My first cook on my new WSM
- Thread starter Matt B_Minneapolis
- Start date
Jennifer K
TVWBB Super Fan
That's a sizable amount of delicious looking pork! How long did your cook run, Matt, and was it high temp or lo and slow?
Jeremy Calow
TVWBB Super Fan
Looks like a good first cook to me!!
Matt B_Minneapolis
New member
I cooked for about 10 hours and was in the 225-250 range the entire time. Started the cook using the Minion method and 5 fist sized chunks of hickory. Rubbed the meat with a basic recipe of my own creation and served with some homemade Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce. The only thing I would have done differently would have been to add some more water to the pan in the last 2-3 hours. I forgot to check it and it got pretty low.
Dave Russell
TVWBB Honor Circle
Looks good, Matt. I'd suggest you occasionally loosen the wingnut and remove the therm to check for accuracy in boiling water. I've had three of them and they all read too low...two of them not at first, but they did eventually.
Regarding times/temps, also be aware that if you have that top grate full of pork butt like that, you're cooking a good bit hotter than 225-250*, even though that is what the gauge indicates. No problem, obviously, as pork butts can be cooked just fine at 275 or even higher temps, but that's why they were tender in such a relatively short period of time. My last brisket/pork butt cook was 16 hrs; that's also "cooking 225-250*", but that's measured by a temp probe hung in the top vent in the stream of circulation, less affected by a top grate full of meat. Generally speaking, for pork butts to be tender in around 1hr/lb, the average cooking temp needs to stay upwards of 275*.
Anyways, congratulations on the first cook! By the way, leftover bbq is GREAT on nachos if you haven't tried it. Just make 'em like you would otherwise, but sub out the salsa for bbq sauce, and the taco meat for bbq.
Regarding times/temps, also be aware that if you have that top grate full of pork butt like that, you're cooking a good bit hotter than 225-250*, even though that is what the gauge indicates. No problem, obviously, as pork butts can be cooked just fine at 275 or even higher temps, but that's why they were tender in such a relatively short period of time. My last brisket/pork butt cook was 16 hrs; that's also "cooking 225-250*", but that's measured by a temp probe hung in the top vent in the stream of circulation, less affected by a top grate full of meat. Generally speaking, for pork butts to be tender in around 1hr/lb, the average cooking temp needs to stay upwards of 275*.
Anyways, congratulations on the first cook! By the way, leftover bbq is GREAT on nachos if you haven't tried it. Just make 'em like you would otherwise, but sub out the salsa for bbq sauce, and the taco meat for bbq.
