Finally Here!!!

[Evotim]

Hi all,

I'm Tim and live in Hove and have been reading this forum for some months now and like to think i've learnt a lot so far... although putting it into practice isn't always as easy as i've found!
I've been doing oven pulled pork, ribs and brisket (i know, not the same but...) for a few years now but have only recently moved into somewhere with a garden so top of the list...bbq!! I bought a Weber One touch Premium and have been experimenting with that while i agonisingly waited 3 -4 months for stock of the Pro Q Excel to arrive. Finally i got to order my Excel! After still another couple of weeks delay the delivery arrived i couldn't wait to fire her up, only i opened the box to find she was damaged.... The disappointment was immense. But a few days later the replacement arrived and now i have a fully working smoker ... Very Happy now:)

So i've done the seasoning and she's had a test run with some baby back ribs which came out ok for a first cook, could've probably done with another 30-40 mins but they'd been in for 3 hours at that point, looked close to ready? it was dark and we were all starving!! I had trouble getting the excel up to temp for the first hour, hovering around 200f as i thought i'd read only to put a half chimney in to start on top of some unlit briquettes for low temps?

Anyhow, I'm doing my first overnight cook tonight as have a big bbq tomorrow for my birthday. I've just bought a 10.5lb pork shoulder, bone and skin off, blade in and 2 full racks of ribs. My main concern is the shoulder... timing and temps. I managed to forget to top up the water pan when i did the baby backs a few days ago so stupidly let it boil dry, oops, so thought going down the sand route maybe a better option ?

So, question time;
1) How far do i fill the pan up with sand?
2) How much charcoal shall i put in the excel before any lit coals go on?
3) Should i put a whole chimney on to start?
4) How long should it take to cook? (I'm estimating 16 hours plus resting?)
5) Fat side up or down? (I've always done fat side up in the oven)

Any other advice i might need to know would be very much appreciated.

Cheers

[Tiny]

Oh noble tim,
Welcome to the forum, regular visitor to hove for cricket, good choice of residence. Am no owner of an excel so will leave others to answer your Qs, but was in brighton last week and there are 2 top bbq joints if you haven't tried them........Smokeys and bbq shack at worlds end.....

Happy smoking!
Cheers
Tiny

[Evotim]

Yes, tried and love them both, may well be heading to smokeys next week.
Cheers

[JEC]

John Hargate from BBQ Shack is a member on here, having sampled his good at Grillstock it should be an awesome night out for authentic BBQ.