First time Minion method

[Guest]

They say there's a first time for everything and tonight is a first, after many years of outdoor cooking, for me to try the Minion method. At 10:00 PM, I put on an 11.5 lb picnic shoulder, slathered with yellow mustard. I put about 18 ashed over briquettes on top of 10 lbs of fresh Kingsford and within 20 minutes the WSM was at 220?F. Closing the vents down to 1/4 has resulted in a steady 234?F for over an hour, now. Three small fist size chunks of Hickory are providing the smoke. I have always added briquette coals to my fire only after they have been ashed over. It seems to me that briquette manufacturers use a release agent in the molds and that's what causes the foul odor and needs to be burned off. Apparently, none of you who regularly use this method find any adverse effects with odor or taste in the finished product. Is this true? Thanks, for any feedback.

 

[Bryan S]

Ray, i use the minion method 90 % of the time and have never tasted any difference when using ashed over charcoal or the minion method.The only time i don't use the minion method is when i cook a chicken.

 

[Guest]

After 8 hours of cooking, I can sure attest to one well-reported benefit of this method - this is the cat's meow for an easy way to maintain a rock steady cooking temperature for very long cooks! At 2:00 AM, the dome temperature was 227?F and the meat temperature was 135?F. I added 2 qts of warm water and lightly stirred the charcoal bed. At 6:00 AM, the dome temperature was 227?F and the meat temperature was 161?F and I've had 4 hours of good sleep /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif . Ambient temperature is 55?F. Again, I lightly stirred the charcoal but did not add any additional water, there is about a quart left in the pan. Within a few minutes, the temperature has reached 245?F and I am just going to let it ride for a while.

 

[Guest]

Hmmm... 8:00 AM found the cooking temperature dropping (215?F), the internal meat temperature at 167?F, and not enough briquettes left to finish the job. I removed the top cooking section, stirred the remaining coals and added about 4 lbs of fresh, unlit charcoal to the top of them. Is it normal to use more charcoal for this method?

 

[Guest]

When I cook shoulder or butt I don't stir the coals. I use the Minion method and have noticed that it actually uses less charcoal than with the ashed-over method. I don't know how vigorously you stirred the coals, but perhaps that has contributed to using more briquettes.

Just my .02

 

[Guest]

Thanks, Brian, for the feedback. I just moved them enough to get the outside, unlit ones a little closer to the middle and knock off a little ash from the middle, for better airflow. It has been cool (55?F) and has now started a light, Oregon mist. So, for a 11.5 lb shoulder, how much charcoal would you expect it to take?

 

[Kevin Taylor]

Hi Ray!

I noticed you didn't fill up your charcoal pan when you started. 10 lbs. of charcoal will not get the job done. I use between 3/4 and 7/8 of a bag.

I always fill to overflowing capacity, especially when I know I will be doing a butt. You can always burn the leftover stuff on your next cook.

In regards to the issue of odors from un-fired briqs....never, ever noticed it. You see lots of bags of Kingsford laying around at contests and many of us win on a regular basis using it. I am sure if there were any odors or tastes the judges would pick that up.

 

[Guest]

You must be using 20 lb bags. I emptied a new 10 lb bag, to start, which filled the ring to almost full. I have added about 1/2 of another bag since 8:00 AM. In the past, I have never used all of a 10 lb bag, except in the winter, for doing a picnic shoulder in the 10 to 12 lb range.

 

[Guest]

Picnic shoulder hit 195? at 5:45 PM, after 19 hours 45 minutes and about 16 to 17 lbs Kingsford. That's 1 hour, 43 minutes per pound and almost 1.5 lbs charcoal per pound of meat. While that's considerably more charcoal than I normally use, it sure was much easier! Taste and aroma was about the same as always, except, this one seemed to be a bit on the salty side. (Surely, this has nothing to do with using unlit charcoal.) The only thing that was applied to the shoulder was a light slathering of yellow mustard, my normal fare for a shoulder. Pictures of the finished product can be seen here and here.