Up early/late smoking a pig

Venusian · 06-12-10, 06:09 AM

Having a pig roast at my house tonight. I've been up since 3 am. Friend is supposed to be on his way over to watch the pig so I can get some sleep soon.

Anyone else up?

crazyronin · 06-12-10, 06:12 AM

PM your address, plz.

/packs bags.

Venusian · 06-12-10, 06:16 AM

I'm not a pork fan but we did this last year and it was gooood. slow cooked for 12-14 hours. the pig literally fell apart as we were taking it off the smoker it was so tender.

we're probably going to have somewhere between 150-175 people at my place so you can slip in without anyone noticing

Venusian · 06-12-10, 06:22 AM

argh, my friend still hasn't left his place. this party is going to suck if i dont get some sleep before it

crazyronin · 06-12-10, 06:42 AM

don't sleep. That's when the pods...RUIN THE PIG BY BURNING IT!

Charlie Goose · 06-12-10, 08:56 AM

Not much for pork either, but slow roasted like that is SOOOO good.

LiquidSky · 06-12-10, 08:58 AM

What time should I be there?

I'll bring the beer!

Bacon · 06-12-10, 09:13 AM

I'll be right over!!!!!!!!

emanon · 06-12-10, 09:50 AM

...and here I thought Ice T had gotten Body Count back together.

TomOpus · 06-12-10, 09:52 AM

Hmmmm thought "smoking a pig" might've meant something else.

Carry on.

X · 06-12-10, 11:23 AM

I'm going to be smoking a brisket overnight today. I'm not going to stay up to watch it though, just stick a lot of charcoal in the smoker and leave the vents open a bit.

Fist of Doom · 06-12-10, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emanon

...and here I thought Ice T had gotten Body Count back together.

Giantrobo · 06-12-10, 04:18 PM

Any food Smoked =

chino77 · 06-12-10, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Giantrobo

Any food Smoked =

i second that. i got a smoker last summer. its pretty to easy to use and fun too. especially if ya like to sit outside and drink beer.

X · 06-12-10, 05:16 PM

Looks like I won't be doing an overnight smoking. I wanted to try a real low heat (like around 160-170°), 24 hour smoking but I can't find any references about doing that with brisket. All I see mentioned for low heat is around 200° and that won't take longer than about 10 hours.

Anyone know if you can do a real low heat smoking? Maybe it just dries out the meat or grows bacteria or something.

chino77 · 06-12-10, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by X

Looks like I won't be doing an overnight smoking. I wanted to try a real low heat (like around 160-170°), 24 hour smoking but I can't find any references about doing that with brisket. All I see mentioned for low heat is around 200° and that won't take longer than about 10 hours.

Anyone know if you can do a real low heat smoking? Maybe it just dries out the meat or grows bacteria or something.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/
those guys are serious about their smoking. join and ask them. ive learned a lot from them.

i made ribs last weekend for the first time thanks to that site. sprinkle garlic, pepper, onion powder, salt, and whatever you want or use a dry rub you have. then coat it with a thick layer of brown sugar. let it sit and melt for an hour. then smoke with apple wood for 4 1/2 hrs at 225. after 2 hours spray it with orange juice every so often. fucking unbelievable ribs!!! no sauce needed and so tender.

X · 06-12-10, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chino77

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/
those guys are serious about their smoking. join and ask them. ive learned a lot from them.

i made ribs last weekend for the first time thanks to that site. sprinkle garlic, pepper, onion powder, salt, and whatever you want or use a dry rub you have. then coat it with a thick layer of brown sugar. let it sit and melt for an hour. then smoke with apple wood for 4 1/2 hrs at 225. after 2 hours spray it with orange juice every so often. fucking unbelievable ribs!!! no sauce needed and so tender.

I'll check it out.

I've been making ribs for years with a slightly different rub, having brown sugar as one of the ingredients but not coating with it. I make a big batch of the rub so it's really easy to make ribs the next 10-20 times.

4-5 hours of smoking (no spray) with pecan and cherry wood, and it's really good. Better than any ribs I can get in a restaurant (at least around here) for sure.

X · 06-12-10, 07:04 PM

Yes, it looks like both health and dryness concerns. And evidently it's not really slow smoking that makes a brisket tender, it's more the ending temperature and how long it stays there.

Sdallnct · 06-12-10, 08:25 PM

What timing! I bought a new smoker today! I've been nursing a crappy one for 10 years and finally had enough and got me the WSM (Weber Smokey Mountain). I'm setting up for a whole pork roast (shoulder + butt) now.

I'm crossing fingers that all the reading, reviews, etc are correct and I don't have to baby sit and play with the smoker to keep it at temp. I'm looking at a 12-14 hour cook and thinking one "ring" of coals should do it.

Pics, tomorrow...maybe...lol

jonw9 · 06-12-10, 08:50 PM

Did you get the 18"or the 22", it sounds like the bigger.

I can get a WSM of butts on one full ring of coals, starting with ~6 briquettes. I usually have to tap the legs in the morning to knock the ask off and get the heat back up.

Pork buts have taken me any where from 12 to over 16 hours, depending on how long it stays in that weird transition zone where the fat breaks down.

X · 06-12-10, 09:28 PM

I really wish they had the 22" when I got mine. I have trouble fitting several racks of ribs on mine since I don't want to put any on the lower grill. There's barely enough room across for a rack with a good length too.

Sdallnct · 06-13-10, 12:17 AM

I got the 18.5" model. It is must be the newest model for 2010 as it has a larger water pan than any pics I had previously seen.

Being from Texas "we don't use no stinking water". So I've got an empty water pan with a clay saucer filled with sand sitting on top of the empty water pan. Will see how it works out. Been a little over an hour and the temp seems to have locked in at 225! I'll probably check the temp one more time and then sleep.

With the larger water pan, I probably should have tried w/water. That big of a pan, I can't imagine it running out. And the clay saucer is probably overkill. I could have probably just filled the water pan with some sand.

I'm using Kingsford Original, a mix of 3 chunks of Mesquite and 3 chunks of Apple wood scattered in the coals. I'm using the "Minon" method where I filled the ring with unlit coals (and the wood chunks) and scattered about 20 well lit coals on top.

The recipe for the rub on the pork is the classic from the book Smoke and Spice. I've also made some mustard BBQ sauce and will make a vinegar one tomorrow. With so many good tomato based BBQ sauces out there, I see no reason to make that from scratch...

GMan2819 · 06-13-10, 03:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by X

I really wish they had the 22" when I got mine. I have trouble fitting several racks of ribs on mine since I don't want to put any on the lower grill. There's barely enough room across for a rack with a good length too.

I have the original WSM as well and with a rib rack, you can fit up to 8 half-racks.

Sdallnct · 06-13-10, 06:18 AM

Well right at 7 hours into my cook (figure about 1/2 way). I don't know if needed, but I flipped and turned the meat. The smoker is running hot. Was about 280 when I woke. But I actually am happy with this. Why? Typically if I feel asleep for more than 3 with my previous smoker the fire would go out all together! So I'm very pleased at the efficiency of this unit. I shut down two bottom vents and left the 3rd open about 1/2. Will see if that brings the temps down. Still lots of fuel. I threw in 3 more hunks of wood.

Course I did read that nothing absorbs heat better than water. And that if you use a pan full of water it will never, no matter what get over about that magic 250 mark. And even tho people swear it doesn't effect the food, one of my favorite parts of BBQ are the solid, dry, very firm "burnt ends". And I just can't imagine that burnt ends really turning out well in a humid, moist environment.

I'll check it again in an hour and figure out how to get my probe thermometer in there....

X · 06-13-10, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GMan2819

I have the original WSM as well and with a rib rack, you can fit up to 8 half-racks.

I like to use full racks, but I sometimes end up having to cut one in half to fit it.

I have a rib rack but I don't like how the ribs end up touching each other and I don't think they get the best smoking and fat removal so I tend not to use it.