New Favorite

In the recent quest for the best subject to come out of the smoker I think that we have found a winner. At least that is, a winner so far. We've tried chicken multiple times and both thighs and quarters work great, taste great and in general give very good results. Pork ribs are also really good. We've done a beef brisket and it was OK. I think that one just needs some more skill.We have also done both kielbasa and Italian sausage. Both result in a very unique flavor and texture and are good in their own rite.

Froggy approves!

What we tried today though was a big pork roast. It was on sale at Stop&Shop this week and they has a good looking, marbled piece sitting out last night when we were over at the plaza, so we bought it. It spent about six hours at about 200 degrees this afternoon with a standard dry rub of cumin, curry, black pepper and brown sugar. This resulted in a nice bark present with about an hour to go. At that point I mopped it with sauce and added one final round of wood chunks. For wood I primarily used maple because I have a bunch of it and have just been cutting it up into small discs. I also added a very little bit of mesquite as well but at the rate we go through wood, I've been leaning heavily toward the natural stuff from the wood pile.

Yes, it was really that good.

The end result was really really good. Moist and super tender with a good distinct smoke ring. Not an overpowering smoky flavor at all, more a subtle taste. The slow cooking yields a wonderful result. This is the way to go for hard to grill items like chicken, which lover to flame up and burn, ribs which do the same and especially for big pieces of meat. We will keep experimenting though but so far, it's sooo good.