I got a smoker for Christmas from my parents that is absolutely fantastic.

The first item we smoked was a Boston butt. I rubbed it with what I can only describe as nectar of the gods in barbecue rub form.

I discovered Uncle Yammy’s with my friend Cameron last Spring when we went up to Pawley’s Island. Cameron discovered it in the store there and it was a hit.

I had to go to seven grocery stores to find it in Charleston, but find it I did!
It is a standby.

Here’s the initial Butt in the smoker:

This one was pretty good, but not falling apart like I’d have liked it to be. I think this was caused by two failures on my part:

• I cooked it fat-side down. I read a few blogs and what-not on the internet and they all agreed that cooking fat-side down was the way to go. But prior to this, I have always cooked fat-side up and it’s been awesome. I’m returning to my fat-side up roots.
• I cooked it in 6 hours. It was a Sunday and I hadn’t’ gotten the smoker assembled and running until almost 1, so I didn’t get to cook it as slowly as I’d have liked. This kept it from being as tender as I’d have preferred.

It was still excellent, though. Especially when I’d pulled it and mixed in a little of the Treet.

I could do a post solely on Carolina Treet (Which is apparently from The Other Carolina, which makes me a little sad), but I’ll just say that it’s the barbecue sauce I grew up on and tastes like home.

With our impending nuptials, though, I’m trying to eat a little more healthy. No one wants to be a fat groom.

So yesterday, I smoked a chicken.

I had never had smoked chicken, and I only had a vague idea of how it should be done, but it was very easy.

Here’s the steps:

• I brined a chicken in a simple mix of a gallon of water with a cup of sugar and a cup of salt for about 4 hours. (Next time, I’ll probably do it overnight, though.)
• I pulled the chicken out of the brine and washed it with cool water.
• I dried the old girl off and then rubbed it liberally with Uncle Yammy’s.
• Then, I popped it into the smoker  breast-side down with it running at about 280 degrees. (Still need to get a more accurate thermometer for the smoker.)
• 45 minutes in I flipped her over and we went to the store.
• Got back and waited until the internal temperature hit ~170.

The results were pretty amazing. The legs and thighs were falling apart and delicious.

Most importantly, though, the breast was moist and tasty. Just ate a bunch in my lunch-salad.

I think with the Sous Vide and the smoker, we’ll be able to eat both healthy and well.