Dave Russell
TVWBB Honor Circle
Saturday was a first for me, at least for LONG low-n-slow cooks on the wsm. I cooked a couple big 9lb+ butts for 16hrs all day and WELL into the evening, BUT, to be reheated for Sunday dinner after church. Big deal, huh? Well, for some reason, I've just never done a really long cook like this, almost immediately pulled to chill in multiple ziplocks for re-heating the next day.
Well, this is the deal. I only let them rest only about half an hour while I got a shower, and then to my surprise....Out of some of the BEST LOOKING 'Q I've done in YEARS, I pulled out a bunch of FAT and CONNECTIVE TISSUE that "was only supposed to be left if cooking faster for shorter cooks". Silly me.
Even though I saw right away that I'd been making a false assumption concerning my long wsm cooks (but all with long rests in hot coolers), it was all I could do to keep from getting a plate out and having my own little midnight pig-out. The stuff was REALLY GOOD, and to use a finishing sauce would've been absurd.
To be clear where I'm coming from, I'll give a little background. I've cooked "day of" MANY times using my old offset or UDS, and even a few times in my wsm, but those cooks were at higher temps and typically ran more like 9-12 hours, not SIXTEEN. I've always agreed with others that the texture was better if cooked a little slower....so I ASSumed THAT was why my long overnight wsm cooks would typically leave nothing in the pork but a bone and a piece of gristle. Well yeah, but evidently, that's only after a few hours of "cooking" in a cooler as well.
One other thing though, and maybe this has to do with centering the butts on the rack vs. my usual two to a rack, bone pointed toward the outside of the grate. I usually find the bone poking out and loose at around 190* IT, especially if cooking slow. Saturday though, since these two wouldn't have had any space between them, I cooked them using both grates and the bones weren't as loose as I'm used to until about 198*... at least the top butt was. I didn't temp the bottom one. It didn't matter though. It was falling apart, and I thought I might've overcooked.
HOWEVER, both butts were as juicy and tender as ever, and I literally tried to do nothing to the meat besides mix in the pieces of bark and remove all the fat and goopy stuff, only tearing a few of the largest pieces of bark. I've learned lately to actually TRY to keep the pork from being shredded, because bite-size or thumb size chunks will retain flavor and moisture longer. The Bear Claws will probably go end up in a yard sale.
Bottom line though is, I guess I've been using my well-insulated pre-heated cooler to overcook my pork shoulder, and had forgotten just how moist bbq was supposed to be.
Sorry for bad advice given to anybody here, but I'm just glad I learned how to take my bbq to the next level. Unless cooking for a midday bbq, my long overnight cooks will be started in the wee hours and I'll be monitoring meat IT next day during the "cooler rest" with a therm to make sure that I'm RESTING, and not OVERCOOKING. Admittedly though, although I'll obviously be overcooking if the IT climbs past 200*, I have no idea on how long it'll be ok at any such IT before quality is sacrificed.
Thanks for any suggestions, observations, or any tips on how to ensure I'm not having cooking "carry over" to the cooler to the point of sacrifice. I'm sure I overlooked something somewhere, but I did have some other observations on this cook regarding fuel/water useage that were interesting, too. For one thing, I'm pretty sure now that you use more charcoal by using two grates instead of squeezing two butts onto one.
Well, this is the deal. I only let them rest only about half an hour while I got a shower, and then to my surprise....Out of some of the BEST LOOKING 'Q I've done in YEARS, I pulled out a bunch of FAT and CONNECTIVE TISSUE that "was only supposed to be left if cooking faster for shorter cooks". Silly me.
Even though I saw right away that I'd been making a false assumption concerning my long wsm cooks (but all with long rests in hot coolers), it was all I could do to keep from getting a plate out and having my own little midnight pig-out. The stuff was REALLY GOOD, and to use a finishing sauce would've been absurd.
To be clear where I'm coming from, I'll give a little background. I've cooked "day of" MANY times using my old offset or UDS, and even a few times in my wsm, but those cooks were at higher temps and typically ran more like 9-12 hours, not SIXTEEN. I've always agreed with others that the texture was better if cooked a little slower....so I ASSumed THAT was why my long overnight wsm cooks would typically leave nothing in the pork but a bone and a piece of gristle. Well yeah, but evidently, that's only after a few hours of "cooking" in a cooler as well.
One other thing though, and maybe this has to do with centering the butts on the rack vs. my usual two to a rack, bone pointed toward the outside of the grate. I usually find the bone poking out and loose at around 190* IT, especially if cooking slow. Saturday though, since these two wouldn't have had any space between them, I cooked them using both grates and the bones weren't as loose as I'm used to until about 198*... at least the top butt was. I didn't temp the bottom one. It didn't matter though. It was falling apart, and I thought I might've overcooked.
HOWEVER, both butts were as juicy and tender as ever, and I literally tried to do nothing to the meat besides mix in the pieces of bark and remove all the fat and goopy stuff, only tearing a few of the largest pieces of bark. I've learned lately to actually TRY to keep the pork from being shredded, because bite-size or thumb size chunks will retain flavor and moisture longer. The Bear Claws will probably go end up in a yard sale.
Bottom line though is, I guess I've been using my well-insulated pre-heated cooler to overcook my pork shoulder, and had forgotten just how moist bbq was supposed to be.
Sorry for bad advice given to anybody here, but I'm just glad I learned how to take my bbq to the next level. Unless cooking for a midday bbq, my long overnight cooks will be started in the wee hours and I'll be monitoring meat IT next day during the "cooler rest" with a therm to make sure that I'm RESTING, and not OVERCOOKING. Admittedly though, although I'll obviously be overcooking if the IT climbs past 200*, I have no idea on how long it'll be ok at any such IT before quality is sacrificed.
Thanks for any suggestions, observations, or any tips on how to ensure I'm not having cooking "carry over" to the cooler to the point of sacrifice. I'm sure I overlooked something somewhere, but I did have some other observations on this cook regarding fuel/water useage that were interesting, too. For one thing, I'm pretty sure now that you use more charcoal by using two grates instead of squeezing two butts onto one.
