Dave Russell
TVWBB Honor Circle
I've had a brisket flat in the freezer for a while that I caught on sale, and finally got it in the wsm, even though I prefer packers. Anyway, that's going pretty predictable for what I wanted to do with it: foil at 160-ish.
HOWEVER, I decided I'd try a typical pork butt in the 275-300 range I keep on reading posts about...no, not foiling. Some folks have claimed you can smoke up to 325 with no problems and not wrap at all.....
Well...Maybe they like their bark dark. I've been smoking a 7.5 pounder since 8:30 this morning with temps in the 275-300 range. I put the brisket flat on at about 10:30 and saw how dark the butt was already. I'm thinking, yeah, no foil, huh? Right..... Well, I just wrapped the brisket flat at 165 IMT, at the 3.5 hr mark. I take one look at the pork meteorite I have sitting by it and decide I better wrap it as well. It temped at 176.
I know it will be ok, but the foil would've protected it from getting so dark if I'd wrapped much earlier. (I think though, that 275 should've been the top of my cooking temp zone, not the bottom, even if wrapping.) The thing almost looked the way I like 'em to look when finished at 2 hours in when I put the flat on! Yep, you read that right.
Well, what gives? Is my therm off? I don't think so. I checked it pretty recently. Why do folks like cooking so hot? I think they don't mind the black bark as long as it doesn't taste burnt. I prefer the mahogany I get when I cook 225-250, myself.
My queastion is: will I be happy cooking 250-275 next time? The obvious answer why is so I can get it done by supper, not cooking overnight. What's my rub? Well, yes, it has lots of chili powder and brown sugar in it, just like any pork shoulder rub should.
Just thought I'd share, and I'd appreciate any folks that could contribute and help me decide what temp to use next time. 275-300 is OUT, at least for pork butts.....cooking on the top rack of a little wsm.
Thanks for checking out!
Dave
wsm, otg, ots, smokey joe, uds, char-griller w/sfb
HOWEVER, I decided I'd try a typical pork butt in the 275-300 range I keep on reading posts about...no, not foiling. Some folks have claimed you can smoke up to 325 with no problems and not wrap at all.....
Well...Maybe they like their bark dark. I've been smoking a 7.5 pounder since 8:30 this morning with temps in the 275-300 range. I put the brisket flat on at about 10:30 and saw how dark the butt was already. I'm thinking, yeah, no foil, huh? Right..... Well, I just wrapped the brisket flat at 165 IMT, at the 3.5 hr mark. I take one look at the pork meteorite I have sitting by it and decide I better wrap it as well. It temped at 176.
I know it will be ok, but the foil would've protected it from getting so dark if I'd wrapped much earlier. (I think though, that 275 should've been the top of my cooking temp zone, not the bottom, even if wrapping.) The thing almost looked the way I like 'em to look when finished at 2 hours in when I put the flat on! Yep, you read that right.
Well, what gives? Is my therm off? I don't think so. I checked it pretty recently. Why do folks like cooking so hot? I think they don't mind the black bark as long as it doesn't taste burnt. I prefer the mahogany I get when I cook 225-250, myself.
My queastion is: will I be happy cooking 250-275 next time? The obvious answer why is so I can get it done by supper, not cooking overnight. What's my rub? Well, yes, it has lots of chili powder and brown sugar in it, just like any pork shoulder rub should.
Just thought I'd share, and I'd appreciate any folks that could contribute and help me decide what temp to use next time. 275-300 is OUT, at least for pork butts.....cooking on the top rack of a little wsm.
Thanks for checking out!
Dave
wsm, otg, ots, smokey joe, uds, char-griller w/sfb