[Bob in St. Louis]

Hey all.

My third smoke with the WSM 22.5 is underway.
I got two 6# pork butts and dry rubbed them with two different rubs (see pics). The plan is for one butt to end up as pulled pork, the other I'll be doing pork "burnt ends".
As much research as I've done, there isn't much instruction on how to do pork burnt ends, so here's my version:




Wrapped up and left in the fridge from Friday night to Sunday morning.





Stats:
One bag of Kingsford as fuel.
15 briquetts as starter.
Two handfuls of oak for flavor. This was trim grade wood that was left over from building the kitchen island. Been waiting for just the right moment to use the scraps for this. haha
225 degrees
8:00 am



Four hours later, about noon.
The internal temp of the butt (notice the probe) is 152.
I'll be taking one butt off to cube into squares.





In the kitchen I cup up the butt into "steaks", then into cubes.





As it turns out, the bone was more of a pain in the butt (did ya catch the pun?) than I wanted to deal with, so I'm only using half this butt as "burnt ends".
The other half will go back on, as is. I'm leaving hunks of the thick fat cap in the pan, because I think more pork fat is a good thing. My (future) cardiologist disagrees.



Cubed up, and reseasoned with the dry rub, Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper;



One onion, quartered;



Back on the smoker;

[Rob Babcock]

Dang!  That looks awesome!

[SlushPuppy]

Mmmmm, that looks good. Can't wait for the final pics 

[Bob in St. Louis]

Thanks guys! 

You guys hungry yet? 


Two hours later....

Just for fun, I'm making smoked jalapenos with cheese.

Chop the heads off and use the handle of a spoon to clean out the seeds and ribs;



I "discovered" my kids stash of string Mozzarella cheese (don't tell them). That looks nice and easy!



I didn't want to use up all the string cheese, so the rest of the peppers got a mixture of:
Cream Cheese
Cayenne pepper
Chili powder
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Oregano
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Ground rosemary
Thyme



Bamboo skewered:



On the smoker;



Here's a nice shot of the burnt pork ends;
I stirred them up and removed the strips of fat I put the the bottom (because it seemed like a good idea).
There's plenty of juice in the bottom of my wifes cake pan (don't tell her), so they'll never "burn" like I want them to.

[PeteG]

Bob,
Everything looks great! 

[lonewolfny42]

You like those jalapenos.....

I liked the one's you wrapped in bacon...bet they were tasty Bob.. 

Look'in good so far...lots of good ideas.

[Charles Xavier]

looks great/ I told my wife a smoker will be in our yard next spring

[SlushPuppy]

looks great/ I told my wife a smoker will be in our yard next spring

If you have the time, it's the only way to go. I'll never go back to a regular grill again.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Slush - Amen to that.
"Grills" are for burgers and steaks.
The smoker will be the most used tool in my future.

Chris - Yes, The family and I love the jap peppers (except for the eight year old girl). But we do need to find something one notch down from them.
They can be a bit painful sometimes.
But yea, wrapping them in bacon tends to tame that 'hot' a bit. But I *try* not to involve bacon in everything I cook. 

The burnt ends are finished. They aren't as "burnt" as I'd like, but in my current state of drunken, and high level of hunger, I pull them off and gave the family a snack of sorts.

Some warmed torillas, shredded mozzerella cheese, sliced bits of "burnt ends", smoked onions and a sliced mozzerella stuffed jalapeno pepper.

Next time, I'll have more patience and burn them more. Swimming in too much pork fat has kept them from crisping (so much for not using bacon).
ALthough, I do have about a quart of liquid pork gold. The tortillas are great, but when they're dipped in the pork juice, it's like ...... beyond words.
Dipping the tortillas in the juice with the onions, wow. It would be easier to give you a taste. 

Hmmmm... Time for another glass of wine.
 

[SlushPuppy]

I like this circle because it gives me ideas for things I'd never try on my own. Other than smoked chops, the only pork I've cooked is "pulled pork" (a family favorite).  Cubing it and smoking with the onions and serving on a tortilla is something I never would have considered. I think I'll give this a try on my next break.


Thanks for the pics!

[Bob in St. Louis]

You're very welcome Slush.
I tend to be conservative when I cook, because I'm afraid of ruining the family's meal by adding some strange spice, or whatever.....
But as time goes on, I've gotten bolder with how far I'll walk out on that limb.

Glad I could help to inspire a bit. 
Bob

[putz]

If you already have a Weber Kettle grill and want to convert it to a smoker: http://www.smokenator.com/

I bought one a couple of years ago and it works great, plus you can still use the Weber for regular grilling which most smokers don't do.

Great job on the smoking Bob.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Thanks Putz. 
Something for those interested, should check into a "IQ110 automatic temperature controller".

Bob

[Bob in St. Louis]

Baked Smoked Beans in a cast iron....."On".

Internal temp of the pork (smoking for almost 11 hours) is 168.
Probably would have been done by now, if I'd quite opening the lid to smoke peppers and such..... Oh well....

Temp in the dome varies depending on who you want to trust.

210 = The built in Weber temp guage.
234 = The electronic probe I have hovering inside the dome (through the vent hole).
220 = The analog probe I have hovering inside the dome (through the vent hole).

"Yes" - I'm geek enough to have three inside temp readings.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Here's the pulled pork from the "half butt".
The full butt is STILL on the smoker after 13 hours (Internal temp is 188).
Going to pull from the grill, foil, and rest in a cooler until I go to bed.

Make some great pulled pork sammies tonight.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Day Two:

Pulled pork Nachos. 

The recipe is ...well... "thrown together".

For the cheese:
8 Oz Velveeta
4 Oz Cream Cheese
Mix together in a double boiler.
When melted, add two large handfuls of various types of shredded cheese, but don't let it melt.

In a food processor:
Anything in the vegetable bin of the fridge that seems "right".
Then pour in with cheese.

One large bag of tortilla chips. In the oven to warm, on a cookie sheet.

Pour layers of cheese, handfuls of pork, chips, left over baked (smoked) beans, etc....rinse and repeat until there's nothing left.
Layering the ingredients are important.

Spices and seasonings to taste.

Lots of napkins.

Put the cookie sheet in the middle of the kitchen table and call the family:

[Rob Babcock]

Man, that looks fantastic!  You must really be lovin' the WSM.  I'm diggin' my Smokin-it, too, but I think I'm gonna also buy a small Traeger.  My gas grill is a POS; the Traeger could replace the grill for stuff like burgers & brats, plus do some light smoking, too.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Oh yea, really loving the WSM!

I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that a Traeger can do burgers and steaks.
As small as their fire pot is, I don't see how it could be done.

The plan I've got for mine is, I'm going to build a "station" that will house the existing WSM, but also hold
a small (cheap) grill. So if you could imagine a counterrtop with two units (the WSM and the grill) that's essentially what
I've got in mind.

Bob

[Bob in St. Louis]

How about some "Day Three Pulled Pork":

Pulled Pork Burritos in a cast iron pan with chopped red and green bell peppers, cherry tomatos, and onions.
The wife mixed some BBQ sauce and Sour Cream together.
Looks like a thick chocolate mixture. I was very skeptical about it, but it's great. Give it a try sometime.

[Bob in St. Louis]

"Day Four Pork" 

How about some Pulled Pork Spaghetti and meatballs!





Some of the family wants it "traditional style".



But I wanted a spaghetti and meatball sandwich.
Most fantastic way to cook pulled pork. HIGHLY recommended.