First Cook On The New Smoker

Well, it was finally time to fire up the new smoker and I went thru the seasoning process the day before which burns out any manufacturing junk and coats the inside with a little smoke.  My original plan was to cook just a pork butt then I decided I should at least cook a chicken while I was at it.

The pork was trimmed the night before then rubbed with my Billy Bones mixture of rubs and wrapped in plastic for the night.  I started the smoker at 7am and set the temperature to 265F, added soaked hickory and apple chips and put the meat in.  I like to cook the pork in a pan to ensue I catch all of the juices.  

To create a faster cooking time and provide more surface area for rub, I spatchcocked the chicken then cooked it on a rack on a pan.  It got the same rub which I believe works well for chicken and pork – I use something different on beef. 

I put the chicken on at 12:45 and cooked it to an internal breast temp of 160F which took 3¼ hours.  

Bev decided she wanted to pull/chop the chicken as well as the pork so after cooling a little, we deboned the meat, defatted the juices, and chopped and fried the skin to render the fat and get it crispy.  This was all mixed together, tightly covered in foil and placed in the 165F toaster oven to keep warm until supper time.

The pork was done at 5pm (10 hours) at an internal temperature 197F and I did not cover it with foil during the cook as I usually do.  Since we were ready to eat, I didn’t pull the entire butt but shredded some of with tongs for us to eat directly out of the smoker – we pulled the remainder later.

The Verdict:

Both the pork and the chicken were excellent – moist and tender and when sided with an ear of fresh boiled corn and Bev’s fried okra, it made for an outstanding meal.  I am well pleased with the new smoker both from a cooking and an operating standpoint and it's nice to be back into real BBQ cooking again.  After so many years of cooking on wood fired smokers, I never dreamed I'd be happy with an electric model.

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Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

8/7/21 event date