# 2LiveQ FF It's Official



## WildFireEric (Feb 2, 2008)

I am very happy to announce that an unexpected cold air mass has settled over Northern VA tonight and as of 11:20PM, it hit 31F in Clifton. 

8:40pm lit chimney

8:58pm loaded two 7lb butts on one WSM (cold but didn't note the temp) clear skies with no wind.

9:30pm neighbor reported 35F on his porch

11pm neighbor noted 32.5 on his porch. minor wind (maybe 1mph) changing directions blowing smoke around. noted i'm still in t-shirt and shorts but my hands are getting cold. My dome temp was high due to my not initially monitoring and leaving the bottom vents 100% open way too long and too many lit briquettes. Water boiled out of water pan. I added ice water to water pan, tossed some water and some ice on the charcoal and temps stabilized at 240 degrees. Will monitor to bring down to 230 degrees.

11:15pm Took my thermapen outdoors. It registered 32 degrees
11:20pm Turned on PC. Weather.com site says Clifton is 31F. I turned my thermapen and it confirmed 31 degrees. Weather.com channel now predicts the low will be 27 degrees at 5am.
11:37pm lit chimney for second WSM. (plan to put brisket on at midnight)


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## WildFireEric (Feb 3, 2008)

At 11:45pm the outside temp hit 29F. I just put the brisket flat on. Taking pictures, but webshots.com is down at the moment (maybe I'll change dns servers or try from my other computer). Will post as soon as I can. I plan on putting the ribs on around 5am and I'll do the chicken on the OTS later in the morning.


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## Griff (Feb 3, 2008)

Congratulations, welcome to Arctic Survivor. I think I'm going to make temp here also. I'm putting my brisket on in about an hour.


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## WildFireEric (Feb 3, 2008)

Ribs on, pulled Brisket at 204 (resting in a towel-lined cooler), and foiled the butts (been in the 150s for hours and concerned there may be oversmoke issues if I hadn't foiled).  Had to add some more charcoal (dome temp dropped to 200 and not much charcoal left in there). Slight breeze feels freezing. Thermapen shows 29.

I had trimmed and rubbed two small chunks of butt that kinda stuck out for fear that they would burn. Pulled them off the smoker and bit into one. I think the cayenne adds a nice bite. I don't know if my CA victims are prepared for it, so will hope the rest of the bark will mellow a bit after the foil job.


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## Woodman1 (Feb 3, 2008)

Got the pit fired up at about 5:30. Turkeys out of the brine, rinsed and rubbed. Having coffee now. Turkey going in at 7:00. Ribs on at 11:00. Meat Loaf on at noon. Sides in the oven at 2:00 . Leave for the party at 4:00 . Serve at 5:00. Too cold for complete sentences now. Right around Zero with a 30-40 mph wind blowing. Heavy snow. Camera froze and so did our local weather reporting equipment! So, if the reports YOU are seeing about our area are different, that's why! I will struggle on.....


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## WildFireEric (Feb 3, 2008)

Woodman said:
			
		

> Got the pit fired up at about 5:30. Turkeys out of the brine, rinsed and rubbed. Having coffee now. Turkey going in at 7:00. Ribs on at 11:00. Meat Loaf on at noon. Sides in the oven at 2:00 . Leave for the party at 4:00 . Serve at 5:00. Too cold for complete sentences now. Right around Zero with a 30-40 mph wind blowing. Heavy snow. Camera froze and so did our local weather reporting equipment! So, if the reports YOU are seeing about our area are different, that's why! I will struggle on.....



Woodman,
That is incredible. Nice schedule. Hope it turns out well for you.

As of Noon today, my ribs are done and 'resting' before I tear into  at least one of them (did 3 spare ribs and 3 baby backs). My butts are still going. Kinda like the Energizer bunny. Had one of them up to 192 before letting it fall back to 170 when working on my ribs. The other one was way behind the other, but has almost caught up. They are both in the low 180s. Themapen confirms temps. Have a 250 dome temp so will be patient. One positive note: discovered two of my probes are defective. Better to find today when cooking for us and friends than at a competition. So, I'll probably be talking to Larry about getting some wireless ones.

Webshots is still down for maintenance, so I may post some of my pics on photobucket or something.

Fatty should be ready soon (around the time of Amy's chili).


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## WildFireEric (Feb 8, 2008)

OK, finally uploaded my pics. Sent my 'turn-in' pics to John. 

Yeehaaa. Qualify for Arctic Survivor, barely.




Just put on the butts




Just put on the brisket




butts are doing nicely




Getting ready to dive in




Haven't learned the art of pulling, so using my hackmaster to chop




Getting ready to eat lunch




No rib or chicken pics (except for judges) due to me being too tired to even think of taking pics of them.

Overall, cooked two butts, 6 ribs, a brisket flat and one whole chicken on two WSMs and a OTS. Learned a few things and figure sleep is important. Selecting meat at last minute is like Xmas shopping at last minute. Did get some of my meat thawed out just fine. Jury is out on the marinades I used. The brisket was too strong, so may use a weaker rub in the future if only a flat but this may be good for a packer brisket. Brown sugar added nice color and flavor to everything. Lots of cayenne added nice flavor too. Beer gave me courage to eat my food. Shorts and no shoes at 5am (28 degrees) is kinda cold.  Will enjoy cooking up three more chickens this weekend and getting my remaining Q in the mail. Lots of fun. Hope to do it next year.


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## LarryWolfe (Feb 8, 2008)

Great looking pic's Eric!!!  You're coming right along "Young Warrior"!


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## Tannehill Kid (Feb 8, 2008)

Good looking pic's.  Making me hungry  for some Q early this morning.


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## WildFireEric (Feb 8, 2008)

It was yummy, but i'm out of it.  Gave some away and ate the rest for lunch three days in a row.

I'll post my turn-in pics when its okay to do so.


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