Longest cook ever?

[Evotim]

Ok so i'd thought i'd share my first long cook experience which in the end i was super pleased with.

I'd decided to use sand rather than water as i managed to let the pan boil dry earlier in the week when i did my first cook on my new excel with some baby back ribs. Wasn't quite sure how much sand to put in so filled about 3/4 way up then foiled and placed drip pan on top...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9ZJ1U ... sp=sharing

I used Big K restaurant grade briquettes which are slightly unusual as extruded rather than the normal briquette shape. A bit more difficult to light but i'm finding they last for absolutely ages! Again wasn't sure how much to put in so filled up the basket about 3/4 full then a full chimney went in on top. The pic shows some old ones left over from last cook too...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9ZJ1U ... sp=sharing

The shoulder was 10.5lb so was figuring about 16 hours cooking plus resting so put it on at 8.30pm to be ready for 2.30/3ish the next day. I i've read people having trouble keeping consistent temp on the excel so was prepared for a long night but was hoping the sand would help?! Had the Maverick set up and managed to get the excel to sit nicely at 225f where she sat for the next few hours with no problems. Woke up twice through the night from the maverick losing connection but once reset was surprised to see the excel was still holding at 225f. Thought i had it nailed!! Come 8am i was up and all excited as still holding 225f... couldn't wait to take the lid off for a peek and what a beautiful sight to see, a lovely bark forming...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9ZJ1U ... sp=sharing

.....

[Evotim]

However the coals were running very low so rather than take the stackers off i threw some more on top and that's where i started to get problems holding the temperature steady. Also the pork had hit 160f and decided to stall there but as it was still early i thought i'd just let it ride out rather than wrap in foil.
After a few hours i needed to put the ribs on so i decided to take the stackers off and add more coals, pushed the lit coals to one side, added new ones then scooped the lit ones back on top. I dropped the pork shoulder down to the lower shelf and put the ribs on the top as was a bit late to put them on and figured i could cook them a slightly higher temp a bit quicker to get the timings right.
The pork was finally climbing again but strangely i thought? stalled again at 173f. Temp was ok though, fluctuating from about 220 - 250f, couldn't quite get it to hold steady still. Time was ticking as was midday by this time and started to panic a bit so decided to wrap in foil. Still no rise for the next hour.. Yikes now i was getting stressed as friends turning up at 3 and it was now 1pm. Went to the shops and when came back saw the temp was 178f. From then on it was an extremely slow and agonising climb and eventually at 6pm the shoulder reached 201f. Which was ok as the ribs took longer than expected too so they were ready at pretty much the same time.
So all in all a 19.5 hour cook!! Heres how it turned out...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9ZJ1U ... sp=sharing

Really happy with the results, beautifully tender and still pretty moist and everyone loved it so. Loads left over so pulled pork on the menu for the next week

[YetiDave]

Looks good! Do yourself a favour next time though and just cook it a bit hotter - at 250-270ish you could have it done in half the time

[Evotim]

Yes was a lot longer than expected. Will try that next time. Thx

[BRUN]

looks good, that's an epic cook, id be so happy I came through the other side with something good

nice pics too, cheers

[Evotim]

Thanks. There was quite a bit of stress a certain points of the day! The last 30f was almost nail biting...

[Dodge]

Thank you for sharing, the food looks great, I'm sure everyone had a great feast.

Wow, i found someone that used the Big K restaurant grade briquettes i am very interested in these myself.

Did the lit ones light the unlit ones ok when you put more on, i.e. minion method? Big K states hard to light.

Whats your overall thoughts on the briquettes? compared to others etc

Cheers
Chris

[JEC]

The BigK briquettes will work when used with the minion method

[Dodge]

Great, I'm going to try those restaurant grade ones, they sound great and are only slightly more than the normal big k briquettes.

[Evotim]

Yes i found they worked really well although i don't have much to compare with yet. Apart from usual shop ones i've only tried the Weber briquettes which i'm not too keen on.
The Big K ones burn real slow and had no problems catching with the minion method.... seemed to work perfectly for me.