Chicken & Pork Double-Team Lamb in Crushing Defeat!

[ceeuawlsune]

I seem to always find myself posting while slightly delerious.  If my BS was worried about getting as much action as Gary Shandling does fan-mail, it was wrong.  These past few days have been 24-7 smoke.  Or 24-3.5, I should say. 

What I smoked:

2x6# pork butt
2x6# boneless leg of lamb
16 chicken leg/thighs
2x10# pork picnic

I was most excited about the lamb, however I was also most concerned.  I was worried that the smoking technique might not be appropriate for lamb (too long and slow), and if my first experience should serve as an indication, I'm right. 

I smoked for about 3 hours over apple, and although I pulled at 145 (I wanted 135, but overshot - don't have probe yet), it was not what I was hoping for.  I thought the smoke flavor was actually very good, but meat was surprisingly dry even though it was cooked to medium.  My friend disagreed - he thought the meat was perfectly juicy enough, but felt that he would have preferred the meat to be more thinly sliced.  I kind of think that means the same thing as dry, no?

I will say this - if that meat were sliced thinly for some kind of lamb sandwich, you'd be in serious business.  You could make a simple sandwich with mayo/mustard/lettuce/cheddar, or alternatively dress it up with a caramelized fennel marmalade, sauteed spinach, garlic goat cheese, oven-roasted tomatoes and have yourself one hell of a sandwich.

The chicken was a huge surprise.  I couldn't believe how well the flavor penetrated the meat - right down to the bone.  I marinated half of the legs in Italian dressing and the rest I rubbed with my dry rub.  Both sat in 'fridge overnight, then went into smoker to IT of 165.  The Italian marinated legs turned a BEAUTIFUL golden brown, while the rubbed ones, predictably, were dark, dark red-brown.  The rubbed ones - although a close second in visual appeal - tasted better, in my opinion.  The rub penetrated WAY better than the Italian marinade.  Those legs just seemed lacking in depth-of-flavor (besides the smoke).  Having said that, both were cooked, pretty much, absolutely perfectly.

There was one issue with my chicken - the skin, in my opinion, was virtually inedible (some guinea pigs were in disagreement here too, but I think they were just being nice.  Plus, if I don't like it, then I want to make it so I do like it).  It was rubbery, leathery, or whatever else you want to call it.  I thought maybe butter drizzle over top and then under a broiler for a minute and all my problems would flutter away.  I haven't tried it yet, of course, but does anybody have any similar experiences here?

The two pork butts came out a bit drier than my first batch, although nothing was done differently.  Actually, that's not true - I used different wood, but timings/temps were all the same (adjusted, of course, for the difference in weight).  The pork wasn't bad, but just a little too dry - and certainly drier than the last time.  Anybody have similar experiences with inconsistency in the results of the product, although none of the input factors have changed? 

Not that it was a problem finishing any of the aforementioned products.  It's just that the pork and chicken were in completely different leauge than the lamb (in my opinion).  All of this stuff (except for the last two 10# pork picnics) have been cooked over apple-hickory combination (2:1).  The last pork is still FTCing, so no update, but the tiny piece I pulled off seemed to be a bit dry too (discouraginly).

Anybody have any pointers on how to "juicy-up" my pork?  I'm definitely thinking a brine, but I've been putting it off because I wanted to see what the results would be with just the pure dry-rub.  Also, I've been avoiding using a mop, mainly because of the mess and the fact that I don't want to keep opening & closing the BS every two hours or so.

If I do brine the pork picnic, should I brine overnight (12-24 hours), rinse, dry, rub, refrigerate 12-24 hours, pull out of 'fridge while BS preheats, smoke +/- 5 hours, continue cooking to IT 195, then FTC 2-6 hours?

The question in there is whether the brine process adds another day, creating a 3-day process instead of a 2-day process?

I'm sure you guys might have questions about any of the stuff I smoked - if so, fire away.  Pointers are also VERY welcome - I feel like a heroin junkie trying desperately to chase his first high...only this high was perfect pork picnic, not barbituates. 

What would happen if I pureed my pork with some barbecue sauce and mainlined it? 

Sounds like something for Homer Simpson to find out.

[West Coast Kansan]

 (I wanted 135, but overshot - don't have probe yet),Anybody have any pointers on how to "juicy-up" my pork? 
[/quote]

I think the probe will help you with control your looking for.... you have lots a great ideas on methods and things to try! My do this next box is getting a lot of posts printed from you.  Take Care,

[ceeuawlsune]

Just don't try mainlining barbecued pork...without calling me first.

[West Coast Kansan]

Deal