Paulo Puglisi
New member
Hi everyone! First post on the forum after having a few sessions with my 18" WSM.
So far so good, but giving I live at 8200+ ft above sea level, first couple of questions/concerns arise!
Strangely enough, I have zero issues with keeping temps 225-250F, tried the regular K and Weber briquettes with no noticeable differences. Start with the minion method, 1/2 a chimney with some briquettes poured on top of the unlit coals and most of the at the center of the "donut". Takes some time to set the whole thing up (probs like 45 min from starting the chimney to get 225F), but other that that, I'm very pleased (and still surprised, getting above 260-270... that's another story!).
I have a Mav XR50 and use a water pan (filled with water 3/4).
I cooked baby backs 3 times and past weekend I went for a butt.
For the ribs I tried, always with a good overall consistent temps (220-240 at grill level, according to my log), tried different cooking times (with fairly similar weight of ribs around 4 lbs 2-3 racks). One time 5h, second time 4:15h and last time 3:45h). I was trying to get more "juiciness" from the cook... and even I tasted a difference between 5h and 3:45h... I still feel they are not tender enough. The "holding" method to try for doneness wasn't that good (ie. holds pretty tight) at any of the 3 sessions.
And for the weird part... last weekend pork butt. It was an oddly small butt at 2.8 lbs trimmed... (probably just the part from "neck" of the animal without the shoulder/picnic part, the "money muscle was there!). Cooking session lasted TEN hours (no foil), to reach for 180F meat temp (I couldn't wait for 190+F sorry about that, we were hungry haha). Throughout the cooking my log recorded 230 avg. temps at grill level (taken at 30min intervals) with a few peaks at 240-250 after 7 hours (I had the first peek inside the cooker). I encountered a stall, lasting 3 hours, at 155F... and a SECOND one for about 2 hours at 172F.
All and all... pork butt was "fine". A little tough not that easy to pull, not a lot of juices either. Bark was awesome though!
Probably 10 hours was WAY TOO MUCH for 2.8 lbs of meat, but internal temps of 165F (lets assume safe USDA pork temp) was reached at 7 hours! So I figured I should keep going.
So. What was wrong? Should I guide myself with internal temps or cooking times at high altitudes? I know that at my altitude cooking will take lots more, but 10 hours? And still, it was kinda on the dry side (even though internal temp was 180F when I took it out).
Should I adjust for internal temps as well because of my altitude? I read a lot in the forum about it, but as I understand a butt has to be 190 to be "done" at any altitude and in general altitude does not affect the actual temps meat is considered "done".
I also read about water boiling temps (in case you are curious, at 8235ft with a barometric pressure of 29.50 inHG, water boils at 197F!), given I'm higher water will evaporate at lower temps... should I re-think the target temp of 225 for cooking? in order to keep moisture inside for longer times... (I read that supposedly I should cook at 216F to compensate for the water evaporating at a faster rate).
At the end of the day, no probs with reaching/keeping desired temps for long times... I feel ribs are turning out a tad dry, that small butt never reached "done" temps... also a little dry (and... 2 stalls!).
Thank you for reading and hope you could give my some tips or advice on my newbie problems!
Paulo.
So far so good, but giving I live at 8200+ ft above sea level, first couple of questions/concerns arise!
Strangely enough, I have zero issues with keeping temps 225-250F, tried the regular K and Weber briquettes with no noticeable differences. Start with the minion method, 1/2 a chimney with some briquettes poured on top of the unlit coals and most of the at the center of the "donut". Takes some time to set the whole thing up (probs like 45 min from starting the chimney to get 225F), but other that that, I'm very pleased (and still surprised, getting above 260-270... that's another story!).
I have a Mav XR50 and use a water pan (filled with water 3/4).
I cooked baby backs 3 times and past weekend I went for a butt.
For the ribs I tried, always with a good overall consistent temps (220-240 at grill level, according to my log), tried different cooking times (with fairly similar weight of ribs around 4 lbs 2-3 racks). One time 5h, second time 4:15h and last time 3:45h). I was trying to get more "juiciness" from the cook... and even I tasted a difference between 5h and 3:45h... I still feel they are not tender enough. The "holding" method to try for doneness wasn't that good (ie. holds pretty tight) at any of the 3 sessions.
And for the weird part... last weekend pork butt. It was an oddly small butt at 2.8 lbs trimmed... (probably just the part from "neck" of the animal without the shoulder/picnic part, the "money muscle was there!). Cooking session lasted TEN hours (no foil), to reach for 180F meat temp (I couldn't wait for 190+F sorry about that, we were hungry haha). Throughout the cooking my log recorded 230 avg. temps at grill level (taken at 30min intervals) with a few peaks at 240-250 after 7 hours (I had the first peek inside the cooker). I encountered a stall, lasting 3 hours, at 155F... and a SECOND one for about 2 hours at 172F.
All and all... pork butt was "fine". A little tough not that easy to pull, not a lot of juices either. Bark was awesome though!
Probably 10 hours was WAY TOO MUCH for 2.8 lbs of meat, but internal temps of 165F (lets assume safe USDA pork temp) was reached at 7 hours! So I figured I should keep going.
So. What was wrong? Should I guide myself with internal temps or cooking times at high altitudes? I know that at my altitude cooking will take lots more, but 10 hours? And still, it was kinda on the dry side (even though internal temp was 180F when I took it out).
Should I adjust for internal temps as well because of my altitude? I read a lot in the forum about it, but as I understand a butt has to be 190 to be "done" at any altitude and in general altitude does not affect the actual temps meat is considered "done".
I also read about water boiling temps (in case you are curious, at 8235ft with a barometric pressure of 29.50 inHG, water boils at 197F!), given I'm higher water will evaporate at lower temps... should I re-think the target temp of 225 for cooking? in order to keep moisture inside for longer times... (I read that supposedly I should cook at 216F to compensate for the water evaporating at a faster rate).
At the end of the day, no probs with reaching/keeping desired temps for long times... I feel ribs are turning out a tad dry, that small butt never reached "done" temps... also a little dry (and... 2 stalls!).
Thank you for reading and hope you could give my some tips or advice on my newbie problems!
Paulo.
