first of y'all great site! it's been so much help! I'm not new to smoking just to the WSM. had a offset chargriller since 2007 and have perfected my ribs on it but had hard times with long cooks (butts etc). anyway did my first butt on the WSM the other night as a trial run for my fourth of july party. just did one 5 pound butt. it took pretty much exactly 10 hours. I did the minion method and used apple chips (no chunks available). so much easier than my offset! first of all here are the pics!
as I said I did the minion method. full of kingsford with about 25 lit coals. started about 11:15-11:30 or so. had it stabilize to temp pretty quick (had the butt, out of the fridge for a half hour or so). vents were about 15% open (more on that later). went to bed about 2am with a steady temp between 225 and 240 or so. woke up about 6am to my redi-check ET-73 going off. temp was below 210. went out, kicked the legs, stirred the coals, opened bottoms vents just a tad and it quickly went up. then it spiked over 260! checked the water and it was pretty low (I stared with a gallon). I had a bit of a time getting it back down to comfortable temp but did and was back in bed by 7am or so. butt hit 195 about 10am. I took it off, foiled it and put it in a cooler. I left my thermometer in and by about noon it was down to about 150. I pulled the pork and we had lunch!
so now for my questions.
I know weather and other variables make a difference. it wasn't too hot or cold, only a slight breeze (5mph or less) and a slight drizzle in the morning. generally speaking does it seem right to drop temp below 210 after only 6 hours or so? what I've been reading is to expect to stir and kick legs after about 10 hours or so.
also do folks just use a gallon of water at a time as they recommend or more?
as for the vents I'm having trouble deciding what I think 15% is, 25% etc. 50% is pretty easy but I keep second guessing everything else! any pics posted of the %'s?
next I'm wondering about the holding in the cooler thing (never did that with my offset). like I said after foiling and putting in a cooler (on a towel but not wrapped)in about 2 hours it was at 150. I'd like to hold longer if possible on the fourth. would wrapping the foiled butt in a towel help that much? I'm dong two 8 pounders so looking at at least 16 hours and then I need to cook some other stuff. so I need some wiggle room in the afternoon.
now a few questions about cooking other things
after the butts come off I'm gonna do some ABT's and a couple fatties. I like to do my ABT's a little higher temp (275-300) so the bacon crisp up a bit better. so after a 16 hour cook if I just open the vents up should that keep me good for another couple hours at a higher temp? should I empty the h2o pan? if adding fuel how much in the weber chimney (or just add unlit to what is left from overnight)?
sorry for such a long post
as I said I did the minion method. full of kingsford with about 25 lit coals. started about 11:15-11:30 or so. had it stabilize to temp pretty quick (had the butt, out of the fridge for a half hour or so). vents were about 15% open (more on that later). went to bed about 2am with a steady temp between 225 and 240 or so. woke up about 6am to my redi-check ET-73 going off. temp was below 210. went out, kicked the legs, stirred the coals, opened bottoms vents just a tad and it quickly went up. then it spiked over 260! checked the water and it was pretty low (I stared with a gallon). I had a bit of a time getting it back down to comfortable temp but did and was back in bed by 7am or so. butt hit 195 about 10am. I took it off, foiled it and put it in a cooler. I left my thermometer in and by about noon it was down to about 150. I pulled the pork and we had lunch!
so now for my questions.
I know weather and other variables make a difference. it wasn't too hot or cold, only a slight breeze (5mph or less) and a slight drizzle in the morning. generally speaking does it seem right to drop temp below 210 after only 6 hours or so? what I've been reading is to expect to stir and kick legs after about 10 hours or so.
also do folks just use a gallon of water at a time as they recommend or more?
as for the vents I'm having trouble deciding what I think 15% is, 25% etc. 50% is pretty easy but I keep second guessing everything else! any pics posted of the %'s?
next I'm wondering about the holding in the cooler thing (never did that with my offset). like I said after foiling and putting in a cooler (on a towel but not wrapped)in about 2 hours it was at 150. I'd like to hold longer if possible on the fourth. would wrapping the foiled butt in a towel help that much? I'm dong two 8 pounders so looking at at least 16 hours and then I need to cook some other stuff. so I need some wiggle room in the afternoon.
now a few questions about cooking other things
sorry for such a long post
