I’ll start by bareing all because I'm so pleased:
This weekend was a great learning experience and I learned a lot! As always, you learn a little and you question a little. That keeps us coming back, right? If we knew it all, it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.
As a caveat….I don’t get to smoke as often as most of you do, or as much as I’d like to either, but I surely do enjoy it when I can.
1. My FIRST OVERNIGHT COOK -- AWESOME! Curiosity overcame good sense and trust in the WSM’s capabilities, though, despite all the great reviews.
I did get excellent data, though, on overnight cooker and meat temps every hour or so.
MEMO TO SELF: Catch up on sleep tomorrow.
2. FAT CAP. I removed all of the fat cap. Meat was still moist, but next time I just might leave 1/8” or 1/1/6” of it on (at least in a few places), although I did get awesome bark -- flavorful and dark, and not overcaramelized at all.
3. COOK TIME. My total cook time at 215-225°F was 12 3/4 hours for a 5.5-pound butt. I suspect my temps might have been a little lower than my readings indicated.
4. RESTING / HOLDING METHOD. Loved the technique of wrapping the 195°-197°F butt in Saran Original and 2 layers of foil and returning it to the shut-down WSM while it was cooling off. My 5.5-pound bone-in butt maintained 195° down to 140°F internal temperatures over a period of 6 to 7 hours.
5. Next time: TEST INJECTION WITHOUT VINEGAR. I gave the meat a light rub and refrigerated it overnight. I then injected the butt with a very light vinegar/apple juice/rub mixture just before I lit my Minion Method coals. 40-45 minutes later I gave the meat a second rub and put it onto the cooker. I found the cooked meat just slightly mushy…due to the light vinegar injection or to the long holding/resting period?….Not sure. The meat definitely needs some vinegar, but early-on might not be the time to add it….gotta check.
6. DON’T TRY TO GET EVERYTHING INTO ONE COOK. I made too many sauces to test at one swell foop -- (2 tomato-mustard, 2 vinegar-based, 2 tomato-based). Most seemed good (no duds today) but there were too many choices to wind up with a preferred list and I finished up not knowing what I knew.
7. CHECK MY NU-TEMP RECEIVER against the transmitters more often. My receiver hung up on one temperature for 1 or 1 1/2 hours until (duh!) I checked the transmitters outside, one of which showed a reading 35° lower than shown on the receiver. This has happened at least 3 times previously.
Receiver distance from the transmitters too far? …. Interference? Two transmitters standing 6 inches apart?
(Batteries were recently renewed).
8. AMOUNT OF MEAT TO COOK. I had to cook this piece of meat by itself because it was a freezer “must-use now” and a good cut to practice on. Once I’m more confident with what I’m doing, rub- and injection-wise, I’ll cook at least 2 shoulders with individual weights larger than this one to make the cook more practical and so I can start them earlier in the evening (I put mine on at midnight).
9. YIELD. From a 5.5-pound bone-in shoulder (large bone), I wound up with 2.96 pounds of useable meat -- a little more than half the original weight. Pretty good, I think.
10. FUEL. I started out with a full ring of Kingsford and have about 2 quarts of partially-spent coals left. Pretty amazing after a 12 3/4-hour cook (not counting WSM cool-down time)!
AND FINALLY….A gracious plenty of thanks to all who have shared their experiences and the excellent advice that I’ve garnered here. Thanks for patiently putting up with all my questions. You’re all the BEST!
Rita
This weekend was a great learning experience and I learned a lot! As always, you learn a little and you question a little. That keeps us coming back, right? If we knew it all, it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.
As a caveat….I don’t get to smoke as often as most of you do, or as much as I’d like to either, but I surely do enjoy it when I can.
1. My FIRST OVERNIGHT COOK -- AWESOME! Curiosity overcame good sense and trust in the WSM’s capabilities, though, despite all the great reviews.
I did get excellent data, though, on overnight cooker and meat temps every hour or so.
MEMO TO SELF: Catch up on sleep tomorrow.
2. FAT CAP. I removed all of the fat cap. Meat was still moist, but next time I just might leave 1/8” or 1/1/6” of it on (at least in a few places), although I did get awesome bark -- flavorful and dark, and not overcaramelized at all.
3. COOK TIME. My total cook time at 215-225°F was 12 3/4 hours for a 5.5-pound butt. I suspect my temps might have been a little lower than my readings indicated.
4. RESTING / HOLDING METHOD. Loved the technique of wrapping the 195°-197°F butt in Saran Original and 2 layers of foil and returning it to the shut-down WSM while it was cooling off. My 5.5-pound bone-in butt maintained 195° down to 140°F internal temperatures over a period of 6 to 7 hours.
5. Next time: TEST INJECTION WITHOUT VINEGAR. I gave the meat a light rub and refrigerated it overnight. I then injected the butt with a very light vinegar/apple juice/rub mixture just before I lit my Minion Method coals. 40-45 minutes later I gave the meat a second rub and put it onto the cooker. I found the cooked meat just slightly mushy…due to the light vinegar injection or to the long holding/resting period?….Not sure. The meat definitely needs some vinegar, but early-on might not be the time to add it….gotta check.
6. DON’T TRY TO GET EVERYTHING INTO ONE COOK. I made too many sauces to test at one swell foop -- (2 tomato-mustard, 2 vinegar-based, 2 tomato-based). Most seemed good (no duds today) but there were too many choices to wind up with a preferred list and I finished up not knowing what I knew.
7. CHECK MY NU-TEMP RECEIVER against the transmitters more often. My receiver hung up on one temperature for 1 or 1 1/2 hours until (duh!) I checked the transmitters outside, one of which showed a reading 35° lower than shown on the receiver. This has happened at least 3 times previously.
Receiver distance from the transmitters too far? …. Interference? Two transmitters standing 6 inches apart?
8. AMOUNT OF MEAT TO COOK. I had to cook this piece of meat by itself because it was a freezer “must-use now” and a good cut to practice on. Once I’m more confident with what I’m doing, rub- and injection-wise, I’ll cook at least 2 shoulders with individual weights larger than this one to make the cook more practical and so I can start them earlier in the evening (I put mine on at midnight).
9. YIELD. From a 5.5-pound bone-in shoulder (large bone), I wound up with 2.96 pounds of useable meat -- a little more than half the original weight. Pretty good, I think.
10. FUEL. I started out with a full ring of Kingsford and have about 2 quarts of partially-spent coals left. Pretty amazing after a 12 3/4-hour cook (not counting WSM cool-down time)!
AND FINALLY….A gracious plenty of thanks to all who have shared their experiences and the excellent advice that I’ve garnered here. Thanks for patiently putting up with all my questions. You’re all the BEST!
Rita
