First time pork butt and chicken thighs, have questions.


 
C

Costas C.

TVWBB Member
OK, so I got my WSM 22 at the tail end of last summer, and all I've cooked on it so far is ribs (both loin backs and spares).

I want to get some experience in pulled pork, and the wifey wants me to make chicken thighs on it as well.

Will I be able to make them both in the same cook?

I know chicken gets done in a couple of hours, so I guess I will put the thighs on near the end of the cook.

Its my understanding that I need higher heat to get the skin to not come off rubbery, so I can just throw them on the grill at the very end to crisp them up?

Should I brine the thighs? Recommendations on a rub?

For the pork butt, should I shoot for cook temps of 270 or higher?

Foil the pork when?

I have used water in pan for the ribs, but I think its causing me to consume a lot of charcoal, so I am thinking of just lining the pan with foil and going no water this time to make the charcoal last longer, is that a correct assumption?

I just got an iGrill that came with dual probes, but no grill clip, can i just use a wine cork to hold it off the grill surface?

Sorry for the mass of questions everyone, thanks in advance for all answers!

-Costas
 
I have done a few pork butts and they are pretty easy to maintain. I just ran them between 225-250. My last one took about 11 and 1/2 hours for an 8 pound butt. You usually want to get the meat to have an internal tempature of over 200 degress so that it will be very easy to pull apart. As for the other stuff I am not really sure for the answer for that.
 
See my responses in CAPS.

OK, so I got my WSM 22 at the tail end of last summer, and all I've cooked on it so far is ribs (both loin backs and spares).

I want to get some experience in pulled pork, and the wifey wants me to make chicken thighs on it as well.

Will I be able to make them both in the same cook? YES YOU CAN.

I know chicken gets done in a couple of hours, so I guess I will put the thighs on near the end of the cook. YES

Its my understanding that I need higher heat to get the skin to not come off rubbery, so I can just throw them on the grill at the very end to crisp them up? YES, JUST MAKE SURE YOU GET THE INTERNAL TEMP TO 170 FOR THIGHS.

Should I brine the thighs? Recommendations on a rub? THIGHS STAY PRETTY JUICY SO NOT AS MUCH NEED TO BRINE AS YOU WOULD WITH BREASTS. I WOULDNT BOTHER. RUBS ARE LIMITLESS. JUST FIND A RECIPE ON THIS SIGHT OR ON INTERNET THAT YOU LIKE.

For the pork butt, should I shoot for cook temps of 270 or higher? I DO MY BUTTS AT A LITTLE LOWER BETWEEN 225-250 AND PLAN FOR 2 HRS PER LB (THOUGH IT MIGHT FINISH A LITTLE EARLIER). IF YOU DON"T HAVE THE TIME 270 SHOULD BE OK.

Foil the pork when? I DONT USUALLY FOIL THE PORK. YOU WOULD GET SOME BENEFIT IN SAVING TIME (AND GETTING THROUGH THE STALL) AND MAYBE SOME TENDERNESS ESPECIALLY IF COOKING AT 270 BUT YOU WOULD LOSE THE NICE BARK. FOIL AROUND 160 MEAT TEMP IF YOU WANT AND PULL WHEN MEAT TEMP HITS 195-200.

I have used water in pan for the ribs, but I think its causing me to consume a lot of charcoal, so I am thinking of just lining the pan with foil and going no water this time to make the charcoal last longer, is that a correct assumption? THE WATER HELPS YOU MAINTAIN A TEMP AROUND 225 SINCE IT BOILS AT 212 AND THE STEAM TAKES THE HEAT OUT OF THE SMOKER. IF YOU ARE GOING FOR 270, YOU CAN PROBABLY ELIMINATE THE WATER AND CONTROL VIA BOTTOM VENTS, BUT I WOULD WATCH FOR FLUCTUATIONS.

I just got an iGrill that came with dual probes, but no grill clip, can i just use a wine cork to hold it off the grill surface? YES

Sorry for the mass of questions everyone, thanks in advance for all answers!

HOPE THIS HELPS. HAPPY SMOKE DAY!!!!!!!
 
Thanks for all the help so far guys! I've got a 10lb pork butt and 10 thighs. I think I'm gonna out the pork butt on at around 6am, and see how I progress from there. I just got the iGrill the other day and was about to do the grommet mod, but I just realized that the probes have a bend in them, so I don't think I can pass them thru. I may just have to cut a notch in the upper lip instead, unfortunately, I don't have a dremel or a grinder....and I think I might end up hacking it to pieces with a hacksaw. Thoughts?
 
Ok, so I decided to just sit the lid on the wires until I could notch it.

I'm about 2 hrs in and can't seem to get the temps down from the 270 range. 2 out of 3 vents are shut completely, and the third is just barely cracked open.

Not running water in the pan, just foiled it.

Also, I'm thinking I put the probe in the wrong spot on the pork butt, it's reading @ 146 right now, after only 2 hrs. I put it in the meatiest spot but made sure to be away from the bone. Should I open the lid and move the probe, or just wait till 8 hrs and check with handheld?
 
So....how did it go?

BTW, I also just let the lid sit on the wires but I tightly twist a piece of foil to make it about the diameter of the wires (maybe just slightly larger). Then I just place it next to the wires and put the lid on so the weight sits on the foil piece (you can actually slide your wires to see that the weight is off them and they are not crimping).

You can certainly close the third vent as well to lower temp, but your best bet is to add cool/room temp water to the pan. If you fill it full it will keep the temps lower than if you fill it say half way. Just get comfortable with how it works in your smoker.

146 after two hours is ok. You will by now have realized that when you hit 150-160 the meat hits a stall and it takes a long time to move up again. Last, it is good not to open the lid often and the more you open it the longer your cook will be, but don't get caught up in that. If you want to open to baste or make adjustments go ahead, just try to be as quick as possible.

So.....once again....How did it go?

James
 
Update

Thanks for the help guys! (James, I'm in Greenlawn btw, seems like there's a bunch of us WSM users her on LI)

Sorry for not updating. When I opened her up @ 8hrs (the igrill probe was reading 190 already), I realized that I had the probe on the thinner section, and also between the 2 different muscles, so it was reading hot. I checked various spots with a meat thermometer and was getting about 170 in most spots. I sprayed some apple juice, re-positioned the probe and put the cover back on.
At about 11.5 hours in, it got to 190, so I probed for tenderness. It was spot on, and the bone felt like you could pull it out, so I took it off, let it rest for about 15 mins, and then foiled and held for about 1.5 hrs while I added some about 20 briquettes and some mesquite chunks and let the smoker come up to about 290-300 for the thighs.

Had the thighs on there for almost 2 hours, then put them on the grill to crisp up the skin, along with the corn and asparagus. Also doctored up some baked beans using Bush's Smokehouse beans, more brown sugar, chopped up bacon, onion flakes, smoked chipotle pepper, and some bbq sauce (holy smokes these were good!)

The pork pulled very easily, was very juicy inside, bark was exactly how the wife and I like it, BUT I think I laid too much of the rub on it and it was a bit overkill. I used the rub from Renowned Mr. Brown recipe, and while I do like pepper, this was a bit over the top. Next time, I will ease up on the rub, or try something with less pepper.

I also need to be a little bit less overzealous on trimming the fat. Being my first time, I think i trimmed off too much, and almost had it fall apart into 2 pcs on me.

The thighs came out great, I brined them for 2 hours in a solution of water, kosher salt, and white sugar, then patted dry, trimmed off excess fat, and generously dusted with a bbq rub from Stubs that I had laying around. At the very end (on the grill), I brushed on some of Sweet Baby Ray's Hone BBQ sauce.

The iGrille worked fine, the range was pretty good, I just need to learn to place the probe in the right spot. For the pit temp probe I did not have a grill clip, so I drilled a hole in a cork (natural not those new synthetic ones) and notched the bottom so that it would attach to the grill. Worked fine. I will definitely be either cutting a slot in the upper rim or doing the grommet mod. I can see these probe wires definitely being a weak point, and I was definitely getting a lot of smoke coming out from under the lid.

As far as the smoke goes, I was hesitant to shut the third vent because i didn't want to disrupt the vertical flow of air. If all bottom vents are shut, where is the oxygen coming from? The door? the lid? Thinking maybe I should do the nomex gasked mod. the body does not seem out of round.

Didn't take too many pics, here they are:

Before trimming:
IMG_20130526_231257.jpg


Rubbed:
B19A74BC-7253-40B9-B664-BD5604100C2B.jpg


Pulled:
D9F84777-0B5B-496F-B9C7-E1CAEF7734FE.jpg


Chicken thighs:
584F0C5F-C826-42B5-AC7D-A5CCDD5CFC6C.jpg


Doctored up beans:
5174932C-AC4C-4B93-80ED-6405440DBAF3.jpg
 
Your cook looks great Costas. I have done several mods to my WSM including the grommet and I would go with the notch if I were you. A lot less hassle around the cooking grates. I will often use a small potato to hold my grill probe, they work well also.
I love to do thighs and the BBQ Pit Boys have a neat method using the kettle but what I found interesting was putting a dab of sauce under the skin. You can inject or simply use a spoon as the skins comes away easily.

You might want to have a look at their Youtube video. Just another idea.:)
 
Thanks Gary! I'm still trying to decide between the two (grommet or notch), I think grommet would be ideal if I did a lot of cooks with meat on both grates. But notch is so simple. One thing that is nagging me though about the igrill, is that although it came with dual probes, both look to be meat sensors. I know on the Maverick, the one with the 90 degree bend is the meat sensor, and the straight one is for pit temp.

I contacted igrill customer service and they said confirmed that they sell a separate ambient air probe (with grill clip), and can't guarantee that using the one intended for meat will read air temp correctly. Has anyone verified this?

BTW, as for the thighs, i also dusted some rub underneath the skin, but BBQ sauce under there sounds like a good idea too!
!
 
BTW, as for the thighs, i also dusted some rub underneath the skin, but BBQ sauce under there sounds like a good idea too!
![/QUOTE]

I do most of my poultry that way using seasonings under the skin. One rub you might consider is Meathead's (AmazingRibs.com) Simon & Garfunkle rub. I make that a lot and it's awesome on poultry, in a compound butter injection, in ground pork (sausage pattie) and on any other roasts or chops.
 
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