Butts: How do I go from hero to zero in a few weeks?


 
M

Mark Orth

TVWBB Member
Man, there is nothing like BBQ to make you look like an idiot. A few weeks back I did a pork but in the smoker. It was probably about 4-5lbs, same as the 2 I have in there now. I used Mali natural charcoal, started it with the chimney starter and the heat went up to 300 degrees quickly enough. In fact I struggled all day to keep it below 300 without smothering it. It came off in about 8 hours and pulled wonderfully and tasted great. So last night I decide that if I'm going to be running the thing all day anyway I may as well cook 2. They're both about 4.5lbs. I did EVERYTHING the same as last time. It's even the same bag of charcoal. I got it started and walked away for a bit but everytime I checked it was still not even 170. Back around 11:30 I opened the side door and blew on the coals to get them going. I went for a bike ride and came back to find that nothing had happened. I've since stoked the coals with a BBQ fork and poured an entire 2nd chimney of coals on. And the temperature STILL won't get up past 200! I don't know whether to fire up a chimney of Kingsford or not. At this point I don't see this stuff as being ready until late at night if at all. I know we're talking 2 butts but 1 was easy peasy. This shouldn't be impossible. HELP!
 
Mark, sounds like you've got damp charcoal. It happens. You don't describe the fire though, so I'd encourage you not to blindly trust therms, if that's the case. They can stick and lie. My gauge is an ornament mainly and I'd rather go by how it feels to my hand over the vent or what the coals are like checking through the door. Regarding two butts vs. one, even though two will slow the start-up, they'll be using more of the outer hot zone so they'll cook just as quick as one centered on the grate.

I've never had a bag of Kingsford let me down....just sayin'.
 
I just figured out my error. I can't believe what I did.
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I have a galvanized steel trash can that I use for waste from the smoker and the grill. I brought it out for the ashes of the last smoke and was prepping for today. At some point I thought "where's the trashcan lid?". Oh well, I had a heat issue to battle. Long story short, at some point I placed the smoker lid over top of the trash can lid and it got stuck inside. So, while I was dumping fuel into the bottom, there was no airflow. I feel sick just typing this. It also means that the thermometer wasn't getting a good reading. So, as of now the meat temp looks good and I'll take my chances. I just can't believe what should've been a cake day turned into a nightmare.
 
Lol, dont sweat it.

It happens to all of us. I have a ton of horror stories from my grill dome days, and now am finding I am repeating some of them on my weber....

Its all for fun anyway. dont learn if you dont do.

Get that smoker up to 275 or so and finish those things off.
 
lmao! That's hilarious, Mark, and you've got a pretty good story now. Don't sweat the cook. It's just meat. Seriously, that's funny and sounds like something I might've done.
 
I don't know how but both butts came out great by 7. For sauce I used Trader Joe's Bold and Smokey KC Style Sauce heated and mixed with pure maple syrup. It was fantastic. Sorry for the panic.
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dave Russell:
lmao! That's hilarious, Mark, and you've got a pretty good story now. Don't sweat the cook. It's just meat. Seriously, that's funny and sounds like something I might've done. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Dave, I swear, I'm trying to figure this out and looking in the vent holes but I couldn't figure out what I was seeing. I thought it was the musculature of the pork. When I finally figured it out it took a good bit to dislodge one from the other.
 
That's a riot, Mark! We've all been there, done that.
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My favourite screw up is when I panicked, also because of crazy low temps. Took me an hour to realise that the last time I lifted the hood I didn't put the probe back in!
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