5am Smoke

[TackDriver284]

Bought a Traeger electric pellet grill smoker the other day from Bass Pro Shop, seasoned the grill according to instructions and marinated a 10 pound pork shoulder. Waking at 5 am to start it up to temp. It's my first time smoking meats and hopefully it comes out good. Instructions was set temp to 225, place pork shoulder fat down on the grill, probe in, and spritz once every hour with apple juice / apple cider vinegar mix until internal temp hits 165 degrees, then remove and double wrap, and place back in the Traeger, probe in again until internal temp hits 205-210 and let it sit in a cooler for an hour,,,then get the claws out,,,,pulled pork. Yum
It may take somewhere from 10 to 12 hours roughly. :shock:

 

[JD338]

Mark,
That sounds really good. Let us know how it turns out.

JD338

 

[DrMike]

Oh, yeah. That'll be some fine dining for you and your kin. Love my Traeger and my Bradley. Use both of them on a regular basis.

 

[TackDriver284]

Enjoying my Dallmayer coffee while waiting,,,, :grin:

 

[TackDriver284]

Sorry for the late reply, pulled the pork shoulder at 160 internal temp, wrapped in double foil with a 1/2 cup of apple juice and back in the smoker until internal temp is at 208 degrees, removed it and let sit in a cooler for 45 mins then shredded the pork shoulder after scraping off some bottom fat. Smoke total time was 10.5 hours.
That shoulder is so tender. Made some soft shelled tacos. It's so yum. My 2nd mission soon will be baby back ribs. :grin:

 

[JD338]

Mark,

That looks amazing.

JD338

 

[ShadeTree]

Man that looks and sounds terrific!! What's that grub rub? Never heard of it. Local stuff?

 

[TackDriver284]

Man that looks and sounds terrific!! What's that grub rub? Never heard of it. Local stuff?

It was my first time using it, got it from Academy. https://www.grubrub.com/

Just marinated 2 slabs of baby back pork ribs with some Salt Lick Dry Rub, seasoned some deer backstraps / wrapped with bacon and in the fridge overnight. Will smoke it tomorrow morning along with some spicy sausages. :grin:

 

[SJB358]

I love my Traeger. Man, if you wanna try a great rib recipe try Jim’s out but using your Traeger instead of the over. I’m telling you it’s like meat candy.

 

[TackDriver284]

Scotty, I have been googling recipes on making jerky, going to give that a try soon. :grin:

 

[SJB358]

Nice, the Traeger is one great set up for just about everything. I wished it went a little higher for searing but that's about the only thing it doesn't do great.

 

[DrMike]

Nice, the Traeger is one great set up for just about everything. I wished it went a little higher for searing but that's about the only thing it doesn't do great.

I have found that by searching for the "hot spot" (the right front corner on my Traeger) I'm able to get quite a nice sear, Scotty.

 

[SJB358]

Nice, the Traeger is one great set up for just about everything. I wished it went a little higher for searing but that's about the only thing it doesn't do great.

I have found that by searching for the "hot spot" (the right front corner on my Traeger) I'm able to get quite a nice sear, Scotty.

Yes sir, I took your advice and have done the same a few times, but I still don't get that deep burn that a hot charcoal fire or cast iron sear will. But yep, that is a great point. I still wouldn't trade my Traeger for anything.

 

[DrMike]

Your point is well taken--you won't get the same deep char of a cast iron grate or that which comes with a hot charcoal fire. I guess I'm content if my lady can be satisfied, and so far I've managed to keep her fooled. :roll: And I do use the Traeger four to one when compared to the Bradley, much as I like a good smoked meal.

 

[SJB358]

Your point is well taken--you won't get the same deep char of a cast iron grate or that which comes with a hot charcoal fire. I guess I'm content if my lady can be satisfied, and so far I've managed to keep her fooled. :roll: And I do use the Traeger four to one when compared to the Bradley, much as I like a good smoked meal.

Same here Doc. You did not steer me wrong. And since I have gotten mine, I'd bet there are ten more folks I work with that got their own after eating off mine.

 

[jimbires]

do you guys have a heat baffle in your smoker ?

I'm not sure what brand smoker my son has , but the temp difference from one side to the other was about (I think ) 100* . he found me some pictures of a baffle , supposedly to cure this . he cut and shaped a pizza box ,and wrote some dimensions . I cut a heavy plate and bent it to his shape , and drilled holes in it . the holes nearest the fire box are 1/4"? , they increase in size to 3/4"? farthest away from the fire box . he said it really helped balance the cooking temp .

 

[DrMike]

The Traeger does have a heat baffle which evens out the heat. However, at the edge of the drip tray is a hot spot that allows for searing. What you did for your son sounds like an excellent alteration that could improve even the Traeger. I'll have to look into that.

 

[TackDriver284]

The Traeger does have a heat baffle which evens out the heat. However, at the edge of the drip tray is a hot spot that allows for searing. What you did for your son sounds like an excellent alteration that could improve even the Traeger. I'll have to look into that.

Yes, i had a pork shoulder that I was smoking for 10.5 hours, it was in the middle of the rack while i had some spicy sausages on both sides of it to cook the last two hours. The ones on the edge of the rack ( where the pail bucket is ) cooked faster than the one on the auger side of the grill. I learned from it.

 

[jimbires]

here is one pic of the baffle . I have another I'll try to put up in the next post .

 

[jimbires]

it wouldn't let me add the second pic , but it's there .


the baffle goes up the side of the smoker on the firebox side . his has a handle bolted there but he didn't mark the bolt holes, in the cardboard , for me to be able to drill them . so he had to drill them . this plate is fairly heavy . I'm thinking it was 1/4" thick . I think this will help hold the heat too . I gave it a good sanding , to remove the paint . if it needs the heat restricted more , a bolt , nut , flat washers , through the hole will close it off . I've had this piece of metal here for years , this was a belly skid plate from a 2 wheel drive Chevy S-10 pickup . if I remember right it was a bell telephone truck . my Napa store bought the truck , and I removed the plate .