First Run


 
Charles Howse

Charles Howse

TVWBB Wizard
Hi,
Today will be my first run of my new WSM.
I've unthawed a butt that we had in the freezer, rubbed it with Blues Hog, let it sleep in the fridge overnight.

I have issues with taking the meat off too soon, so today I've vowed to start early and I'm not taking it off the smoker till I get 195 - 200 internal temp. Then I'm going to wrap it in foil and towels and let it rest in a cooler for at least an hour.

Looking for that "fall apart tender" that I haven't seen from any of my other cooks on my other smokers.

OK, I fired up using the Minion method and a bottomless coffee can. Sand in the water pan. Buried just a few hickory chunks in the coals. The wx forecast is going to be a little breezy, so I lit about 28 coals and fashioned a wind break from the cardboard box my WSM came in.

I started to just cut loose the tape on the bottom of the box and drop the box over the cooker, but that seemed a little too close to the hot cooker for me, so I cut the box from top to bottom along one corner, and taped that to the rails of my deck. Now the WSM is protected from the wind on 2 sides by the box, and on one side by the house. It seems to be working well enough, but it's early in the day.

I'm currently running 270* at the lid, which should be 255 - 260 at the grate. That's a little high, I think, so I've closed 2 vents, and have the other at 25%. We'll see how long it takes to come down, or if it does at all.

I'm definitely over-adjusting the vents. This was my 3rd adjustment since 7:15 <blush>.
Gotta stop tweaking and give the cooker time to react.
Got to force myself to ignore it for 30 minutes at a time. :-)
 
Ha indeed Charles. Yes it is important to remember that this isn't like high temperature grilling. Low and Slow in a pit is gonna take a bit to react. I am sure it is like that in other pits as well (klose etc.) altho I am not sure. Try not to peak at your butt (lol) for at least the first 4 hours into your cook, when you should probably start basting. Hickory wood is mmm mmm good IMO. Good luck and let us know how it goes!!!

BTW...You lit 28 coals?? Next time try only about 15. And using sand also can lead to high temps.....gotta watch it.


Big Al
 
Yah, you might just start out with one downwind vent open all the way until the temp settles. Breeze does affect it a bit, the windbreak is a good idea. Good luck, I'm sure it'll turn out great!

P.S. 195 internal temp is my "sweetspot" for porkbutt.
 
Big Al -
Thanks for the reply. I have learned to resist the temptation to peek at the food, not a problem.
I will not be basting, never have, and never thought I needed to.
Remember, I lit 28 coals because it's 50* here and the wind is blowing, gusting hard enough have already blown my wind-break over once. I set it back up and tried to fix it so it wouldn't blow over again.

John L -
Thanks for the reply. Yep, I figured out that the only vent I need open right now is the downwind one.
Just got back from hauling my trash off, and the temp was down to 255* at the lid, so I opened the one vent from 25% to 50%.
It had been 30 minutes since I adjusted, so I'm doing better on that. ;-)

I'll be here all day, will keep you posted.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Charles Howse:
Hi,
Today will be my first run of my new WSM.
I've unthawed a butt that we had in the freezer, rubbed it with Blues Hog, let it sleep in the fridge overnight.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Correct me if I'm wrong Charles, but if you "unthawed" a butt wouldn't that be freezing it
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?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jack Straw:
Correct me if I'm wrong Charles, but if you "unthawed" a butt wouldn't that be freezing it
icon_smile.gif
? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

There's one in every crowd...
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It's a colloquialism. Sort of a Jeff Foxworthy thing.
 
The wind is blowing so hard, my thermometer blew off the nail!
Wind break is still holding, by the hardest.
Temp has been around 260* at the lid for the last hour. I'm satisfied with that.
Haven't changed a vent setting in an hour.

Will open lid around noon to take a look and throw on some brats for lunch. Yum!
 
Charles,

Glad to see you got it going this morning. Sorry to hear about the wind but sounds like you have it under control. Keep us posted.

Art
 
It's about 5:20 pm EST now, so your butts have been cooking for most of the day. How's it coming? Have they hit the dreaded "plateau" yet? We expect full details, you know - first cooks are always interesting.
 
It's 5:00 Central time, this ornery butt has been cooking since 7:30 this morning, and has indeed hit the dreaded 170* plateau.

Last checked at 4:30, 245* at the lid, meat temp 168*, air temp 43* (wind has lessened considerably, temp falling, getting cloudy).
All vents 100% open.

I removed the door and stirred the coals...looks like quite a few coals never lit. No glow to them at all. Lots of ash...lots.

Thinking about carefully removing the top and center section, and stoking the fire properly to be sure all coals light.

But...not going to do that unless I get a severe temp drop. It's still cooking at ~250*, so "don't fix it if it ain't broke"!

Advice, please...?
 
Hello Charles:

If you're still getting a lid temperature of ~250°F, I would just leave it alone. If/when the temperature starts dropping and you need to stir the coals, I would remove the butt prior to stirring the coals so you don't get any ashes on your butt
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The trick is...be patient. Good luck.
 
Bill -
I just stirred the coals at 6:30. Plenty of lit coals now, seems like a lot of heat would be available with all the vents open 100%.
Temp at the lid at 6:30 was 235*, internal temp was 170*.
I've been inserting the instant read thermometer and then replacing the lid, letting it sit for about 60 seconds, then removing the lid and thermometer. Anything wrong with that?
 
Yeah, things move very slowly in the bbq world.
Remember, low and slow. I wouldn't check the meat temp for another hour.

monitor the lid temp, and let the smoker do it's work. It takes patience, but believe me, if you leave that meat in 250 degree heat long enough, it will warm up.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>I've been inserting the instant read thermometer and then replacing the lid, letting it sit for about 60 seconds, then removing the lid and thermometer. Anything wrong with that? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I use a remote probe that I leave in the meat for the entire cook, so I can't comment on how you're using your instant read thermometer. Maybe someone else can chime in.

I will share this with you...I have smoked 2 butts before and not removed the fat cap. I smoked those butts for 12 hours and could not get a temperature reading of more than 174°F. The meat pulled nicely, had good bark on the sides without the fat cap, and was very moist.

If you did not remove the fat cap, you may have too much fat still rendering at this point to achieve your 195°F goal even though the meat is ready to eat.

I don't know if anyone else on this board has tried this before or not. The downside is you lose all the bark on one side due to not removing the fat cap.
 
In my experience, leaving any fat cap on or off a butt doesn't make a discernable difference in timing one way or the other.
 
Bill M. -
I did indeed remove the fat cap and some other obvious portions of fat. Perhaps 6 oz. at most.

I have been patient since 7:30 this morning.
We need to eat sometime today.
I have the butt wrapped in foil, in a cooler.
I will pull it, shake on a little Blues Hog rub, and we will eat in about 20 minutes.

This is the 3rd butt I've cooked in the last 3 months, none have been hotter than 170-something.
There were lots of lit coals, but a TON of ash.
I'm thinking that my expanded metal charcoal grate modification may not be allowing enough ash to fall through, and the fire is choking itself to death...?
Still, it burned at 250 or so for almost 12 hours.

Beats me.
I bet it'll be good though...fries and slaw and Blues Hog Tennessee Red sauce...yum!
 
If you were smoking at 250°F for 12 hours, I'd say everything is in good working order.

I have some Blues Hog dry rub in my pantry but haven't tried it yet. I really like the Wild Willy's Number One-derful Rub from Smoke & Spice. I'll have to give Blue's a try one of these days.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Doug D:
In my experience, leaving any fat cap on or off a butt doesn't make a discernable difference in timing one way or the other. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Doug:
Have you obtained a temperature in the 190°F range over the same amount of time with and without a fat cap?
 
Charles,
As you observed, a charcoal bed undisturbed will smother itself in its own ash even with all vents wide open-- stirring at some point to get the ash to drop off is a must. My Sunday cook was similar in temperature and weather conditions to yours-- I ended up adding about 4 pounds of unlit Kingsford at the 6 hour mark to make sure I would have plenty of controllable, burning charcoal all the way to the end. Do what you can to take it to at least 190° for best pulled-pork results.

Bill M.
Yes, that's what I'm saying. It's the internal fat and connective tissue breaking down that determine getting past the plateau, as opposed to the external cap.
 
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