3rd Smoke on


 
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Paul Jenkin

TVWBB Member
Hello all, I'm working on my 3rd smoke. 6.5 pound butt. I put it on at 12 midnight ET. The first two cooks I found my self adjusting the vents for hours on end trying to hit that perfect temp. Tonight however I must have hit it spot on. At about 195 i took the vents from 100 to 50. As the temp slowly rose I closed to about 25% at 220. The temp continued to rise to 229 and then settled at 225. Over the past 4 hours the temp has stayed between 222-229 and I couldnt be happier. I had thought about basting, as I didnt on my previous 2 but if this temp is steady I really dont want to open the lid. I'm glad my temp is finally stabilized, I guess on my first 2 smokes I was messing with the vents way to much. The temp constantly went from 220-245 and I had to continue to adjust them.

Paul J.
 
paul - I don't baste at all when I do butts. if your temps are chugging along at a steady rate, I wouldn't worry about it. No need to set off the perfect temperature balance!

the only time I baste is if there is some ash residue that has settled on the meat as a result of my stirring the coals. Then I baste/spray the get some of that off.

good luck and let us know how it goes.
 
Paul, Even if your temps bounced around a tad on your first smoke, you were still in a good range for your cook. I only worry when the temps go above 250 for an extended period of time. If you want to baste and not pull the lid off, use a spray bottle and put the tip up to one of your top vent holes, and spray away.
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Well I just knocked off for an hour or so before I was alerted. I left the wsm at a bout 219 when i fell asleep feeling it would heat up a bit with ambient temperature increasing over the morning. some how it skyrocketed to 260 for a short period. Not sure how this happened as I didnt touch the machine at all. Perhaps the wind kicked up more then anticipated. I closed 2 downwind vents and left one open just a very small bit. I'm still having trouble controlling the temp now, as it went back up to 250 with this setting. I then took the time to baste since I had the lid off and it has now climbed back to 234 and rising. Any suggestions?
 
BTW I dont think the meat was harmed, it was over 250 for a very brief amount of time. Also with lid off, I checked and still had plenty of water, so that was not the problem. However I went ahead and refilled it while I was in there.
 
Having the meat over 260 will not "hurt" the meat, it's just getting a little high for my low/slow taste. I find the outrside gets a little dryer at the higher temps.
Leave the vents facing the wind shut, give her some time to settle in a litte, see where it goes form there. If it gets below your target temp, crack one open a little more, give it 30 minutes to see what happens. Vent adjustments take time to come through, and longer to bring the temps down. If your temps get really high, I have shut the top vent 25% for a short time along with shutting down the bottom vents a little to bring the temps down. 1/2 hour is the longest I have had the top vent shut 25%.
 
Thanks Bob, I finally got the temp under control. After I took the lid off to mop it I got it to settle back into the 220's after a rise to 238 or so. I slept a few more hours and wokeup it was at 208. I went and cracked the vents a very small bit more and tapped the legs. I'm now back on the rise at 222. Meat temp is at 183 after 15 hours. I'm looking for 198-200, as last time i pulled at 190 and it didnt seem quite as tender in a few spots as I did on my first cook which I pulled at 200. Thanks for the help.

Paul J.
 
Paul, when you were moping the butt did you check to see if the bone was loose? The reason I asked was I had butts on the other day and they were falling apart around the temps you are now. Of course they were on a little longer than yours are now by the time I got to that temp.
 
Paul, I checked it, the bone was loose, I didnt pull to hard though because the bone seemed pretty loose when I bought it. I'm now at 16 hours and meat temp is 186 smoker is 224.
 
Paul:
The wind must be blowing in the right direction cause I can smell your ummm pork shoulder
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over here in Greenville.

Did you go to the KCBS BBQ event in Tryon a few weeks ago?

Bill
 
It is a funny thing, it took me about six cooks with my new bullet to get the temperature right, but now I barely have to adjust it at all.

I know this is unlikely, but sometimes I wonder if several cooks serve to season the smoker in some way. Sort of like you season a fry pan.
 
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