Turkey day!

Happy Thanksgiving! Today's turkey is from Standard Market. 19 pounds and almost done. Brined in the bag last night at 6PM and in the fridge. Out this morning stuffed and in the oven at 275F at 8AM. Dropped it to 250, then 225 and is almost done now. Will be tented and carved then covered into the warmer until guests arrive. Hope yours is wonderful!

Another round of ribs

Had the smoker rolling again yesterday. I know it's been a while... Another three pack of ribs from Sam's. Did the usual prep with Meathead's Memphis rub Friday night: 1. Remove film on back, halve the slabs 2. Wash and pat dry 3. Oil then sprinkle and rub 4. Wrap in plastic and cover with foil in fridge overnight. The next day, Sat., I fired up the smoker and put the ribs on at 10AM with the iGrill in the thick meat of the small bones on the ends. Daytime temps were in the 50's and took a while to get the temp set right in the low 200's F. Had the iGrill on my iPad and set the alarm for 180F. First alarm went off around 3:00 and it was time to start playing musical slabs. As the MES is a three rack stack I moved the ribs on the bottom to the top and the others down then reset the iGrill. As time wore on more ribs rang the bell and I started wrapping in foil as they reach 180F. It was around 5:00PM that the last two half slabs reached the magic number and everything came in. I wrapped the last two in foil and served the others. All were done perfectly and it was a quiet table while everyone enjoyed! We finished about a slab and a half and the rest for yummy leftovers. It's a lot of work but worth the effort.

Ribs R On

Picked up a 3 pack of ribs from Sams last night.  Rubbed them with Meathead's Memphis Rub and left in fridge overnight.  Smoker is fired up with the ribs on at 7AM.

Earlier this year I smoked ribs and they barely were done at 6PM.  Problem is I didn't blog about it so I don't remember what time I started them.  I remember they got into the 160's F and rested there a looonngg time...

Not to be burned this time (haha) I'm hopeful for better results.  Will be very happy if they are done at 2PM this afternoon.  Have people showing up for dinner so no options there (as per last time Kristen's BF came over - was stressful!)

Will try to blog the end results.  In the meantime waiting for the smoker to get to 120F for the long hold.

A long smoke

Fired up the smoker to cook a two-pack pork shoulder from Sams yesterday (Sunday.)  It had been a while since I smoked shoulder and I was stressed a bit about how much time it would take.  Boy was I in for a surprise!


I actually got the shoulders rubbed Friday night so they were ready to go when I got up.  I had them on and smoking starting at 4:30 AM.


The smoking progressed as customary during the day, but I was not happy with the temperature readings from the oven thermometer.  I had positioned the port on the top and middle shelves and separated them so one would not be over the other.  In doing so I had pushed the middle shoulder over and it was making contact with the oven thermometer, which hangs in back of the middle shelf.


So I opened the smoker and switched them around then the temp readings normalized and I could adjust the temp more accurately.


Once adjusted the temp stayed right in the 220-230 F range where I want it.  That is a good sign for my plans for next time.


Since I only do this every other year I was unprepared for the total amount of time it would take to finish these.  They both hit 160F around 1PM but they rested there all afternoon rising at about one degree per hour.  So that stressed dinner and I had to crank them temp to 250F around 4:30 to help speed things up.


Even that didn't do it and I pulled the lower one off the grill at 6 PM and it was at 177F.  Too low, but it was still delicious.  It did not pull that well and was not really done all the way, though it was at a food safe temp.


I left the other shoulder on until 8PM and it had risen to 183F by then, still too low but high enough to wrap things up.  That shoulder pulled easier but clearly I need to cook them overnight to get them both to 190F and finish.


So I have a tactic for next time.  Now I just have to remember to do it that way.  Also I should just place the shoulders side-by-side on the bottom shelf to avoid the temperature issues.