Talk about slow cooking. This past weekend we purchased a Brinkman Smoke’n Pit grill from Home Depot. I’ve been very interested in trying to smoke true BBQ so I got a multitasker for the job. Not only can this grill smoke meat but you can also use it for regular grilling as well. So I set off to my first smoking experience ever on Sunday. Lighting up the side box at 9:30 AM for a full day of smoking some Santa Barbara style pork ribs as well as a 5 lbs. pork shoulder that would later become pulled pork. After doing hours of research on the Smoking Meat Forums I determined that I pretty much wanted to try to keep the smoker at or around 225 degrees as the meat slowly cooked. Although I had never really used any other than a gas grill in the past using charcoal actually wasn’t too difficult, in fact it was sort of fun keeping an eye on the grill. I used a rub that I found from the now inactive BBQ Junkie website.
BBQ Rub
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup paprika
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup cumin
1/4 cup granulated garlic
1/4 cup granulated onion
1/4 cup cinnamon
1 1/5 dashes of ground cloves
Mix together and sprinkle liberally over your spare ribs or pork butt before smoking.
Everything turned out great. The only slight change I will make next time is using a little less rub on the meat, I really caked it on, since the recipe said to apply liberally. Everything was a success and all those that partook in my fabulous smoked meat said it was great and was impressed!
9 thoughts on “Smoking in Orange”
Dan……Man, that looks good for your first time………..just remember low and slow………Go to Osh and get yourself a rose bush sprayer and fill it with apple juice or apple cider vinegar when you are smoking to keep the meet moist………Now go to Costco and buy a cryovac pack of baby back ribs………..their ribs have the most meat on them that I've ever seen……I believe they sell “choice” grade which isn't generally available to the consumer……..only restaurants…………once you've got ribs down good, move onto Brisket………..smart & final has brisket at a good price………I really haven't found a good place to buy beef ribs…………the grocery store ones just aren't worth the effort………..since they have so little meat on them………..if someone has a good source for beef ribs, please share!
I acutally forgot to mention that I sprayed the meat with Apple Juice every so often to keep the outside moist. Learned a lot of tips before I started on that forum. The hardest challange I'm finding is locating some good lump charcol there doesn't seem to be many sources for that here in SoCal. I'm planning to do Tri-Tip, Brisket, and Shoulder for the 4th. But I'm hoping to get a couple more test runs in before. I think I like the smaller cuts since they don't take as long. If I was to get a 10 pound shoulder it would take all day and then some. The 5 lbs. one I had took from 10:15 when I put it on till nearly 6 with the way I did it. But it was worth every minute!
Just awesome…two thumbs up…if you need a new friend, let me know!!!
Dan, Try Smart & Final for your lump charcoal (40 lbs. mesquite $14)
Wow! Looks so good!
Awesome!! Thanks! I was thinking about checking Smart and Final, glad for the confirmation.
Dan.. Try out The Woodshed on Batavia for different smoking woods. Mike is a great guy and they are really helpful when it comes to smokin'. When I want to try different stuff at home, this is where I go.Scottie
Very cool, thanks for the info Scottie! 🙂 He's right around the corner from me.
Very cool, thanks for the info Scottie! 🙂 He's right around the corner from me.