YABB (Yet Another Boston Butt) and Frozen Chicken Breasts

[addicted-to-smoke]

Sorry for the tease but by now you should realize I enjoy the challenge of posting while cooking the food.

8lb pork shoulder butt, slathered with yellow mustard so that my friend's rub would stick to it:




Not much to look at here but I'll describe it. Fat cap side up, there's a quasi-3 layer snake of Coshell coconut briquets (on close-out at Lowe's ...) nearly all the way around because I didn't know how long it would need to go, it's basically winter and there's a breeze, and it's only my second pork butt.

Two smaller drip pans in a "T" configuration to cover the area not covered by coals. No water used. I lit a small chimney and placed the coals on the left part (going clockwise I now realize I might have screwed this up since it's pork)



Meat's been on 5 hours and is at 136, grill is at 225. Oh dear Lord how do I love this freaking kettle ... it began a bit hotter, was climbing upwards of 250-270 before I put the brakes on below and above. When it sank to about 215 I opened it back up and there it sits at 225. Almost like the Maverick is frozen and needs a reboot LOL.

I have a few pieces of something (hickory? oak? it was given to me, don't care, I forget) spaced throughout.

Something tells me that in another 2 or 3 hours I'm going to get bored and open it up wide or do something else stupid. Who am I kidding, I think it is open wide pretty much right now.

Wait, wait, 223 now, temp is falling? Stocked the coals and pushed them up more against the snake. Snake hasn't budged much, maybe these Coshells really are that efficient.

In the last 15 mins grate temp ramped up to 243 and meat 143+ but did I go outside? No I did not.

[addicted-to-smoke]

Hold on, what about the stupid frozen chicken??

Called wife to pick up some chicken at 3:30 (the pork was of course never intended to be dinner)

At 4:30 I see wife pop her head out the window, looking down as I'm staring at the grill ... "Hey, I forgot to call you back ..."

me: OK so can you Google 'cooking frozen chicken, because THIS here isn't dinner."

So apparently you use your oven's broiler pan and cook the snot out of it for 30-40 mins at 350 or so. Well shit, I can do that outside, right? Olive oil and seasoning mixed and slathered on ...



and it just barely fits on an 18.5" kettle, full chimney of leftover lump going, yes lid closes:



after 40 minutes I turned the chicken and they were still raw on the bottom, but doing their own "slow cook" LOL

[addicted-to-smoke]

6:05, nearly 4 hrs for the pork ... grill steady at 250, like a crappy auto transmission "hunting" between gears the Maverick keeps beeping as it bumps up against the preset 250 for the upper temp. Meat has climbed to 154-156 and still going ...

Chicken breasts have been roasting an hour. OMG the chicken smells heavenly, I turned them again, but it likely is still raw in the middle. Can't find my freakin' instant-read thermometer but since it feels too squishy and so, stays on. Getting' there. I put the Boy on powdered mashed potatoes duty and steamed broccoli. Not sure if the WiiU isn't getting more attention there however.

[addicted-to-smoke]

Right, so, I'd done a frozen steak for the wife on the neighbor's gasser a couple weeks ago after The Internet told me it would be OK and we were scheduled to eat over there. (And despite my lack of steak-cooking experience, and cluelessness with gassers, it was. And in all fairness his el cheapo Charbroil TRU-Infrared is a NICE grill) That's how the frozen-chicken thing tonight came about which by the way I had me a little taste and it's super yummy. Still on the grill, er, broiler, eh I don't know what it's called by now. 6:30pm

Wrapped foil around the pork butt when Maverick said 160 for the meat, 257 for grill. I basically don't care anymore what the kettle does. About 10 mins later, and with the probe in a different spot the meat's at 156 (uh ... OK ...) and grill was at 261. Again, I ... don't care. Now 158 and 266.

[addicted-to-smoke]

7:15, grill has supposedly climbed to 329 and meat, 163. I'd estimate the snake is about 1/2 way through. Thinking of starting a movie soon. Intake was closed down a little.

[addicted-to-smoke]

10:15, 8 hrs from the start, I pulled the pork off the grill and let it sit for a short while before unwrapping. It went to 190 and stayed. The grill had climbed up towards 265 and then made its way down to 215. Not sure what happened, the snake was still there. Meat went to 192 when I pulled it.

Remember, this is fat side up. Bone has been partially pushed out. My last probe repositioning about an hour earlier went in like butter.



bone pulled out clean, with 2 fingers



smelled good, tasted good, very tender





Not the most flavorful one I've had, but I've never experienced one more tender and that was my main goal. Yielded about 4 quarts, enough to share with some friends and family.

Oh, and the chicken turned out fine. I thought it was a complete success although I had one complaint about the texture being "a little off" and 2 others about the taste?

[1buckie]

You're my favorite "Live Updater" !!!!!!!!


Nice, no check that, EXTRA NICE, looking pork.......the chicken seems to have found it's way across the road in fine fashion also !!!

[addicted-to-smoke]

Thanks, I figure if it turns out to be a disaster it'll at least be entertaining. My girl took a sample last night and declared it a winner. "It needs NOTHING!!" -- high praise from a kid who adds ketchup to all sorts of stuff.

At various times throughout it thought, "WWBD?" (What Would Buckie Do?) and then I relax, asses the situation and go sit for awhile before futzing with it.

[1buckie]

"and then I relax, asses the situation and go sit for awhile before futzing with it."

This is mostly good......just don't do what I did with the last rib cookup:

Checked, went in & fell asleep on the couch & cooked most of the juicyness out of them......not dry, mind you.......just not real juicy like I like......

[eccj]

Still haven't gotten around to doing a Boston Butt!  Nice play-by-play addicted!

[addicted-to-smoke]

Mine here didn't have any bark, is that due to putting fat cap side up, not thick with seasoning or both? Not that I really mind, juiciness was the goal and it was achieved.

My 8hr cook consumed about 3/4 of the snake I think? Still not sure about vents. There were times when things were rock steady and other times when it was on a clear path rising or sinking. Did my best to make small adjustments and let it ride, knowing it takes a while for the effect to take hold. Bottom was never more than 1/2 open and most of the time it was only open a crack. Top vent was either all the way or half way.

So I have a WSM but wanted the kettle experience here. I'm not yet to the point where I could do one at night and sleep through. Buckie it sounds as though you acted on the best available knowledge, which is all any of us can do.

[Tim in PA]

That was a fun read. Thanks ATS.

I would also like to hear peoples opinion on the bark as well.

[1buckie]

Bark looks fine to me.....it's smooth because (it seems like) the rub is pretty fine grind.....

Another thing that will smooth out the crust is spritzing.......

If you want a thick crusty bark, use a coarse grind mix of components or pre-made rub....

I use mostly Big Ron's....a favorite at Smoke Ring.....it's pretty good, pretty concentrated & can be a bit salty if not cooked thru completely.....

Here's a fairly heavy PB done with it:





What I try to do is cook thru 'till done & at that point, it will be pretty crusty & still a bit salty tasting...



After the cook, it goes into a foil & towel wrap, min. 1-1/2 hrs......that will melt down the fat & soften the bark some......see, the fat is there, but cooked down fairly thin before the wrap........this should disintegrate nicely after a time in the hold....





There may be a few fatty bits, or dried out pieces that don't make the cut, but usually most everything can be served......

.

[Tim in PA]

Oh, you sliced the fat into a grid? Looks awesome!