First Butt Smoke


 
M

Matt Sanders

TVWBB Pro
I've got Boston Butt in the fridge, trimmed and rubbed with Weber's "Kansas City Style BBQ Rub". It's around 7lbs pre-trimmed. I've got the ring of my 18.5" smoker about 3/4 full of Stubb's with 2 large chucks and 3 little chunks of oak.

I plan on re-rubbing tomorrow morning and slapping it on the smoker around 7am. I figure it should be done for supper, which doesn't need to be any particular time.

Does everything look okay? The part I'm least sure of is the amount of charcoal. I've never cooked this long, and never used Stubbs.
 
Well, what do you mean 'done for supper'? What time are you shooting for eating?

The next (and equally operative) question is what are your planned cooktemps? Everything revolves around that.

I would plan a full ring, no less.
 
"7lbs pre-trimmed"? And post-trimmed?

Yah, use a full ring. You don't want to run out of fuel.

If starting at 7am with a finish target of 7pm, I'd recommend your target cook temp to be at least 250º, if not 275º. It's okay if it finishes early as you can hold them in foil for several hours.
 
Thanks for the response guys. I don't have a scale, but I'd guestimate I trimmed 1-1.5# off. So I figure it's about 5.5 to 6# now. I planned on 225-250 range. It sounds like this might be too low? I figured even if it took a full 2 hours a pound, that's about 6 or 7 tonight? We're flexible, although don't want to push it much further back than 7. If it comes out to 1 1/2 a pound, that's 3:30 or 4.

Oh, and I will be filling the water bowl almost completely full. I put in hot water to start, and top off with boiling water out of a tea kettle. I figure I waste less time and fuel that way.

I'll fill up the ring too.
 
Considering I haven't used mine yet this info is being based on my old offset I would think maybe about 9 hrs @ around 250ish not taking into consideration the plateau stall you may have,thats always been the hanger for me and it would take 20lbs of charcoal
 
I just put the butt on, about 7:15 central. The WSM thermometer was stuck around 165. My long stemmed meat thermometer through the vent (which rests around the grate) was showing about 210. It seems my WSM therm takes a while to "catch up" but eventually gets there. All vents are still 100%. Will probably choke it back a little soon.
 
Don,

I've used the Char Griller offset several times, and it takes a ton more fuel. I was shocked at how "little" my WSM took to burn for 4 hours, though this is my first long one. I'd say I've got about 10# of the Stubb's hardwood briquettes filling the ring to almost overflowing.
 
Matt, I love to follow a cook as it progresses here. So I am wondering why the water and why the amount of oak? I will be checking back throughout the day to see how you are doing.

Happy Smoking!

Mark
 
Well, about 4 hours in. I haven't opened the lid, but peering in the vent with a flashlight I can tell a pretty good bark is started. The temp has been in the 240-260 range pretty since it really got going.

I use water because that's what I've always done, in my limited experience (I've smoked a couple dozen times total, and about 5 times in my new WSM). I think it helps keep the meat moist, but I could be wrong. I use oak because I LOOOOOOVE oak. Smells great cooking, tastes great eating. Do you think I put too much on? The smoke is pretty much "off" right now, but a couple pieces are buried.

I think I'll turn the shoulder, but occasionally rotating the lid and watching the therm as it goes around tells me I'm getting a pretty even burn.
 
Originally posted by Jim Lampe:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">...I am wondering why the water...
Click to expand...
my thoughts also... why use water? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
It was suggested to me that for the first 3 or 4 cooks to use water until you get some bar-b-gunk built up to help control temps better. Would it make that much difference in a new cooker if you didn't use water?
 
Don,

When the WSM is new, it tends to run hotter, so it is probably harder to control and less forgiving without water, when new, especially for a newbie like me.
 
Here's the shoulder at about the 4 hour mark
100_3577.JPG
 
You need not flip, turn, nor add rub. You can do any of these things but none are necessary. Me, I do none of them.
 
Thanks, Kevin. The temp has been a steady 250 for about the last 2 hours, after going to 270 for an hour or so. I've been very pleased with how Stubbs burns so far. He is the roast before I put it on the smoker:
100_3574.JPG
 
Thanks. I just took a couple temp checks in the meat (after 6 hours). The places were kind of random, since I didn't want to take the lid off. But I was getting about 180-185. So unless it's stuck there forever, I'm not too worried about standing around at 7 wondering when it will be done. Lid temp is about 265 now, grate temp about 270.
 
I just added a small oak chunk, since the cooker hasn't been producing visible smoke for a while, and the wood chunks I can see from the open door look like charcoal. Maybe that was a mistake. I buried a couple oak chunks at the start. I don't know where those are.
 
It could stall there. Often it won't at those cooktemps but it could. If it does you can up the temp a bit. You can also foil, if you need to, which will speed the cook. I wouldn't do anything for at least 45-60 min. The meat will feel soft when it's done. No resistance to the probe - fall apart-able, so to speak.
 
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