Too much stress for two pork shoulders

So I had two 9+ lbs pork shoulders which I had attempted to defrost for a friday night cook. Well by the time I got home and checked them I realized they hadn't fully defrosted yet. So I let them defrost a day longer. Next day I seasoned them, injected them, and left them in the fridge for about 8 hours.

It was slated to rain on saturday night. I live in an apartment complex so I have to smoke from my parking lot. I have both a 14 and 18in Weber. I originally wanted to use the 18 in Weber to access both butts easily throughout the night. But instead I went with the 14in one in order to be able to move it easily in the event of rain. Well it rained a bit and I was able to find partial shelter for it. But it cooled down temps considerably.

My biggest concern was getting the temps up in order to beat the danger zone. Thermo pro listed the temp at the top grate at about 230-240lbs. Dome listed temp at 200lbs. This was with a full charcoal load as well as water in pan. After 4 hours my internal temp was 135F. I was ok with this. Only checked one (top butt) because the second butt on the bottom rack is a real pain to get to, especially in the rain. Went to sleep for a bit but after 2 hours the temps had dropped to 185F. Had to change the charcoal.

So I had to add charcoal twice to make it through the 14 hours cook.

After action review: Pork butt can be a real pain. I think the 9+ lbs butts were too much in the rain. Beating the danger zone was the biggest problem. I think not having the water pan for the first part of the cook might have been a better way to go about it. After the first 4 hours it was much easier to control the temps. Also adding the charcoal twice was also a pain. Had to keep heating them out in a chimney.

Joseph, my first advice would ne to ditch the water pan all together. Especially in a small smoker like the 14" where you need every bit of heat the limited amount of charcoal can produce. IMO, the heat being spent heating the water could/should be used heating the food in the smoker. 2nd, there are going to be a few cooks where Mr Murphy and his law are going to fight you seemingly every step of the way. Relax, know that butts/shoulders are pretty much bullet proof and will turn out great even if I there were some bumps or detours along the way. 2, 9lb butts are pretty large, but nothing the 14" can't handle. Just a lot of meat there to get the smoker up to temp. Not sure of the wind situation you were dealing with, but I know I have driven a stake in the ground and attached an umbrella to it to keep my smoker dry a couple times and it worked well..stick with it, butts are pretty simple, you just had several things fall in place that made this cook a challenge. The next will hopefully be just the opposite!
Good luck,
Tim

I agree with Tim, sometimes things just have to be difficult!
Rain and wind will always be an unforeseen hurdle, I will agree also with not taking the extra heat loss with the water pan.
Put this one up to experience and a learning tool.
The next one, even with inclement weather, will be better, and better, and better...

I've done fully or partially frozen butts before so I don't stress about the danger zone, but I also don't inject...

Tim

Tim K said:

Joseph, my first advice would ne to ditch the water pan all together. Especially in a small smoker like the 14" where you need every bit of heat the limited amount of charcoal can produce. IMO, the heat being spent heating the water could/should be used heating the food in the smoker. 2nd, there are going to be a few cooks where Mr Murphy and his law are going to fight you seemingly every step of the way. Relax, know that butts/shoulders are pretty much bullet proof and will turn out great even if I there were some bumps or detours along the way. 2, 9lb butts are pretty large, but nothing the 14" can't handle. Just a lot of meat there to get the smoker up to temp. Not sure of the wind situation you were dealing with, but I know I have driven a stake in the ground and attached an umbrella to it to keep my smoker dry a couple times and it worked well..stick with it, butts are pretty simple, you just had several things fall in place that made this cook a challenge. The next will hopefully be just the opposite!
Good luck,
Tim

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Thanks for the encouragement Tim K. It's funny you mention to ditch the water pan. Been thinking about doing that with the 14in Weber. The 18in seems to be able to hold higher temps.

Funny you should mention the umbrella- I literally contemplated posting outside to keep it dry. But then I forgot I left it at work. D'oh! Fortunately you're right, the meat turned out great. Another victory! Now I have enough meat to last me awhile. I have to say, this smoker keeps me from spending money on bbq. So worth it

This was definitely one for me to talk about around the grill next time

timothy said:

I've done fully or partially frozen butts before so I don't stress about the danger zone, but I also don't inject...

Tim

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You know, the reason I injected is because I watched a Harry Soo video and he swore by it. So I figured I'd try it. It was probably just not the best circumstances to introduce that extra variable

Joseph - Teapots McKesky said:

You know, the reason I injected is because I watched a Harry Soo video and he swore by it. So I figured I'd try it. It was probably just not the best circumstances to introduce that extra variable

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No right or wrong in BBQ unless you try it. Some swear by this or that so it make sense to try it a few times.
I used to inject and felt the only thing it added was green or gray streaks to my meat.

Tim

I’m, apparently, just too lazy to inject.

I injected once but I may have lower demands than others, because the only difference I could detect was a waste of time and effort. I have all three WSM's and after a couple attempts I, too, was not able to run a full 10+ hour cook without refueling the 14". But I have read posts from others whom can accomplish an entire shoulder cook on a single load. Since I can implement the 18" with little additional effort, I run that one and have not experimented further with the 14". So--at present--I run the 14" for items such as a pork loin, beef tenderloin, Tri-Tip, etc. I have been doing this for only 2 1/2 years and I'd estimate that after 1-2 months I tried a dry water pan and I fell in love with that method and use it exclusively, now. So my only food for thought is that since you are contemplating that approach you at least try it. As for the pain of refueling the 14" I have come to make use of what is sometimes referred to as the hot squat on that, and the 18" (I have not used that method on the 22"). First, let me say that Weber vehemently opposes this method but I slip on a pair of welding gloves and lift the lid and mid-section by grabbing the lip, then setting them aside as a single unit. This exposes the bottom section for full access to the fuel bed and allows for easy access to sift ash and add fresh fuel. But I prepare for this so that I complete the action quickly; otherwise, I find that my temps can spike. And I, personally, would not attempt this if I were using water in the pan.

BFletcher said:

I injected once but I may have lower demands than others, because the only difference I could detect was a waste of time and effort. I have all three WSM's and after a couple attempts I, too, was not able to run a full 10+ hour cook without refueling the 14". But I have read posts from others whom can accomplish an entire shoulder cook on a single load. Since I can implement the 18" with little additional effort, I run that one and have not experimented further with the 14". So--at present--I run the 14" for items such as a pork loin, beef tenderloin, Tri-Tip, etc. I have been doing this for only 2 1/2 years and I'd estimate that after 1-2 months I tried a dry water pan and I fell in love with that method and use it exclusively, now. So my only food for thought is that since you are contemplating that approach you at least try it. As for the pain of refueling the 14" I have come to make use of what is sometimes referred to as the hot squat on that, and the 18" (I have not used that method on the 22"). First, let me say that Weber vehemently opposes this method but I slip on a pair of welding gloves and lift the lid and mid-section by grabbing the lip, then setting them aside as a single unit. This exposes the bottom section for full access to the fuel bed and allows for easy access to sift ash and add fresh fuel. But I prepare for this so that I complete the action quickly; otherwise, I find that my temps can spike. And I, personally, would not attempt this if I were using water in the pan.

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Yes, I've used the 14" for chicken to good effect. Thanks for the suggestion on no water pan. I think that's my next frontier!

I don't understand the concern about "the danger zone". Even if you injected syringes full of bacteria and the meat spent hours in "the danger zone", it's also going to spend hours at temperatures more than high enough to kill all that bacteria. So unless you're injecting pure C. botulinum bacteria and purposely holding the meat at 120F for a day or two, I can't imagine there's ever going to be a problem as long as your target temp is in the 200F range.

JayHeyl said:

I don't understand the concern about "the danger zone". Even if you injected syringes full of bacteria and the meat spent hours in "the danger zone", it's also going to spend hours at temperatures more than high enough to kill all that bacteria. So unless you're injecting pure C. botulinum bacteria and purposely holding the meat at 120F for a day or two, I can't imagine there's ever going to be a problem as long as your target temp is in the 200F range.

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You know, I never really paid much heed to it myself, but then again i've only made pork butts twice previously. The first time was in the 14in WSM and it was only one butt. So it was much easier to get the temp up. The second time I did 3 butts in the 18in WSM. The 18in holds a nice amount of charcoal. Both times I wasn't fighting against the weather.

I remember reading that it's not the organisms but the byproducts that are released after a period of time. I think the gist is that you have to kill them before they release the toxic byproducts.

Anyway, this weekend I have to BBQ some ribs that have been in my freezer but I'm soon going to be making some brisket flat in about a couple weeks. This should be a great challenge. I've never tried brisket flat before on the 18in WSM.