Somebody pork butted on my kitchen counter

Matthew

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Matthew
My cholesterol is getting dangerously low. So BBQ it shall be.

Before and after.

And one of the cats really, really, likes the Q. It was standing on that chair with its front legs on the top of the chair back...watching...waiting...

Getting up early again. Life is good.

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The cat has that “human, serve me” look on its face.
That cat loves the BBQ. If you ever see a cat food commercial with a dancing cat, that's ours.

-

And the game is afoot! And the wait begins.

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Now, if I could just find a donut place that delivers.
 
I run mine till 205 internal at 225. Takes a long time but the results are worth it. Did you inject?
 
I run mine till 205 internal at 225. Takes a long time but the results are worth it. Did you inject?
No injection. For contests we will inject, but that's because everyone else does, too. At home I don't bother. Contest cooking is different.

225-250.

At 165 I almost always wrap in foil, and add a little honey and brown sugar. Finish to 195, rest an hour, then pull and add the defatted juice back in.
 
The cat has the "human, walk out of the room for just a minute and I'll help myself" look on it's face.
That's Liza, Liza Minnelli.

And yes, that's the look. "If that opposable thumbed litter box cleaner would just look away for a few seconds that meat will be mine. All mine! Bwaahaaahaaa!"
 
Getting closer - about another 20 degrees.

9 hrs now, maybe another 1 or 2 to go.

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Had a slight malfunction of my outdoor temp sensor - maybe sitting in the sun too long, batteries getting low, whatever. But it was reading low. I set the indoor receiver to alarm at 165, but by the time I tested it with another probe the temp was actually 175-180 depending on the butt. So there's a definite problem with that particular unit. I planned to wrap in foil at 165 to preserve some of the juices, but I missed that window. Oh, well, it's still going to work, I haven't reached the finish temp yet.

Adapt, improvise, and overcome.
 
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Is Liza getting impatient?
I think she's asleep in a sunny place on the stairs where we can trip and injure ourselves for her enjoyment.

Things will change when I bring it inside and she gets a whiff.
 
We're defosting some of the left over pig from Memorial day. The "small" pig from my favorite Hmong butcher was bigger than typical so I had a lot left over. On the plus side, it came out the best I've ever done. The whole thing reached idea doneness at the same time.
 
ribs, mmm...

I rarely cook ribs. I should do a couple slabs sometime in the next couple weeks. We'll be doing another contest in Sep, so I'll probably do one or two cooks prior so we can check out some new rubs or whatever.
 
Looks great! I have the same smoker. Love it. (I’ve packed 6 butts in the 18” WSM at once for a graduation party.)

I no longer measure meat temp anymore, just smoker temp. I go 1.5 -2 hrs per pound, then wrap in foil + a couple towels, then put it into a cooler for 4 hrs. Bone pulls out and you can smash the meat.

I’ve gotten to where I just buy 7-9 pounders now, fire up the smoker before bed, put em on the smoker at midnight, add more charcoal at 8am, take it off and wrap around noon, pull for dinner.
 
Looks great! I have the same smoker. Love it. (I’ve packed 6 butts in the 18” WSM at once for a graduation party.)

I no longer measure meat temp anymore, just smoker temp. I go 1.5 -2 hrs per pound, then wrap in foil + a couple towels, then put it into a cooler for 4 hrs. Bone pulls out and you can smash the meat.

I’ve gotten to where I just buy 7-9 pounders now, fire up the smoker before bed, put em on the smoker at midnight, add more charcoal at 8am, take it off and wrap around noon, pull for dinner.
Those three I cooked the other day were 8.5-9.5 lb. I've loaded that smoker pretty heavily when necessary, but I don't like to. I want enough space so pieces don't touch. Also, the heat around the edges of the grates is much higher so I try to keep the meat towards the center.
 
Those three I cooked the other day were 8.5-9.5 lb. I've loaded that smoker pretty heavily when necessary, but I don't like to. I want enough space so pieces don't touch. Also, the heat around the edges of the grates is much higher so I try to keep the meat towards the center.

Same issues with the edges for me.

Do you use the water pan?

I’d love to learn about the competition side of BBQ. Do you use the WSM for it?
 
Same issues with the edges for me.

Do you use the water pan?

I’d love to learn about the competition side of BBQ. Do you use the WSM for it?
Affirmative on the water pan.

As for contests: Dude, I could go on for hours.

KCBS sanctions many(?)/most(?) of the contests in the US and overseas, and their rules are always the same. 4 categories: Chicken, ribs, brisket, and pork. Many contests will have extra categories, but they are optional. If you do NOT enter all 4 categories, you may not be allowed back - a lot of contests have waiting lists to get in and a team that takes up a slot and doesn't cook in all categories is looked at as wasting a space.

Most first timers think, "Hey, I can do that!" Then they find out the logistics can really catch you by surprise.
WSMs are a big deal at a lot of competitions, but you'll need at least 2 and preferably 3 of the 18", or 1 of the 22" plus another. For years, we made do with 3 18" WSMs. Many ribbons have come out of a WSM.

At the bare minimum: 1 brisket, 1 butt, 1 slab of ribs, and 6 bone-in and skin-on chicken thighs.
A good beginner quantity to aim at: 1 brisket, 1 butt, 2-3 slabs ribs, and a dozen thighs. (Note that chicken can be any chicken in any combination - whole, drumsticks, breasts, thighs, or Cornish Hen.)

When we compete, we usually do 2-3 briskets, 4 butts, 4-6 slabs, 12-18 chicken thighs, plus whatever optional entries we want to try.

The extra meat gives you options for what you turn in: You must have at least 6 samples (6 ribs, 6 chicken pieces, 6 slices) or enough pulled meat for 6 servings (pulled pork, pulled brisket, pulled chicken). You try to turn in the best 6 of whatever you have. And nobody complains about taking leftovers home.

Easiest way to get yourself ready is to do a backyard 'contest' on your own with a few buddies. Not a big deal, but make absolutely sure to write down every piece of equipment you touch - you will have to take it with you. That includes wash pans, cutting boards, knives and sharpeners, charcoal, wood, tables, chairs, gloves, paper towels, soap, sleeping bags, pop-ups or other shelters, band-aids, beer, water, Gatorade, rubs, sauces, ice, foil, thermometers, Aleve, and all the other things I'm forgetting.

The cooking is the easy part - if I had a way to transport and set up all the "stuff", I could do a whole contest myself but it would be a LOT of work. There have been times that only 2 of us were able to make it. There are a lot of teams that are husband/wife only. Most of those 2-person teams have learned how to be very efficient on what they bring and how they pack.

And, since you will be spending the night on Friday night, you should plan a party, too. Even if it's just you and your teammate(s), do something fun.

Plan your time so you serve on this schedule on Saturday:
Chicken - noon
Ribs - 12:30pm
Pork - 1:00pm
Brisket - 1:30pm
You get +/- 5 minutes for turn in.

All samples of each category must fit into a 9x9 foam box. Garnish is optional, but most people will use lettuce and parsley. Using illegal garnish (like red leaf lettuce, only green is allowed), will get you a DQ, but NOT using garnish at all is not supposed to cost you points. Garnish is to keep the meat from sliding around, but some teams really like things to look pretty.

Do it once at home, then enter a small contest. I'm not sure where you live, but there are contests all over.
https://www.kcbs.us/events

Here are the rules:
https://www.kcbs.us/downloads/rules_reg_2018_2.pdf

Somewhere I have a flyer that's for beginner competitors. It gives some pretty good tips and suggestions.

Notes on contest cooking: All meat must be raw and unseasoned when you check in at the contest. You can trim ahead of time, but you can't season or brine. Judges generally base their points on a single 10 second glance for appearance, and a single bite for taste/flavor and tenderness. 3 different judging categories, but it's almost always a single first impression based on one look and one bite. So a lot of pros will over-season to make their entry 'pop' and stand out, it's not something you would do when cooking at home. There are other tricks you'll pick up along the way, but they generally are things you would not do when cooking at home.

Finally - after you've done a few contests, take a judge class and then judge when you aren't cooking.
 
Thanks for the great advice!

I stopped using water in the pan about 10 years ago. It was too much to heat up and took a lot of babysitting to refill. I used to just foil the water pan, but now have some bricks in there (foil over the pan) as a heat sink to stabilize any fluctuations.

For my home bbq, I like to take the more flavorful smokey outer crust of the butts and cut it up with shears and then mix it well with the rest of the meat. More labor, but then every bite has that smokey goodness.
 
Thanks for the great advice!

I stopped using water in the pan about 10 years ago. It was too much to heat up and took a lot of babysitting to refill. I used to just foil the water pan, but now have some bricks in there (foil over the pan) as a heat sink to stabilize any fluctuations.

For my home bbq, I like to take the more flavorful smokey outer crust of the butts and cut it up with shears and then mix it well with the rest of the meat. More labor, but then every bite has that smokey goodness.
Post #21 is right after I pulled the shoulder blade out and before pulling. I prefer it "chunky style" so I don't shred it too fine. The bark is the best part.

The water pan refill rate depends a lot on the relative humidity. The other day was really hot and humid, over 10 hrs I added water twice. On low humidity days it might need topping off 3-4 times. You can always tell/smell when somebody's water pan cooks dry.
 
I've never understood the "water pan." You really don't want to steam the meat. When using my "egg" smoker I put a dry clay saucer n there just to keep the fat from making the fire flare up too bad. The pig cooker I just build the fire with nothing between it and the pig.
 
I've never understood the "water pan." You really don't want to steam the meat. When using my "egg" smoker I put a dry clay saucer n there just to keep the fat from making the fire flare up too bad. The pig cooker I just build the fire with nothing between it and the pig.
The water doesn't really steam anything, although it will increase humidity. With the design of a bullet smoker it's main purpose is to act as a heat attenuator to provide an indirect heat source, it also gives grease a place to drip so it doesn't burn. Offset smokers don't have a water pan, they don't need one.
 
A friend asked me to do pulled pork for her husband's family reunion. They raise their own animals, so this is "their" meat. Their butcher cut up the pork butts in 3 small pieces each, so this is the equivalent of 4 butts.

And the cat watched, waiting, ...

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And it begins.

Because of the way they were cut, there will be lots of surface area for bark.
 

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