Robert J.M.
New member
Over Friday and Saturday I cooked butts starting at 8pm using the 30 coals on a full load of charcoal (Kingsford Original). I have cooked butts about 5 times and use a Maverick dual probe. I got it easily locked in at 230 about an hour after putting on the meat, and for the first 12 hours the temperature stayed fairly stable 220-230. I only had to adjust it once to open the vents about 2 am when the alarm went off for below 220. About 8 am I started fighting low temperature, it just would not come up and stay from about 205 (meat temp 170). I stirred or bumped the kettle and gradually opened vents to 100% and it would jump about 10 deg but soon fall back down to around 205 (the vents were clear, I checked). So I took the center section off, there was still plenty of partially consumed charcoal but I stirred the charcoal then I went ahead and added a single layer of new charcoal and shut the vents back down to about 50% and still the temp would not come up so I opened the vents 100 % and surprise surprise I overshot to 250. Realizing I was likely low on water I refilled the water pan but could never get them temp back down to 225, I steadily cut the vents down to almost closed but stayed in the 240 jumping quickly to 260 range and I had to open the top a few times to keep it from going over 260. With the temp 240-260 the smaller piece finished cooking fairly quickly (17 hrs. elapsed) and once it was removed the temp finally stabilized around 245 (vents almost closed) and the other finished 2 hrs. later, meat was at 189. I held both pieces covered in a cooler for over an hour before pulling and the meat and it was excellent, many raves from friends (I used Jane’s Butt Rub Recipe)
Having cooked butts at 250, which is easier to control, they are just not as good as ones cooked at 225. However, this is not the first time I have struggled holding the lower temp, it just seems harder. Several people in my area have Backwoods Smokers or Green Eggs and I thought that would be a solution to set it and forget it low but the more I read, people fight those too, easy to overshoot and never get it back down because of the mass/insulation and they end up paying more money for a BBQ Guru or similar. So I am talking my (wallet) out of that idea and into a Stoker as I have a decent feel for my WSM and am a computer/wireless/iOS nerd too and that would be less hard on my wallet. Assuming I am just not being unrealistic and lazy since I did get delicious meat after cooking 19 hours and only fiddling with the temp 7 of them, this LONG post leads to my questions...
1. Any ideas why I could not bring the temp up after 12 hours, I still had plenty of unburned charcoal in the bottom.
2. Will a Stoker really give me tighter temp control, more of a set it and forget it so I don’t have to fight the 225 temp like I did.
Thanks, Robert
Having cooked butts at 250, which is easier to control, they are just not as good as ones cooked at 225. However, this is not the first time I have struggled holding the lower temp, it just seems harder. Several people in my area have Backwoods Smokers or Green Eggs and I thought that would be a solution to set it and forget it low but the more I read, people fight those too, easy to overshoot and never get it back down because of the mass/insulation and they end up paying more money for a BBQ Guru or similar. So I am talking my (wallet) out of that idea and into a Stoker as I have a decent feel for my WSM and am a computer/wireless/iOS nerd too and that would be less hard on my wallet. Assuming I am just not being unrealistic and lazy since I did get delicious meat after cooking 19 hours and only fiddling with the temp 7 of them, this LONG post leads to my questions...
1. Any ideas why I could not bring the temp up after 12 hours, I still had plenty of unburned charcoal in the bottom.
2. Will a Stoker really give me tighter temp control, more of a set it and forget it so I don’t have to fight the 225 temp like I did.
Thanks, Robert