Smoking Pork Moose Style

[Moose]

Hey Guys here I go with my first bigger smoking of pork butts. I plan on the actual smoke to happen on Friday. The Butts are out and thawing now. I plan on rubbing them with EVOO and Gavenders Greek seasoning. Low salt and no sugar. I don't really want a hard bark so I'm going to keep the sugar to a minimum. I'm also thinking out making a pesto style rub with EVOO,garlic,onions and some parsley and rubbing that over the seasoning.I'm using this smoker/grill. I've cooked thousands of burgers on this unit but never used it as a smoker. What are your thoughts? The charcoal tray is about 8-10" below the food rack. I plan to stack the charcoal and the apple chips in the center and keep the pork to the sides. I am doing 6 roasts so I have plenty of space. Should I put some kind of lid on the chimney to keep more smoke in or will that put out the fire? Any other thoughts would be appreciated.

Moose

[reinhard1]

Moose your pictures are not showing for some reason. i'm still playing with sending pictures myself and have had luck with some. maby someone can help with what your doing wrong? good luck.

[Moose]

Thank you It's been a while since I've done pics so I'm still working on it. When yours come up are you able to see the pics when you preview the post? I have them loaded on flikr and just need to remember how I use to get them to work

[Moose]

There we go!!!

[Farley]

Dont cover it, keep it open, you want smoke rolling through the smoker, not just sitting in there. Does that thing have a temp guage? You're going to want to maintain a certian temp for a long period. If thats it in the center of the door, you might want to think about building the fire off to the side so the heat from the fire doesnt interfere with the temp guage? Maybe it wont matter? Just trying to think ahead.

If that pesto rub is something you just came up with you might want to just try it out on a pork chop or something first before you apply to all the butts.

[Moose]

I was thinking about putting the thermometer somewhere else. There was just a hole there that I thought might work but then realized where it was.Where would be the best position for the thermometer? The pesto thing is a recipe I found on the internet. It was more like an Italian pulled pork. I was wondering how it would hold up on a long smoke?

[McGurk]

Couple of questions... is there only the one vent on the bottom, and one stack on the top? The grate in there is the charcoal grate, right? If so, load the charcoal by the vent side, and put the pork on the other side on a grate. You might even want to rig up a basket or fence around the charcoal on the vent side, and leave the food grate off the charcoal side if you can (multiple food grates) for charcoal loading.

Buy a remote probe thermometer (Look for a $15 Taylor at Target if nothing else) to check grate temp. Take a small hunk of hardwood and drill a hole in it big enough for the probe to go through, and set it on the grate for an accurate temp next to the meat. Open up the top stack fully, and use the side vent to regulate temp (less air = less heat). If you are so inclined, buy another one for meat temp, or get one with dual probes and dual display.

Don't light all of your charcoal, but load most cold, and light a small amount (10-20 briquettes?) and set the lit ones on top of the unlit charcoal. I like using chunks of hardwood instead of chips, but don't overdo it either way. Don't use too much hardwood for smoke, most people do at first, but you want a subtle flavor and not a mouthfull of smoke. If possible, get some lump charcoal and use even less wood. I also like to let it burn for a half hour to an hour before putting food on to get rid of some of the initial acrid, greenish smoke, and settle in on the thin blue-white smoke.

Buy a fresh 4 lb or smaller pork shoulder roast and give it a trial run some night. Practice makes perfect, and even if you are a mean grill-master on there, it doesn't mean it will smoke well for you.

I'd skip the pesto and do a simple rub. I don't like an overly sweet rub either, but I think some sugar does add to the bark. I have a simple and savory rub that I concocted that you can have, with about 10 ingredients. It's posted on here if you look it up. Otherwise if you want it I can repost it.

On a side note, do you have enough tongue weight on that trailer?

[Moose]

Awesome Thanks McGurk. One stack on top and one vent that doesn't close all the way and yes you were seeing the charcoal grate the main grate sits on the top rails. I'm just in the planning stage and every detail helps.I've seen smoker temps running from 200-300 degrees. If I want the finished temp around 200 what is the ideal smoker temp. OH YA she has some tongue weight by the way.

[Farley]

230-250 has been good for me, trying to keep it on the lower end. Have you smoked a shoulder or anything before? if this is your first here is a good guide I used:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/57139/basic-pulled-pork-smoke

[McGurk]

The more air you have leaking in, the more difficult it will be controlling temp. Maybe look at some high-temp felt for the lid closure, and some sheet magnet for the 2 or 3 of the vent holes, or something else if you can think of it. The better you can control it, the easier it will be to reach your desired temp. As said, 225-250 will be fine; 200 is tough with massive amounts of meat, especially when you are trying to reach 200 deg for int temp of the meat itself.

[Moose]

I did one on the Weber a couple weeks ago and it went very well. The only thing I had a problem with is I thought it didn't have much taste even though I used a rub. I have since learned to add a little rub after the meat has been pulled. Thanks McGurk I will go get some of the stuff u mentioned to close up some of the holes.

[Farley]

Thats a good idea putting some rub into the mix afterwards, I did that on my last butts as well. Also what brings it from an 8 to a 10 (IMO) is a finishing sauce. Mix it up and add to taste.

[Leaky]

I'm with McGurk regarding the Pesto. A good rub done the night before is the way I would go. This is one I took from another web site and it really is good. I like the way he explains the how & why of ingriendents he uses. Used this on both a Butt and St Louis Ribs I smoked this past weekend, after slathering some mustard on the meat to hold the Rub (Olive Oil will do the same). The bark, once pulled is hardly noticable in the finished product, but adds a ton of flavor. Best of Luck on your "project". You'll have a blast!

Memphis Dust Rub

Yield. Makes about 3 cups. I typically use about 1 tablespoon per side of a slab of St. Louis cut ribs, and a bit less for baby backs. Store the extra in a zipper bag or a glass jar with a tight lid.

Preparation time. 10 minutes to find everything and 5 minutes to dump them together.

Ingredients

3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup paprika

1/4 cup kosher salt

1/4 cup garlic powder

2 tablespoons ground black pepper

2 tablespoons ground ginger powder

2 tablespoons onion powder

2 teaspoons rosemary powder

About the sugar and salt. I encourage readers to experiment with recipes, and "no rules in the bedroom or dining room" is my motto, but I have gotten some emails that require a comment. One said he loved this recipe but left out the salt. Another left out the white sugar. I appreciate the need to reduce sugar and salt in our diets, but they are in the recipe for more than flavor enhancement, they help form the crust (a.k.a. called "the bark" by the pros), an important part of the texture of the surface of ribs and slow smoke roasted pork. The salt pulls some moisture to the surface to form a "pellicle" and the sugar mixes with the moisture, caramelizes, and also contributes to the crust. There's only about 2 tablespoons of rub to a large slab. Of that about 1 tablespoon is sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. If you eat half a slab, you're not eating much sugar and salt. I recommend you leave them in. And for those of you who object to white sugar for non-dietary reasons, and use brown sugar instead, you need to know brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses added. It is not unrefined sugar. I use brown sugar for the flavor and white sugar because it improves the bark. You can substitute table salt, but beware that if you do, you should use about 2/3 as much. Read my article on salt.

About the rosemary. One reader hates rosemary and leaves it out. Trust me, it hides in the background and you will never know it is there. Substitute thyme or oregano if you must, but I think rosemary is the best choice. If you can find ground rosemary, good for you. It's hard to find. So just grind the rosemary leaves in a mortar and pestle or in a coffee grinder. It will take 2 to 3 tablespoons of leaves to make 2 teaspoons of powder.

About the paprika. If you read my discussion of paprika by clicking the link you'll learn about the different kinds of paprika. In short, garden variety grocery store paprika has little flavor and is used mostly for color. But fresh Hungarian or Spanish paprika have mild but distinctive flavors. If you can find them, they improve this recipe. If you wish, you can use smoked paprika, especially good if you are cooking indoors, or even mix in some stronger stuff like ancho (slightly spicy), chipotle powder, cayenne, or chili powder (not very hot). Chipotle can be quite hot, so be thoughtful of who will be eating your food. I usually go easy on the heat in deference to the kids and wimps (like me) and add it to the sauce or put chipotle powder on the table for the chile heads.

About the ginger. I think it is a very important ingredient. If you don't have any, get some.