Greetings everyone! I just wanted to share my latest cook with you all. Last weekend I decided to smoke a couple of 10 pound pork butts and they turned out to be my best ones yet! I brought a huge pan of it to work with me and word of mouth spread quickly. I served up 32 pulled pork sandwiches and still had people coming for more. I purchased the pork butts from my local grocery store, nothing fancy. They didn't require much trimming, just a few stray pieces of meat. I injected them the night before and let them sit in the refrigerator overnight. I got up early the next morning and started my fire first. My smoker is the standard Wichita model. I used natural lump charcoal and once I got it lit off I went back inside to let it burn while I prepped the meat for the cook. I took the meat out of the fridge and dried them off with a paper towel. I spread a thin coat of mustard on them and coated them with a bbq rub I mixed together. I let them sit while I went out to check the charcoal. By this point it was burning pretty good so I spread them around to get more of the coals going. Once most of the charcoal was burning and the smoker was about 220F I added a couple of hickory mini logs. Once I got a clean looking pale blue smoke coming from the exhaust I put the pork shoulders on fat side down. I also put a water pan in the smoker. In addition to the built in thermometer I used an iGrill 2 digital thermometer with 2 ambient temperature probes and 2 meat probes, one for each pork butt. I tried to maintain about 225F on the smoker as consistently as possible. The actual temperature varied from about 210 to 250 because I think the wood I was using was a little wet still from being outside. Next time I'll preheat the logs. Once I got the logs going though the temperature was pretty consistent. I didn't spritz or mop at all or open the cook chamber for anything until the meat reached 165F. At that point I wrapped them both in aluminum foil and put them back on the smoker. I also stopped adding wood and just used charcoal to finish the cook. I pulled them both off at 195F and let them rest wrapped for 45 minutes. When I opened them up and cut off a piece for a taste test, I just knew I had some amazing 'cue even before taking a bite. Of course it was confirmed when I finally took that bite. I immediately called my wife over to try it to. I finished unwrapping them and dumped the juices into a bowl. I pulled the meat apart with my hands using insulated gloves and it just fell apart in my hands. It was so incredibly juicy. Once I finished pulling it apart I poured the juices back in, mixed it up, and chowed down! I'm telling you folks, I love this smoker! I'm really starting to seriously consider my dream of opening a barbecue joint. I even convinced a coworker to buy the Santa Fe model and now another coworker is seriously considering the Cheyenne.
- Joined: May 10th, 2014, 12:33 pm
- Posts: 576
- Location: Sitting Near a Yoder Smoker, Smelling Sweet Blue
Great story. It sounds like you had a great cook and you were able to share it with others. That's what barbecue is all about.
Excellent pulled pork story. I have a YS640 pellet grill and now want to experience a stick burner. I don't cook large amounts of food. Just cook for a family of four. Should I consider a witchita or something smaller? Doea the smaller toder stick burners offer the same features as a loaded witchita? Thanks for your pulled pork post.
ducaticraig wrote:Excellent pulled pork story. I have a YS640 pellet grill and now want to experience a stick burner. I don't cook large amounts of food. Just cook for a family of four. Should I consider a witchita or something smaller? Doea the smaller toder stick burners offer the same features as a loaded witchita? Thanks for your pulled pork post.
I have a Loaded Wichita and it's just me and my wife most of the time, but it will cook enough for larger groups too. I've done three pork butts and six slabs of baby backs and had room for at least six more. The quality of the Yoder is 5 star!!
If you can afford it, definitely go for at least the Wichita. The Cheyenne is a great starter but, after a year, you will wish you had some more space. I used one for 2 years, loved it, but started cooking for more and more people, and went ahead and made the jump to the Kingman, it's a thing of beauty, Sometimes, I like to sit in the back yard and just look at it 
I would definitely go pony up for the Wichita. I was in the same dilemma several years ago. I went with the Wichita and so glad I did. It's perfectly sized for what you have described. I know it seems like overkill, but you won't think so after a few cooks. Even when I grill on it, it's nice to have the chamber for warming (and additional smoke).
Good luck on your decision.
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