A PERFECT BUTT

At 3:30pm, 10 hours after going into the Bradley Smoker, the 8lb pork butt had reached an internal temperature of 180 degrees.  The next step was to first wrap it in foil, then in a towel, before putting it in a small ice chest for another 3 hours.  At 6:30, I took it out of the cooler, and started separating the meat from the fat, and the bone.  It was done perfectly, with the meat being tender, moist, and tasting pretty darn good! 

When I had finished, I ended up with about 4 1/2 pounds of nice, stringy pulled pork, from what started out as an 8lb roast.  With a little BBQ sauce,  I think a pulled pork sandwich just might be on the lunch menu today.

 Two more butts went into the smoker at 5:30 this morning.

While the meat was cooking, both Patty and I were busy with different projects on the motor home.  One of my annual chores is to flush out the hot water heater.  The mineral rich water here in Arizona is the source of lots of calcium deposits, not only in places like the water heater, but around faucets, on shower heads, and just about anyplace where you have running water.  This simple hose attachment gets into the drain hole of the water heater, and does a pretty good job of flushing out most of the minerals that have accumulated inside the tank.

The white stuff on the side of the motor home is only a small sample of what came out of the water heater.  

Some water heaters have anode rods that attract the minerals, and the rods have to be changed on a regular basis.  Our brand does not, and this is the process that keeps the tank relatively free of calcium buildup.  I remember one summer in Skagway, Alaska, one of the work campers was complaining that his water heater had stopped working.  When we started to diagnose the problem, I asked him when was the last time he had changed the anode rod.  His reply of "never" gave me a clue as to what was the problem.  When I finally was able to unscrew the drain hole plug , the rod that was supposed to be attached,  had completely disintegrated, and the water heater tank was full of calcium deposits.  We were able to clean it enough to get it working, but I suspect that a new water heater wasn't too far down the road for that RV.  

More maintenance and cleaning today, then a must see football game between the S.F. 49ers, and the AZ Cardinals.