Before I get going, this discussion is open to anyone and everyone who wishes
to read and/or participate. Unless I’m mistaken, Rob Hudson is the only list
member who cooks with charcoal. I hope there are others, because I’ll take as
much feedback as I can get.
Here’s my issue. I finally, after several years, decided to make a smoked pork
loin for dinner last Friday. It turned out well, but the wood chunks burst
into flame not long after I added them to the hot coals, despite having soaked
them for several hours. I still pulled the roast in time, and it tasted great,
except the sugar in the rub on the bottom of the roast caramelized just a
little too much. But otherwise good. I posted in a mens’ cooking forum about
my experience, and several guys told me that I probably used too much charcoal,
making the fire too hot for what I was trying to do.
Yesterday, I tried again, this time with a whole turkey that I dry-brined the
night before. I tried the charcoal snake method, which is supposed to give you
a long, low, slow burn for a longer time, which was what I wanted. Lump
charcoal is all I currently have, so I used that. This time, I think I didn’t
use enough charcoal, because after nearly three hours on the smoker, the
internal temperature had only gone from 45 degrees to 120 degrees. I brought
it in to finish in the oven, because it was nearly dinner time, and the kids
can only wait so long. The final results were wonderful, and I loved the dry
cure under the skin of the bird.
So here’s my issue. I need to figure out how to get that long, slow fire that
maintains a temperature, inside the smoker, of roughly 275-300 degrees,
preferably using lump natural charcoal. I have found a YouTube channel called
the cookout coach, and I like what I see so far. Aparrently, and I had heard
this before, lump charcoal burns a little hotter, and for a shorter time, as
compared with charcoal brickettes. Now, I understand that a lot of brickettes
are loaded with petroleum products and lighter fluid, things I definitely do
not want anywhere near my food. But aparrently, not all of them are made that
way. I like that they burn a bit longer and are more uniform in size and
shape. I’m currently trying to learn exactly which brands are free of the
additives I don’t want so I can at least have an alternative to the lump stuff,
if I decide I want to use it.Does anyone, including you, Rob, have any tips or
suggestions here? I really do not want to reload the smoker with more coals
part way through the cooking process, if I can help it, as that loses a lot of
heat from inside the smoker, and extends the cook time.
Jon