Butt the hard way?


 

Ron Fisher

TVWBB Member
So this was supposed to be a brisket cook but I couldn't find any I liked, either too big at 16# or just small flats. I picked up a couple 9# butts instead and froze one for later. Did my typical no sugar rub which is a mix of kosher, coarse pepper, chili powder, smoked paprika etc. This is my 2nd cook on my new to me used WSM 18.5. It is not well seasoned but I did just put on a nomex kit from bbqgaskets.com that really helped with smoke loss.

I decided to do a Midnight Minion with a full load of Kingsford and 3 nice hunks of Alder (my favorite wood that is plentiful here in the PacNW). I went for a dry pan with elevated foil to keep from burning. I put the butt on cold after pouring about 30 glowing coals on top. The temp was about 260 after 20 minutes so I set the bottom vents to 1/3 open and went to bed. Got up at 5am to my beeping temp controller (it was outside so it had been beeping for a long time) which read 330! The butt was 175. That seemed way too hot and too far along for 5 hours. Dampered the cooker down and removed the pan foil and replaced with cold water to stabilize and reduce the temp.

After a couple hours and some sleep the cooker was down to 200 and the butt was 160.. so I opened things up, mopped on some mop sauce and got it back to 250 after another couple hours. I'm 15 hours into it now and the temp is 195 so I'm going to wrap it for a bit. I think it is going to turn out fine after the speed bump.

Clearly I have to find a way to keep my temps down with no water. It wasn't really windy last night and the temps were in the 60's. What do you guys with no water do to keep a full load of coal from getting too hot? I'm thinking that one or two vents closed and the 3rd at 1/3 might have kept the temps lower.

http://s1060.photobucket.com/user/fishman64/media/IMG_2656_zpsgacybmyn.jpg.html

Ron
 
Food looks great. The temp problem is why I always use water in the pan. Just to afraid of problems. Works for me anyway. You did good.
 
The temp control can sometimes be difficult to master, but mainly just getting more cooks under your belt will help. To me it just sounds like you left the vents too far open. Dunno what the weather is there but If I wanna get stable that low I typically have 2 vents completely closed and then one vent partially open. About 2/3's on one vent with the others closed gets me around 275 on my 22.5 WSM. For 225 to 250 range I'm about 1/4 open to completely closed. For a long time my temps would drift up on me during the night. I just kept my maverick set to wake me up to fiddle with the vents. I've gotten better at dialing it so it never bugs me. Usually if its drifts a little down its not the end of the world.

I've been trying to cook at 275 lately which my WSM really likes. I generally start with a full ring for an overnight cook (typically a 20 lb bag of kbb) and maybe 15 to 20 lit coals. I will typically wait and put the meat on when I'm around 225 and close 2 vents leaving the 3rd open. After that the temp comes up slowly to around 275. Even at this point I could overshoot. Once you overshoot its just a pain to get the thing back down. It seems like you have the fight it from then on to keep it down, but if you catch the temp right as its coming up it seems way more stable. This is kind of the tradeoff you get with vertical cookers and especially using minion method. With minion if you get too many coals lit you've got a problem. The good part is never having to add fuel.

I think its important to learn your vents. Stay away from ATC's until you really have it down. That's just my opinion.
 
Clearly I have to find a way to keep my temps down with no water. It wasn't really windy last night and the temps were in the 60's. What do you guys with no water do to keep a full load of coal from getting too hot? I'm thinking that one or two vents closed and the 3rd at 1/3 might have kept the temps lower
Down here in the Bay Area, kalifornia; when I do an overnight cook, I bring my WSM up to temp and then I close all the bottom vents to just a sliver each. For me, that will hold a steady temp, be it too low or too high, it will be steady. I think what you really have to master is the "switch gears" and that's when you find your pit at 300+ (like you did) you go into a high heat cook. The thing about Butts, you can cook they low and slow or high and fast, and they come out great. You just have to adjust when adjusting is required
 
Ya know I would have just kept the high temps and cooked it out in a couple more hours... however po-pork sounds better for dinner than breakfast... although only just a bit better.:p

I can see using this smoker with or without water and getting good results after some more practice. I do like the idea of waterless especially if I take it on a RV trip and don't want to deal with the mess. I'll try the 2 closed and one open on that next butt.

1 more hour until I shred that mother and enjoy the goods!
 
Shut your vents down earlier. if your target is 275° try shutting all three vents half to a third open around 225°or so. Its a different ball game with no water, but one I've really come to like. I've stopped using water about a month ago, and I'm hooked.
 

 

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