This cook was done on the newer Weber Jumbo Joe which came out in 2013 and was a reintroduction of the older Smokey Joe Platinum or as sometimes called the “Outrider” which was made from 1991 to 2006.
This newer model addresses some of the problems they had with the older units but did create one new problem for indirect cooking larger pieces of meat. The overall height from the charcoal grate to the cooking grate has been reduced from about 5-1/4 inches to only about 4 inches and while this makes for much better direct grilling, it causes some problems with the way I cook the larger pieces of meat indirectly in this little kettle.
They made some other changes which makes this little kettle great and I will cover them in another post.
To prep my 10-1/2 pound shank portion already cooked ham, I just sprinkled on a light coat of Smokin’ Guns hot rub and then made up my Dr. Pepper and bourbon glaze and cooked it down to about half to where is was a little thicker and would stay on the meat better without running off.
To prep the Jumbo Joe, I used a charcoal fence and installed it on the charcoal grate so that I had about 2/3rd of the grate left for my meat and then 1/3 of the grate will be used for charcoal. I have to cook the ham on the charcoal grate as the newer Jumbo Joe only has about 4” of space from the cooking grate to the top of the lid. This little trick will allow me to cook items like the ham, larger pork butts, whole turkeys, turkey breasts, beer butt chickens, and other items that are over about 3-1/2 inches in height.
Next step was to install one firebrick right next to the fence to prevent overcooking one side of the meat. I then foil the cooking area and add my Stubb’s charcoal and hickory wood chunks and one weber charcoal cube.
My little kettle is now ready for the meat.
I drop the meat into the kettle and then place the lid on the kettle, bring the wire handle up and lock it on the lid of the kettle and then just carry it out of the kitchen to my cooking patio and place it on my stand.
I started this cook just before sunup on a cool wet morning with an ambient temp of about 48 degrees.
I planned for a 5-6 hour cook and wanted it done by about noon or 1:00pm.
Near the end of the cook, I glazed the ham several times and then took the meat to about 135 internal and pulled it off the cooker. I also added some charcoal one time during the cook.
Tented the meat for about 20 minutes with foil.
I then cut a few slices off for our lunch.
Added some yams, green beans, tossed salad, and a biscuit and had one wonderful lunch.
Will do another post later showing some other tips and tricks I do with this fine little kettle grill/cooker as I think there are several people on this forum that own this fine little cooker.
