First smoke - noob mistake?


 
J

Justin D

TVWBB Member
Hi all - been browsing a few days as my wife and kids just got me an 18.5" for my birthday. Today, I'm doing my first smoke... two 8lb butts using the Mr. Brown recipe. Everything was going well until I put the first butt on... and managed to put too much weight on the rack and it sort of fell into the cooker... and one of the butts ended up partially in the water pan.

Beginners bad luck? Anything I should worry about? I patted it dry and moved on.

Oh - and I didn't realize I dropped a hot coal on the ground and burnt my finger when I reached down to pick up the lid. I figure that's par for the course?
 
unlucky Justin - sounds like the rack wasnt quite centered.
but a little bit of moisture never did any harm

lets see some pics once the butts are done...
 
Pork went on at 4:45 am, it is now 8:07 am... at 146 degrees already. Is this going too fast? Temperature has been averaging between 225 and 250.
 
Sounds like a rough start to your morning, Justin. Seems all is on track now, though.

The temp. on your butts is right where it should be. It will likely climb another 20 or 30 degrees, then the butts will hit the stall. They may even drop a few degrees during this time. Don't panic, grab a beer, sit back and let the WSM do it's magic!

By the way, welcome to the forum and congrats on your awesome birthday gift.

Enjoy the day and keep us informed on your cook.:wsm:
 
You should have heard me at 4:45 in the morning... waking the neighborhood surely with a loud expletive when that pork hit the water.
 
Happy Birthday (belated) congrats on getting the 18.5"
Bummer about the rack, all you can do is live, learn & laugh
The worst day BBQ-ing is better than the best day working (unless you're paid to BBQ)
Just get back in the saddle and ride
 
Justin D said:
You should have heard me at 4:45 in the morning... waking the neighborhood surely with a loud expletive when that pork hit the water.
Click to expand...

I had similar at the weekend, but it was the water pan falling through & landing on the coals!!!! Wasn't anywhere near the WSM at the time either & probably when the centre section warped (only explanation for it).
 
ChuckO said:
Happy Birthday (belated) congrats on getting the 18.5"
Bummer about the rack, all you can do is live, learn & laugh
The worst day BBQ-ing is better than the best day working (unless you're paid to BBQ)
Just get back in the saddle and ride
Click to expand...
Technically, I am being paid for this as I'm "Working From Home" today. :cool:
 
Argh. Was smooth sailing... on hour 8 right now... landscaper just came through with his leaf blower and blew the door off... spiked up to 297 by the time I noticed. I've closed all bottom vents and 1/2 way closed the top vent... it's slowly dropping now. :(
 
You know what they say, these things come in 3's. You got one more to go. I say cook a cheap old chicken tomorrow and get that last jinx out and be gone with them
 
Justin....your pork butt will heal quicker than your finger. You're off to a shakey start, "butt" I'm sure you're going to nail the finish. Now just sit back, keep an eye on the temp and enjoy!
 
Mistakes are all part of the learning curve......don't sweat it, it's BBQ not surgery. You'll do it better next time. Hope the Q turned out well regardless.
 
Thanks for the help everyone. I ended up needing to re-fuel (by the way, what is the best way to do this??? Do you take the whole thing apart or put the lit charcoal in with tongs... there didn't seem to be an easy way to get them in there). Then, at about 185 degrees, I ran out again... so at that point I had friends over, so I took them out, wrapped them tight in foil, and put in my oven at 250 degrees for about an hour and got them up to about 192. Re-wrapped and did the cooler/towel thing for over an hour. The bone slid right out and it pulled nicely... and tasted awesome. My friends were pretty amazed at how good it was... and that this was my first time doing it.

I served Carolina Red Sauce that I made... also Famous Phil's Jacked Up BBQ Sauce (a local place who's BBQ I LOVE)... and also made a creole mayo and homemade tangy slaw for Cochon de Lait PoBoys. People had a choice of what style they wanted... Me, I went with the PoBoy.

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If the bone came out clean then you nailed it. Congratulations. Next time you might try foiling around 4-5 hours in and/or around 160-170 internal temp. That will save time and make refueling unnecessary.
 
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