My First Attempt at Smok'in w/WSM 18

[MMiller]

Any comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Main questions: Why did it take so long when my ave. temp was 250 - 260 degrees? (11 hrs for 6Lbs and never did reach 200 degrees I quit at 195 degrees)
Should I cook at a higher temp say 275 degrees?
Should I not use water in the water pan?
Will wrapping the meat when it reaches about 175 degrees cut down on the amount of bark and decrease the cooking time?
Should I tie the meat since it came with large divisions in it? Purchase a 13 Lb Pork shoulder Butt boneless then cut it perpendicular along its natural division leaving me with a 6Lb piece and a 7Lb piece which is now in the freezer both of these smaller pieces had large divisions in them, but not all the way through.
What is the purpose of cooling the meat in a cooler?

Procedure for: FIRST PORK SHOULDER BUTT SMOKE 5/20/2021
CONDITIONS: 70 - 80 DEGREES W/ LITTLE TO NO WIND FROM THE SW
Meat Weight 6 lbs with one 4 oz piece that broke off.
Used Weber Apple and Hickory wood chunks for smoke flavor. Used 3 chunks of each.
Coal ring was filled to top with Jealous Devil Hardwood Lump Crucial and started with one small chimney full of Kingsford Long Burning charcoal briquets but chunks were spaced lightly. Expecting a 8 - 10 hr cook time.
Water pan was filled 75% with hot water w/ 1 cup Apple Cider Vinegar added.
Coated meat with brown mustard and rubbed with Pork Barrel BBQ All American Seasoning and Rub from Costco
Start time: 10 AM
Time: 10 AM to 12 PM: Average WSM Temp 252 degrees Meat @ 138 degrees Vents fully opened
Time: 1 PM WSM Temp 248 to 256 Meat @ 158 degrees
Time: 2 PM WSM Temp 256 Meat @ 164 degrees
Time: 3 PM WSM Temp 240 Meat @ 164 degrees (5 hrs into cook)
Note: At 3:30 Stirred coals and added a few more chunks and brickets due to WSM temp drop to 230 degrees
Time: 4 PM WSM Temp 254 degrees Meat @ 166 degrees
Time: 5 PM Stirred coals due to WSM temp drop to 240 degrees WSM Temp increased to 278 degrees Meat @ 170 Began spritzing meat with 50% water 50% apple cider vinegar mixed with 1T brown sugar. Continued spritzing about every 45 min until done. Dark bark observed.
Time: 5:30 PM Stirred coals due to temp drop to 240 temp increased to 290 degrees. Closed dampers 25%.
Time: 6 PM WSM Temp 279 degrees Meat at 180 degrees
Continued smoke until 9 pm 11 hrs overall. WSM average temp of 250 degrees quit cooking at a meat temp of 195 degrees (Goal was 200 degrees)
Wrapped meat in foil and placed into cooler for 1 Hr. then pulled apart. Do I really need to let it cool down in a cooler?
Meat had a heavy blackened bark. The meat pulled apart very easily and was very tasty. Small piece was turned to jerky status chewy but tasty.
Notes:
Next time use more coal chunks spaced closer together and make sure fire is burning strong before beginning. Place seasoned wood so it is mixed in with coal.
Problems maintaining temperature meat never made it to 200 degrees before I finally quit.
Next time consider skipping the water and increasing the average cook temperature to 275 degrees rather than 250 degrees. The goal being to reduce cook time to 1-1.5 hrs/pound. Maybe just increase temperature and continue the use of water? Difficult time getting WSM temp above 250 for first 5 hrs of cook time. After stirring coals temp increased to 290 degrees, before closing bottom vents 25 %.
Try spritzing earlier in the cook, after 3 hours.
Try wrapping meat in foil after it reaches 175 degrees to finish the cook.

Thanks for taking the time to read all this!
Mike in Traverse City, MI

 

[tjkoko]

Did you read the directions for BB at this site?? You really need to visit the link that I provided. (EDIT) For my first smoke I would have opted for the standard Kingsford because its results are very predictable. Visit that link I provided. 8))

 

[tjkoko]

Any comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated...............................

........

My post has been edited.

 

[Chris Allingham]

A lot to digest here, just a couple of comments.

I would target 275*F as your cooker temp, this helps push the meat through the stall faster.

As for the pork butt, I would give this article a read:

Pork Butt Selection & Preparation - The Virtual Weber Bullet

How to select and prepare pork butt for barbecuing on the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker. Learn pork butt terminology, trimming, finishing temperature, yield information and more.

www.virtualweberbullet.com

Your 13 pound "Pork Shoulder Butt Boneless" was probably two pork butts, not a single large one. They usually come two to a Cryovac package, and you just pull them apart--they are not connected to one another.







When boneless, they are real floppy, so you should tie them together with butcher's twine.



That little 4-ounce jerky chunk probably got separated when you cut through the meat; if it had been left attached and tied to the roast, it would have turned out like the rest of the meat.

When your cooker won't run at your target temp with all vents wide open, it means the amount of hot fuel that's burning isn't enough to overcome the volume of cold meat + water in the pan. You can either increase the amount of hot fuel or you can reduce/eliminate the water or a combination of the two. I go back and forth on using water when cooking at 275*F, I know many will suggest you eliminate the water. I think it's part of the process and helps develop smoke ring.

Wrapping the meat in foil at 160*F will accelerate the cooking process, soften the bark, and prevent it from turning black like a meteor. You can even move the wrapped meat into a 275*F oven and finish it in the house, since the cooker is no longer adding smoke flavor to the meat. It's not cheating!

As for resting the meat after cooking, you want to cover it loosely with foil and let it cool for 30-45 minutes until you can handle it without burning your fingers. This also give the meat a chance to relax and for the juices to redistribute. The meat fibers contract a lot during cooking, which puts the juices under pressure, and they'll flow out onto your cutting board if you pull the meat too soon.

You don't have to rest the meat in a cooler for several hours, it may improve the final results somewhat, but it's more beneficial when you finish at 3:00pm but don't want to serve until 5:00pm. A long rest in a cooler is more important for brisket, I think.

Cider vinegar in the water pan won't hurt anything, but IMHO is a waste of good vinegar. Save it for your 50/50 water/vinegar spritz. Oh, by the way, the brown sugar in the spritz and any sugar in the rub contributes to the black bark, but foiling should help control that.

I think you're on the right track. Give it another try, each time you'll get better and better results! Good luck!

Edit: Corrected pork butt wrap temperature

 

[Tye R.]

How were you measuring the temps? Lid thermometer is notoriously inaccurate. How often were you opening up the smoker? The more you look the longer the cook.

Just saw Chris’ reply - wrapping at 160 would have sped up the process.

 

[Tony-Chicago]

Chris is absolutely spot on.
And the temps may have been a bit off. If the therms were 20 or even 10 off it would correlate with what occurred.
If boneless tie up. Keeps it more even.
Wrapping can save a lot of time. (In this case 3 to 6 hours)
And yes you can finish in the oven.
Sounds like it was very tasty with lots if bark

 

[tjkoko]

And maybe do a mod to the lid using a quality TelTru Thermometer.

 

[MMiller]

Thanks, Chris, and to all that replied!
That is exactly the type of pork I purchased from Costco even shows the little chunk that I cut off.
Is there a special type of string to use when tying?
For the 2nd cook, I will wrap the meat and maybe move it to the oven, a great idea especially with the weather here in Michigan. I'll also pack the coals more densely. When wrapping the meat do you skip the spritzing or spritz earlier in the cook, which would require opening the lid?
I used a ThermoPro thermometer and did notice a slight discrepancy between it and the lid thermometer but it wasn't too much. Close enough for me to conclude that they were both working. I did behave myself and not peak until the meat was at 170 degrees for spritzing.
Overall, I was very satisfied with the results we had pulled pork sandwiches last night. It wasn't as juicy as I thought it would be but I figure that's because it cooked so long and wasn't wrapped. Can't wait to try again. Not sure why images loaded sideways, sorry.

 

[Jeff Boudman]

Thanks, Chris, and to all that replied!
That is exactly the type of pork I purchased from Costco even shows the little chunk that I cut off.
Is there a special type of string to use when tying?
For the 2nd cook, I will wrap the meat and maybe move it to the oven, a great idea especially with the weather here in Michigan. I'll also pack the coals more densely. When wrapping the meat do you skip the spritzing or spritz earlier in the cook, which would require opening the lid?
I used a ThermoPro thermometer and did notice a slight discrepancy between it and the lid thermometer but it wasn't too much. Close enough for me to conclude that they were both working. I did behave myself and not peak until the meat was at 170 degrees for spritzing.
Overall, I was very satisfied with the results we had pulled pork sandwiches last night. It wasn't as juicy as I thought it would be but I figure that's because it cooked so long and wasn't wrapped. Can't wait to try again. Not sure why images loaded sideways, sorry.View attachment 28548View attachment 28549

It comes on a spool like this at my local grocery store. It’s available at a lot of stores that carry food.

 

[tjkoko]

It comes on a spool like this at my local grocery store. It’s available at a lot of stores that carry food.........

Always pull the string from the inside (of the invisible spool) and not from the outside.

 

[Timothy F. Lewis]

I did something only an OCD goofball like me would do:


And:

Pork butts are so forgiving, even if it gets dry(heaven forbid!) you can sauce it and tell people you meant it that way!
Being where you are, see if you can make friends with some of the cherry orchard owners and get some of their larger “prunings” stuff that can be cut down to fist size pieces, last years cutting will be just about perfect for this year!
I’m headed over to Lake Huron shores in mid July for about twelve days of not being near much “connectivity” and just enjoying being near big water where I don’t know anyone but the butcher sounds pretty near heaven to me!
No WSM but, I will have a 22” kettle and will prep most of what I will be cooking before we leave so, most things are squared away at least mentally for the vacation, I need to make up some “Pork Bombs” and “pig wings” so they can act as ice on the drive up!
Sorry, that went way off on a tangent!
Eat well!

 

[tjkoko]

Just.....leave me alone, man.

 

[Bob Erdman]

LMAO.

 

[Jim C in Denver]

If boneless tie up. Keeps it more even.

Or do the opposite. Which works very well too.

Super easy to butterfly/split in half a boneless butt. More seasoning, more bark, and cooks faster.

https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/pork-butt-split-in-half/

4-hour Pork Butt: Butterflied for Flavor and Speed

Author: Martin EarlI love a good pulled pork sandwich. Now, my sauce preference tends toward those of the Carolinas, either mustardy (South) or vinegary (North) or—heresy!—spicy cayenne and black peppered vinegar with a heavy proportion of dried mustard in it. When it’s done right, it’s so good...

blog.thermoworks.com