Picnic on the Cobalt, life update [emoji2] and I have a knife question...

[choynes]

8lb Picnic on the C&B Cobalt (prolly 6-7lbs trimmed). 2x2x1 snake and water pan. Applewood to smoke and rubbed with mustard and Home made rub

I'm a retired CG guy and this is one of my passions I now have time to do (not to mention I left my high-stress corporate job recently). I'm now registered for a M.A. in History at Liberty University doing it full time on my GI Bill. So tighten the belt we will. Going to Liberty University because I want to get the real American history graduate degree not revisionist history from all the weirdo anti-American professors at the snowflake colleges. This is also always been my passion. Total change of ships course and speed, but even with the high-paying corporate job I felt like my ship was headed for shoal water due to the high stress. It's just not worth it. Don't know where this path will lead me but I'm a lot more relaxed and have time to pursue life.

Question for the Group - I just sharpened my US made Imperial Steel large butcher knife at 20° with my Lansky, ending with my Sapphire stone and it wasn't sharp enough to skin the shoulder. Had to use my German pairing knife. Anyone know what I did wrong? Each stone was 20/10/5/3/1 strokes.






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[mhiszem]

Grate setup!


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[hawgheaven]

I have that same C&B Performer... what a beauty it is! Congrats on the retirement... getting ready to jump ship myself. I understand when enough is enough. So often, I've wanted to say to my boss, "I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong..."

[kettlebb]

Good setup with the pork, not sure about the knives and what could have been better.  Good luck with the job change.  My experience is they aren't always easy but when you find your "happy place" it makes the work and home life balance much better.

[cwmfour]

@choynes did you get a burr when you were sharpening?  Especially on the more coarse stones?


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[Jayco]

I have been sharpening stones since I was a kid like my Dad and Grandpa both did, with a whetstone. First rule: keep sharpening with the course stone until you have a working sharp edge, then use the finer stone. Easiest way to check if your working edge is good is by touching the edge to your thumbnail at a 45 degree angle. If it grabs, then you can move to the finer stone. If it slides, keep sharpening...

[kettlebb]

I used to watch my Grandfather use his stone. It was almost hypnotic in a way. He'd pause to sip his Wild Turkey and get back at it with his knives. You could shave with any knife in his house.


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[robs2]

@choynes What temps did you maintain with that setup and how long was your cook?


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[choynes]

Temps were 250-270"ish. Turned out very good but a little dry and bark was flavorful but tough.
Next time I'll probably go 2x2 instead of 2x2x1 I did ribs for four hours yesterday at 2x2 and temps were 220-230ish all day and they turned out awesome. Used Pecan for smoking the ribs
As far as the knife sharpening I read that the Lansky won't sharpen large knives in one position, you can only do   2-3" at a time - beyond that it changes the angle. So I'm not using it anymore. I have a set of flat oil stones I'll try, might want to steal my brothers  (and used to be Dads) Norton 3 Stone (the old black case ones with the oil pan). And @cwmfour - no, didn't know about the burr till you mentioned it. I know about it now and will work like @Jayco said on the course stone first and prolly get someone @kettlebb granddads Wild Turkey to sip on


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[choynes]

Oh! Pictures of it cooked - even tho some was dry  over 50% wasn't and it tasted so goods the wife peep was obsessed with it

Another question for the Group: do I need to hit 203-205° for Boston's and Picnics like I do with Briskets? This Picnic I did to 195. Pulled it because of the drying out. Another thing I'll do different next time is wrap in parchment last couple of hours.





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[Jayco]

Looks great!!
Instead of parchment try wrap in foil for the last bit and you could also add a bit of liquid inside the foil. I have used apple juice mixed with a few different spices depending on the rub and the cut.
Sharpening stones: The sharpening systems are good, but you ate right that they only allow a small area to be done at a time with the small working surface. I use these wet stones (water) from Lee Valley. Not as messy as oil. Similar to Norton just a bit more cost effective. They are 2 sided. I start with the 250 grit to get the working edge, then flip the stone over to the 1000 grit side. For most general use knives around the kitchen (that the wife and kids use) I get a quality edge with this process. If I want a razor edge I will use the 4000 grit stone. This is just a finish polish to the already very sharp edge.

http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=33010&cat=1,43072,67175,67177
http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=33009&cat=1,43072,67175,67177

[choynes]

Thank you Jayco. Those look to be a better buy with the combos.


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