If you remember last year, my main event every year is the annual “Smokefest” hosted by a retired co-worker of mine, Slide. It has grown annually, and so has the expectation. I was responsible for beef last year (Tenderloin) and went for the crown jewel this year – Brisket. If you recall, briskets were supposed to be a summer project of mine – but those damn beef prices. This year was exceptionally brutal. But there’s only one Smokefest a year, so let’s get at it!
If you haven’t checked out the Smokefest 2020: The Beef Tenderloin post – gotta do it. This was one of my favorites by far!
The Smokefest Story
What started in 2018 and has grown every year until 2021 – The Annual SMOKEFEST. This is put together by my good friends Slide and MrsSlide (and Sadie), who have a beautiful place on a lake to host our shenanigans. It started when Pup and I went up to see our friend, took our smokers and as always – good food, good times. Since then, it’s grown to neighbors, family, friends and live music. Some shoutouts: Folds of Honor Motor City, The George Brothers, and Black Sheep BBQ. There’s no competition, just celebrating summer, our freedoms, and our friends. I can’t believe it’s been 4 years – I think I’ve done Ribs, a Pork Butt, the Beef Tenderloin and now the Brisket – but what might be booze-related – I really only remember three of them. I keep getting invited back – so it must be a good thing!
On a personal note: Please check out the Motor City Folds of Honor – Slide has put a lot of time into this great cause. COVID put a damper on fundraising efforts and the big yearly event – so if you’re able, great cause benefiting great people.
Really want to get an awesome toolbox-ish case. Also really want to get my truck back so I can take what I want. Maybe Smokefest 2022! Since this will be a two-part post, let’s get a little personal:
Our Camping Trip
So I (kind of) recently changed jobs – and don’t have a ton of vacation time. Everything needs to bleed into the weekend like most new hires. MrsForensicBBQ is more than patient with me, so we decided to take the Wednesday-Friday before SMOKEFEST and spend some time in the woods. Found a State park, walked the wild, camped the grounds, and enjoyed the release from the weekly grind.
Our last night of our camping trip, I broke out the RecTeq Trailblazer and bought a Pork Butt – because nothing says SmokeFest like pre-gaming SmokeFest. The pressure to bring your A-Game for the big show needed tamped down by an overnight smoke. So I did.
SmokeFest 2021: The Pre-Game Pork Butt
This was done on a whim. I had the deck stacked for cow, but thought I’d throw a little pig in there too. If you’ve paid any attention to the SHOP, you’ll see I’ve put some placeholders for some upcoming seasoning sales. I’m not yet ready to sell stuff, but I brought a few oink-ounce packs to give out for some fun. Or in this case – to smoke a Butt.
The Prep Table (Pre-Game Pork Butt)
If you want a full read on how I do a Pork Butt – Please check out the Father’s Day Post – The Pork Butt. Candy Bacon aside – the pork butt has been my most requested cook. We stopped at a local shop and they had a small 5lb’er. Picked that up and gave the campground it’s best night – the aroma of smoked meats.
Brought the butt back to the camping site, and had to open up one of the freebie-packs of my Fine Swine Pork Rub. Gave it that snow globe love, dusted her up – and let it ride. This was a 225 degree smoke until it was 200 degrees. I put her on around 6pm I think? Wife went and walked to the lakes while I tended to the fire.
The Process (Pre-Game Pork Butt)
Didn’t take many pictures – again, scope out that Father’s Day post for the full show. But I did get this one in there:
Got the smoker nice and dirty for the additional hour-or-so drive to Smokefest, and didn’t really clean it the way I would’ve liked. Oh well, pitmaster problems. This was another killer smoke. I only brought Mesquite wood for the journey, and so mesquite wood I used. The wife turned in for the night – and like clockwork, I can’t sleep with a fire going. I stayed in the car with alarms set about every hour in case I fell asleep – Didn’t want to wake sleeping beauty. Naturally, I didn’t sleep much AT ALL. YOSF for sure. (inside joke)
So somewhere around 6 in the morning, the pig was done, and I got to work. I had 4 full pans in the crate, so one got used for this. Turned off the smoker, put it in the pan, foil covered and climbed back into the car to get a good morning’s sleep.
Yeah, that didn’t work either. I hit the campground shower, and had a delicious 7am pork butt sandwich:
Brought up my ForensicBBQ sauce, gave it a little love and put it on two pieces of white bread and started the day. We were packing up today to head over to SmokeFest. I packed up the left overs and re-heated them that night. Splashed the pan with some beer and sealed up the pan and stuck it in the smoker at 225 (was pre-heating for the Brisket later that night). As we all hung out all evening, snacking on pork butt, rave reviews on the BBQ sauce – the Serrano-Garlic pickle spears were well received.. it was good evening.
But this was just the pre-game. Part two coming soon! THE MAIN EVENT! Check back tomorrow to see the brisket!
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