Michael-B
New member
These were my first two cooks on my 18.5" WSM that I just got on Thursday and I think it's safe to say that I'm going to be addicted to this! As I said in the introduction thread, I've never cooked with charcoal before so this was certainly a new experience for me. My original plan was to cook a pork butt but some things changed and I ended up cooking chicken thighs yesterday and a pork loin today.
Chicken Thighs 1/4/13
After running around on Friday night and grabbing the necessary supplies I settled upon chicken thighs to try out for my first cook. I wanted something that would go a little bit quicker than the butt and I've always enjoyed chicken thighs. I found a simple chicken rub and decided to use that since I had almost everything I needed already. I had no problem starting up the WSM and used Kingsford Original and a bit of pecan wood. The smoker got up to temperature just fine and after a few vent adjustments ran in a range that I was happy with. I put on some BBQ sauce about 30 minutes before the thighs hit the right temperature and then took them off. Let me just say that I love the Maverick ET732. It was great being able to keep an eye on my food and grill temperature without having to go outside. These were the most tender, juiciest, delicious thighs that I have ever eaten.
I only took one picture of the chicken and that was after I already tore into it and it definitely doesn't do the end result justice.
Pork Loin 1/5/13
I went to the store Saturday afternoon to get a pork butt but while I was there I saw some delicious looking pork loins. After much debating I decided on a loin that weighed in just over five pounds instead of the pork butt. It also didn't hurt that they were a great price!
Once again I looked up a simple pork loin rub and whipped that together. In my research for a rub I came across a bacon wrapped pork loin that looked heavenly and since i had a pack of thick cut bacon already in the fridge I decided to try this. After applying the rub to the loin I layered bacon over the top and secured it with some tooth picks to make sure it would hold the shape of the loin. I thought about doing a weave but didn't really want to take the time to do it. I sprinkled just a bit of rub on the outside of the bacon and then off to the smoker it went. The smoker was running a bit hot at first but after some tweaking it ran smooth the rest of the way. It ended up taking right around 3 hours and then it was time to bring in. I tented it for about 20 minutes while the rest of the sides were getting ready and then sliced it up and plated it. This to was a huge success and everybody loved it. There wasn't one piece that was dry and the bacon on the outside was a nice addition.
Chicken Thighs 1/4/13
After running around on Friday night and grabbing the necessary supplies I settled upon chicken thighs to try out for my first cook. I wanted something that would go a little bit quicker than the butt and I've always enjoyed chicken thighs. I found a simple chicken rub and decided to use that since I had almost everything I needed already. I had no problem starting up the WSM and used Kingsford Original and a bit of pecan wood. The smoker got up to temperature just fine and after a few vent adjustments ran in a range that I was happy with. I put on some BBQ sauce about 30 minutes before the thighs hit the right temperature and then took them off. Let me just say that I love the Maverick ET732. It was great being able to keep an eye on my food and grill temperature without having to go outside. These were the most tender, juiciest, delicious thighs that I have ever eaten.
I only took one picture of the chicken and that was after I already tore into it and it definitely doesn't do the end result justice.
Pork Loin 1/5/13
I went to the store Saturday afternoon to get a pork butt but while I was there I saw some delicious looking pork loins. After much debating I decided on a loin that weighed in just over five pounds instead of the pork butt. It also didn't hurt that they were a great price!
Once again I looked up a simple pork loin rub and whipped that together. In my research for a rub I came across a bacon wrapped pork loin that looked heavenly and since i had a pack of thick cut bacon already in the fridge I decided to try this. After applying the rub to the loin I layered bacon over the top and secured it with some tooth picks to make sure it would hold the shape of the loin. I thought about doing a weave but didn't really want to take the time to do it. I sprinkled just a bit of rub on the outside of the bacon and then off to the smoker it went. The smoker was running a bit hot at first but after some tweaking it ran smooth the rest of the way. It ended up taking right around 3 hours and then it was time to bring in. I tented it for about 20 minutes while the rest of the sides were getting ready and then sliced it up and plated it. This to was a huge success and everybody loved it. There wasn't one piece that was dry and the bacon on the outside was a nice addition.
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The second step is to dig in!! Nice meals, Michael.
