Let's Talk BBQ
Outdoor Cooking Equipment => Grills & Smokers => Charcoal Smokers => Topic started by: Ericd3043 on April 04, 2016, 12:47:28 PM
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This was my first official smoke and, realistically, only my second real smoke in many years. I have done ribs in a small gas smoker as well as steaks, but that was it for years. 2 years ago I did an attempt on a brisket for family for my graduation but I cannot tell how it was - it was gone before I got home!
I picked up the Red Box smoker at a local BBQ retailer in PA at their open house/ Ironman competition. There were 54 competitors out there and it was a good time. Since their original price was better than anywhere else, the 10% off discount made it even better.
(http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/Eric_DeMuth/Red%20Box_zpsnnmgkqqg.jpg) (http://s76.photobucket.com/user/Eric_DeMuth/media/Red%20Box_zpsnnmgkqqg.jpg.html)
New out of the box
I found picnic shoulders on sale for .99/ lb and bought a 10lb piece of meat and gave it a try. My family and I have fallen in love with Sweet Swine O Mine seasoning (coincidentally what got me looking at their smoker in the first place) and I was able to get the shoulder set up and seasoned for the smoker the night before. I did not try to inject anything in it. I have done it with a turkey but need to find a couple of good recipes for pork shoulder/ butt.
(http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/Eric_DeMuth/Picnic%20Shoulder_zpsbyylq0zx.jpg) (http://s76.photobucket.com/user/Eric_DeMuth/media/Picnic%20Shoulder_zpsbyylq0zx.jpg.html)
Prepped up and ready to smoke
Got the smoker running and ready to go by 5pm. The goal was to have it done by 10am today. It went well for the most part but I realized I had nothing to get the fire box out with so off to HD for gloves and a pair of inexpensive plyers. One thing I noticed was that about the 8 hour mark, the fire was going out mainly because all of the ash. I emptied the box and used the coals left to restart a new batch (only did about 1/2 that time) and got it going again. For the first 6 hours or so, I smoked the meat. I had underestimated the rate of burn on the wood and did not have enough soaked up to use. It was close to 150 though so I was not sure it would have done much more smoking at that point anyway.
I was concerned that the temp gauge on the top of the unit was reading at 200 while my Maverick gauge was reading 225 at the rack near the meat. I believed the digital gauge and hoped for the best. Because of the burn time on the smoker for the first round of charcoal, I decided to go to bed and just check on it 4 hours later (I had plenty of water in the pan and left the smoker vent open wide to keep the heat up. Turns out 4 hours was too long and the temp in the box dropped to 167 and the meat at the 12 hour mark was also 167.
I got the heat back up by dumping the ash and starting new coals. By 8:30am, the meat was at 192 and ready to be pulled.
(http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/Eric_DeMuth/Fresh%20Out_zpstdotxyd9.jpg)
Just out of the smoker.
I had read about the FTC method previously and gave that a shot while I took the kids to school. I was back in time to pull the pork and make the sauce. There seemed to be some decent smoke ring to it and the bark was pretty good. My oldest got a taste prior to school and enjoyed it.
(http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j22/Eric_DeMuth/Pulled_zpsgkalucit.jpg)
Final Product.
Overall, it came out pretty good. It was pretty moist with good flavor. I am planning to use a Piedmont sauce recipe I found online but I believe the girls will use the Sweet BB Rays we have in the fridge while I am at work.
If you have any suggestions on how to improve, please let me know. I had some issues with getting the temp to stay at 225. It ranged from 220-250 most of the time. I also had major issues with the ash putting out the fire a couple of times. Of course, ideas on what to use the pulled pork on (besides the sandwiches tonight) would be cool... I think I saw one for Pizza....
Thanks! A few more attempts and I might be willing to try my hand at brisket.....
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Looks great! If I had the room that would be my next purchase!
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Looking real good. That is a sweet smoker.
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Shoulders looks good and I really like the look of your new Red Box Smoker.
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Looks like some good pulled pork!!! Don
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My SiL just got one a couple of days ago and has not had a chance to break it in. Hope his first attempt is a good as yours ! ! !
BD
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Very nice
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Excellent looking cook! Personally I would not be too concerned about a temp swing of 220 to 250. I have cooked butts at
275 and they have came out great! Not criticizing but if you are using wood chunks there is absolutely no need to soak them before
using them. The water is not going to penetrate the wood that much to affect the smoke. Just my opinion, others may vary. ;)
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I would not concern yourself too much with a 25 degree swing.
Over that long of a cook your going to get ash. Sounds like you got a handle on it though.
The results look great!
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I bought one when they first came out. I have had success with shorter cooks on such things as pork and elk tenderloins and smoked chicken. No luck trying to cold smoke some cheese, however. I plan to do a much longer cook with some pork burnt ends after I return home from my trip. I plan to add more charcoal periodically during my cook. I don't like the idea of basically having the fire go out. I have a pair of welders gloves that make it fairly easy to remove the charcoal tray and then shovel out the burnt ashes with a large spoon into an aluminum pan. Charcoal management is part of the learning curve, I guess.
Art
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Looks pretty good to me!
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That looks very good! While it is tough to beat a nice pulled pork sandwich with pickles and slaw, a pizza is really cool! Let us know what you do. Thanks!
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Well... not sure if we will have much over. The container was full when I left yesterday for work. It was mostly gone by the time I got home. Apparently my wife showed her coworkers and promised one a sandwich. The next thing I heard was she fed two more afterwards. They have had my BBQ in the past so , go figure!
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Thanks for the tip on the wood- This was, by far, the longest cook I have done and the fire box is a little on the small side. A pair of cheap plyers did the trick though. I do need to figure out where to put the ash. It was late and I ended up leaving it in the gravel. I may have to get a metal container to store it and use it in the garden after I get enough.
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Thanks for all the comments. I definitely need to try other things in the near future. Maybe wings / thighs next time... wonder what is on sale :)