Arctic blast Sunday with winds from the north around 15 - 20 mph, stayed in the 20s all day. Might sound warm to some, but not to this Bama boy! I cooked with what I had in place, pork butts on the Kamado and Beaux's chickens on the Recteq. Pork butts on at 10am, brought in at 10pm, wrapped in a foil pan and finished in the oven at 1am. Rested in the cooler with towels and pulled at 6am Monday morning - butts were still at 165F when pulled. Not the best schedule for a weekend cook, but I had to cook when I could with Christmas shopping taking up our Saturday.
Results were 7 lbs of pulled pork for the vac sealer/freezer, one lb for our dinner last night and 4 lbs of pulled chicken for Beaux's meals. I got to use my meater block with all 4 probes in use at once. Placement always skews the ambient temps and consequently proposed cook times, but overall they worked very well.
Cheers and happy holidays!
That's multi-tasking with a lot of food and creating great results with all of it. Well done! And you are right, 20s sounds pretty good after being below zero over the weekend with more snow here in Iowa. We are going to probably break some records this week with warm weather though. Looking at some 40s as the week goes on.
Grate look and cook, as always, you are my bench mark!
Cheers
Nice work! Food looks great as always
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Quote from: ASpitzer on December 16, 2025, 05:46:43 AMThat's multi-tasking with a lot of food and creating great results with all of it. Well done! And you are right, 20s sounds pretty good after being below zero over the weekend with more snow here in Iowa. We are going to probably break some records this week with warm weather though. Looking at some 40s as the week goes on.
The multi-tasking was fun throughout the day, even had some time to work on my HO train display project during the cook. The not so fun part was the late evening, waiting on the roasts to get to 203F in the oven. I got about 3 hours of sleep, got up and had strong coffee, pulled the pork and got ready for work at 8. I slept VERY well last night though. I can't imagine doing this with below zero temps and snow!
I hope you enjoy the warmer weather coming up!
Quote from: Cabernet on December 16, 2025, 05:50:12 AMGrate look and cook, as always, you are my bench mark!
Cheers
Thanks so much, you are too kind!
Quote from: Tommie on December 16, 2025, 06:07:16 AMNice work! Food looks great as always
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Thank you sir..... we shall enjoy this into the new year! I promise to get a Weber out soon.... Maybe New Year's rotisserie rib roast on a kettle which is my traditional cook. Will be looking for sales for sure with the current beef prices around here.....
Looking at some of the prices that you are paying below the 49th parallel are crazy even without the exchange rate .
That chicken is beautiful - Beaux is a lucky boy. :D
No matter how I try to plan, the "pulling time" is always at the most inconvenient time.
Like you, it usually wind up being very late or very early.
Quote from: OkieGirl on December 18, 2025, 06:05:27 AMThat chicken is beautiful - Beaux is a lucky boy. :D
No matter how I try to plan, the "pulling time" is always at the most inconvenient time.
Like you, it usually wind up being very late or very early.
Thanks Brenda! Not sure why the chickens turned out a bit darker this time - maybe outdoor temps made the pellet grill work harder to keep temps which added more browning. At any rate I agree, they did look pretty good. I always put butter pats under the breast skin and spray the entire birds generously with olive oil before adding poultry seasoning (only) on the skin. Makes for a fine chicken and crispy skin if you like that.
And yes, this was probably the most inconvenient time to do the pull. I'll try not to start a long cook at 10am on a Sunday morning in the future. Starting 12 hours earlier on Saturday night would have been perfect - since I didn't have to touch the kamado once I put the butts on.
Cheers!
That's A LOT of work. I'm sure it was all worth it though, as everything looks delicious, as usual. Happy Holidays.
Good looking cook, as usual !
Nice to have a little in the freezer !
That's some serious dedication, especially with that kind of wind and temps — cold is cold when you're not used to it! Sounds like you made the most of the situation though, running both the Kamado and the Recteq and still turning out great food despite the odd schedule. Those butts resting that long and still sitting at 165°F is impressive, and the yield you got out of it makes the late night totally worth it. Nice bonus getting all four Meater probes going at once too — always cool to put the gear through its paces. End result sounds like a win all around: stocked freezer, solid dinner, and happy pup. Cheers, and hope the rest of the holidays are a bit warmer and just as tasty!
Thanks guys, had bbq sandwiches last monday with the inlaws..... Twas a hit!