my first smoke

[slatts]

Just had a few friends and family round for a bbq.

Had 2 pork shoulders that was probably about 4lb each, put these on last night about 10.30. had to restock the coals at 1am and 4.30am. Dont think I used enough charcoal.
Was really nervous to be honest about the pork, I got my maverick thermometer a couple of days before which was very helpful. The pork came off at 10.30 this morning, I foiled it at 160 and it hit 190 within 90mins. Put it in a cool box and pulled it an hour later, found it quite dry, poored some apple juice over it and put a lid over it,20 mins later it was lovely.
I made my own bbq sauce and luckily everybody loved the pulled pork with the sauce. It was all gone before any photos got taken. Had a nice smoke ring aswell.
I also did 4 racks of ribs, first time on a smoker, 2-2-1 and was told they was the best yet.

All in all a good cook which really came down to 4 months of me reading through this forum and asking questions that have been answered with great advice.
So thank you for all the help its very much appreciated and heres to many more bbqs, hopefully getting better every time.

Oh and the moink balls went down a treat!!

[Toby]

Thats great news its always nice to hear that the forum helps people out!

[slatts]

I was on the forum looking up "the stall" water bowls, internal temps etc before and during the cook.

Does the pork always need some form of liquid to keep it moist during and or after cooking?

Really looking forward to what I can learn at the Harry Soo class.

[MrJaba]

Glad to hear it went well!

I've cooked pork shoulders before with no water pan, and only spritzing with apple juice for the last part of the cook so as not to harm the bark, it really depends on the fat content I think. I don't think you need a water pan all the time no. It will also depend on what else you're cooking too, more meat leads to a more moist cooking environment.