Hot smoking pig

[Dune]

I have ni expeience hot smoking.
Can I just throw some green cherry branches into my gas grill with a pork shoulder?

 

[Jags]

Yes - but...
Keep in mind that hot smoking is still considered a much lower temp than grilling (say 225F vs 450F). If using a grill you will probably want to use the indirect method. Essentially heat on one side - meat on the other.
Also - in a (gas) grill, wrap the branches, chips, etc. in foil or you are gonna make a mess.
Pork shoulder at 225F will take between 9 and 12 hours (depending on size) to smoke properly.
A basic rub adds tons of flavor.

 

[Dune]

Thanks.
What makes a good basic rub?
Plus I cut the shoulder in half so it is only 5 pounds.

 

[Jags]

There are many simple variations: (a couple of the basics)
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/basic-barbecue-rub-242244
http://www.food.com/recipe/basic-bbq-rub-461161

And truth be told, many of the ones on the grocery shelf work just fine.

Plus I cut the shoulder in half so it is only 5 pounds

Keep in mind that the thickness is what you are fighting. Pork is done at 145F and perfectly safe for consumption but if you are going for the classic "pulled pork" thing you will want to finish off higher, about 200F plus or minus 5. The hard core pros usually shoot for 205F internal. Remember carry over temp. Internal temp will continue to rise for a bit even after you pull and wrap the roast.

 

[Dune]

Thanks
It is raining nonstop so maybe tomorrow.

 

[firefighterjake]

Hmmm . . . for some reason I have a real hankering now for BBQ. Thanks a lot guys.

 

[Jags]

And for the record - the stuff freezes quite well. Don't be afraid to smoke up a full butt. Just store the excess in zip top bags with the air squeezed out and then into the freezer. Good for an easy 3 months that way.

 

[jeff_t]

I smoked some bacon on my Weber Genesis the other day.

A big foil roasting pan full of water, that covers most of the area under the grates, helps to even out temps and keep from grilling the meat instead of smoking it. The pan I use leaves enough room at the end for a few chunks of whatever wood I want to use for smoke, set right on the flavorizer bars.

The trick is to experiment with the setup to reach your target temp, and maintain it. Once it's up to temp, I can hold 210-225 with the center burner on a medium-ish setting. You don't want the water to boil, or you'll have mushy, steamed meat, and evaporation keeps the water temp just under boiling when it's 225° at the grill. And I use a remote oven thermometer, with the probe right at the grilling surface, next to the meat.

Boiling the water on the turkey fryer and pouring it in the roasting pan saves a ton of time in getting the temp up and stabilized. Ambient temp and direct sunlight, especially if you have a black grill, can make a difference too.

I've only smoked bacon this way. It works pretty well, and requires minimal attention since I've done it a couple times. I don't see why 10+ hours for a shoulder would be any different.

 

[maple1]

But you didn't actually have smoke rolling that whole time - right? I've smoked ribs on the BBQ a few times before but the actual smoke doesn't last long before a wood refill. Maybe a half hr or bit more? So I usually just smoke for a couple reloads then its more like slow roasting the rest of the way. I use a smoker box and chips but thinking hard about just getting a smoker, propane powered. Would make things easier & free up the grill.

 

[begreen]

This is much smaller scale but I think I'm going to try making these little fellows soon.

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[BrotherBart]

Priced a dozen eggs this week?

 

[fossil]

Not enough protein.

 

[begreen]

Yeah, it needs some cheese melted on top.

 

[Dune]

I smoked some bacon on my Weber Genesis the other day.

A big foil roasting pan full of water, that covers most of the area under the grates, helps to even out temps and keep from grilling the meat instead of smoking it. The pan I use leaves enough room at the end for a few chunks of whatever wood I want to use for smoke, set right on the flavorizer bars.

The trick is to experiment with the setup to reach your target temp, and maintain it. Once it's up to temp, I can hold 210-225 with the center burner on a medium-ish setting. You don't want the water to boil, or you'll have mushy, steamed meat, and evaporation keeps the water temp just under boiling when it's 225° at the grill. And I use a remote oven thermometer, with the probe right at the grilling surface, next to the meat.

Boiling the water on the turkey fryer and pouring it in the roasting pan saves a ton of time in getting the temp up and stabilized. Ambient temp and direct sunlight, especially if you have a black grill, can make a difference too.

I've only smoked bacon this way. It works pretty well, and requires minimal attention since I've done it a couple times. I don't see why 10+ hours for a shoulder would be any different.

That's cool because I have a genesis too, so this is really easy to follow. Thanks.

 

[KB007]

OP - also check how you grill top sits on the bottom before you try to do it. Our Ducane BBQ (made by Weber) has an opening about 1.5" across the back where the top meets the bottom, supposedly for heat exhaust. When I tried doing low and slow in it, it ends up using way more fuel than needed because a good whack of the available heat is simply venting out. Make sure you don't have the same "feature". If there's a small gap, you're good to go.

To do low and slow, you'd want to have the meat at one end and the heat on at the other to bring it up to your desired temp - 200-225 is good for pork. Yes, you can just add some green cheery branches, tho it'd be better if they've had some time to dry out a little, as when they are green they can tend to give off some creosote nastiness. For smoking in a reg grill, a lot of people make a smoke pouch with alum foil and use wood chips in the pouch on the heat side of the grill. They'll slowly burn and smoke away. Having a pan of liquid (beer, apple juice, whatever tickles your fancy) on the heat side will help keep ting moist. It'll probably boil slowly depending on your heat temp.

Once you get completely hooked on BBQ or low and slow, you'll end up buying a Big Green Egg - I did and just love the stuff I get out of it - it's awesome.

 

[Jags]

you'll end up buying a Big Green Egg

Not necessarily. I do like the BGE and think it is a fantastic piece of cookware but it is really hard to beat a dedicated smoker.


For the record - on labor day I will be smoking up 9 full shoulders.

 

[maple1]

OP - also check how you grill top sits on the bottom before you try to do it. Our Ducane BBQ (made by Weber) has an opening about 1.5" across the back where the top meets the bottom, supposedly for heat exhaust. When I tried doing low and slow in it, it ends up using way more fuel than needed because a good whack of the available heat is simply venting out. Make sure you don't have the same "feature". If there's a small gap, you're good to go.

Mine (Broil King) is like that - might even be a bigger space. And I think most BBQs I've seen are like that.

So I came up with a mod - I took a sheet of stainless steel aboout 4" x 20", cut two slits half way thru it about 4" from each end, bent things up a little to make into a couple 4" long tabs, and that sits in that space on the top of the BBQ bottom to hold the heat in. Easy to put in, easy to slip out. Only put it there when doing the smoking, and slow & easy thing - pretty sure things would get hot in a hurry if I left it there the rest of the time (gap is there for a reason after all). It really helps for that.

But I see a gas smoker is coming up on sale at Cdn. Tire - so I think I am going to finally break down & get one of those.

 

[Warm_in_NH]

A true arsenal would have:
- gas grill
-charcoal grill
-charcoal smoker
-gas smoker
-wood fired pizza oven
-Tandoori oven just to round it out.

No need to get into the proper amount and style of motorcycles needed in a proper garage.

Just for the record, I don't have an outdoor cooking arsenal or a proper garage...but I'd like both!

 

[firefighterjake]

Not necessarily. I do like the BGE and think it is a fantastic piece of cookware but it is really hard to beat a dedicated smoker.
View attachment 160647

For the record - on labor day I will be smoking up 9 full shoulders.

A math problem.

FirefighterJake lives in Maine and is traveling west at 65 mph. Jags starts cooking his smoked shoulders on Labor Day at 12 noon. At what time should FirefighterJake arrive at Jags' home in time for the pork to be ready.

 

[Jags]

Division by zero error.

Jags starts smoking at 6:00 a.m. for feasting at 6:00 p.m.

And YES - beer will be involved.

 

[jeff_t]

My local Kroger had butts today for $.99/lb. Limit two, of course, but that didn't stop me from buying six at the self checkout

 

[jeffesonm]

Here's my bbq rub recipe in case anyone wants it:

3 tablespoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons paprika2 tablespoons kosher salt1 tablespoon brown sugar1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons mustard powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons chili or ancho powder
1 teaspoon chipotle or cayenne powder

I have also been making my own chili powder recently. Super easy and 100x better than what you buy in the store. Here's the process:

• Go to your local Hispanic bodega mart and buy bunch of dried peppers. I like a mix of ancho/guajillo for flavor, chipotle for smoky flavor and pulla/arbol for heat. Just buy a bunch of different kinds and use lots of mild ones, some medium ones and a few hot ones. Google yourself a list of dried peppers to see what's what, or check out this chart. Good dried peppers should still be pliable, not crunchy or flake into dust when you bend them.
• Put on a pair of latex or nitrile gloves. Do not forget this step, or you will regret it when you have an itch and rub your eye. Even hours later after washing your hands 6 times.
• Remove the stems/seeds/cores from the peppers and cut the bigger ones into pieces, no bigger than half a playing card maybe. A pair of kitchen shears or scissors works great for this.
• Spread the pieces out on a baking sheet and toast/bake them in the oven at maybe 300 for a few minutes until they dry out and crisp up. Don't burn them, you'll tell if you do... they will start smoking and smell bad.
• Take them out of the oven, let them cool off for a minute and then grind them up into a powder. I use an old blade style coffee grinder. Let it settle for a moment before taking the top off the grinder so you don't get a plume of chili dust in the air.

I usually make a big batch once every few months. It adds a delicious complex chili pepper flavor and isn't nearly as hot as the store bought stuff which is usually a bunch of paprika, cumin and cayenne for spiciness.

 

[maple1]

Last time I whipped up a rub in a hurry, I poured a bunch of cajun spice out of a big bottle of it we had on the shelf into a cup, and added a couple spoonfulls of brown sugar to it. Turned out pretty good.

I do things like that a lot - and things I cook usually never taste the same way twice, for some reason.