Sunday's Cook (AKA next practice session)

[Music Junkie]

Wife said she wanted some pulled pork, so I was excited to give it a go on the new IVC. Been dying to practice anything I can to learn how to better run the pit. Went to buy the butt at the local Winco, and they had a really decent looking brisket for the first time in over a year. It was only choice, but the price was only 3.98/lb and it wasn't a huge one. Maybe 11lbs or so. Flat was not paper thin, and it had a decent bend to it, so I thought what the heck. If I'm practicing a long cook, I might as well....


Results were better than expected. I figured the pulled pork would be fairly easy, as it is such a forgiving cut of meat. I cleaned it up and coated it pretty heavily rub. Then I went to work on the brisket. Got it trimmed down and just coated it in salt & pepper.


Woke up early Sunday morning, made coffee and fired up the pit. Watched the sun come up and got the meat on. After about 5hrs, the IT's were running about 160-175 and I could not decide if I wanted to wrap, or let them go. It was only 11:30am. I finally caved and wrapped the butt in an aluminum pan with foil, and wrapped the brisket in butcher paper. The IT's were 201-203 at about 1:30, so I pulled them. Both probed very tender. Let them sit in the cooler for a couple of hours since it was too early for dinner. Once we were ready, I pulled the pork, which was certainly the most tender I had achieved to date, and then sliced up the brisket. Brisket wasn't perfect, but is was the best one I have made so far. Overall I was very happy with the outcome.


Only problem I had was when I opened the pit to wrap, I had it open for about five minutes. When I closed it back down, the pit temps tried to soar on me. I shut her down and it took a while to drop, but it did. Opened things back up and she settled back in for the rest of the cook.


Question 1: Is there a typical trade-off time for wrap? If you don't wrap, how much longer does it take to push through the stall? I would like to be able to better judge cook time at some point!


Question 2: When taking things out to wrap, it is best to grab them as quickly as possible and close the door back? Did having the door open for too long make the temp spike so badly?


At any rate, I wanted to share some pics, and thank everyone for my continued BBQ education on this amazing site!

 

[Mike Twangzer]

You don't need no stinkin' practice !!!! :-D Looks killer !!!

 

[Stingerhook]

You can cook for me anytime Jason.

 

[NoOne]

Looks like you did well!

 

[SweetHeatBBQnSC]

That is some beautiful grub and a beautiful cooker!

 

[gtsum]

Looks great! Really like that sunrise pic with the cooker chugging away!


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[kevinstaggs]

Judging from your practice round, I’d say you’re ready for tournament play.


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[gsobbq]

In the words of Allen Iverson, "Practice! We talkin' bout practice!" :laugh: Looking like a straight up pro to me! Good stuff!

 

[Music Junkie]

Thanks for the kudos, it is appreciated. I think I have the basics dialed in, but I think I got pretty lucky too. When the pit soared on me after I wrapped, it could have went south pretty bad. I need to figure that issue out a bit more. When I clamped the intake down and left the exhaust wide open to release the heat, it climbed down ok. However, when it got to where I wanted it to go, I think parts of the fire had died out. I opened the intake all the way to get it established again, and when I did, I got lots of white smoke. I think the fact that I had it wrapped probably saved me from some bad taste. It's good to know I can work with the temps, but I'd sure like to avoid that moving forward!


What do you guys use on your pulled pork to flavor it a bit more? The rub tastes great, and I basted it a couple of times with a mop, but when eating the pork without BBQ sauce, it was kinda bland. Injections? Add more rub after the shredding?


whenever I think I learn something and get over one hump in this hobby, I find that I just run into another..... Good thing it's still fun, and that the food tastes good more times than not! It would just be plain depressing otherwise.:laugh:

 

[ssv3]

Nice practice session Jason. All looks killer!

 

[Hoss]

Becoming a “pit master” is like a lifelong math test.Every time you solve a problem,there are thousands of problems waiting to be solved next.Do your best,enjoy the rest.In my humble opinion,yes,leaving the door open while wrapping caused your temp spike.Good lookin vittles.

 

[onemanlan]

To answer your question - I try not to leave the doors open very long. Like you said the temps can get pretty wild on you since you're introducing a lot of air that you'd otherwise be restricting. Just try to keep your time with the door open to a minimum, but not so much you don't open it for the occasional spritz or food addition. The real key is knowing that it will flare up on you under those circumstances and how to draw it back down to reasonable temps when it does happen. I typically dont wrap in my IVS simply because its extra trouble & as long as I have a water pan going its usually not a problem. Stalls happen & they take a while, but given the efficiency & low intervention of the IVS its easier for me to let it keep going.

The food looks stellar. You didn't skip a beat.

For the pork question - an extra bit of rub to taste while shredding it.

 

[Titch]

You don't need no stinkin' practice !!!! :-D Looks killer !!!

Can't argue with that:thumb:

 

[Shiz-Nit]

awesome cook

 

[Music Junkie]

To answer your question - I try not to leave the doors open very long. Like you said the temps can get pretty wild on you since you're introducing a lot of air that you'd otherwise be restricting. Just try to keep your time with the door open to a minimum, but not so much you don't open it for the occasional spritz or food addition. The real key is knowing that it will flare up on you under those circumstances and how to draw it back down to reasonable temps when it does happen. I typically dont wrap in my IVS simply because its extra trouble & as long as I have a water pan going its usually not a problem. Stalls happen & they take a while, but given the efficiency & low intervention of the IVS its easier for me to let it keep going.

The food looks stellar. You didn't skip a beat.

For the pork question - an extra bit of rub to taste while shredding it.

I really appreciate the help. I certainly like the idea of not wrapping, I was just nervous about the extra time. Considering how long I had to let it rest before it was dinner time, I could have easily left it on another 2hrs or more, so I might have been able to push through the stall anyway. Good to know. When I am cooking just for the family, it's not such a big deal. However, if things open up and I can get back to having BBQ's with friends, timing will be a bit more important. Or, I can just buy more alcohol and make everyone wait. Not sure which route is better.:laugh: