Memorial Day Weekend Smoke


 
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Dennis Lubertozzi

TVWBB Member
Just starting a thread to post about my upcoming smoke for some friends tomorrow. I'm starting two butts (about 8 lbs each) and a brisket (about 8 lbs as well) at 11:30 tonight. This is going to be my first overnight cook, so hopefully it goes well.

On the menu for tomorrow:
<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI>Pulled pork nachos appetizer
<LI>Pulled pork
<LI>Sliced brisked
<LI>Mustard cole slaw (in the style of Parker's BBQ in Wilson, NC)
<LI>Cornbread
<LI>Chicago style Mexican corn
<LI>Banana cream pie
[/list]

I'll keep updating this thread throughout the smoke. I'll also post some pictures to my Flickr. This link will take you to my Smoke Day set, which I'll add to over the course of the cook.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3...s/72157618647196834/
 
Hey Dennis,this is my first overnighter also. I've gotten up in the middle of the night before,and way too early. But I just put two huge butts and a 12 lb brisket on. I'm getting up in the morning to put on a small butt(3 lbs). The small one I'm going to do as a spicy phil-b-q(PP). We are also having two kinds of pasta salad,home made mac and cheese,cole slaw,and several cold ones! If you don't mind,could I post about my cook on this thread? Hope your cook goes as well as I hope mine goes. Happy Smoke Day!(not that kind!!)
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Just got back from checking the bulllet. It's loaded pretty well with meat. Still trying to figure out where I'm gonna put the "Inferno-licious" butt. It'll squeeze in there somewhere. I messed up a little,though. I lit it using the MM. But I used regular tap water to fill the pan. It wasn't coming up to temps,so I took the door off. I came inside for a minute,and when I went back out,I had actual flames! I put the door back on,closed the bottom vents down and am keeping an eye on it for now. Temps holding steady at 225*. Gonna keep an eye on it for a little while more,then to bed.
 
My butt went on about 10:45 pm, Eastern. When that's done, I've got three racks of baby backs waiting in the wings.

I did some salmon on my OTP for dinner. marinated and basted w/ a mixture of Jack Daniel's, Brown Sugar, and red pepper flakes. My first attempt at salmon. I cooked it on a cedar plank. Came out pretty good. I'll post pics later.
 
Well, I'm now three hours into the smoke. I would love to be asleep right now, but unfortunately I'm having a lot of trouble keeping the temperature down. The smoker's been running above 260 for the past hour (measured at the top grate). I would like to be in the 240s. I have only one vent cracked open, and still the temperature won't drop. If the temp doesn't start falling in the next 10-15 minutes I'll fully close the last vent for a while...

This isn't a problem I've had before. It's very mild out (it's in the mid 50's out), so I'm not sure what's causing the smoker to run hotter. I only started with 8 lit coals (which were barely lit).
 
Dennis,

Check your water pan. Every cook is different. You sound like me when I first started. Anywhere fro 225-260 should be fine. Whatever you do, do not close the top vent. I learned that the hard way. The smoker will retain heat and look like your temps are good, but the fire actually goes out. Keep the pics coming and relax and try to get some sleep - IT WILL BE FINE!!
 
Sorry you are having troubles,Dennis. I got to bed at 11:30,back up at 6:30. Checked the smoker and it's holding fine at 225*. Got the infernolicious butt injested and rubbed. Was able to squeeze it on the top layer. It's gonna be a good day
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Got on the site late.
Started two-8lb butts top grate, brisket fat-side down bottom grate at 20:00. It is now 07:00, turned and sopped the butts, brisket at 159, butts at 160. Having a little trouble with temp probs (NuTemp) I think between midnight and 05:00 my fire dropped to 200!! I added a few hot coals, a little more hickory and now she's back up rockin! A great day for Q'uing!
 
I don't know what's going on. I went out to check temps and they were down to 175*! Got a half full chimney going and gonna add some more unlit to the smoker. Still gonna be a good day!
 
Butt has been on for 9 hours now. This is my first cook with Rancher. It runs a bit hotter, but my temp was pegged at 250 from the start, up until about 20 minutes ago, when it dropped about 15 degrees. Plenty of fuel left, so I gave the legs a tap, and opened the vents a tad more. Right back to 250 she went. Butt is currently sitting at 175.

Here are the pics from last night's dinner. It was my first attempt at grilling salmon. I had no idea what I was doing, and just threw the JD, Brown Sugar and pepper flakes together. I liked it, but it could have used a bit more heat. I'll definitely do that again.

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Looking good,Jim! Just threw more unlit and a half chimney of lit in and the temps came right back up. Man,I'm glad that didn't happen while I was sleeping! The good day is back on!
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Hey everyone. Thanks for all the advice!

So my smoker continued to run pretty hot (getting into the 170's a few times). The water pan seemed not to be the issue, but I added water anyhow (didn't do much to control the temps). The real culprit was that I had flames going in the charcoal.

I completely closed all three vents to choke out the fire a bit. The temperatures began to come down slowly, so I went to bed at about 2:45 or 3. I woke up to the alarm on my thermometer at about 5:30 because the temperature had dropped down to 220. So basically the smoker ran with all three vents closed for 3 hours to finally cool down.

I opened one vent about 50%, and the smoker made its way back up to 240 or so, where it stayed until about 8:30 this morning. My temperature started to drop pretty quickly, so I took a peek in and realized that I was almost out of fuel. All that time where there were flames really burned through the fuel. I added about 15 unlit coals to the cooker. The temperature's stabilized a bit now, and I'm running at about 225.

The brisket and butts are looking pretty good. All three pieces of meat are in the mid-180's right now, so I'll probably be pulling things off in the next hour or so. I'm going to be done much earlier than I had planned for, given the high temps early on, but no real damage seems to have been done from the early high temps.

Once I pull things off I'll take and post some pictures.
 
Ok - Sorry for the extreme delay in posting an update. Our cable and internet went down mid-morning on Smoke Day, and just came back up Saturday morning. No internet = no posting of the results of the cook.
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Anyway, the rest of the cook went really well. Every one enjoyed the pork and the brisket. I have to say, not having made a full brisket before my friends and I were amazed at how delicious the chopped point was. Anyway, I posted some more pictures if you're interested - just follow the link in my original post on this thread.

Dennis
 
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