Okie Smokin

Why Your Pit Barrel Meat Falls – And How to Stop It (Between the Fires)

John Berry

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0:00 | 10:47

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We share a studio update and a wild save: a pork shoulder slipped off the hook into the coals, and we walk through the steps that turned a near-disaster into a great meal. We also break down how to prevent barrel drop-offs with double hooks, better wrap timing, and smart fire control. • new studio setup for deeper BBQ talk • episodes now on YouTube and major podcast platforms • schedule returns to Mondays • pork shoulder fell into the pit barrel story • managing flare-ups by choking oxygen and targeted cooling • rescue steps: retrieve, wrap, finish steady • prevention: double hooking, hammocking, or moving to the grate • wrap timing around 145–155 to avoid falls • rib hanging tips: hook two or three bones down • using wireless probes as guides, not autopilot Don't forget to follow this podcast, or you might miss out on some delicious creations

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  • Okie Smokin YouTube Channel - Our YouTube channel where we regularly post cooking videos and other content.
  • Video Podcast - Playlist of all our video podcast episodes on YouTube.
  • Fanpage: Leave a voicemail for us and we might play it on a future episode!
  • Okie Smokin YouTube Channel - Our YouTube channel where we regularly post cooking videos and other content.
  • Video Podcast - Playlist of all our video podcast episodes on YouTube.

Quick Bonus And Welcome

SPEAKER_03

This is a quick bonus episode.

SPEAKER_02

From smoke board to smash burger, outdoor cooking just tastes better. This is the Okie Smoking Podcast. And here's your host, John Barry.

Platforms And Release Schedule

The Pork Shoulder Drop

Fire Control And Recovery

Preventing Pit Barrel Falls

Ribs, Temps, And Wrapping Timing

SPEAKER_03

We are now getting our podcast spaced. Our studio, a place where it's going to be available so we can easily come on here, Dolores and I, and talk about barbecue, get some great topics, uh, talk about various things, talk about some of our cooks. We're wanting to really go a little more in depth than usual. So we'll bring up some uh cool topics, bring on some guests. And before, we never had our own little studio. So just wanted to share we have that now. And if you're watching this on the YouTube version, I am showing you how we've kind of got it set up. So I've got a nice little microphone here, I've got a couple of computers, so we'll be able to see things, and I'll be able to talk, and Dolores will be able to come alongside me, and because the show is a whole hell of a lot better when she's on, and we'll be able to go ahead and continue our podcast. If you see here, I'm looking, we've had 53 episodes, which is quite remarkable. We're excited to continue making those. From here on out, the episodes will start to show up on YouTube as well as the podcast platform audio version on Spotify, on Apple, or any of your favorite podcasts, iHeartRadio. I do want to talk, though, since I've got you, about something crazy that happened today. And we're going to talk about this in depth on a future episode, which we're going to get everything rolling again in about a week. Our episodes come out every Monday. This one is a little bit of a uh letdown, I guess you would say. Hopefully not, but it is not a full episode. I'm just coming on here to give you an update, so to speak, about what's going on. And this weekend I cooked a pork shoulder, and I cooked it on the pit barrel, and I absolutely love cooking on the pit barrel. I haven't used it a whole lot lately. I've got several different ones. I've been using the green egg, big green egg, quite a bit, and the pit boss is also one of my favorites. But when I went out there to wrap it because I had been hanging it on the bar, you hang it and it cooks. It actually wasn't hanging anymore. It had actually fell in. I've had this happen before, and I've always caught it relatively quickly, and I think I did again because I checked it not long before, and it was still there. I'm testing out a new wireless probe, which worked pretty well, and I was monitoring the temperature, but I kept procrastinating and just never went out there. I let it go too long and it fell. Now, a couple of things you could do to prevent this or at least reduce the chance of this happening. Uh, number one would be I only put one hook. And that hook was in the fire when I finally was able to get down there, and that was a challenge because you open this thing up, you've got a ball of fire. You've got this, and when you open the lid, the fire, the flame, the air starts to give it oxygen, and the flames just continue, the flames get hotter. You put I had to put the lid on a couple of times, try to get the flames to go out. Ended up actually splashing a little water to reduce the flame so I could get it out successfully. And I'm, you know, it's it's a very caveman style, I guess you would say. And you it was basically cooked over the charcos for a little while till we got the thing removed. Then I was able to go ahead and wrap it at that point. It did turn out great. We went ahead and wrapped it, cooked it the remainder of the way on the pit barrel, went ahead and it got heated back up, and everything turned out great. Everything did turn out great. But have you ever had your items fall into the pit barrel unknowingly? You know, you'll be what if that happened and you didn't know about it for an hour or two? Or it fell on fell over early, you know, at the beginning of the cook. That wouldn't be good at all. But it was not that was not the case. And typically you're not gonna have that. You're gonna have that in the end or not the end, but toward the wrapping stage when when the meat starts to get tender. You can help prevent that by double hooking. I'll uh put one hook further down, put another hook through it. You can also hammock it possibly, or just put it on the grate. If it would fit, this would have fit right on the grate. I didn't need to hang it, so to speak, and I could have done it that way and then wrapped it. But I always like hanging it. I mean, it's the pit barrel, gotta hang it. So, and of course, if you do ribs, I try to go two or three down. Don't put it on that first one. No, no, no. You want to go one, two, three if you can, and uh go ahead and put it in there. That those extra bones kind of give you a little bit more of a uh chance. But I haven't lost any ribs, it's just important to keep an eye on it. Wrap it early, 145, 155, don't let it get to 165, 175 for sure, or it's got a good chance of falling. I had one other time where I was actually removing it, and while I was removing it, it it fell in. I got a video somewhere out there. There's there's a lot of videos on the YouTube channel, so you might be able to find that one if you sift through long enough. There's over 300. But that was a pretty cool little experience. I'll talk more about that on some of our full-blown episodes, but just wanted to come out here and say hello. We're still rolling here in Oklahoma City area, still cooking outdoors like always, and on the Vivor indoors, and we're rolling. Episode 54 is just around the corner with Dolores and I. If you have not already and you do enjoy outdoor cooking, I just go ahead and invite you to go ahead and consider following me on whatever uh platform you are uh listening to. And I do appreciate each and every one of you. I really do. I'll see. I'll I'll talk to you guys soon. Bye now.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you for listening to the Okie Smoking Podcast. Episodes drop every Monday. Don't forget to follow this podcast, or you might miss out on some delicious creations. You can also find us on our website, OkieSmoking.com, and on YouTube and other social media platforms. Until next time, keep firing up that grill.

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There's a brand new feature available on the Okie Smoking Podcast. And it involves you. That's right. Send me and Dolores a text. And it's never been easier. Simply scroll down to the show notes description and you'll see where it says send John and Dolores a text message, click it, talk to us. You're probably using your phone anyway, so do it now. Can't wait to hear from you.

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