Smoking Meats on a Weber Kettle

[Andy M.]

The link below will take you to a pot is a thread from 2004. It's a detailed post and diagram for smoking meat on a Weber.

With the summer close at hand, I thought it worthwhile to bring this to the forefront.

Raine, the woman who posted this hasn't been around for a while but was an expert on the topic.

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f36/smoking-pork-spare-ribs-question-9939.html#post104837

 

[justplainbill]

Thank you very much for bringing Ranie's post back to life and to our attention.

 

[roadfix]

It's also important to note not to light the entire load of charcoal at once. Not only will it be somewhat difficult to bring the kettle down to smoking temperature, but will deplete the load of charcoal quickly.....you may not get 4 or 5 hours of cooking time.
Use the Minion Method and place just a few fully lit coals on top of the larger pile of unlit coals. This will give you a quite long, slow burn time with low enough smoking temps in the 250°F range.

 

[Andy M.]

It's also important to note not to light the entire load of charcoal at once. Not only will it be somewhat difficult to bring the kettle down to smoking temperature, but will deplete the load of charcoal quickly.....you may not get 4 or 5 hours of cooking time.
Use the Minion Method and place just a few fully lit coals on top of the larger pile of unlit coals. This will give you a quite long, slow burn time with low enough smoking temps in the 250°F range.

Good info, thanks for sharing.

 

[Dawgluver]

Wow! Fantastic idea, thanks for bringing it up! Have a classic Weber, can't wait to try this!

 

[Bolas De Fraile]

Thanks M, the diag is a great help, the two things that makes me feel stupid for not using are the drip pan and the water tray
I have said it before, I first came to this board to learn BBQ/Smoking but they are so obvious its embarrassing .
I bought a 4.5lbs joint of boneless pork butt yesterday, it is quality british pork with the rind on, I thought it was very cheap at about $2.25 a lbs.
I want to slow roast it on the BBQ, so I want some tips please on, rubs, brines ect.
Ps do I take the rind/skin off?

 

[Andy M.]

BDF, I use the following to 'rub my butt' 24-48 hours before cooking.

For the Dry Rub

6 Tb Dark Brown Sugar
5 Tb Paprika
4 Tb Salt
3 Tb Black Pepper
3 Tb Cayenne
2 Tb Cumin
2 Tb Garlic powder
1 Tb Dry Oregano
1 Tb Dry Thyme
1 Tb Onion Powder


I would remove the rind and leave the fat. Rub the mixture into the flesh, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24-48 hours.

Remove from the fridge and allow the but to come to room temperature. If it's boneless, you may want to tie it up to maintain a tight shape.

No brining necessary.

 

[pacanis]

That's pretty much my rub, but I substitute chile powder for paprika and don't add anything green (no herbs). I also replace the brown sugar with turbinado. I love that stuff and it doesn't clump up. I can mix up a batch of rub and keep it in a large shaker container, like what Kraft Parm cheese comes in, and don't need to worry about the brown sugar turning hard. I go a little lighter on the cumin because that's my taste.

And I have both rubbed just the butt, or slathered it with yellow mustard and sprinkled my rub on that way. I really didn't notice any difference, so skip the mustard step now because it's messy.

A lot of folks sprinkle some more rub onto the pork after it's pulled.

 

[Andy M.]

I have also used a mopping liquid on the butt when cooking it in the oven but that would be counter-productive when smoking in a charcoal grill/smoker.

 

[jennyema]

I have also used a mopping liquid on the butt when cooking it in the oven.

I usually do that in the shower.

Thanks for posting this!!

 

[Andy M.]

I usually do that in the shower.

Thanks for posting this!!

 

[roadfix]

BDF, I use the following to 'rub my butt' 24-48 hours before cooking.

For the Dry Rub

6 Tb Dark Brown Sugar
5 Tb Paprika
4 Tb Salt
3 Tb Black Pepper
3 Tb Cayenne
2 Tb Cumin
2 Tb Garlic powder
1 Tb Dry Oregano
1 Tb Dry Thyme
1 Tb Onion Powder

I'm smoking two slabs of spareribs this afternoon and I'm going to try this rub recipe on one of them.

 

[Andy M.]

I'm smoking two slabs of spareribs this afternoon and I'm going to try this rub recipe on one of them.

Great. Let us know how you like it. I like to rub my ribs ahead of time so they can sit with the rub for a day.

 

[taxlady]

Anything I can do with that rub recipe if I don't like sweet with my pork? Would it work if I just left out the sugar?

 

[Andy M.]

Anything I can do with that rub recipe if I don't like sweet with my pork? Would it work if I just left out the sugar?

It doesn't really taste sweet. You could leave out the sugar or reduce it.

Actually, you can do anything you want with a rub. It's one of those things that is wide open to personal preferences.

 

[roadfix]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think the brown sugar adds much sweetness to the finished product. I think it helps create a nice bark though.

 

[roadfix]

Additionally, also paprika, I don't think it does much to the taste but it does add color to the meat.

 

[taxlady]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think the brown sugar adds much sweetness to the finished product. I think it helps create a nice bark though.

That's why I was asking

Not much sweetness I really don't like sweet with my savoury (except unsweetened fruit). As a kid I wouldn't eat fried onions because they were too sweet. I'm not that picky any more.

Well, I don't even have anything I can smoke food with yet. I intend to get a Weber this summer. I'm planning ahead. I guess I could try cutting the sugar in half or something.

 

[Andy M.]

That's why I was asking

Not much sweetness I really don't like sweet with my savoury (except unsweetened fruit). As a kid I wouldn't eat fried onions because they were too sweet. I'm not that picky any more.

Well, I don't even have anything I can smoke food with yet. I intend to get a Weber this summer. I'm planning ahead. I guess I could try cutting the sugar in half or something.

You'll only know by experimenting. If you're are totally against sugar, just try some of the commercial blends. Emeril's Essence would work just fine in this type of use and has no sugar.

 

[pacanis]

If I was so against a particular taste, I'd leave it out altogether. There's no sense adding even a little, because you know you're going to be thinking about it every bite.