I give up, I live in a time warp.


 
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Howard Barlow

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My wsm works in another dimension from all others, apparently.

Last night, I put an 11 lb packer brisket and two 7.5 lb butts on the rack at 10 pm. Pit temp had been 235? for two hours. Top vent full open, as always, bottom 3 about 20% open.

It took a couple of hours to get it back up over 200? without touching anything.

For the next 5-6 hours it hovered in the 205-217? range with bottoms open full. I put on another half full chimney of lit briquets. Temp came up to 235?, closed bottom vents to about 20% again.

At 10:15 am I took the butts off (top rack) registering 190?. The bone pulling out easy, butts ready to fall apart. That's basically 12 hours... 1-1/2 hr per lb.

The brisket is almost ready. Maybe another hour.

Dinner is at 5 pm. I was hoping to pull the meat off at about 3 or 4 pm. I will never again allow ? 2 hours for butts or 1-1/2 hr per lb on a brisket.

1 hour for brisket, 1-1/2 for butts, max, from now on. Of course, that will be the time they won't finish.

Is it reasonable to hold this stuff until 5 pm in the igloo? Should I cool it down and reheat tonight? I don't want to pull/slice now.
 
Others may have more experience at this than I, but I pulled two butts at 1:30 pm and wrapped them in foil and put them in the cooler with towels and when I opened the 2nd butt (the 1st was totally gone!) for some late arriving guests it was still hot. I would guess you'll be okay.


Keep on smokin'

DWL
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Howard Barlow:
[qb]I will never again allow ? 2 hours for butts or 1-1/2 hr per lb on a brisket.[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>That's why these are only guidelines. There are so many variables to consider that affect cooking time, but the fact is that it's done when it's done, not by the clock, but by internal temp or how the bone pulls out or whether a fork goes in and out nice and easy.

You need to hold the meat over 140*F in order to be safe. I'm not sure you can do that in the Igloo for 7 hours. If it were me, I'd pull now, cool, and reheat later. Since you say you don't want to pull now, then I'd cool, then reheat and pull later.

Regards,
Chris
 
Thanks, Chris. I'm boiling watr to preheat my coolers. I'm changing coolers back and forth several times to keep temp up. I hope. Hospital report in the morning. /infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif
 
At the recent BBQ Competition I was in, the team I was with cooked their butts/briskets in right around 7 hours at 250*. And these were 8-12 pound pieces of meat, too. The butts I cook in my WSM always take 16-20 hours. I think most WSM's (except yours Howard) tend to cook slower than many other smokers.

BTW, we double foiled those butts/brisket and put them in the cooler at ~ 6:00am. We took them out around 11:30am, still plenty hot.
 
Well, it was great. Nobody sick, nobody throwing up. /infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif Everyone wanting more.

Now get this....Last time I did the same thing: 1 - 11 lb brisket, 2 7-8 lb butts. At 230?, both took 18 hours. /infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif
 
I just joined the forum, so just now saw this post. I would like to know what an "igloo" is, and more about the safety factor. Were you trying to cool the butts, or keep them hot a long time?

--Linda
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>I just joined the forum, so just now saw this post. I would like to know what an "igloo" is, and more about the safety factor. Were you trying to cool the butts, or keep them hot a long time? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Linda,
An Igloo is a brand name of a cooler that is very popular...inexpensive and does a good job. Often used to hold the meat hot when it is done ahead of schedule.
 
Hi Linda,

Welcome to the forum.
An Igloo is a brand name of an insulated ice chest. You know, load it with drinks and ice.

They keep things warm, too. Sometimes when you have your briskets, butts, etc. ready before serving time, you can "hold" the meat in a cooler.

Preheat the cooler (sounds dumb, huh) with hot water. I boil a large potful on my outdoor propane rig, but hot tap water will suffice. It may cause some permanent distortion to the inside of the cooler, but minor.

Wrap the meat in several layers of foil. Quickly, carefully, pour out the water and place the meat in the cooler. Some people stuff towels in for more insulation. I never have.

You can hold a decent temp (above 140? for safety reasons) several hours. The more meat, the longer you can hold it, due to the mass of heat.

Food needs to be kept below 40? or above 140? to prevent bacteria growth.
 
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