BARDSLJR

Also Robert, yes, I know about the top vent thing. It was somewhere between 1/8th and 1/4 turn open. Worked GREAT for Friday's cook.

First, Dennis, that is a most creative use of crispy brisket! I think miine is going to end up as brisket hash. Robert, you may be right about the dueling apps or not, but I know my Guru does not like my Iphone app. I uninstalled it and reinstalled it on the Iphone and couldn't get the app to recognize the Guru. So my solution is to simplify things and delete the app from my phone and only use the Ipad. Speaking of which, I have ribs to go tend to.

Okay, here's the story of an epic fail. I think I have figured it out. But let me tell you what happened, in chronological order, first. First, I prepared a beautiful brisket last night, trimmed it and treated with Maldon salt and coarse ground pepper (photo).. The plan was: put the brisket on the KK around midnight, cook it a little low (245) till 8AM, then get up, check the internal temp, spritz it, turn the heat up to 265 or so, get through the stall, wrap, raise the heat to 285, and finish around 2-3PM or so. That was the plan.... So I had used the BBQ Guru the day before to cook some near-perfect ribs, and everything worked fine. I was controlling the Guru from my Iphone. I took the brisket out 3 hours early to get it closer to room temperature, put it on at 12, went to bed. Woke up at 4AM and checked on the Guru on my phone, still showing 244*. Got up at 8, ambled on downstairs and went out with my Thermapen and spritzer bottle while the Jura espresso maker did its thing. Got out to the KK and it's thermometer is showing 350*....URK! I look at my phone: 244*. What's going on? I open the KK and see this (photo): brisket crisp. Pretty clearly, at some point in the night, the Guru elevated things to 350*, even though my phone app is still showing 244*. Pretty clearly, the app on my phone was frozen, the damage had been done and could not be undone. I uninstalled and reinstalled the app. Phone app would not connect to Guru despite being right next to it. So I went and got my Ipad, and opened the app on it, and it was showing the true temp- around 350*. So here's my diagnosis: when I booted up the Ipad last night to read before turning out the night, the Ipad took over the Guru, and it was left on it's last setting, probably 350*. So from now on I am taking the app off my phone and controlling the Guru just from my Ipad. I am sorry, Mrs. Cow, that your brisket was all for naught. Maybe I can salvage enough to make brisket hash, but dinner for our combined family of seven for tonight is off. Lessons learned....

So here is installment #1: this is the prime brisket, trimmed and subbed with Maldon salt and coarse ground pepper. It goes on the smoker tonight at 250* at midnight, mostly post oak wood. (Thank you, BBQ Guru!), then I get to sleep and by 8 AM it should be ready to wrap and amp up the heat a bit to 275*. It's a beautiful piece of meat and the trimming was very easy.

I have to say, just about perfect. I think I have the formula, or very close to it with small adjustments. So this was it- applied Dizzy Pig Dizzy Dust Rub; 2 hours at 235 in the KK, take out, spritz with water/orange juice mix, wrap in foil; back in for one hour, advance heat to 250; take out of foil and finish for last hour. Mostly apple wood with good hardwood lump charcoal. Really about as close to perfect as I have done. Minor tweaks to formula to follow. I was playing BBQ Santa Claus for all the neighbors up and down the street- some people show up with Christmas cookies, I give away ribs and sauce. Neighbors are happy and I am doing another batch tomorrow along with a brisket I am starting tonight.

Yeah, that's what I MEANT to say...🤤

So, the final version: First photo is halfway through, about 5 hours; second is the finished product, nice bark. Lastly, pulled and chopped for serving. It turned out excellent, fed the whole family, and the Stansbury clan took home the other half for leftovers. And that was just one shoulder.....the other we will start reheating tonight and use here in various incarnations: sandwiches, enchiladas, hash, etc. Pulled pork souffle, anyone? There was one glitch in an otherwise perfect, BBQ Guru-controlled cook: the plan was to wrap the shoulder in foil two hours before finishing (at about 190 degrees) and increase the temperature from 275* to 295*. Problem was, even though I had filled up the fuel basket full, there wasn't enough charcoal left to get the temp up. This was puzzling: I have filled the fuel basket before and had enough to run the KK for 24 hours before the temps starting dropping off. The only thing I can think of is that this charcoal was the last of the bag, from the bottom, and had a high proportion of very small chunks, so maybe they burn faster and/or don't have as much thermal energy???? It's a physics question, and as a liberal arts major, I am notoriously short on formal scientific training, so really, I don't know. In any case, it was in foil by this point, and was benefiting only from the heat, not the smoke, so I finished it in the oven, no big deal. It was delicious.

Let's try that again....

So, here's the beginning of the cook: first, the pork shoulders were slathered with yellow mustard and doused with Dizzy Pig's Dizzy Dust rub and left to sit in the fridge overnight. Next, the 32" KK was set up with the BBQ Guru and the Cloud BBQ remote meat sensors. Lastly, the KK is shown in business mode, ramping up. At the moment I am leisurely monitoring it from the loft, a second cup of very good Jack Mormon coffee (from Salt Lake City) and scrambled eggs and boudin, the latter from Opelousas, La. The boudin is so strong with black pepper that I have broken a blinding head sweat, and my tongue has gone numb, but it all good..... IMG_1964 2.HEIC IMG_1966 2.HEIC IMG_1967 3.HEIC

Troble, do you lose the bark when you put all that liquid on it? Tony, those are all good suggestions. I am also thinking pulled pork enchiladas and pulled pork hash with potatoes, onions and bell peppers, maybe with an egg over it.

Planning to cook two 7.5 lb pork shoulders tomorrow, not that I need 15 lbs of pork shoulder to feed our extended family(3 grandkids, my daughter and her husband, my wife and I) , but that's the way Costco sells them. So we will be eating pulled pork in various forms all week, likely. But the question is this: to wrap or not to wrap. Franklin recommends wrapping in foil at about 8 hours into a 10 hour cook, continuing for one hour at 270*, and finishing the last hour at 295*. I don't think I've ever wrapped my pork shoulder and they've always turned out great. I also have been cooking at 285, if memory serves. What do you guys (and gals) do?

All I got from the attachment was audio....

Sorry, that didn't come through. But, FYI, I use the leftover beef ribs and some leftover red beans and made beef-and-beans enchiladas with cheese. It was pretty rich, but otherwise excellent. I used he Hatch Fresh Chile Sauce and it was quite good.

Wingman, That is a beautiful batch of ribs. How long is the total cook, and what temp? I ‘m using the last of the three racks of beef ribs ( pictured) with some leftover red beans and sausage, shredding and adding the meat to the beans to make filling for beef and beans enchiladas with red Chile sauce from the Hatch Fresh Chile Company down in your neck of the woods. It will be a mix of mild and medium, as the medium is a bit hot for us. Should be yummy.

That's about as much as I drank last night....(Just kidding. I had a 9AM tennis match and had to be restrained. I also drank a whole bottle of Pelligrino between 9 and 10 as a substitute.....) What is this, NOrth Berkeley Wine or something?

Agreed, I spend the first 20 minutes and whole cup of coffee every morning deleting emails and texts. This is what happens when you send them a little money....like feeding a stray dog.

Yum, JonJ! Looking good!

I am going through my stock at an alarming rate. I am not sure my liver can stand this election.

Well, I think we agree on "feckless". Rake is certainly inconsistent and unpredictable, with a wildly vacillating moral compass. I love the ironic humor of the series. Whoever recommended "Jack Irish", thank you. I found it on the Acorn network that I added to my Amazon Prime account, a treasure trove of mostly British television. I love film noir, and it would not be inaccurate to call this "television noir". I should have known it is based on books by Peter Temple, perhaps the premier Australian mystery writer.

Aaaaarrrrgggghhhhh. I don’t know how I will sleep tomorrow. The polls look good, but... my favorite winery in Oregon offered a half case special “ to get you through next Tuesday”. Pretty funny, but on reflection I was not sure it was enough.

I don’t think I gave too much away, but you will know those scenes when you see them. And the episode with accident prone would -be new girlfriend. ” Feckless” hmmm, no I don’t agree. He is certainly not lacking in initiative or strength of character. But yes, he’s certainly irresponsible. Love the ironic humor at play in this show. i will look for Jack Irish.

Loved "Rake": so many great scenes-the fight with the guy who pushes the street crossing button after he just did it; the fight with the barrista who wants a name to put on his cup (" but there's no one else here, mate!")....I do think the series went on a season or two too long, and the writers ran out of fresh ideas. Another good bet was the New Zealand series "West Side", although it, too, went on too long and there were some bizarre casting changes.

And finally, the third rack, which was a little bigger than the other two, took about 30 minutes longer to cook, but came out BEAUTIFUL. Nice, crispy, dark bark. Insanely delicious aroma..... Can't wait to start cutting these up and serve to the family.

And here we have a photo of progress at 3 PM, about six hours into the cook, and we are running around 193-195 range for each of the three racks. So I am estimating finishing around 4 or so. Perfect. I was earlier concerned that it was cooking so fast that I might finish too early, and I reset the Guru to 250*. Of course, it would have taken most of 90 minutes to fall that low from 285. Around 2:30 I popped the goal temp setting back to 285, concerned that I achieve a good bark. I am loving the Guru. Can't wait to do a brisket or a turkey.

Well, boys and girls, lads and lassies, fellow cooks: I have my new BBQ Guru all set up for the first time and am doing some fabulous beef chuck ribs, using most post oak and a little cherry. So, we have some nice fresh, not frozen, beef chuck ribs to start with and the new BBQ Guru DynaQ is all ready to go to work. The Guru got set up in the 32" KK , which was loaded with lump charcoal and post oak chunks with a couple of chunks of cherry thrown in, just because. The ribs got slathered with some original Scott's BBQ sauce (mostly vinegar and red pepper, emulsified. Then medium coarse salt and coarse pepper was applied. I love the way the Guru is working, doing a great job keeping the KK pretty pretty close to it's 285* target. I do wish the Bluetooth was a little more robust, as my Iphone seems to lose contact if I go inside, which is only about maybe 50 feet and a wall between me and the Guru. The Ipad seems to be a little better connected- go figure. At this point (11:30AM) the ribs have been in a little more than 2 hours and I am a bit shocked that they seem to be cooking so fast- already at 170 or so on their way to 203*, and I had budgeted 8 hours or more for cook, as previous experience and recipes indicated. I don't expect a stall with beef ribs, but maybe it will happen. So stay tuned, folks, but I am loving the control that the Guru offers.