It has been a couple of weeks since I posted. There was another attempt at the pork roast in the Big Easy. The results appeared to be good as I only got to taste it the next day. My father in law ended up pulling it. Meat was good, not as dark - but not a bad attempt.
Today, I went back to the Big Red Smoker since I found a special on Country Style pork ribs. I ended up brining the ribs in a mixture of Kosher salt and Dr. Pepper. Two things on this: 1) I think it would have been better with Cherry Dr Pepper, but not bad with the regular. 2) If you are going to mix salt with any soda - make sure the soda is flat first! I was lucky and had the gallon size bag in a pot. The soda reacted with the salt and overflowed!
After letting the meat sit for 10 hours, I then dusted the meat with my favorite seasoning (Sweet Swine o Mine) and let the meat become wet.
Ready for smoking!
I had some trouble getting the smoker up to temp - did the minion method and had trouble getting it up over 200. I added a few more briquettes and added some hickory wood to the coals. It took a while, but it stayed steady at 225 for the rest of the cook.
After 4+ hours in the smoker, I pulled the meat - put it in a 1/4 pan with some apple juice and let it cook for another 1 1/2 hours. I pulled the meat and let it rest until time for dinner.
Ready to serve...
Cut up for my younger daughters. I love the look of the smoke ring!
Couple of notes from tonight:
1) The seasoning was good, but a final hit with wet sauce would have made it.
2) My oldest does not like smoke flavoring, however, this was one that she could not stop eating! While cutting up pcs, she kept stealing it. She told me that she prefers the Hickory flavor over that of the Apple smoke.
This was a long day, mowed 1+ acre of land, dug up a large flower bed, ran kids around and made the dinner. Not a bad day, but can use time back at work to rest!