25apr09 breakfast fatty

just a quick smoke in my ECB this week for a breakfast fatty. spent the rest of the day getting ready for my #4 son's 7th birthday party (even though his birthday isn't actually until the 28th).

anyway, it was just a simple fatty - 2 lbs of jimmy dean maple rolled out and stuffed with cheddar cheese. i did put a little rub on the outside and inside. here it is when it's maybe half-cooked:

here it is finished nd resting for a few minutes before slicing:

even though i only put half as much cheese as usual, it was still pretty cheesy. check out that nice smoke ring!

interestingly, i used a combination of hickory and poplar for this smoke. the poplar seemed to smell very sweet and slightly bitter, but the bitterness didn't show up in the meat, which carried a sweet tang similar i think to maple but more subtle.