I would suggest not foiling them for so long. 1 hour should suffice then back on the smoker for an hour. Too much time in the foil can overcook them and turn them mushy. I normally do baby backs which cook faster than spares. I go 90 min in the smoker at up to 300 degrees, then 30 min in foil in the oven at 350 and then back on the smoker for 30 min at about 250. Usually come out real good. I also don't like them 'falling off the bone'.

Experiment. Find out what works for you. The best thing is you get to eat the mistakes (assuming the mistake isn't TOO bad).

Pulled into Kruez's parking lot when it was empty at 10:30 and saw them take down the closed sign, so perfect timing for the start to our road trip.

Got 3 lbs of brisket and 4 jalopeno cheese sausages. Their tagline is "No Sauce, No Forks". Brisket seemed a bit dry and just really salty. Sausage had very tough casing. Had german potatoes and sauerkraut sides, they were decent. I'm not one to cover brisket in sauce, but a little bit of moisture helps. Can't say I was super impressed with it. It did hold up well to warming up, we had a bit when we got to the condo a few hours later and it was a bit tastier than at the restaurant. Gonna have to try Smitty's next time.

slid off the bone or fell off the bone? huge difference.

thats what she said?

Today's project: pork shoulder.

After 4 hours at 245:



Wrapped them in foil to finish in the oven.

Cooked to 185 and pulled them out of the oven:



Sample I pulled off is goooood.

kreuz market is amazing.

Thinking about getting a smoker, should I get a charcoal or electric?

If my ribs don't fall off the bone I've failed. Nothing worse than medium rare ribs.

All done:

Depends on how manly you want to be.

lol (gross)

Mine is propane and the thing I like best is that you don't have to constantly monitor the temp once you get it where you want it. I'd think electric would be even easier to control the temp.

I've read after 4-5 hours you don't get much more smoke flavor into the meat. Is this why you do a 4 hour smoke? I've only smoked a pork butt once and I used a charcoal grill, smoking for ~11hrs and finishing in the oven. Turned out great and planning on doing it again soon. Just wondering if I should cut down on the smoking time.

posted in cooking thread when i did it but here is the pork when i took it off the grill



and the finished product after

That's what I've heard as well.

Both pulled pork attempts appear to have been successes.

Here's a nice overview of electric smokers.

http://www.amazingribs.com/BBQ_buyer...c_smokers.html

Most purists will say that charcoal is >>>> electric

there's just something about using lump charcoal can't be challenged with an electric element. I have a Primo ceramic oval, and it only takes about 20 to 30 minutes to get the heat to a stable 250-275 degrees. And it will stay there for however long I want, up to 12 hrs with the firebox filled.

I suppose if you want the easy peasy approach a timer on an electric could work, but barbeque is not supposed to be fast food.

electric for ease.

Haven't checked this thread for a while, but really like this comment as I think it applies to 'high-level' anything.

Some great looking bbq in this thread tho. Gonna have to get some ribs cracking soon as I've been focusing too much on sous vide.

Gotta go electric man, simply for ease of use. BBQ is a hard enough art as it is. No need to further complicate things by having to deal with coals before you get down all the other variables. If you get your recipe and techniques down pat in a year or w/e - and want to add another layer of flavor, move on to coal.

You could also do something like me and make a flower pot smoker which you can rig with coal or electric. Best of both worlds.

This is a common misconception and it stems from a different process. The chemical reaction that causes the pink smoke ring formation due to formation of nitric oxide in the outside quarter inch or so of the meat will cease above an internal temperature of 140F. For this reason those seeking larger smoke rings will put meat on the smoker directly from the refrigerator. As an aside, the chemical reaction causing the meat to become pink due to smoke exposure is the same as that causing cured meats like bacon or salami to become red when treated with sodium nitrite or nitrate. In this way one can "fake" a smoke ring by using pink salt or sodium nitrite as a rub element - and KCBS BBQ judges are instructed to disregard the smoke ring for this reason.

However, the application of smoke flavor onto the surface of the meat, and not "into" the meat as devilbliss writes above, will continue so long as smoke particulates are present in the cooking environment.

In a hot smoking environment, the surface of the meat quickly dries out, and the volatile smoke molecules that cause smoke flavor will adsorb (stick to), and not absorb (penetrate) into the meat. This process will continue for however long the meat is exposed to smoke, even if smoke ring formation has long since ceased. If you want to test this, try cooking two identical pieces of pork shoulder or brisket - take one off the smoker after four hours and place it in the oven at the same temperature until both are done. See if the one you left on the smoker tastes smokier (or maybe, too smoky?).

In a cold smoking environment smoke flavor can penetrate throughout a piece of food, as the surface never dries out from heat and smoke is both absorbed and adsorbed.

4 paragraphs confirming the 2 posts you quoted. Cool story bro. Smoke will cease to get into meat but will continue to get on to meat.

Maybe read more carefully? There's 2 processes. Smoke ring formation is chemical and unrelated to smoke flavor. Smoke flavor never gets "into" meat in the first place. Try a piece of pork from the interior of a butt - it doesn't taste smoky until you mix it all together with the bark from the outside. Way to troll tho.