I believe it was in May that I last tried to smoke a pork shoulder. That came out great and wasn't all that difficult. It just takes so long. Thus, I did pork ribs a few times because that is only a 3 to 4 hour commitment. The shoulder is upwards of 9 hours. This one was about 2.1kg so it was going to take awhile.
I fully intended to wake up at 7AM on Sunday and get things going. It's only because it would take so long to cook. If I started much later than 9AM I would be eating dinner far past what I deem reasonable hours. Just about 9AM I did get everything up and going. Some 10 hours later and my meat had hit 190F. 195F is a more ideal temperature for the fats to break down but I couldn't hold out any longer. I took it off the smoker and wrapped it in foil for it to hang out a bit.
I love those dark colors with the red smoky meat peeking out. I also remembered to do a full slice to get a good look at the smoke ring on the meat.
So pretty.
One section of meat seemed to be a bit dry compared to the other very juicy sections. I'm not sure why this might be. It could be the meat or a hot spot in my smoker. It really doesn't matter much once the meat gets pulled apart and mixed with all the other meat.
I really needed another fork, right?
Watch the video. You won't regret it.
The only shame is that I was the only one around to enjoy this. I've got a bigger shoulder waiting for guests in my freezer anyway. I can't get over how much I like that smoker for the 40 dollars I spent on it. The next thing I'm pondering is a modification to make it cook like a stone oven. I just can't stop myself from dreaming how to cook better. Hopefully this winter won't dull my brain one bit. It sure looks like it won't.
4 comments:
Yow, looks great!
But aren't you supposed to film yourself with a mouthful and while shouting oishi! just kidding. Do you get that cut from the local market? And what kind of smoker are you using? I do ribs every Christmas, pressure cooked then baked, but have never tried smoking.
Thanks,
john
Thanks. It was great. I was too lazy to put my face in the picture stuffing it full of meat. That probably wouldn't have been very attractive either.
I asked around at a few local places but nobody had a big pork shoulder roast. So I had to go second best and get some frozen ones from the 業務用スパー and A-Price. I would love to get a fresh cut though.
As for the smoker. It is this little beauty.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5240/7176130172_33d483aecf_z.jpg
I bought it off Rakuten, I think, for about 4000 yen. By itself out of the box it wouldn't be so good for doing a long smoke. So I modified the coal pan to be sealed off from air flow and added makeshift vents. I also raised the water pan inside the smoker because it was too close to the coal area and the water was boiling off way too fast. Here is a little video of what I did with the coal pan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyetnL3nRRc
Before the modifications it just sits down there and air control isn't really possible because the outside air will come in the sides. This might not be such a problem but for me it seemed to be more of a headache for a long smoke time.
If you have anymore questions just ask.
By the way, where do you get your ribs? From the meatguy?
I agree with John! Wishing I could see YOU in the video. Maybe next time.... Looks delicious. Can't wait for you to cook for us in CO. Love you!
Hi Blaine,
Thanks for the info on the smoker etc. I'll give it a try sometime.
I got ribs from the meatguy once and was very satisfied. They were Texas baby back uncooked pork I believe. I mistakenly ordered double what I needed because two racks came per pack, but it was well worth it.
This year I got larger, single cut ribs from Aeon. Cheap, huge and good.
Thanks again,
john
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