Here’s a step-by-step tour through the first big cook.
I bought 2 packs of pork spares for this cook, one each from two different locations of the same supermarket chain. One was labeled as “previously frozen”, but they looked good, and the price was right ($2.39/lb.), so I decided to try them. The second pack was fresh, and had a sell-by date 3 days away. Even so, they were labeled “Manager’s Special 25% Off”. This made them $1.87/lb. Having worked in grocery for a brief period, I know stores routinely mark down overstock meat well in advance of its sell-by date. Stop by your favorite supermarket’s meat department every day for a week, and you’ll find some great deals for your effort. Be ready to use or freeze what you get, though.
If you look closely at the picture above, you can see the top slab after I trimmed it, and removed the membrane. The second slab, nearer the camera, came with the skirt meat and membrane already removed. The skirt meat was not in the package, but the trimmed sternum meat was. Just shows the variation you can expect, even from the same company.
Both slabs had an excess of end meat that needed to be trimmed. Leaving it on would only result in dry, over-cooked ends. Separate, it will cook faster, and the cooker (me) can have a little taste treat before the end of the cook. This pic shows the trimmed slab, and the sternum meat that was included in the pack is at center right.
Here are the two slabs after being smeared with mustard and then nicely coated with my homemade rub. I will rub them again tomorrow, just before cooking.
To save space in the fridge, I rolled the two slabs up and placed them in a large plastic bowl. All the trimmings and skirt meat, which were also coated with rub, were placed in the middle of the rolled ribs. I covered the bowl with plastic wrap, and then secured the wrap with foil.
It’s very important, after handling any raw meat, to clean up the prep area, cutting board, and utensils with plenty of soap and hot water.
Tomorrow, on to the cook!
At 10:30am, I lit a chimney full of charcoal. I’m trying to get an earlier start this week, so that the meat will be done right at supper time.
At 11:10am, The chimney is ready, so I poured it into the charcoal ring, and added enough unlit charcoal to fill the ring about 3/4ths full. I used 2 chunks of hickory and a chunk of peach wood for this cook.
At 11:35am, with the coals burning well, I assembled the cooker and filled the water pan. To the middle grate, I added a fresh turkey breast that I purchased at the last minute, plus the various pieces of rib tips and skirt meat. I prepared the turkey by slipping my fingers between the skin and meat, and then pouring some rub into the pocket created. You can see the water pan, wrapped in foil, below the grate.
On the top grate, I put the two slabs of ribs, in a rib rack, and the remaining trimmings. In my hurry to get the cooker closed up, I failed to photograph the ribs going on the top grate, so this pic is from a little ways into the cook.
The initial temperature of the cooker was 287�F, so I closed all 3 bottom vents to slow the fire. By 11:55am, it was down to 260, and, by 12:10pm, it was down to 239. I cracked open one bottom vent to try to maintain 240.
By 12:20, it had risen to 249�F, and the next two hours proved to be a battle to keep the temperature down. Even with all bottom vents closed, it ran about 10� hotter than I wanted for about an hour.
At 2:30pm, three hours into the cook, I turned the ribs, basted with apple cider vinegar, and added a pound of fresh choriso sausage. The turkey registered 154�F internal temp at this point. I should have removed the skirt and end tips here. They ended up overdone. I can always chop them up for jambalaya, though.
From 2:45pm to 3:15pm, the temperature was right where I wanted, but, for some reason, started climbing up to 260, and would not come down, even with all bottom vents closed. At 4:00pm, the tear test indicated the ribs were pretty much done. The sausages had reached 170� internal temp, and were done. The turkey breast was at 165�F internal, and, since it’s all white meat, was done– it’s the dark meat that needs to go all the way up to 180�F. I removed everything but the ribs, brushed the finishing sauce on them, and let them stay in the cooker an additional fifteen minutes.
By this time, it was 4:30pm, and my cook was done an hour earlier than planned. Those couple of periods of higher than desired temperatures had sped things up considerably. So, to put things on hold until later, I wrapped everything in heavy aluminum foil, and placed it all, wrapped in a large towel, in an ice chest. Ninety minutes later, it was still hot, and ready to enjoy.
What have we learned? I guess I would have to say expect the unexpected. Sometimes the BBQ gods throw you a curve and you just have to deal with it. Ten degrees too hot doesn’t mean you get bad BBQ, it just means you get to eat it a little sooner. The turkey was tender and juicy, and I think I’ll do a whole one for Thanksgiving. The ribs were fine. The only thing I would have done differently would be to remove the skirt and end meats earlier, and perhaps the sausages at about 160�F. Next time, I will reduce the amount of charcoal to see if that gives me better temperature control.
I used my Foodsaver� vacuum sealer on the leftovers, of which there were many. This was still an experimental cook, and, since I know smoked meats freeze well if properly packaged, I didn’t mind.
After the Bullet cooled— closing all the vents extinguishes the coals– I reclaimed the unburnt charcoal for next time, and dumped the remaining ashes into a galvanized metal bucket, for later disposal.
For cleanup, I’ve developed a method: I soak the grates and rib rack in very hot water in the laundry sink for about an hour. A stiff vegetable brush removes the loosened gunk, and a grill scrubber pad brightens them back up. Then towel dry. The water pan is easy because it’s wrapped in heavy foil inside and out– the extra-wide foil is just wide enough for the Bullet water pan. I also use a couple of damp paper towels to wipe grease from the bottom lip of the dome lid, and from the top rim of the cooking section.
Next time, a smaller cook.