Back to cooking/smoking...
A couple things you HAVE to have, in my opinion.
1. Ambient air thermometer
2. Meat thermometer with probe and wire leading to outside of smoker. I have one with a remote unit I got for less than $20 at Wal mart. I can sit on the couch and tell the temp of the meat in smoker in back yard
If you don't know the temp you are cooking at or the temp of the meat then you are guessing
Seasoning:
You can't really screw it up unless you use too much of one thing. I never use salt(unless its an ingredient in another seasoning), because it draws out moisture out too fast. No reason to use an injectable marinade in pork. Its got enough moisture, unless you just want to. I use a dry rub. Tony Cacherie's creole, Everglades seasoning, and brown sugar. The seasoning rub will create the "bark" on the meat, the outer crust.
Whether you want to use propane, charcoal, wood chips, whole logs, or any combination of...keep a couple things in mind..
Keep the ambient temp between 225-250. If it gets too hot, the moisture will draw out of the meat too quickly, and the pores of the meat will lock up and it will get tough.
This is the reason a lot of us are saying to go low and slow on the cooking temps. Also, you don't want too much smoke. Just a light wiff of smoke is what you want
Here is a pic off a smoking forum for comparison. Pic on left is bad, pic on right is correct
As far as meat temperature...we can all debate what temp to cook it to. If you want to cook a pork loin in the oven, you can pop a loin in there, turn oven on to 325, and pull it out when the meat is 165* or so and it will be nice and juicy and medium inside. If you want PULLED pork, you have to go low and slow over many hours until the meat hits 200*. SOme say 190, others say 205....200 works for me.
Here is how I do it....I smoke the meat like I said above till I hit about 145*. Around that temp the meat will no longer take on any more smoke flavor. I use an oven baking pan(I like to catch the juices). by this time you should have a nice dark bark on the meat. Put the meat in baking pan and add about 1 cup of liquid(fruit juice, water, chicken broth, etc) and wrap tightly with foil (temp probe still in it). Put back on the smoker, and you can even crank the heat up a bit at this point but don't get it too hot
At this point you can go watch some football, just keep an eye on the meat temp. When you hit 190*-195*...
Have a ice chest (empty) ready with an old bath towel in the bottom. Set the entire pan in the cooler.Do not open the foil and wrap the bath towel over it. Close the lid and forget about it for 2 hours. The temp will continue to rise a bit and the juices will redistribute. After 2 hours open it up and I will guarantee you the meat will fall apart at the touch, and you will have a pan full of juices for a dipping sauce
After that... See the Official FOHAF Weight Loss thread! You're going to need it with all the "research" you do! LOL!
I probably need to revisit it myself
