Yoder Smokers Community Forum

Hey guys,

Well, this weekend I topped my stupidity record. I decided to have some company and make pulled pork. I had everything setup, fired up the YS640 and put the meat on at 250 and expected a 7 hour cook. I had my temp lines setup andwent about my business. A few hours later, I checked the temps and they were soaring! I couldn't figure out what the hell what going on. I lift the lid and everything is fine except for one small detail...............................................I didn't have the heat diffuser in place! I couldn't believe it, it was like some horrible BBQ nightmare I was experiencing. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I reinjected both butts and pull them from the smoker. I quickly put the diffuser in and settled everything back in. They were in direct heat for almost 3.5 hours. My heart sank. When dinner time arrived I almost couldn't bring my self to "pull" them. The meat was definitely difficult to pull and wasn't as tender as it should have been. It came out more like a big pork chop. After it was sauced, it was pretty good. Nothing I was proud of but not bad. The guests loved it but I was disapppointed. Lesson learned???? In the excitement, make sure you go through the checklist.

We all learn from our own mistakes. Unfortunately, most of the time, others do not, no matter how hard you try.

Nice recovery. Kudos to you for working things out without throwing it all away!

In barbecue (and life in general) I see every mistake as a learning experience. Lord knows I make plenty of mistakes, but I usually don't make the same one twice. So you can take away the knowledge and comfort that you probably won't ever do that again.

I pulled the "Don't check the hopper" move this past weekend while making wings. Came back from the park thinking I was gonna eat soon and found the controller telling me a temp 125. I gotta get a Tappecue.

Thanks for the understanding and kind words. I definitely will not make that mistake again or hopefully I won't, As you guys mentioned, one of the important lessons is to learn from those mistakes which I think I will.