Halloween

[clairbare]

cheers everyone

i did have another problem - we put the pork on cos that takes longest to cook, but in hindsight - would you put all the meat on at same time and remove as it is cooked? or is that a problem cooking different things at once - all good learning i had to take top stack off to move ribs from the top to bottom with the pork - so i can add my chicken - the i will remove lid again to add chicken - i am figuring this is not a good move??

[clairbare]

think we will stick at it and see what results we get, then come and watch you guys in action in May

thanks for everyone's help
will keep you posted

[clairbare]

OK and the results are

Ribs - fell apart, perfectly smoked, great tasting rub, 5* comments all round
Chicken halves - moist, tender, smoked well again good comments all round
Pork shoulder - hmmmmm well this didnt go down quite so well, it was cooked the longest (6 hours) but i fear this may not have been long enough and our temp control was hard to maintain and although it was cooked, it wasn't as moist and we had to carve it rather than pull it
Beer Can Chicken - there was so much meat, it would have bought a veggie out in a rash so we are having this tonight

so what we will do next time
Use sand in our water pan
cook the joint of pork for longer
try to maintain a more stable heat
Keep practicing - this was only our 2nd cook (excuses excuses)

any other comments welcome, some pics to follow later

[British BBQ Society]

HI Clair,

With the neck end / shoulder you will be looking at a much longer cook, internal temp needs to get to 190, and to use the old cliche, its ready when its ready. The rest of the food sounds lovely!

[Swindon_Ed]

Hi Clair,

With the neck end / shoulder you will be looking at a much longer cook, internal temp needs to get to 190,

Toby's not wrong here as i was also cooking pork shoulders yesterday, only little ones from the supermarket so I was thinking it would only take about 6-7 hours as well. In the end they took 11hrs to get to 190f. So dinner was a bit late (but worth the wait!!!)

[clairbare]

yes we need to get a probe thermometer for those bigger pieces i think

http://s774.photobucket.com/albums/yy27 ... Halloween/

here are a few pics

[Mike_P_in_Tucson]

The temperature issue is almost certainly an incorrect reading on the lid thermometer.

For pulled pork, a good rule of thumb is that it will take about 1 1/2 hours per pound of meat to get to an internal temperatur of 190-195F. But you really do need a good thermometer to check it.

I would NEVER put chicken on a rack above beef or pork that is cooking on a lower rack. Not good at all to have chicken juices dripping onto other meats.

[MrBlue]

I can't see how the meat juices would be an issue if all meat was to remain in the smoker for a further few ours, and I doubt anyone would be able to taste chicken juice on the pork through all the rub anyway. However, I would agrree if the chicken had been only smoking a very short while before the Pork was removed - raw chicken juices on pork shoulder - not somehing you win awards for!