A tale of two Butts

I have been thinking about doing a taste test on butts for a while now (don't laugh, you know what I mean.)  I have never injected anything with well..anything.  I have read and seen a lot of people who inject their butts/briskets/turkeys/chicken with some form of marinade.  On at least 100 occasions I have seen,picked up and read, the cajun injector at any of the stores that I frequent.  Just never bought it.  Well I didn't buy it this time, but I did buy an injector.

Then I had to figure out what to inject.  I decided on a mix of apple cider vinegar and Saw's Sauce.

I put 1 1/2 cups of the marinade into the larger of the butts.  I let it marinate(I guess this is the correct term) over night.  I got up yesterday morning at 5 a.m. to start the fire.  I then rubbed both butts in Rut's Rub.  The one on the right has been injected.  Butt on the left 6.5 lbs, right 7.5 lbs.

I got the fire up to 250 then put the butts on.  If you remember from yesterday I got a new smoker.  This is the first big cook on it.  It was 6 in the morning, dew still covering the ground, I am on my second cup of coffee, a clear white smoke coming out of the smoker, I am in hog heaven (pun intended.)  It will be a great day, well....Here is the short summary of my day:

I noticed quickly the temp started to waiver, it did this early and often.  Then at some point, around 10, I walked outside and heard a noise that made my heart quake.  What I heard was the top rack had fallen, hitting the bottom rack, into the water pan and on into the coals.  I slowly opened the door to the smoker to make sure nothing fell out.  Byrd came running out and helped me take the butts off get them into the oven on 225, while I got the smoke back up to temp and set up again.  I wish I would have gotten a picture of this, but the frustration of the situation did not let me think that far ahead.  All set up, the butts go back on.  I thank Byrd for helping me to see the funny side of this and I get my spirit back.  Then things settled into a nice routine of having about 2 hour breaks in having to do something.  Around 11 last night the internal temp was 175.  It was a long night to say the least.  I wrapped them, in a sleepy haze,around 3 this morning when the internal timer went off at 190.  They stayed on until 6 when they reached 210.  I went back to sleep after that.

I pulled the pork this morning at 8.  I am not sure I have ever gotten out of bed, poured a cup of coffee, and started to pull pork.  What a great morning.  The bones slid right out, great smoke ring, and the bark was delicious for breakfast.  This is my pork plate, you can barely see the pig in the middle, it is only used for pork products.

 Here they are pulled.

As I tasted them this morning, I couldn't decide which one I liked better.  The one with the injection definitely had the little bit of extra flavor, but I still liked the straight pork flavor from the other one.  A very tough decision.  Maybe after lunch I will be able to make a better decision.  I will do the injection again, partly because it was fun to prepare.  Although it was a much longer cook than I had expected, and extremely frustrating on the new smoker, it was still a day/night spent outside cooking.  I also will be able to take pulled pork to friends and family, who are anxiously awaiting.  I will say this about this cook, I envy people with the BGE. There I said it.

New Smoker and Firehouse Chicken

About a week ago I came across a free smoker.  I know there is no such thing as free, but this truly was a free smoker, thanks Matt.  I love new toys, especially free ones.  It came with all the parts, even a cover, and doesn't look like it has been used much.  It is a New Braunfels Company Smoker, well that is what the cover said, the actual lettering on the smoker itself has worn off.  I couldn't find out much about it, other than NB Smoker Co. sold to CharBroil in 2002, closing its plant in Texas and moving production to Georgia.  This particular smoker was discontinued as far as I can tell.  Here is the new addition to the family.  It was raining the day I brought her home, and I had to take pictures so she was inside.

Now that Byrd likes chicken thighs, thanks to Pickapeppa Chicken, that is what she asked for tonight for dinner.  I am a happy guy.  I recently bought a bottle of Firehouse Subs Captain Sorenson's Datil Pepper Sauce.  It is great on their subs, but I new it had a more potential than just a sub topper.  I marinated 4 chicken thighs in it for about 2 hours.  Removed it from the marinade and let it sit uncovered in the fridge while the fire got going.  

I placed a one grate on the 6 setting above the fire.  I wanted good crispy skin, but did not want the sugars in the sauce to burn.  I placed them skin side down for 20 minutes then flipped them and let them go for about 40 minutes more.  We were having corn on the cob with dinner so I wrapped them in foil and placed them on the grate above the fire when I flipped the chicken, not wanting to make the same mistake again.  The chicken came off when the internal temp of the largest piece was 165.  The corn came off with the chicken.

We also got some great asparagus to go with dinner.  Very simple a little olive oil, cavenders, and balsamic vinegar.  I cooked them under the broiler for about 5 minutes.

The chicken was delicious, I will marinate it a little longer next time, but the flavor of the sauce did come through.  Corn was actually done this time, and the nice crisp asparagus is a great companion on the plate.  I am glad I got a feel for the new smoker.  Right now there are two butts on it.  I am doing a test on the flavor difference of an injected butt with dry rub, and one with just rub.  Should be interesting.  Stay tuned for the results.