first time kettle smoking... help...

[Becky M-M]

finally decided to take the plunge and try smoking my first butt.

i dont have a smoker so trying it on my kettle. this is where i am so far....

any advice or criticism will be greatly appreciated!!!

:::ducking for cover:::

my vents dont close... so i put some HD foil on there and taped it down...... i left one of them open...



i lit 30 coals in the chimney, then laid them on top of some unlit coals. two packets of mesquite and oak on top.... the coals are over the open vent on the bottom....



heres the meat on the grill.... the large one is actually not too large about 5 1/2 lbs. i didnt want to overwhelm myself with a huge butt that would take forever to cook. the small ones are actually two little pieces that i bought, i needed to make something with toned down flavors... they are no more than 2-3 lbs.

i covered them and have the top vent open all the way. the top vent is over the side where the coals are. as i am typing this i realize maybe the top vent should be over the meat side so that the smoke can travel over the meat as it escapes? yes? no? doenst matter?

 

[Chris E]

I can't see the pics so not sure of your setup.

When I smoke on my kettle I usually have my bottom vents at 25% and my top vent 50-75 percent.

I'm guessing you may seem some high temps with the amount of coal and the small amount of meat so watch that and dial down the top vent but not less than 25% open so you don't kill your fire and get bad smoke and bad taste.

If the temps runaway and get hot then wrap the meat completely in foil and pull them when temp hits 195.

Put the top vent over the meat to have airflow from coals over meat.

Next time you want to search here for indirect methods on kettle and try some of them.

indirect on kettle

 

[K Kruger]

Have the lid vent over the meat.

I am not a fan of smoking with mesquite, especially pork. Grilling beef, yes, but I don't care for it for smoking. If you know you do like it, fine.

Also, as Chris notes, restrict the lid vent if needed. Do so sooner than later if possible so the temps don't run away.

 

[Bob Sample]

I use the same damper system that you do except I use foil tape, it will stand up to the heat on the bottom of the kettle better. You're probably going to have to tape off more of that open vent. The kettle also doesn't need that much lit to start, 6-8 coals should do it. From the picture you will probably need some more unlit to finish the cook. I love mesquite on anything if you don't us to much.

This is my set up for l&s

I light the coals at one end with my propane torch,just enough to see them going.

 

[Becky M-M]

i closed the top vent some..... i will add that i didnt want it super slow cook. i know that is preferred, but i dont have the time to do a super long one.

this is them at one hour.





thanks for the feedback, i really appreciate it.

 

[Becky M-M]

oh forgot to add that i have been adding a bit of unlit a twice already.

 

[David B.]

since you mentioned that you are not wanting to cook them low and slow, then your current setup should be okay.
only thing i would suggest are:
1)you should've started off with about 3X's the amount of unlit that you did since it will be a decent length of cook and that would prevent you from having to open the lid so many times
2)you should have some form of knowing what the temp is in general inside the kettle. a cheap dial thermomoeter from walmart set on the grate alongside the meat (but not touching) should be sufficient

here is the setup i used on my 22" kettle when i would do briskets:

 

[Becky M-M]

:::hanging head in shame:::

after i got it on the grill... i remembered that i wanted to try this AFTER i had all my gadgets. but i totally forgot. so, totally wingin' it on this here.

i didnt know i could load it up with coals all at once. i wanted to do that, but thought it would get way too hot. i don know i dont want to be opening it up all the time.

 

[Brad Olson]

Send somebody to the store for a cheap thermometer with a 6" probe and drop it through the lid vent. It might not be extremely accurate but it'll let you know if you're running too hot or too cold...pork butts are forgiving.

 

[Chris E]

Remember that in BBQ waiting is something you do AFTER the meat is on. We *never* wait to start BBQing ! worst case toss that brisket in the oven with foil aat 350 with a drippings and it will still taste awesome cuz you made it yourself!

 

[Becky M-M]

got a cheapie thermometer!!!

here is the temp of the grill.... the therm goes to 220.... and its reading is up at the 150 mark.... but that is AFTER it went around once past the 220 mark.

i closed the top vent as much as i could with the therm in there.



it is now 4pm the pork went on there at about 1130am. so roughly 4.5 hours total time on grill.

the small ones temp was at 195

the medium one is at 180

the big one is at about 170

again.... i cannot thank you all enough for all the advice. i was really nervous about this cook. it is going better than i thought.

 

[Becky M-M]

wanted to mention..... that pan in there is empty. i had it in there to catch drippings. didnt know if i should have put water in there or not.

 

[Jeff R]

It looks good. If it eats as well as it looks, that is all that matters.

These are some things I have learned on my kettle for low and slow.

Using my fire bricks, I lay them across where they overlap by about 2". This make my coal areas roughly 1/3 of my grill size.

I fill it to the brim with unlit with wood chunks mixed in. In fact the grate is actually touching the coal

8 lit on top

Bottom vents totally closed at around 180* Top vent at 1/2

This gives me around 285 at the vent and 240's at the grate.

Don't open the lid for at least several hours. No peeking.

Just 30 seconds off is enough air to get things to take off and add another 50*

No water pan is needed.

Good luck

 

[Bob Correll]

Becky,
You might want to take the small one off and foil it, if it's tender when probed.
You can stash it in a warm oven while the others finish.

They look great!

Just had to post this recipe from George Burn's wife, Gracie Allen.

"Gracie Allen’s Classic Recipe for Roast Beef"
1 large roast of beef 1 small roast of beef
Take the two roasts and put them in the oven. When the little one burns, the big one is done.

 

[Becky M-M]

took the small ones off....

taste test....

whoa! tasted like someone took a little piece of heaven.... dusted it with smoke and bacon flavor!!!! just tooooo good... i foiled them and actually had to hide them! my brood would have devoured them.

as for the big one.... i checked it after more than an hour and it had not gone up at all.

so naturally, i panicked.

i foiled it, though i didnt want to. im afraid the bark will soften. but foiled anyway, my coals were down to almost gone. so fanned them, added more coals on top of that. and opened the top vent all the way.

checked it just a minute ago and it is at 190+, remember this is a little cheapie thermometer.

do i pull it off now? can i just tear into it and pull for dinner?

 

[Bill Spearman]

If you have not done so by now, go for it.

Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ed M.]

Looks great Becky! Hope the family enjoyed all the hard work you put into this cook.

 

[Becky M-M]

pulled it soon after i asked if i should....

it was great... i will post pictures of in the photo forum from start to finish.

 

[David B.]

Congrats!!! Sounds like your smoke on the kettle was a success and went well. Let us know how everything turned out. If they tasted half as good as the pics looked, then all should be great.

 

[George Curtis]

is there a reason the one touch system can't be fixed ? would make things a lot easier.