Crazy WSM


 
T

T Bounds

TVWBB Super Fan
Just when you think you have everything figured out something turns around and surprises you.

Last night just before 9 I put two 5# butts on the WSM to smoke for a ladies lunch at church today. My experience has taught me that my butt smokes take at least 2 hours per pounds and often more. So I figure 9 to 9, foil, cooler, and then pull for lunch. No problem. Anyhoo, I packed the charcoal ring tight, coal by coal, three rings high with a couple of pecan and apple chunks thrown in for flavor. We were having wind and rain so I set up my big tent and blocked the wind.

As the evening started I watched the temp on my trusty Maverick inch up into the 200s. Around 225 I started closing the vents, about half each around the bottom. At 275 and climbing I shut the vents more. At 300 I shut two vents completely, left one open just a crack, and closed the top except for just enough room to hold the Maverick probe. By this time it was bedtime, so I set the alarm for 1:30 (which I never have to do) just to see if I had killed all the heat. I checked and it was still at 300, with all the vents practically closed! I went back to sleep. I got up normally at 6:30, checked the maverick and the temps were 250 on the WSM and 210 on the butts. I took the Thermopen out and it checked out above 200 at every probe and moved in like butter, if that. I took them off, double foiled them, put in the cooler, and hope they are warm 5 hours later.

Any other time I would be standing at the WSM praying for those suckers to finish on time, but NOOOOO, tonight I miss sleep and finish hours early. It must be a bad karma week for this pastor. Maybe I don't have a clue what I'm doing, even if the weekend's ribs were universally the best anyone's ever eaten. Go figure.
 
T, your wsm doesn't sound crazy. It sounds leaky, and maybe in need of a heat sink of some sort. Water works great as long as it's in the pan and not in the charcoal.
 
T, I had a similar experience on Sunday. My 18.5 had chugged for 20 hours on the previous cook and held 220-225°. On Sunday I got it stopped at 283° and it cooked for 10 hrs. with the bottom vents closed and the top vent at 50% for 7 hrs.. Thinking there was an air leak I tried re-seating the center body and the door but nothing changed. The weather was dry and the wind was light for that cook. I'm going to try to adjust the door fit a little and see if that solves my problem.
 
I had a somewhat similar problem when doing a butt a couple of weeks ago...the cooker went to 300 and stayed there for a little too long for my liking, so I closed all three bottom vents all the way & got the temp down to 250 after about 1 1/2 hours...only opened one vent to 50% an hour after that & and opened another vent 25% after about three hours. I used the minion method & chalked the temp control problem up to user error...I think I put too much lite charcoal on top of the cold coals to begin with. The butt did turn out perfect, however.
 
I had the opposite problem this weekend, it was bizarre. 3/4 ring of unlit charcoal, lit about 20 and put on top minion. Left all vents opened and temp never got over 260 for over 6 hours. I was done with my cook after that so I closed them up. It was weird.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by PaulFisher:
I had the opposite problem this weekend, it was bizarre. 3/4 ring of unlit charcoal, lit about 20 and put on top minion. Left all vents opened and temp never got over 260 for over 6 hours. I was done with my cook after that so I closed them up. It was weird. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It wasn't when the tropical depression was passing through, was it?

http://tvwbb.com/eve/forums/a/...0069052/m/4021093326
 
Thanks for the empathy, all. I abandoned the water a year ago or so and went to the clay tray. I've become accustomed to it, hence the confusion last night. I've been so good at controlling the temp in the past I brag about it, saying it's like setting a digital oven. Hubris, I suppose. Upon further inspection I noticed more smoke than usual coming from around the door, which I've never, ever adjusted, and only a few times ever opened. Maybe it was a combination of the wind (moderate), the door, and perhaps the guru adapter which is always open. Anyway, the ladies loved the meal and the q was pretty good in my opinion, just a little dry. It was a treat to serve these ladies as most of them are single senior adults who never, ever, ever have anyone cook for them. They seemed to love the attention and effort. All's well that ends well.

Tim, it very well could have been too much lit charcoal. I used about 15 or 16 bricks, when usually I used 12 or 13. Obviously that could be a problem in hind sight. Oh, well!
 
Why is that weird, Paul? I like it when I get burns that stay consistent for long periods....sounds like you pretty much nailed it, bro!!
 
Luckily, butts are forgiving, or so they say. Personally, I have done them from ~230 to ~300 and they have come out great. Just get them to around ~190 and they are most moist and tender.
 
T Bounds, another HH butt convert, not by design, but none the less, the evidence is in the cooked product. Not that it's any proof but, at a comp 2 weeks ago I took 8/35 with 2 HH butts, cooked it with my brisket on the 22 WSM at 350, normal foil routine and it came out great! Gonna start calling 250-350 Medium Heat instead of HH, won't scare so many folks away.

Mark
 
The OP's first problem was with control of cooking temp, but the deal was that the bbq ended up dry and overcooked. Whether cooked at 250 or 300*, that's not really the point. Seems like his loss of temp control was his point.

Anyway, so what's a guy to do when the meat is marginal at best five hours before serving because the cooker cooked too much? Hold hot for five hours and let it overcook that much more? Pull and chill, then reheat later? Sounds inconvenient, but I've learned lately that residual cooking is highly significant, no matter what the meat.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">but I've learned lately that residual cooking is highly significant, no matter what the meat. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Agreed. Big time. It is a variable that is often ignored.
 
I have been part of that discussion with you in the past, Dave, and I also agree. Realizing this has taken my cooking (not just que) to the next level in a way. In my case, I wasn't ignoring it. I just didn't know!


Mike
 
Ditto here, Mike, and you might've been like me, just following the advice from a lot of bbq forum posts.

Funny that as much as BBQ book authors are knocked for propagating "bbq myths" and such, I don't think I have a single one that says it's a good idea to wrap a few pork butts up in foil and keep hot for up to six hours after cooking to tenderness. I'll call that one a "bbq forum myth"....one that your's truly ignorantly repeated.
icon_frown.gif
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dave Russell:
Ditto here, Mike, and you might've been like me, just following the advice from a lot of bbq forum posts.

Funny that as much as BBQ book authors are knocked for propagating "bbq myths" and such, I don't think I have a single one that says it's a good idea to wrap a few pork butts up in foil and keep hot for up to six hours after cooking to tenderness. I'll call that one a "bbq forum myth"....one that your's truly ignorantly repeated.
icon_frown.gif
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Agree, nothing wrong with holding in foil! Either stop the cooking by tenting or foil before done (tender not temp)!
 
I agree with Glenn. If you tent your butt for 10 min before wrapping in foil and holding, additional cooking is minimal. Also pulling meat al dente before holding for many hrs is a good idea.

Mark
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by mk evenson:
I agree with Glenn. If you tent your butt for 10 min before wrapping in foil and holding, additional cooking is minimal. Also pulling meat al dente before holding for many hrs is a good idea.

Mark </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

...And I would hope you are correct regarding the 10min. tent and pulling off the grate al dente. It really burst my bubble to learn how much my pork was cooking in a cooler, because it's a really convenient way to roll when you're cooking butts for so long.

My point is that the queastion posed on bbq forums is more often: "How long will the pork butts stay hot in the cooler?" ....not "How do I be sure I'm not overcooking in the cooler?" I'm just glad I now know how to end up with bbq as moist with my wsm as I did off my UDS. Holding wasn't near an issue with the drum since 99% of the time the bbq was done in under 10 hours.
 
Dave, my experience with holding big meats including butts, brisket, rib roasts are all pretty much the same. After they come out of foil I put on the grate to firm up the bark. I then tent for about 10 minutes to allow the internal heat to dispate. I then double foil and either put in th eCambro or a dry cooler. I have held for 2-4 hrs in comps with finished product coming out just like I want it, juicy and still with texture. Your experience may vary. I trust the method. Obviously knowing when to take out of foil or to take off the cooker if not using foil is a big component of the cooking method. I generally use the probe method and don't really watch the meat temp, except for butts if I want ot slice I go a little less to maybe 185 or so, pulled a bit longer.

Mark
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by T Bounds:
...I took the Thermopen out and it checked out above 200 at every probe and moved in like butter, if that. I took them off, double foiled them, put in the cooler, and hope they are warm 5 hours later... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Mark, the devil's in the details and we're talking apples and oranges. If you cook to tenderness and tent for a bit and hold for two or three hours, sure, it'll be fine. Also, if you pull a butt off before it's tender, "al dente" as you call it, of course it will only get better by holding hot in a cooler... but that's not what the OP did, was it?

My point was simply that it's no surprise that the OP characterized his BBQ as "a little dry" in his subsequent post, and as Kevin commented, the residual cooking from holding in a cooler is often overlooked.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">...And I would hope you are correct regarding the 10min. tent and pulling off the grate al dente. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Dave, my comment was in response to your's quoted above and not the OP.

Mark
 
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