Well, I either got lucky or I may be getting a handle on things. The plan was to cook for the family--about 10 people--but they all seemed to bring friends, so I ended up with over 15. Had plenty of meat, but it sure put the pressure on an inexperienced cook! I Mean family is one thing, but GUESTS!!?? /infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif
I stopped by a Sam's and picked up a threesome of bbacks, a duo of Boston butt and a brisket flat. I figured I was already in trouble, when all they had was the flat, and I had no time to find a packer's cut.
I used the Minion method and had the WSM up to 245 when I threw the brisket on the bottom rack and one butt on the top. Everything was perking along nicely until I opened the cooker for the first (and only) time to mop the butt and spray the brisket. The temp spiked to 270 I could NOT get it back down! I added cool water to the pan, hoping that might help but got nada. In desperation, I wrapped the meat in the dreaded foil. I finally decided that there would be no more basting and patiently waited for the temps to drop.
After an hour and a half, things finally cooled down and the foil came off, but this put me late in adding the rolled ribs to the top rack. It was at this point that I realized the additional people were coming and that I had a potential disaster on my hands!
The BRITU ribs went on at 3:00 with supper "scheduled" for 6:30. I've learned enough from the posts here to know that the meat will determine when supper time is, and I'm thinking I bit off WAY more than I could chew, this being only my third real cook with the WSM.
I took a calculated risk that everybody (but me) would rather have supper at a reasonable hour than to wait for the perfect doneness, so I pulled the brisket and the butt at 6:30, wrapped in foil and towels and had a cold one.
I did a tear test on the ribs at 7:00 and thought they would be adequate, so they came off. Little did I know, the pork pulled beautifully, the brisket was tender (although slightly drier than I like) and the ribs were to die for!! The smoke ring was the best I have ever gotten and all had the best flavor. I used three small chunks of pecan at the start and one small each of apple and cherry when the ribs went on.
Disaster was averted and I just got my first taste of what makes q'ing so much fun for all of us---the gratification of friends and family for a job well done (or in this case, a job that luckily turned out)!
I stopped by a Sam's and picked up a threesome of bbacks, a duo of Boston butt and a brisket flat. I figured I was already in trouble, when all they had was the flat, and I had no time to find a packer's cut.
I used the Minion method and had the WSM up to 245 when I threw the brisket on the bottom rack and one butt on the top. Everything was perking along nicely until I opened the cooker for the first (and only) time to mop the butt and spray the brisket. The temp spiked to 270 I could NOT get it back down! I added cool water to the pan, hoping that might help but got nada. In desperation, I wrapped the meat in the dreaded foil. I finally decided that there would be no more basting and patiently waited for the temps to drop.
After an hour and a half, things finally cooled down and the foil came off, but this put me late in adding the rolled ribs to the top rack. It was at this point that I realized the additional people were coming and that I had a potential disaster on my hands!
The BRITU ribs went on at 3:00 with supper "scheduled" for 6:30. I've learned enough from the posts here to know that the meat will determine when supper time is, and I'm thinking I bit off WAY more than I could chew, this being only my third real cook with the WSM.
I took a calculated risk that everybody (but me) would rather have supper at a reasonable hour than to wait for the perfect doneness, so I pulled the brisket and the butt at 6:30, wrapped in foil and towels and had a cold one.
I did a tear test on the ribs at 7:00 and thought they would be adequate, so they came off. Little did I know, the pork pulled beautifully, the brisket was tender (although slightly drier than I like) and the ribs were to die for!! The smoke ring was the best I have ever gotten and all had the best flavor. I used three small chunks of pecan at the start and one small each of apple and cherry when the ribs went on.
Disaster was averted and I just got my first taste of what makes q'ing so much fun for all of us---the gratification of friends and family for a job well done (or in this case, a job that luckily turned out)!
