My whole pork shoulder plan fell apart when my main smoker gave out on a Friday

I had a big family thing on Saturday and was going to smoke a 12 pound shoulder overnight. Around 10 PM, my old offset just stopped holding heat, the fire kept going out. I had to move everything to my little kettle grill at midnight and basically babysit it with tiny charcoal feeds every hour. The bark was a bit soft, but the meat was still good, just a close call. Anyone ever had to do a full emergency swap like that mid cook?

3 comments

3 Comments

matthew_wilson223mo ago

Man, that's a true nightmare scenario. Honestly, the fact you pulled it off at all is a win. I always keep a cheap electric hot plate and a big disposable aluminum pan in the garage just for this. If everything goes down, you can at least braise the thing to finish it off and save the meat, even if you lose the smoke.

noahchen2mo ago

Agree with you completely. Had a brisket that just would not climb through the stall last year, ran out of charcoal at like 2 AM. Ended up finishing it in the oven with some broth and it came out surprisingly decent, just missed the smoke ring. That hot plate trick is genius though, definitely stealing that one.

palmer.henry3mo ago

But isn't that just giving up on real barbecue?