Minion Misjudgement


 
T

T Tills

New member
So, I wanted to have some pulled pork ready by this Fridays block party. I bought the pork Tuesday, applied the rub and put in the fridge,

I figured if I start a smoke about Midnight on Wed, using the Minion method, it would be ready when I get home from work Thursday.

I did everything according to the directions, it was a warm calm night, so I started about 20 briquettes, and added to a FULL chamber of coal and wood chunks. At about 200F, I set the bottom vents to closed, 1/8, 1/8, and went to bed.

at 7AM the reading was 350! Shoot. Added some more water, closed the vents completely and off to work. Called home at 2, and wife said temp was arund 250, Much releief!.

When I got home about 5, the temp was around 100, and the coals were completely gone, I checked the pork buts,and the temp was like 160, can't tell if it the meat was ever at desired temp and was dropping, or still on the way up. Other than the fact that they were falling off the bone and looked done. I think it was the former, because they pulled great, but the outside was very hard, and crusty, (not in a good way, the outside inch or so meat was very tough and dry) At least I got a good amount of tender good meat under that layer.

No breaze, vents closed or mostly closed, and the temp was way out of control, I've done a minion and several attended smokes before and haven't had this issue before. Was thinking a temp control system woud be good, but I don't know if that would have saved me today.

Any thoughts?
 
20 briquettes?? Wow, thats an awful lot.

You set the vents when the temp reached 200F and went to bed? You didn't watch to see that the temp held at 200 - 250?? I think that was you mistake - and you used too many lit.

Keep trying, you'll get it
 
I don't think 20 is too many either, not with water in the pan. I typically use anywhere between 20-40 briquettes, depending on how cool it is outside. The temp. increase was most likely related to not having water in the pan. Are you using the standard water pan or the Brinkman?

I agree with Rich in that you should have waited until the temps. stabilized to your desired temp. before going to sleep. Even though your past experiences have taught you otherwise, each day is different and each cook will not be the same. I am sure you'll remember that next time.

Since the bone was falling off and the meat was pulling great then most likely the internal meat temp. did dip down to 160 after meeting or exceeding the desired temp. Do your butts normally take 17 hours to smoke?

Erik
 
What kind of charcoal were you using? I always make sure the temp is approximately where I want it to be (250-270) then monitor it for at least an hour to make sure it's holding fairly steady. Then it's bed time. I agree with the others 20 briqs is not overkill. I use about the same to start mine.
 
In another post in this forum I wrote that I had a similar problem cooking my brisket. I dumped all my lit coals from my smoky joe onto the unlit coals in my WSM. Next morning lid temp was about 180*. My coals burnt up overnight.
 
I figured with cold water (WSM water pan), and cold pork butts, that would keep the temp down overnight, I mean the bottom vents were just barely cracked. I might need a few more smokes to seal the joints and access door leaks.

I'm used to having 16-18 hour smokes so that's why I wainted till midnight (but I also had to get to bed because of a busy day at work the next day).

Oh well, live and learn. I got a good amount of pulled pork, and I wanted to make a unique chili for our homebrew club Octoberfest, so I added some of the tougher outer meat to the chili, aid it softened right up, and gives the chili a wonderful smokey flavor. I may not have to add any spices to the chili.

Thanks for all the advice.
Tom
 
Sounds like you may have an air leak that drove the temps up. Sometimes the three sections don't match up exactly right (needs some turning to get everything airtight). It could have just not been seated 100%.
 
I think this happened. You ran out of water during the night. The cooker then ran hot. You closed all the vents and put the fire out.
while the WSM is a good cooker it is not set it and forget it. You should check your water at least every 3 hours and more if you are cooking
at 275+. Robbie
 
T Tills,

My suggestion for an overnight maintenance free cook is to use the double piedmont pan method where you never have to add/control the water. The double insulated pans naturally control the temperature and you never have to get up in the night to check. I have used this modification for all of my cooks and have never gone back to the original Weber pan that came with the WSM.

Mike
 
As you can see by my posts I'm a newbie. I got my WSM early in July. My first cook I had some of the same problems with high heat - it may have been because the WSB was brand new. Since then my routine for an overnight smoke is put the meat on between 10 - 10:30pm. Use the minion method with Kingsford briq's. Use the Brinkman 2 gal. I try to get a stable temp at around 225 - 235 (lid). Then I'm usually in bed by twelve and will sleep to around 8. My wife is an early riser and I have her check the lid temp. She's never had to wake me. My last smoke of two butts (overnight) the temp had dropped 10-15 degrees. I took the butts off around 12 noon. Opened all the vents to burn off the remaining fuel. 3 hours later the lid temp was over well over 300 and still cooking.

Yes - you can set it an leave it. You just need to be sure you've set it. BTW - with the MM I normally use 30 briqs to start.
 
sleep is good but even with the WSM i dont go 8 hrs straight without even checking the temps..i get up at leats one or two times and check..i dont replenish anyw ater cuz i dont use it..i use sand
i start with all vents open and a full ring of raw..dump about 1/4 of weber chimney lit..and a couple good size wood chunks
once temp hits about 2250 i throw the meat on ..temp will drop at that point from the cold meat..once it goes back up to about 225-230..i close two vents and only use the third once to adjust accordingly for temp fluctuations..
 
I would not use water in the stock pan for a long, unattended cook. There are alternatives to water. Fill the pan with playground sand and cover with foil to keep it clean. Or try those clay pot saucers some people are talking about. Or the Piedmont pan.

The water works great if you are able to tend the cook, and replenish the water as needed. But that didn't happen in this cook.

If the meat came off the bone, it definitely hit pulling temps and was on the way down when you measured it at 160. If the temp was still going up, the meat would have been too tough to pull.

I would use a couple of digital thermometers; one for the internal meat temp, and one for the cooking temp, and set alarms so you know when the meat's done or if the temp goes out of range.
 
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