Spud's Big Birthday Blowout

Ok, so it wasn't big, Spud, Shawna, 3 of his friends and their girlfriends, me and Lynn, Gene came later on. I was going to take pictures but, ....................

I had put the rub on 3 aprox. 5 1/2 Lb pork shoulders before I went to work, I did get a pic of them before I put em on

















I got home from work at 3:00 am and got my fire started, boy maybe this wasn't such a good idea, at 3:30 fire was up to temp, threw in some hickory chunks for smoke and threw the meat in, watched it pretty close for about 1/2 hour to make sure the temp stayed where I wanted it, getting pretty tired by now so into the house, set the alarm for 1/2 hour to check em again, kept setting alarm for 1/2 hr and checking them, but after a couple times, couldn't go back to sleep, kept adding more wood chunks and charcoal as needed til 9:30, I have read that about 6 hrs of smoke is all you need, so I cheated and wrapped em in foil and put em in 220 degree oven, went to sleep, about noon checked temp and still really low, reached the right temp at 3:00, threw em in cooler chest, they will keep warm for hours this way, I'm learning all the barbecue tricks.

after everyone arrived, got the drinks pourin', shredded the pork and started serving sandwiches, everyone raving how good it was, even the girls getting seconds, gambled and drank for a couple more hours, then they all went bar hopping, me and Gene sat around for a few hours, talking Sports, computers and everything else we could think to argue about, he said this is best food he has ever at BBQ at my house, and he's ate here a lot, another total barbecue success.

here's a picture of the left overs the next day, can't believe I never got my camera out during the party
















the next test will be for my annual 2 weeks after mothers day barbecue, it's gonna be a week late this year cause Lynn and I are going to Boise to see Aubree and Hazen and the new house. We are gonna be smoking bone in chicken breasts, this should be an easy one, won't be up all night, only need a couple hours for these, and then throw em on grill for a little while to finish em up, will also have Hamburgers and hot dogs

2nd Times a charm

Finished the modifications to my grill, think I figured out why I got too hot the first time and fixed it, Gonna try pulled pork for my next attempt, Spud wants me to make some for a birthday party, so better practice, got a 5 LB shoulder roast, put a rub on it the night before, wrapped in saran wrap and in the fridge the night before, got up early and got my fire going, here's the roast before going into pit

















now just sit back, keep it burning at 220 degrees, add hickory chips about every 1/2 hr. os so. 7 1/2 hrs later, up to temp, wrap in foil and let sit 1/2 hr, shred the meat, drizzle with Carolina pulled pork sauce I found recipe for, put on hoagie rolls and enjoy
















Heather was here, so her and Lynn were the guinea pigs, we all loved it, I consider this adventure a total success, Smokey, moist, tender, delicious, if I do say so myself (they did too)
much better than first attempt, got some left in fridge, gonna have another sandwich right now

1st attempt

Been using the gas grill for years now, time to try making real BBQ, bought an offset smoker, reaserched this for quite a while and think this is the way to go.














Beautiful day for a BBQ huh, not supposed to snow in April, I have a few modifications to do, but can't wait to try it out, I did add the 2 thermometers on each side to watch temp more closely.

filled the fire box with lump charcoal














fired up a chimney of lump charcoal on my turkey cooker base, then dumped it into fire box and got it up to 225 degrees














I chose baby back ribs for my 1st attempt, actually got St Louis ribs, didn't know the difference, (this is my 1st time) put a rub on em and threw on grill for 3 hrs, following a recipe I fould online, smoke for 3hrs, rap in foil with 1/2 cup apple juice added for 2 hrs, then unrap for 1hr to crispen up, adding BBQ sauce last 15 mins,

here they are after 3 hrs, looking good to me















rapped em in foil, added the apple juice















here's where the trouble starts, spud came over and we started drinking, I don't know what happened exactly but not watching fire close enough, after I added more charcoal, I watched til I thought it had regulated but must have got hot after I went in house , when I unrapped the foil after 2 hr bottom side was burnt, (why you will see no more pics)
we ate around the burnt part by then my day was ruined, they did taste good though, tender, falling off the bone, and Chops loved the burnt part, will keep working at it and good Q' will be had sooner or later