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February 2016 Banter

JoshM

By JoshM,
in Southeastern States

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stepandfetch

stepandfetch

Posted
Posted

Gah. (In a good way.)

Good thing I already had V-Day dinner, or this would be killing me.

(I've done low and slow in the oven, and also some sous vide, but I don't have access to any outdoor equipment.)

You can make your own outdoor equipment, like I did.

First you must grade the dirt where you want the pit to be located, with a rake. Then add sand and make it as level as possible.

Second, arrange cinder blocks into pit walls, on three sides, as big or as small as you want it. Of course you are only building walls on 3 sides, to make room for the shovel. The walls should be two blocks tall, then add metal grate, and finally add the third layer of blocks so you have room for the meat.

Third, build a burn- down pit, for a fire.

After you add the roof to the pit, split the hickory wood, and buy your shoulders, it is time for q. Buy bags of sand, fill cinderblock cavities with sand, to insulate heat.

Burn hickory wood down to coals, all day long. When the internal temp of the pit goes below 200 on your trusty thermometer, add coals by the shovelful. You want the temps to bobble around 200 to 260. If you bought a larger shoulder or picnic around 7-10 lbs, it should take about 9 hours to finish. It is good to have at least one meat thermometer in the shoulder. When it is 195-200 throughout, it is q time. The bone should wiggle easily, and the meat should feel like butter when you skewer it.

When you finish it, wrap it in layers of foil and a towel, and leave it to rest for about 45 min in a cooler, so the juices set.

Okay, as far as the meat itself. Most importantly- buy your meat from a good trusted butcher shop. You do not want meat that has been "inhanced" with sodium. You will want a shoulder with the bone in, with a nice fat cap and tons of marbelling. When you put the meat on the grate, you want the fat cap facing up. If you want, it isn't a terrible idea to trim the cap just a bit.

As far as rubs, injections, etc, there is no need for any of that. I only add a bit of salt on the outside. If you dont add a rub, the shoulder will have a wonderful "outside brown", where the smoke flavor is especially intense. I like to rip and tear the meat a bit, rather than chop the tar out of it, but to each his own. If done right, you will need no sauce.

P.S. You really must use hickory. Well seasoned hickory burns with an aroma that is beyond words. It is worth the extra effort. Another note- if you want more smoke, add pieces of hickory to your bed of coals in the pit. Your back yard will look like a dumpster fire, but it will add to the smokiness of the meat. You can also throw cloves of garlic onto the bed of coals, soak them in water first.

One more tip.. cut a piece of cardboard to sit over the shoulder like a tent. It keeps the ashes off.

If you have any questions, or want pictures of my set up, let me know.

Btw, my setup only cost $60 approx.

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FallsLake

FallsLake

Posted
Posted

His internet superhighway is frozen, delayed until noon.

Lol..maybe.

 

You know I would personally say this event has meet my expectations. For the last couple of days I would have taken what I have currently got and ran with it. The snow ,sleet, and freezing ran has been compressed to a quarter inch of ice over everything. And because of the road temps this is a significant (..not major) event. 

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Jon

Jon

Posted
Posted

RDU is at 23 and frz drizzle. That tells you all you need to know about road conditions. I think I'll be remoting into work this morning.

Was going to drive Duke Hosp. today at 11am but thinking I'll work from home as well. A ~50min drive in normal conditions is probably a 2 hour drive in this. Even though I have a Jeep, this is worse than overnight accrual. Can't do anything about this and ZR doesn't care if I have a Jeep or a corvette.

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Jet Stream Rider

Jet Stream Rider

Posted
Posted

I don't usually see the local media, but happened to catch a little bit of WRAL weather reports this morning. Disappointed with their mets coverage. They once again used that tired old chestnut of snow/sleet/zr falling through different thickness of cold air. But totally neglected to even mention the CAD wedge and its effects, which is arguably the most meaningful thing about this storm.  :blink:

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Jet Stream Rider

Jet Stream Rider

Posted
Posted

Was going to drive Duke Hosp. today at 11am but thinking I'll work from home as well. A ~50min drive in normal conditions is probably a 2 hour drive in this. Even though I have a Jeep, this is worse than overnight accrual. Can't do anything about this and ZR doesn't care if I have a Jeep or a corvette.

 

lol! Yeah, zr don't care about nothing much. Good decision.

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