Well my Saturday BBQ got pushed off to Sunday. I ended up doing 1 picnic, 1 butt, 1 rack Spares, 2 racks Babybacks, 6 sausages (brats and hot italian) and tried out some ABTs (stuffed with cream cheese and lobster meat). Wife made some potato salad, macaroni salad and corn. Kids had hotdogs. For the picnic and butt I used the Renowned Mr. Brown recipe and for the ribs, 2 racks had a modified Chris Lilly rub and 1 rack has the Sweet Maple rub from Caroline's Rub. Everyone loved the ribs and rubs.
So, the good news: Everyone loved the ribs and the butt. I didn't go too heavy with the rub this time and cooked them the way my gang likes them, (i.e. 3-1-1'ish). The Butt got rave reviews, but I didn't pull it, I sliced it. 1st time doing ABTs, and while they were a LITTLE spicey (ok, a lot more than a little ) the folks that ate them liked them a lot.
So, now the point where I need some help/advice. While there isn't really bad news, I've got to say that it was a tough cook. It seemed like I was battling the fire and the elements all day. Started off early and let the WSM come up to temp for about 1 hour. Things looked good, then after about 3 hours (2 with meat), my temps plummetted down to the low 200s, high 190s. Stoked the fire, no help, ended up firing up another chimney and put more coals in. Temps came up, phew. Then 2 hours later same thing. I put some gloves on, 'cause I was ticked off and started moving the lump around and I had some nice coals, but the lump on top wasn't catching. Bad lump? Damp lump?
Also, for my picnic and butt I was a little surprised. They were only 3# each but after 7 hours they were only at about 160*, so I wrapped them and putt them in the oven to finish up. Turned out good (see above), but I was surprised that after 7 hours they were still in the high 150's low 160's. Does this make sense?
Considering the weather yesterday, rainy, windy, could that have caused my problems with maintaining temp?
Oh well, like I said at the end of the day, food was good and it was another learning experience.
So, the good news: Everyone loved the ribs and the butt. I didn't go too heavy with the rub this time and cooked them the way my gang likes them, (i.e. 3-1-1'ish). The Butt got rave reviews, but I didn't pull it, I sliced it. 1st time doing ABTs, and while they were a LITTLE spicey (ok, a lot more than a little ) the folks that ate them liked them a lot.
So, now the point where I need some help/advice. While there isn't really bad news, I've got to say that it was a tough cook. It seemed like I was battling the fire and the elements all day. Started off early and let the WSM come up to temp for about 1 hour. Things looked good, then after about 3 hours (2 with meat), my temps plummetted down to the low 200s, high 190s. Stoked the fire, no help, ended up firing up another chimney and put more coals in. Temps came up, phew. Then 2 hours later same thing. I put some gloves on, 'cause I was ticked off and started moving the lump around and I had some nice coals, but the lump on top wasn't catching. Bad lump? Damp lump?
Also, for my picnic and butt I was a little surprised. They were only 3# each but after 7 hours they were only at about 160*, so I wrapped them and putt them in the oven to finish up. Turned out good (see above), but I was surprised that after 7 hours they were still in the high 150's low 160's. Does this make sense?
Considering the weather yesterday, rainy, windy, could that have caused my problems with maintaining temp?
Oh well, like I said at the end of the day, food was good and it was another learning experience.