LarryR

PICTURES Damn these are good, over cooked her just a bit trying to get the stuffing just right but it was still damn good. Give it a shot!

LarryR's Cook PICTURES Got two birds in the brine this morning at 8:00 a.m. for a 36 hour soak. Both birds are in the 18 lb range. One is enhanced (one of our guests brought it over) and one natural. At 36 hours I'll rinse and let dry in the fridge overnight. And yes, that's a Homer's Bucket from Home Depot, lol.

Beeps, why not put the bird on the top in a roasting pan? This way you protect the bird on the bottom and capture all the drippings for some gravy.

We usually have somewhere from 20 to 25 people over and it’s always a grand time, by far my favorite holiday of the year. We target sitting down to eat at 6:00 p.m. so I should have my birds on between 1:30 – 2:00 p.m. This year’s menu: Jack Daniels and Maple Syrup brined bird over cherry Apply Honey brined bird over apple Mustard-Molasses glazed ham Jack Daniels yams Orange-Glazed Carrots Toasted Almond and caramelized onion green beans Grandpa’s sausage dressing Mashed potatoes and homemade gravy (Mad Max’s) Apple and pumpkin pies Pumpkin Cheesecake Pecan Squares Several different appetizers and munchies Lots of adult beverages flowing freely The family and friends stay through the weekend so I get in several cooks. This year my other cooks will be tris, chicken and pernil.

I'm doing the MUSTARD-MOLASSES GLAZED HAM from Weber.com. I'll be throwing in a little Jack just for good measure.

"Whew. That shot saved it from being an imaginary cook! Looks tasty." Thus the shitty quality picture lol. As I was getting ready to carve I thought, "I'd better take a picture of this damn thing or I'm going to get the "no picture didn't happen" comment we give people a hard time with. I'm going to do another one over the holidays and I'll take some higher quality pictures. Note, I think this would work very well on a rotisserie if you've got one.

Did this again last night, changed my approach and was VERY pleased with the results. I started her at 450 and brought her down to 325 for the remainder of the cook. Pulled her off at 172 PERFECTION! Highly recommend cooking at the higher temp. Didn't take any pictures except this crappy one from my BlackBerry

Al Pastor Ask and you shall RECEIVE Here are some Al Pastor Butt from my first attempt where I did it as an entire roast vs slices or chunks. I wouldn't recommend it, go with chunks or slices, this allows better penetration/coverage of the wonderful sauce. All this Cuban talk got me craving Pernil. Got one marinading right now!

Click HERE for original. I've done this as a whole putt and chunks as they suggest and I've got to say I prefer the chunk method but cook at a lower temperature A couple of guys have done it on the rotisserie as they do at Taquería Vista with very good results, if you've got one I'd use it. In case the link goes bad or your not registered w/the LA Times: Total time: 3 hours, 10 minutes, plus 8 hours marinating Servings: 8 Note: At Taquería Vista Hermosa in Los Angeles, the marinated pork is sliced, then packed onto a commercial rotisserie for long cooking. We adapted this recipe from Raúl Morales for the oven, resulting in shredded, rather than sliced, meat. The dried chiles and the achiote paste are available in well-stocked supermarkets and at Latino markets. 3 California chiles 1 ancho chile 1 guajillo chile 1 cascabel chile 1 chile de árbol 1 bay leaf 3/4 cup orange juice 1/4 cup pineapple juice 1 tablespoon white vinegar 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon sea salt 1 clove garlic 2 tablespoons salt 3/4 teaspoon pepper 3/4 teaspoon garlic salt 1/4 teaspoon Mexican oregano 1/4 teaspoon achiote condimentada (seasoned achiote paste) 1 onion, sliced thin, divided 5 pounds boneless pork butt, cut into 8 chunks 1/2 pineapple, peeled, sliced 1/2-inch thick,and cut into quarters 1. Combine 5 cups of water, the California, ancho, guajillo and cascabel chiles, the chile de árbol and the bay leaf in a large pot and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand until softened, about 5 minutes. Drain the chiles, discard the bay leaf and remove and discard the stems and seeds of the chiles. 2. Place the softened chiles in a food processor with the orange and pineapple juices, vinegar, cinnamon, sea salt, garlic, salt, pepper, garlic salt, oregano, achiote paste and half the onion. Pureé until smooth. 3. Pour the marinade into a large resealable plastic bag, add the meat and toss to coat. Refrigerate 24 hours. 4. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place half the pineapple in an even layer in the bottom of a roasting pan. Place the pork on top, followed by the remaining pineapple and the remaining sliced onion. Cover with foil and roast until meat breaks apart with a fork, about 2 to 2 1/2hours. Remove the meat from the pan, discard the pineapple and set aside the pan juices. 5. Put the meat on a rack in a baking pan, baste it with the pan juices and place under the broiler to crisp the edges of the meat, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook for a few more minutes. 6. Remove the meat from the oven and let stand until cool enough to handle, then, with a fork, shred and pull it apart and place on a serving platter. Spoon pan juices over to moisten. Serve with corn tortillas and condiments, allowing everyone to make their own tacos. Each serving: 591 calories; 1,195 mg. sodium; 174 mg. cholesterol; 42 grams fat; 15 grams saturated fat; 69 grams carbohydrates; 46 grams protein; 1 gram fiber. Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times

Here's a PERNIL cook that I do. It's Puerto Rican but similar to a couple of the Cuban roasted pork recipes I've done. I've done some interesting cooks outside of standard bbq/grilling. Beef cheek, Al Pastor to name a couple.

Hey guys, I had totally forgotten about this post. I ended-up extremely ill Saturday afternoon (I think food poisoning) and and could barely finish the turkey. Then after putting it on the counter to rest I ended-up basically passing out ill. It was pretty scary for my 8 yo son, he ended-up calling his mother very concerned about me, she instructed him to just make sure I was covered (and had a bucket nearby) and to try to put the bird in the fridge (once it had cooled down). He did a pretty nice job covering and putting a 15 lb bird in the fridge by himself. Don't know how the bird turned out, I've associated it with my becoming ill and didn't want to try it. SO came home the next day, sliced it up and vac. sealed it. SO had some said it tasted great, I want no part of it.

Bought a turkey for the Utah vs. New Mexico game today (my buddy is a Lobos fan) and our guests ended-up having to go out of town, then SO left town, SO's son is going to Jay Z (not sure if that's how you spell it) so my 8 yo son and I are having our own little pre-Thanksgiving turkey today. 15 lb. free range natural bird, brined for 32 hours, air dry overnight and she'll be going on in a few hours over Rancher and Cherry wood. Absolutely love this time of year, makes me wonder why I don't do turkeys more often. I'll update PICTURESas the day goes by. Trish, notice food grade bucket

Nice looking bird! I'm doing one this weekend in my Jack Daniels and Maple Syrup Brine. She's going "down" tomorrow. Here's some good info on Brining

In defense of my "firming" method When I foil I use the gasser to firm out of convenience; transfer foil packet to gasser, unwrap, leave on a couple minutes per side vs. remove foil packets, remove grate, remove deflector, grate back on, waiting for temp to come up, putting ribs back on. I typically firm about 5 minutes per side. My personal preference is no foil, meat off the bone with a gentle tug. Unfortunately, many of our guests think rib perfection is fall off the bone. Don't quite get it but if that's what they want foiling is an easy way to achieve it and become a "Rib God" in their eyes. I also prefer my ribs dry, the fall off the bone crowd seem to frown on no sauce too.

I do ribs using both methods. If I have guests who are wanting "fall off the bone" I foil, if its just for us, no foil. I've found one key (for me) is to firm the foiled ribs up on the gasser once their out of foil. Seems to prevent that "mushy" feel.

Imagine my disappointment when today at the fair I watched the guy who was running the smoker dump 25 lbs of frozen pre-smoked turkey legs on their smoker. Reminded me of when I learned there was no Santa Clause. Going to do a homemade batch of these tomorrow just to "right" things.

Doc. Spread brown sugar out on a plate or cookie sheet and let it sit for a few hours. Will prevent the "clumping." If you're short on time you can put in a toaster oven for a few minutes.

Toot away! Congrats!

Hit, if I can "toot" my own horn a bit I'm pretty good with the tris, have done hundreds of them over the years. For my taste and based on my experience a Tri isn't a good candidate for low temp cooks. When I first started smoking I tried a couple of them and was not happy with the outcome. If I may, I'd suggest going in-direct @ 350, then pull and reverse sear, excellent results.

When I tried my first high heat brisket I was blown away too, what about all that connective tissue that needed low temps and time to break down? Produces a damn fine brisket with very consistent results. There are only two downsides, if you're a bark person you don't get as nice of bark and two, not as much time to drink beer. Other than that its a great method. In fact, I think a high heat brisket cook was one of my first posts on this site. I too got it off the WSM site.

I have 6.5 boxes left and only it on my long smokes and Turkeys. I mix it with a little Rancher too, I like the combo. Wish'n I would have made that last trip down to the Warehouse like I was planning on doing

I too find bone in butts easier to handle and you have the added benefit of a built in doneness (is this a word) indicator. I'd guess 95% of the butts I do are bone-in. Looking forward to your feedback.

Here's a link to the THREAD These guys claim you can get them for .99 a lb at Wegmans.

Here's what the guys came back with as options for Butts (and other Qing meats):Wegman's, Harris Teeter, BJ's and Costco (which you're already aware of). Hope this helps.

Couldn't agree with you more re: Picnics. I use them for Pernil and that's it, never for PP for all the reasons you stated. See if you can locate a bone in Boston Butt, it's my preference (even over Costcos boneless). I belong to another BBQ forum with about 4,000 members/bbq enthusiasts, I'd be happy to post asking for good meat sources in your area. Just let me know . . .