Cook Temps Too High!


 
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Mark T.

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Hi All,

Cooking a 7lb pork shoulder picknick and a 7lb brisket flat. I used approx 12 lbs charcoal with the minion method. The tems soared into the 300's for the first three hours with all vents closed. So once again I will defer to the expetise here, did I use too much charcoal, I have also hear that new smokers run hot (I have used this one for 4 - 5 cooks). Do you think the meat will be too touch due to high temps?

Thanks - sorry to run on
Mark
 
Yipes! Did you have water in the pan? You could have brought the temp down during those first 3 hours by shutting all the bottom vents and even closing the top one a wee bit, or by scooping out some of the lit coals, or putting ice into the water pan, or all of the above. Did you try to do anything like that? My WSMs only ran hot for their very first cooks. By 4 or 5 they're totally broken in I think.

How many lit coals did you start with? I usually do 12-16, depending on the outside temp and wind.

What temps were the brisket and picnic at after those 3 hours?

I doubt they're ruined, and I bet you can totally salvage them by cranking back to a nice low heat (say 220) and taking it nice and slow. Also...are you going to spray aple juice on the brisket, and mop the picnic?
 
Mark...those temps sound high!! First, is there water in the pan or sand? Second, when did you start closing the vents during the heating up process of the MM? Third, did the access door fall off or was there some other major air leak in the WSM?

Rest assured...your meat and pork are ok...Friday night I was doing a butt and I forgot to set my alarm on the ET-73 and when I checked it a 4am it was at 270 degrees. Not as high as yours but still higher than I wanted. The end results were great and no one was able to tell that there was a spike for a few hours in the cooking process.

Next time choke the top vent down too...that works really well! Has the temp leveled off yet or is it high still?

You and your meat will be fine!
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Thanks for all of the help. Not sure what went wrong this time maybe too much fuel (2 starters full). The vents have been pretty much closed from the get go. Like Greg I started this in the wee hours and forgot to set the ET - 73. lI will keep you posted.

Thanks,

Mark
 
I've forgotten to set the alarm on mine TWICE and both times woke up to a 275 temp. One time I had put a 6 lb brisket on at midnight and it had already reached into the 160s by 6 a.m.! I feared it was ruined, but I dialed back the smoker temps significantly, and the meat temp hung out in the 160's for hours and hours doing that rendering magic. Turned out beautifully, and no one was the wiser....! (well, knowing me i prolly confessed everything, but I notice people's eyes sort of glaze over when you start with the bbq minutia...)
 
My guess is you started with too many lit coals. That really can make a difference in early high temps. Also, you may not have anticipated how quickly the temp was rising and made vent adjustments early on. That can be a little tricky, but you'll get the hang of it with more experience. If you did everything right the first time, you'd never learn what "not" to do.

We all learn something from each cook.
 
Susan...saw some of the glazed looks yesterday for the BBQ at my brothers. They ask how you do it, but, they really just want to eat it! When you start talking about minutia they start losing interest...QUICKLY!!
 
The temps ar down to normal now around 215, so I am just going to go low and slow. Thanks again all.

Mark
 
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