Smoked 40 pounds of pork shoulder last Saturday and it was a nightmare

I volunteered to do the meat for my sister's retirement party in Austin. Figured 40 pounds of pork shoulder would be manageable with my offset smoker. Things went fine for the first 4 hours, then the wind shifted and my temp dropped to 180. Spent the next 2 hours fighting with the fire, adding logs every 20 minutes. Then the party got pushed back an hour because the venue was locked by accident. By the time I pulled the pork it was 3 hours late and some guests had already eaten chips for dinner. The meat turned out okay but I was so stressed I barely talked to anyone. Any tips for handling a wind shift in the middle of a long cook without losing your mind?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_lisa6d ago

Yo did you try using a wind break like a tent or plywood? I used to just fight through it but after one disaster with gusts ruining my temp I rigged up some cheap fencing and it saved my sanity.

paige_west6d ago

Wait, isn't fighting through it part of the whole deal? I mean, if you block every gust you're basically cooking in a controlled environment and that just feels... wrong for me. One time I was doing a brisket in heavy winds and the temp swung like 40 degrees but somehow it came out with maybe the best bark I've ever gotten because of all the extra airflow and turbulence. Isn't there something to be said for just letting nature do its thing and learning to ride those waves?