Minion Method


 
A

AdamM

New member
When using the Minion method, after transferring the lit fuel from the chimney to the smoker, do you:

A) immediately put your food (ribs, chicken, shoulder, etc) on the cooking racks? Or,

B) Wait for the temperature inside the smoker to settle into your desired temperature range?

Does it make a difference? If so, what?

Thanks!
 
Simplicity is the rule for me. Light some coals with a weed burner, put everything together (except the lid), put the meat on and then set my BBQ Guru. So that would be A. Without the Guru it would be the same way. Depending on the amount of meat put in the smoker, your temperature will dip and minor adjustments may need to be made. "A"method alleviates this.

For short cooks, B may produce consistent times from meat on until done, but for long cooks, it's done when it's done.
 
I wait about 45 mins-1hour before putting food on....takes also that long to get to temp. I let it creeeeeep up to temp as I've had it go up too fast and border on uncontrollable.
 
You don't specify if kettle or WSM, BUT YOU SAY "racks". So I bet you speak about WSM. For WSM I pour lit briquettes (how many depends on my target T, usually 1 small chimney) and let it go alone for 1 or 2 hours. Then I add meat and start cooking. I don't like cold/creosote smoke in the beginning. 20/30 minutes before the meat I add some smoke wood in chips or chuncks.
 
When I smoke a shoulder, have the unlit charcoal and wood chunks in the WSM... then pour about 1/2 a chimney starters worth of hot coals on top... put the WSM back together... put the meat on right away... Works just fine for me.

When I do ribs, I try and get the smoker to the proper temp first.
 
I have the charcoal and wood chunks in the base, and the meat on the racks in the center section (with the lid on), sitting to the side. Once I dump the lit coals over the unlit I immediately set the center section on the base.
 
If I have the time, I typically leave the smoker for at least half an hour while I prepare and season the meat. More and more I try to get started early when I use my WSM for longer cooks. In a pinch, I wouldn't hesitate to put the meat on right away, but I prefer a bit of a wait if I can.
 
J. Wilson said:
I wait about 45 mins-1hour before putting food on....takes also that long to get to temp.
Click to expand...

:confused:

My 22.5 goes from 0* to 250* in about 10 minutes with the top and bottom vents all 100% open. Are you getting up to temp with your bottom vents nearly closed?

For the record, I find it fascinating how many different approaches people take with their cooks. Some go on immediately and some wait 2 hours before tossing on the meat. Wow! What a big difference.

I usually let mine come to temp and then put meat on immediately. Just my $0.02.

Nevertheless, smoke on! :wsm:
 
I don't use a watch, I use my nose. Both lump and briquette charcoal can have some nasty smells. Most of that goes away when the fuel gets hot...not necessarily when it catches fire. I dump the lit coals on the unlit, put all the gear in place, start tweaking the vents, watch the temperature and start sniffing the smoke. When the smell of the smoking chunks is stronger than the smell of the VOCs burning off, the meat goes on.
 
This is pretty interesting. I never thought about this. And I'm always amazed when I see a wide range of duration times for cooking something like butts, even when in the same temp range. I guess its another variable in the equation that gives us all different experiences.

For me, it's only about 10-15 minutes from dumping lit onto unlit and having meat on. I like to let the minion 'take' a little, but don't see the need in wasting smoke time.
 
I definitely let the WSM come up to temp first then add meat. I let it come up very slowely so generally I'm preheating for an hour. This way I'm not fighting high temps the whole cook. My reasoning it I have cleaner smoke if I add meat later and the slow time is so I don't get too many coals lit in the beginning.
 
Dustin -- Burkburnett, Texas? Where in the HELL is that? :cool:

I grew up in San Antonio, and lived in Texas for 30+ years. I have traveled the state from El Paso to South Padre Island to Beaumont, to Tyler, to Dallas to Amarillo and back to El Paso, but I have never heard of Burkburnett. Welcome to the forum!
 
Larry D. said:
I have the charcoal and wood chunks in the base, and the meat on the racks in the center section (with the lid on), sitting to the side. Once I dump the lit coals over the unlit I immediately set the center section on the base.
Click to expand...
I do the same.
 
I use the "tin can Minion Method" on my Mini-Joe, 14.5", and 18.5". I assemble the smokers right after removing the tin can. I let the smokers attain 200 degrees (it happens in just a few minutes with the vents wide open), I then close down the bottom vents to a predetermined position and put on the meat. My smoke wood is in the unlit around the tin can at the top. As soon as the smoker attains target temperature with the smaller smokers I close down the bottom vents as needed to maintain the temperature. I do the 18.5" a bit differently. With the larger unit, I need to catch the heat on the way up to avoid overheating the smoker. It is much easier to catch it on the way up than to have to bring the temperature down.

I use eight lit coals in the 14.5 and Mini-Joe and 12 in the 18.5" in the tin can.

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
JeffB said:
Dustin -- Burkburnett, Texas? Where in the HELL is that? :cool:

I grew up in San Antonio, and lived in Texas for 30+ years. I have traveled the state from El Paso to South Padre Island to Beaumont, to Tyler, to Dallas to Amarillo and back to El Paso, but I have never heard of Burkburnett. Welcome to the forum!
Click to expand...

I was born in Beaumont, Tx. Burkburnett is a small town north of Wichita Falls which is about 2 hrs northwest of Ft. Worth. I can stand on my roof and see into Oklahoma.
 
I light my coals with a flame thrower, wait until I have TBS (thin blue smoke), add my wood chunks and then add my meat.
 
JeffB said:
:confused:

My 22.5 goes from 0* to 250* in about 10 minutes with the top and bottom vents all 100% open. Are you getting up to temp with your bottom vents nearly closed?

For the record, I find it fascinating how many different approaches people take with their cooks. Some go on immediately and some wait 2 hours before tossing on the meat. Wow! What a big difference.

I usually let mine come to temp and then put meat on immediately. Just my $0.02.

Nevertheless, smoke on! :wsm:
Click to expand...

I now do one bottom completely closed and other two prolly half open. I go full bore open I end up at 300 and can't bring down for a while.
 
I put the meat on immediately after lighting then close it up and set my vents.

I go with the theory I think I first heard from Doug D, the cold meat is part of the stabilizing/balancing equation bringing the WSM to temp.
 
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I'm more inclined to use fire starters now instead of a chimney, but when I used a chimney, I would add the hot coals and give it a little time to start heating the smoker and igniting other charcoal. I don't think it's real important to do that. As long as the temp doesn't go soaring into the stratosphere, which it should NOT do anyway, the meat won't care if it's all the way up to temp or not when you fist put it on.
 
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