Labor Day Brisket and Pork Butt

[kiyotei]

I went a little crazy this weekend.  First I installed a little fan in the smoker to get a bit more even heating.  I'll cover that in another thread.  To try out my fan, I bought a 7lb brisket and 5+lb pork butt.  I injected the pork butt with a maple syrup, water, liquid smoke, and ground clove mixture.  I let that sit for a couple of days (mainly because I was too busy to fire up the smoker).  I then made a simple yellow mustard/maple syrup slather.  I stuck that in the smoker.  I discovered at this point that I was out of hickory, oops.  So i went with an even mix of mesquite and maple woods.  I then got to work on the brisket.  I covered in a slather of yellow mustard, Tabasco's brown spicey mustard, tabasco sauce, ketchup, and worcestershire sauce.  Then I added a dry rub and into the smoker it went.  Smoked the pork butt an hour before adding the brisket.  I smoked them both for 5 hours.  I took them out, wrapped in foil (added apple juice to the pork), and put them in the oven at 350 for two hours.  It was getting late and I wanted them done before bed.  They both could have stayed in the oven for another 30-60 mins but they still fine.  The pork was fantastic.  The smoked flavor was perfect.  I was surprised since I used mesquite on it.  The brisket was fantastic as well.  I like the added flavor of the spicey brown mustard.  Please note in the pic of the whole pork butt, that is juice and fat not blood in the foil.  It just looks very red in the photo.

[Gizmo]

I just love it when a plan comes together.
Looking forward to your results from the internal fan.

[Wildcat]

Looks like some mighty fine eats there.  Good job!  ;)

[kiyotei]

The addition of a pinch of clove to my injection (I think the slather too, can't remember) really added nice very subtle flavor.  I need energy to write up the fan stuff.  My fridge went on the fritz friday night and has been keeping me up with worry.  I don't want to wake up with a warm fridge and 10lbs of spoiled meat!

[Wildcat]

Put meat in cooler(s) with plenty of Ice.  We do that down here in Florida when the big storms knock out power for days on end.

[kiyotei]

I thought of that at 2 am, unfortunately, I loaned my cooler and freezer packs to a coworker who took them sailing, bad timing.  Last night I bought a cheap digital thermometer which keeps track of my max and min temps in the fridge so I can tell if the fridge shut off for an extended period of time.  I also bought a couple of bags of ice to keep in the freezer in case of it dies.  Of course the fridge has now stopped acting up.  The repair guy won't come unless its actually malfuctioning all the time because he won't know whats wrong if its running when he gets there.  Its kinda like taking your car to shop when its making a funny noise.

[Gizmo]

Kiyotei,
Do they think they would suspect fowl play if the fridge isn't working and found a shot gun hole in it?  It wouldn't be working when they got there.   :o

Good luck on no more problems or being able to get it fixed once and for all.

[Wildcat]

You may have a compressor going bad, possibly a small coolant leak somewhere, or even a bad thermostat.  I would wonder about a technician that will not give it a check until it died.

[kiyotei]

Well its still working so not sure I want to shoot it yet, LOL.  Its also out of warrenty.  They told me if the problem is only periodic and that the fridge seems to be working fine then it would be very difficult for the repair man to diagnose.  I'm glad they didn't send a guy over to charge me $100 to tell me he doesn't know whats wrong.  The temp is fine in the fridge so it might be the starter motor.

[kiyotei]

oh one other note, the cheap digital thermometer I bought to monitor my fridge temp stopped working!  Go figure.

[Gizmo]

Have Arcs and Sparks send over his worm hole detector.  I think you have one near by. ;)