpike. With the Chef IQ you do insert it further into the food than you can with the TempSpike and many others. Because the ambient sensor on the CIQ is the sealed ceramic head while on many of the others the head is not sealed or ceramic and is actually part of the charging contacts. CIQ is different so you do insert it pretty much all the way (sounds like an X-Rated novel here) :D
Anyway. Not a biggie. Now that the meat is warmed through the ambients are reading perfectly
 
Just flipped the butt from end to end as I think being off to the side like it is, one side is running a few deg diff than the other. Also one side of the roast is slightly thinner. Current progress, I have great bark, all probes (even my ThermoPro Lightning) are in agreement, and the LIghtning is beginning to probe "tender". Smells here are incredible
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Bob Erdman said:
Looks mighty fine Larry. Thank god I have some pulled pork thawing in the fridge for lunch after seeing your pic! Why did you tie it up?
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Oh it's one of those boneless ones from Costco they sell in the 2 pack. And the deboning process leaves a mess on one end. Also, it's WAY too much pork to buy at one time. So from now on, I will buy the bone in singles at Sam's. IMO bone in easier to handle and cook. So I've found tying it to be the best solution.
 
Good plans give good results. You’re on the right track here.
I hate that about Costco butts. I’d like to buy one without having to freeze one or cook way too much for my small family.
Safeway had some stupid price though last time I looked. I couldn’t do it.
 
OK So sorry I did not get a photo of everything all finished. I literally just shut Big Z down about an hour or so ago. It had been running straight since about 2230 last night. I had to keep it cranked up after everything came off to about 450. As some folks (my wife my daughter's SO and his 12 yo daughter) will not eat beef unless it's "ruined". But what I did not ruin sliced like butter, was tender, and juicy as well. Cooked it at 180 plenty of smoke until internal was 120ish. Pulled, wrapped and placed in cooler along with the shoulder. Then cranked the Z up to 450, and asked my SIL to take the Tri-Tip out there and sear it off about 4 min per side. Honestly it turned out incredible.
The pork shoulder (butt) when I took the strings off had a bark like candy (spicy candy :D), moist tender, incredible smoke, and literally just fell apart under that bark. Honestly it was outstanding.
Bottom line Big Z performed like a champ. Used hardly any pellets BTW. Overall from all those hours, I think it might have burned 10-12#s. I don't think I will use it again though until I vacuum out the firepot and cook chamber.
Will post up some photos of the interior maybe tomorrow.
 
When I get the costco two packs I cut one up for CSR's, vac seal and freeze them and smoke the other for pulled pork
 
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LMichaels said:
I noticed it because of the reviews on the product vs say TempSpike. With the Chef IQ you do insert it further into the food than you can with the TempSpike and many others. Because the ambient sensor on the CIQ is the sealed ceramic head while on many of the others the head is not sealed or ceramic and is actually part of the charging contacts. CIQ is different so you do insert it pretty much all the way (sounds like an X-Rated novel here) :D
Anyway. Not a biggie. Now that the meat is warmed through the ambients are reading perfectly
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Same with the Inkbird. The probe is inserted almost to the hilt.
 
LMichaels said:
Oh it's one of those boneless ones from Costco they sell in the 2 pack. And the deboning process leaves a mess on one end. Also, it's WAY too much pork to buy at one time. So from now on, I will buy the bone in singles at Sam's. IMO bone in easier to handle and cook. So I've found tying it to be the best solution.
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Costco usually are bone-free and not soaked in salt water. However, I still use the Bone-in, "seasoned" ones as.my go-tos. For large parties and such. Guaranteed to please.
 
I've never seen pre-seasoned ones. My only real gripes with the Costco ones are not to do with meat quality, but in what deboning does to uniformity (leaving it floppy and with bits and pieces hanging), and not as even mass. That aside though. If you take the time to truss it as I did, much of the issue is alleviated. And you are rewarded with an easy to serve and delicious roast. But my other is, I'm not cooking commercially. So needing to buy 2 in a pack while maybe good on $$$ per lb basis, is not as convenient for me as it forces me to vacuum seal and freeze one butt. Though I guess I could cook both Then vacuum seal the unused one whole and freeze it. Then simply do my poor man's sous vide of putting the sealed pack in simmering water on the stove and letting it warm on through. IDK, I guess I could give that a go next time but it still forces me to package, seal and freeze a pretty large hunk of meat.
So boneless...............harder to prepare due to trimming loose bits, and needing to spend time trussing. But, Much easier to serve as no bone to deal with in the finished product. Cut the string, and break it apart (or slice) depending on how it's cooked. I know some folks like to cook slightly less so rather than fall apart it's sliced more like a roast.
Bone in, easy prep (rub, place in smoker, remove), but then dealing with the bone and maybe a little bit of cartilage from the bone. IDK, maybe 6 of one, half dozen of another
 
DanHoo said:
I shred, vac seal and freeze the smoked pulled pork. Makes for an easy weeknight meal with no leftovers.
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Same here. I make pulled pork tacos yummy. I do similar with brisket leftovers. Slice, separate into portions, vacuum seal, freeze, simple reheat in pan of simmering water. In both cases comes out as good as the day they came out of the pit
 
OK here is the result of having it run constantly from 2200 on Fri night until. I estimate it burned 10-12lbs pellets. Honestly I think it's pretty stingy in that dept. Could simply be a result of the slightly harder Kirkland pellets.
But this is what I found today. about 10 min and clean as a whistle
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Been noticing a lot better efficiency since I upgraded to the PID controller. The spares I did yesterday, a 4 1/2 hour cook @ 275, only took the hopper down a couple of inches. Guessing right around 1 1/2 lbs.

BTW, went back to foiling the drip tray and it's keeping the same tight rein on temperature as without the foil. Thinking the improvement was due to setting the controller for a larger grill size. A lot quicker to come up to temp too.
 
Even if it didn't make any difference I can't see any benefit to foiling the deflector. Cleaning mine takes me all of MAYBE 5 min. So even if I save myself from cleaning it. Then I have to spend 20 to 30 min trying to fit new foil over the silly thing
 
LMichaels said:
I've never seen pre-seasoned ones. My only real gripes with the Costco ones are not to do with meat quality, but in what deboning does to uniformity (leaving it floppy and with bits and pieces
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Agree. Sorry, I meant salt water solution ad "seasoned". The costco ones can be natural and bone-free. Making up some of the cost difference with the bone-in, injected ones.
Trussing is a small.task to do to keep the roast uniform.
 
I've never seen ones that were injected at Sam's or Costco. Heck never seen them even pre-rubbed. Now, Costco sells ribs pre-rubbed. Not Sam's though
 
LMichaels said:
Even if it didn't make any difference I can't see any benefit to foiling the deflector. Cleaning mine takes me all of MAYBE 5 min. So even if I save myself from cleaning it. Then I have to spend 20 to 30 min trying to fit new foil over the silly thing
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With the flat drip tray like my Traeger, it takes about 2 minutes to change out the foil. Much faster for me than cleaning. If it weren't a time saver, I wouldn't do it either.
 
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