Dan C. FL
TVWBB Pro
Niece #2 became a college graduate this weekend. It was local, so I got to cook. Had fun and learned a little while doing it. The cook: 1 10-11 lbs. (pre-trim weight) Prime Packer Brisket from Costco, an 8-9 lbs. bone-in Boston Butt from Whole Foods, a couple of pounds of freshly made Whole Foods kielbasa, and smoked mac and cheese. Feed time was to be at 6 p.m. I knew the pork would take 13 hours and also knew that the brisket would take anywhere from 9-12 hours. I did them first with a plan to cooler them and cook the sausage and the mac.
I failed to take many pictures. I was too busy working. Here's the trimmed up brisket, rubbed with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. She slept for about 5 hours with her rub on.
For this cook I ran the 18" smoker and finally got to christen the 14" smoker. Grill in the back ground was for getting the chimney started.
That's them up and running at 3 a.m. (I managed to go back to sleep from 4:30- 8 a.m.
Here's the brisket when I took it inside to foil it. Bark was really pretty.
And my final picture is the Boston Butt just before it got attacked with my Bear Claws:
Everything came out pretty well. I didn't have the time to take any more pictures since I was serving and celebrating. The pulled pork turned out well. The 14" required an additional load of charcoal a little more than half way through. Also, the water dish went dry once and the temp inside it spiked to 297*. I'm thinking I want to try and get that little booger as hot as I can and smoke a chicken in there...might actually end up with crisp skin without having to cheat to crisp up at the end. The 18" ran like a dream as always. The only thing that went wrong with the brisket is that I forgot to open the foil and let the temp come down a bit before I stuck it in the oven to hold it (it was done in 9 hours as oppposed to the 12 I planned for, so I had to hold it in the oven for a bit). It came out really moist and fall apart tender, a little softer than I'd hoped, but everyone said it was perfect. My favorite was the sausage...don't know why, maybe it was just my mood. But, that stuff came out awesome. Sorry there aren't more pictures.
I failed to take many pictures. I was too busy working. Here's the trimmed up brisket, rubbed with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. She slept for about 5 hours with her rub on.
For this cook I ran the 18" smoker and finally got to christen the 14" smoker. Grill in the back ground was for getting the chimney started.
That's them up and running at 3 a.m. (I managed to go back to sleep from 4:30- 8 a.m.
Here's the brisket when I took it inside to foil it. Bark was really pretty.
And my final picture is the Boston Butt just before it got attacked with my Bear Claws:
Everything came out pretty well. I didn't have the time to take any more pictures since I was serving and celebrating. The pulled pork turned out well. The 14" required an additional load of charcoal a little more than half way through. Also, the water dish went dry once and the temp inside it spiked to 297*. I'm thinking I want to try and get that little booger as hot as I can and smoke a chicken in there...might actually end up with crisp skin without having to cheat to crisp up at the end. The 18" ran like a dream as always. The only thing that went wrong with the brisket is that I forgot to open the foil and let the temp come down a bit before I stuck it in the oven to hold it (it was done in 9 hours as oppposed to the 12 I planned for, so I had to hold it in the oven for a bit). It came out really moist and fall apart tender, a little softer than I'd hoped, but everyone said it was perfect. My favorite was the sausage...don't know why, maybe it was just my mood. But, that stuff came out awesome. Sorry there aren't more pictures.
