After reading and reading, i finally made a decision and bought a 18.5 WSM. Seasoned it by running it wide open the first night with as much charcoal as i could put, then the next day smoked a couple of pounds of bacon until they were bone dry. Both times had the water pan empty but completed wrapped in foil. Then bought a 14 pound pork butt, which broke into two upon opening (there was no bone), so i decided to smoke half of it. I mixed together some seasonings to make a rub and after covering it in mustard, I applied the rub and let it sit in the fridge over night. Got up early the next morning and started the smoker using Soo's doughnut method, pecan wood chunks, and no water in the pan just foil wrapped. Cracked all three bottom vents a little bit and opened the top one all the way and in no time the smoker settled at around 260 on the Weber lid gauge. I ended up smoking the butt for about 9 hours in which after a stall, the meat temp seemed to top out at 190. I did do some mopping after the bark formed that consisted of a mixture of my rub and some Coke. After taking it off the smoker, i wrapped it in foil and a towel for 75 minutes and put it in a cooler. Overall, it wasn't bad. It had a great bark and parts of it were very moist and delicious but parts of it were also very dry. I was just happy the we actually got a meal out of my first smoke. I am going to smoke the other half this weekend and even though that I know the lid gauge is very unreliable (it's all i have for now), I am going to try to keep the temp a little lower. I am thinking of buying either a Maverick and/or Pitmaster IQ120 to help control and monitor temps. We'll see how it goes this weekend first though. A big thanks to everyone that provides great info to the beginners like myself.
My first pork butt
- Thread starter Vitto
- Start date
Len Dennis
TVWBB Diamond Member
Although the dome thermo is unreliable, it IS reliable as it's always off by a certain number of degrees.
Test it in boiling water: get some water in a pot and boil it. Remove the thermo and insert the probe in the boiling water. Make note of the temp. If it reads 232o (for example), you know it reads 20o higher than what the water temp is.
So, when you use it as a guide during your smoke, if it reads 270o (for example), you know the temp is really 250o (at the dome, not grate level). Adjust your heat level to your desired temps based on that 20o error. Easy peasy.
Welcome to the forums!!
P.S. some people find the dome temp is higher than the grate temp. Others find the dome temp is LOWER than the grate temp. I know mine reads different at both levels as I use a 732 at the grate and only refer to the dome for the initial "is it time to add the meat" reference. After that, I never look at the dome thermo.
Also, on your second smoke, skip the foil (both during and after the smoke). It's not really needed. Keep in mind the meat temp will rise another 10-15o after you remove it from the smoker (more if you foil it as more of the heat will be retained). Everyone has their own opinion about foiling. This is mine.
Test it in boiling water: get some water in a pot and boil it. Remove the thermo and insert the probe in the boiling water. Make note of the temp. If it reads 232o (for example), you know it reads 20o higher than what the water temp is.
So, when you use it as a guide during your smoke, if it reads 270o (for example), you know the temp is really 250o (at the dome, not grate level). Adjust your heat level to your desired temps based on that 20o error. Easy peasy.
Welcome to the forums!!
P.S. some people find the dome temp is higher than the grate temp. Others find the dome temp is LOWER than the grate temp. I know mine reads different at both levels as I use a 732 at the grate and only refer to the dome for the initial "is it time to add the meat" reference. After that, I never look at the dome thermo.
Also, on your second smoke, skip the foil (both during and after the smoke). It's not really needed. Keep in mind the meat temp will rise another 10-15o after you remove it from the smoker (more if you foil it as more of the heat will be retained). Everyone has their own opinion about foiling. This is mine.
Did my second pork butt and wow, it blew away the first one. To start, i tested my dome thermo and it was only 2 degrees off on the boiling water test. On my second smoke, I tried to keep everything the same and only change one variable, and that variable was smoker temp (according to the dome thermo). This time I put the butt on at 1am when the smoker temp was at 240 and the white smoke had stopped (took about an hour). Checked the temp at 2am, 4am, and 6am and at all 3 intervals, the dome thermo was reading about 240 so the WSM is very consistent at keeping temps. Ended up pulling the butt at 1:30pm the next afternoon when the meat temp was at 193. Since the plan was to serve for dinner at 5pm, I wasn't sure what to do so I went against Len's advice (sorry Len) and wrapped the butt in foil and a towel an put in cooler. I took it out of the cooler around 5pm and served and everybody loved it. Seems like the lower temp and longer cook time really made a difference. My Maverick 733 is supposed to be delivered today so I am going to do another butt this weekend and this time I will be able to be compare grate temp vs. dome temp. Please wish me luck.
Daniel Maxton
TVWBB Member
Good luck,Vitto!
With a big chunk of meat like a pork butt it's hard to get the internal temp to 190F+ without kind of incinerating some of the outer portion. Some people like the crunchy stuff so it tends to work out. In my experience the boneless butts like you described (that was really two butts in the same cryo package) can be a bit floppy, depending on the particular piece of meat and the skill of the butcher who de-boned it. If it's falling to pieces before you start you can tie it up with butchers twine. This will probably add to the cooking time but will also make it less likely you'll end up with some bits done perfectly and some burned to a crisp.
More recently I've found the thermometer probe more useful in just prodding the meat to see if it feels done. If you can easily push the probe in all the way in several spots, you're done. If you get resistance, it needs more time, regardless of what the thermometer reads. At least that's how I've done the last few.
More recently I've found the thermometer probe more useful in just prodding the meat to see if it feels done. If you can easily push the probe in all the way in several spots, you're done. If you get resistance, it needs more time, regardless of what the thermometer reads. At least that's how I've done the last few.
Len Dennis
TVWBB Diamond Member
All that matters is that you enjoy the final product. Good stuff 
An update to the weekend. Smoke some brisket on Saturday which didn't come out very good. Using my new maverick 733 (thanks to my kids for the early Father's Day gift) the grate temp was around 290 the whole time. Never peaked once (thanks to maverick which is awesome) except to foil at 170. Pulled at temp of 203. Separated point an let sit for 30 minutes. Brisket was mostly dry and tough. Some good bites but not many. Put point in fridge for Sunday. For Sunday, put on butt with smoker temp around 265. Never peaked except mop and foil and 170. Pulled at 189 and wrapped in foil and towels. Also put on point for last 4 or so hours. Took to sisters for dinner and burnt ends and butt were amazingly moist and tender. Both were very good as family couldn't believe I smoked it myself. Overall very pleasing, but I need to improve on my brisket technique. Thanks for all of the help.
Len Dennis
TVWBB Diamond Member
Good thing you can (usually) eat your mistakes Just keep on trying and you'll get better each time and you can learn from your mistakes. Best advice I can give is keep a log noting EVERYTHING you did and when you did it.
Refer to that log the next time you do the same cook and try to improve on where you think you made the error. In addition, only try to change one thing at a time when "improving" on your technique. Too many changes may get you the product you desire but you won't know which one really made the difference.
Just keep on trying and you'll get better each time and you can learn from your mistakes. Best advice I can give is keep a log noting EVERYTHING you did and when you did it. Refer to that log the next time you do the same cook and try to improve on where you think you made the error. In addition, only try to change one thing at a time when "improving" on your technique. Too many changes may get you the product you desire but you won't know which one really made the difference.
Thanks for the advice Len as I am going to start keeping a log for every cook. One thing I struggle with is that I want to do a cook at 225 but not sure how to get the smoker that low. On the last cook, I only started with 10 lit briquettes and still the smoker temp was around 265. Once the smoker settles in, my temps are very consistent but not as low as I would like. I use Soo's doughnut method with the three bottom vents barely open and the top vent open full. Should i maybe close the top vent a little bit or maybe only have 1 or 2 bottom vents barely cracked?
Len Dennis
TVWBB Diamond Member
Harry has a plan that works for him. Maybe not you so:
Start with all 4 vents wide open. As the temp comes up to say 175o, start closing one or two bottom vents ONLY evenly (top open 100% 100% of the time) (so, one bottom vent is open 100%, two bottom vents are 50% and the top is open 100%). As you get closer to your 225o target, close two bottom vents to 25% with the third bottom vent still 100% open. You may still overshoot but only marginally. At this point you will probably want to close that fully-open bottom vent to about 50% (other two still at 25%). This isn't written in stone.
You can always vary the openings but I personally leave the top vent open 100% 100% of the time. Others will close it off. What works for you is the most important.
The smoker "real-time" temp should be about 50o below your target temp when you start closing the bottom vents. You'll always overshoot if you don't. Easier to raise the temp than to lower it.
It'll take a bit longer but it's the better way. Don't worry if you're off by 20 or 30o too high. Won't affect the cook in the least--in fact it will get you to the finish line a bit quicker is all.
See? After all that typing, I do it Harry's way .But don't start with the bottom vents barely open. You'll be waiting a long time to get the temps you want.
Quantity of briquettes you used is perfect (going to 15 in warm weather is not a problem. You may up that to 25-30 if you smoke in the winter). Don't change that.
Start with all 4 vents wide open. As the temp comes up to say 175o, start closing one or two bottom vents ONLY evenly (top open 100% 100% of the time) (so, one bottom vent is open 100%, two bottom vents are 50% and the top is open 100%). As you get closer to your 225o target, close two bottom vents to 25% with the third bottom vent still 100% open. You may still overshoot but only marginally. At this point you will probably want to close that fully-open bottom vent to about 50% (other two still at 25%). This isn't written in stone.
You can always vary the openings but I personally leave the top vent open 100% 100% of the time. Others will close it off. What works for you is the most important.
The smoker "real-time" temp should be about 50o below your target temp when you start closing the bottom vents. You'll always overshoot if you don't. Easier to raise the temp than to lower it.
It'll take a bit longer but it's the better way. Don't worry if you're off by 20 or 30o too high. Won't affect the cook in the least--in fact it will get you to the finish line a bit quicker is all.
See? After all that typing, I do it Harry's way
.But don't start with the bottom vents barely open. You'll be waiting a long time to get the temps you want.Quantity of briquettes you used is perfect (going to 15 in warm weather is not a problem. You may up that to 25-30 if you smoke in the winter). Don't change that.
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