The Grilling and Cooking Thread

[Going Commando]

I've cooked a lot of boneless shoulders in a cast iron dutch oven before, but haven't smoked one.  They held up fine physically until I pulled them apart and there is a lot of moisture in the dutch oven.  It shouldn't fall apart on you on your grill, but it might lay pretty flat.  That's why I suggest cooking by thermometer rather than timing it.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

35 minutes ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

I've cooked a lot of boneless shoulders in a cast iron dutch oven before, but haven't smoked one.  They held up fine physically until I pulled them apart and there is a lot of moisture in the dutch oven.  It shouldn't fall apart on you on your grill, but it might lay pretty flat.  That's why I suggest cooking by thermometer rather than timing it.

 

Kirk has one for you...

 

[AsburySkinsFan]

Did Kirk boil that meat?! Good lord someone find out where he lives and give him some BBQ lessons!

That is sad!!!

[skinsmarydu]

5 minutes ago, AsburySkinsFan said:

Did Kirk boil that meat?! Good lord someone find out where he lives and give him some BBQ lessons!

That is sad!!!

True dat! And he's about to throw the baby on the grill! 

Stick with a football, dude! 

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

Not sure if you can see it but it’s wrapped in string.  I’m about to take it out, pat it dry and put the rub on overnight.  I plan to cook to temp and assume it should cook faster without the bone.  I’m going to just hope for the best that it stays in tact.  BTW, I am doing this specifically to pull it for sandwiches.  Thanks for the tips.

 

Edit: As you you can see, I took it out of the string and it’s kind of split.  It allowed me to get rub in more places but not sure how it’s going to stay in tact on the smoker.  Fingers crossed.

Edited July 20, 2018 by BatteredFanSyndrome

[Skinsfan1311]

7 hours ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

Need some help.

 

Really new to smoking in general, have only ever smoked wings (to be fried later) and 1 7lb. bone-in pork shoulder that turned out really well.  I walked into smoking that pork butt under the expectation that I was going to mess it up given how much I've read that can go wrong, but I ended up with great bark and juicy, delicious pork.  I use a Traeger that my uncle handed down to me when he got a big new smoking rig.

 

I've read that smoking a boneless pork shoulder is sacrilege.  But Aldi had boneless pork shoulders on sale for 1.49/lb last week and I picked up a 5lb'er for under 8 bucks.  I'm thinking how bad can it possibly be?  It's not for any special occasion other than I have the day off tomorrow and want to throw it on while I'm mowing grass and watching the Open Championship.  But I'd like to not eff it up.  It comes packaged, with string wrapped around it.  I'm wondering A. if I take the string off, will it just fall apart in the smoker? and B. is there anything special I need to think about when smoking a boneless pork shoulder vs. bone-in?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  I just couldn't pass up 5lb's of pork for less than 8 bucks!

Smoke that ****!  It'Il be fine. Take the internal temp to 195, then double  wrap it tightly in foil, toss it in a cooler and let her rest for at least an hour, or two.  As long as the internal temp is above 140°, it's safe.  

Before you toss it in the cooler, put a couple gallons of hot water in the cooler,  then empty it, put a towel the bottom, then the wrapped shoulder, then another towel on top. It will stay piping hot for hours.

Let us know how it turns out.

Oh...putnit on early, and keep the string on it 

Edited July 20, 2018 by Skinsfan1311

[Skinsfan1311]

4 hours ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

Are you cooking pulled pork?

 

I've never smoked a boneless shoulder.  Use your thermometer to get the temp right and don't worry about timing it is my advice.

That's great advice. Always cook to temp.

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

6 minutes ago, Skinsfan1311 said:

 

Oh...putnit on early, and keep the string on it 

I already discarded the string.  I could always try to tie it up again with my own string.  

[Going Commando]

10 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

I already discarded the string.  I could always try to tie it up again with my own string.  

 

I think that's more so you can get a pretty regular shape for the purposes of cooking it evenly.  It's been a while since I cooked a boneless shoulder in a dutch oven, but I think I remember that they stayed intact until I pulled them apart at the end.  I think your shoulder will hold up on the grates, but it might be a little hard to move around.

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

Just now, stevemcqueen1 said:

 

I think that's more so you can get a pretty regular shape for the purposes of cooking it evenly.  It's been a while since I cooked a boneless shoulder in a dutch oven, but I think I remember that they stayed intact until I pulled them apart at the end.  I think your shoulder will hold up on the grates, but it might be a little hard to move around.

That’s what I was thinking, but I may try to fold her up nice and uniform.  If it doesn’t work out, I’ll tie it up.  

[Skinsfan1311]

9 hours ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

That’s what I was thinking, but I may try to fold her up nice and uniform.  If it doesn’t work out, I’ll tie it up.  

I suggest tying it back up, otherwise it may cook unevenly.  

Let us know how it turns out.

9 hours ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

I already discarded the string.  I could always try to tie it up again with my own string.  

Get a ball of butcher's twine. It's cheap and comes in handy when you cook roasts. You should be able to get it at Walmart. If not, ask the butcher at the grocery store for a piece.

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

So I attempted to restring the shoulder and found that to be a struggle, so I propped it up on the grates and it was a uniform shape.  Ended up taking 10 hours at 225 for 5 lbs.  I wrapped in foil but couldn’t wait it out more than an hour due to it taking so long.  But it ended up delicious and I paired it with a Carolina vinegar sauce I made up last night.  Can’t beat it for 8 Bucks.

 

 

 

 

[skinsmarydu]

Looks awesome! I make my own Carolina vinegar sauce too. Everything bottled is gravy.  ?

[LadySkinsFan]

That pulled pork looks awesome.

 

I can't use a smoker or grill at my apartment. They have a picnic area with grills a ways away from my apartment. I do have a grill pan I can use for steaks at home. 

 

I have my grill in my camper, so will have to wait for cooler camping weather.

[AsburySkinsFan]

@BatteredFanSyndrome looks great!!! I used to be about a thick sauce but now a thinner carolina vinegar sauce is what I go for. The thick bbq too easily dominates whereas the vinegar I feel tends to compliment the smoke flavor of the pork.

[Skinsfan1311]

18 hours ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

So I attempted to restring the shoulder and found that to be a struggle, so I propped it up on the grates and it was a uniform shape.  Ended up taking 10 hours at 225 for 5 lbs.  I wrapped in foil but couldn’t wait it out more than an hour due to it taking so long.  But it ended up delicious and I paired it with a Carolina vinegar sauce I made up last night.  Can’t beat it for 8 Bucks.

 

 

 

 

Cheap and delicious.

You can't beat that!  Great job!  

[Dont Taze Me Bro]

On 7/19/2018 at 1:55 PM, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

Need some help.

 

Really new to smoking in general, have only ever smoked wings (to be fried later) and 1 7lb. bone-in pork shoulder that turned out really well.  I walked into smoking that pork butt under the expectation that I was going to mess it up given how much I've read that can go wrong, but I ended up with great bark and juicy, delicious pork.  I use a Traeger that my uncle handed down to me when he got a big new smoking rig.

 

I've read that smoking a boneless pork shoulder is sacrilege.  But Aldi had boneless pork shoulders on sale for 1.49/lb last week and I picked up a 5lb'er for under 8 bucks.  I'm thinking how bad can it possibly be?  It's not for any special occasion other than I have the day off tomorrow and want to throw it on while I'm mowing grass and watching the Open Championship.  But I'd like to not eff it up.  It comes packaged, with string wrapped around it.  I'm wondering A. if I take the string off, will it just fall apart in the smoker? and B. is there anything special I need to think about when smoking a boneless pork shoulder vs. bone-in?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  I just couldn't pass up 5lb's of pork for less than 8 bucks!

 

Is that common to deep fry wings after smoking them?  Sounds like it would just ruin the wings.  I've heard of baking them, then either grilling/frying them or frying them and then grilling them.  Anyhow, it's not hard to smoke a boneless pork shoulder.  Just pick whatever dry rub you prefer, toss it in the smoker, cook it at low heat, and pull it early enough (while it's juicy) so it doesn't dry out, wrap in foil.  You can take the string off, I usually do when they had strings, always turned out fine without falling apart.  

 

If you are worried about it falling apart, you can just buy one of those cheap aluminum baking trays at the grocery store and set it on that, it will still cook/smoke the same.

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

1 hour ago, Dont Taze Me Bro said:

 

Is that common to deep fry wings after smoking them?  Sounds like it would just ruin the wings.  

It will change your life.

 

You don’t do a long fry, though.  Smoke the wings and then flash fry them for a few minutes.  Deep smoky flavor with crispy skin.  Nothing better.

 

My primary issue with smoked wings is the non crispy skin.  Flash frying afterwards fixes that.

 

I stole the idea from a very good BBQ joint in Hagerstown, MD called Hempen Hill.

 

As for the pork, I ended up throwing it on there without the string and it stayed together fine.  It broke into two pieces when I took it off but it was fine.  Came out really well.  I am convinced that anybody should be able to do this successfully, especially with a pellet smoker like the one I was handed down.

[Dont Taze Me Bro]

Trying to get some smoked wings done before the thunderstorms start.  Just got a new propane grill, charbroil 4 burner with a side burner.  My old one was a really nice, all stainless steal Jenn-Air grill, it went bad, decided I'd never spend that much money on another gas grill again.  I prefer to smoke and cook on my charcoal Weber kettle, but with the heat sometimes and time involvement, it was faster to toss on some wood chips and indirect smoke on the Charbroil today.

 

Used this BBQ sauce and rub on the wings, left side is the dry rub, right side the bbq sauce.

 

 

 

 

 

Wife put way too much rub on hers, I guarantee all the sugar in it is going to result in some burnt skin.  But, that's on her. 

[Skinsfan1311]

23 hours ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

It will change your life.

 

You don’t do a long fry, though.  Smoke the wings and then flash fry them for a few minutes.  Deep smoky flavor with crispy skin.  Nothing better.

 

My primary issue with smoked wings is the non crispy skin.  Flash frying afterwards fixes that.

 

I stole the idea from a very good BBQ joint in Hagerstown, MD called Hempen Hill.

 

As for the pork, I ended up throwing it on there without the string and it stayed together fine.  It broke into two pieces when I took it off but it was fine.  Came out really well.  I am convinced that anybody should be able to do this successfully, especially with a pellet smoker like the one I was handed down.

Sounds great!

It's not possible to slow smoke wings, or any chicken, and get crispy skin.  Temps aren't hot enough. 325° is where you need to be at.   The smoke, then flash fry, is genius.  We made some lifestyle changes, and rarely eat fried foods,  but will definitely try that, next time we have a hankering for wings. Thanks for sharing.

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

1 hour ago, Skinsfan1311 said:

Sounds great!

It's not possible to slow smoke wings, or any chicken, and get crispy skin.  Temps aren't hot enough. 325° is where you need to be at.   The smoke, then flash fry, is genius.  We made some lifestyle changes, and rarely eat fried foods,  but will definitely try that, next time we have a hankering for wings. Thanks for sharing.

I bought a deep fryer from Wal Mart the morning of the season opener (Skins) specifically for frying after I smoked several pounds of wings.  It sits on a shelf in the basement only to be used for that purpose.  I actually plug it in on the deck near the smoker because I can’t stand the smell of fried food in my house.

 

Immediately after they come out of the hot oil, I season them with a mix of brown sugar and old bay so it sticks real nice.  It’s making my mouth water just typing about it.

Edited July 22, 2018 by BatteredFanSyndrome

[Skinsfan1311]

11 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

I bought a deep fryer from Wal Mart the morning of the season opener (Skins) specifically for frying after I smoked several pounds of wings.  It sits on a shelf in the basement only to be used for that purpose.  I actually plug it in on the deck near the smoker because I can’t stand the smell of fried food in my house.

 

immediately after they come out of the fresh oil, I season them with a mix of brown sugar and old bay so it sticks real nice.  It’s making my mouth water just typing about it.

Mmmmmmmm! Mine too!

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

I’m normally one to mix my own seasoning and rubs, but picked this up at Sams on Saturday because it caught my eye.  Sliced some chicken breasts in half tonight, rubbed them with avocado oil and threw this rub on them about 30 minutes before grilling.  Highly recommend, super easy and it has a great flavor.  Paired it with some grilled zucchini noodles and corn.  Nom nom.

 

 

Edited July 23, 2018 by BatteredFanSyndrome

[skinsmarydu]

Chopped & sauteed Vidalia onions in butter with a beef bullion cube & ground pepper. Going with eggs & sausage links for dinner. ?

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

I’ve never added billion to my sautéed/grilled onions.  I’ll have to try it, as I typically go simple with salt and pepper.  I could eat sautéed onion on damn near anything.