Need advice on in-progress butt smoke


 
P

Peter Near

New member
Hi all:

I've been absorbing like a sponge from this board, thanks already for everything I've learned. I'm having about 40 people over this afternoon for a BBQ, and I plan to serve pulled pork at 5:30pm. It's my third smoke, and my first overnighter. The first two smokes went well, temperature held using standard method with all bottom vents closed.

I put three butts, 7 pounds each trimmed, onto the smoker last night at 1am using the minion method. I'm following the mustard and rub recipe to the letter.

After reaching 200 degrees at the lid (took about 20 minutes), I throttled the lower vents down to 25% open. This left the lid temp at 220, and I couldn't get it to raise beyond that for two hours. Finally I got it up to about 240 with the lower vents open 50% and decided it was time for bed.

I set the alarm for 4am, and noticed that the temperature had climbed to 290. I closed the vents down to about 30%. At 5:30am I checked again, and it was down to 280, still too hot. I closed the vents all but a tiny crack. At 7:00 it was still at 280, so I closed all the vents. I did check the water twice throughout the night, and it was getting low at 7:30 so I topped it up.

So now I'm awake, and can probably devote more effort to maintaining lid temp closer to my target temp of 245. My question is, do I need to worry about the state of the meat?

By my rough calculations assuming lid temp = rack temp + 25, it spent about 2.5 hours at 200 degrees. Then about 4 hours at 265. Is that 4 hours too hot to the point where it will impact the quality of the final product? Any tips that I can use from here to rescue the meat?

I'm trying to think of what's different this time around:
- Minion method
- Moderate wind (although it's in a corner of the patio that is somewhat sheltered)
- Cool night-time temps in the mid 60s
- Changed charcoal from Royal Oak on my first two smokes to Maple Leaf briquettes for this one

And since I'm asking...
It's sunny right now, but calling for chance of rain this afternoon. Do I need to do anything special in the rain? The WSM is on an uncovered patio and I'd guess that water can get into the top vent but don't know what to do about it.

Thanks in advance!
Pete
 
Hi Pete,

First, I'm no expert. I've had about 10 cooks so since getting into smokers. Second, I've had similar situations in the past.

I wouldn't worry about the meat. It may come out a little more dry than it should but I think it will still be safe and tasty. If it is a bit dry, try spraying it down with Apple Juice or my preference Apple Cider.

Wind will certainly have an impact on the cooker. Wind across the top vent will create a vacuum of sorts that would cause the cooker to run a little hot. Have you tried adjusting the top vent along with the lower vents?

Certainly a change in fuel will change the characteristics of the cook. When I switched from Kingston Briquets to Lump it took me a few cooks to retune how I cook. Lump burns much hotter than briquets. I suspect you are running into this as well.

I'm not really sure how the rain will impact your cook. I have cooked in the rain a few times but have a large deck umbrella that I put over me and the cooker when it rains.

As for what's different, you have already identified the culprit. Your change from briquets to lump as fuel was a big change. Be sure to check your fuel. If you are used to the long burn of Briquets, you will be surprised by how much more fuel you will need to add using lump.

Kevin
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">By my rough calculations assuming lid temp = rack temp + 25, it spent about 2.5 hours at 200 degrees. Then about 4 hours at 265. Is that 4 hours too hot to the point where it will impact the quality of the final product? Any tips that I can use from here to rescue the meat? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I haven't found much that can ruin a butt. With the amount of marbling, they are very resistant to drying out.

You may reach you internal target temp early, so plan on having a clean cooler, and plenty of foil handy. Let them rest for a couple of hours wrapped and coolered before you pull them, and while you're pulling them, put any juice that accumulated in the foil, into a bowl in the fridge. You can defat these juices and add them to the pulled pork to keep it extra moist.

thats my two cents, my bbq got better (and less bothersome) when I stopped worrying and just let the wsm cook my meat for me however it wanted.
icon_wink.gif
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I'm not really sure how the rain will impact your cook. I have cooked in the rain a few times but have a large deck umbrella that I put over me and the cooker when it rains.

As for what's different, you have already identified the culprit. Your change from briquets to lump as fuel was a big change. Be sure to check your fuel. If you are used to the long burn of Briquets, you will be surprised by how much more fuel you will need to add using lump. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

wind is about the only weather you need to worry about.

for long cooks I prefer briqs. I bought a 20# bag of briqs and lump and the lump bags about double the size of the briqs. Briqs can be packed into the ring and are much denser than lump.
 
Drying out comes from overcooking--period--unless your cooking at insame temps; you're not. I and a few others here routinely cook butts start-to-finish at 280-290; not a problem.

I've cooked in the rain many times. It can be a major PITA if it really comes down. Temps plummet, meat gets wet, water ends up in the charcoal bowl--not fun. Finish the cook before the rain or get a patio umbrella up or rig a tarp.

1am is a late start for a low/slow 3-butt cook. I'd get the cooktemps up, were I you, and would also consider foiling in about 2 hours to speed the cook along.
 
Another thing to watch is the internal temperature of the meat. It's probably gonna hang at 165 for a pretty good while. You want to try to get it to 195 if youu are going to pull it instead of slice it. Once it gets to 195 you can wrap it in foil and let it rest in a cooler. I put towels in the bottom of the cooler and then cover the foiled meat with more towels. I suspect though, as Kevin has already mentioned that you are going to be pushing it to get them to 195 by 4:30 or 5:00. If you have any lump charcoal available you could add some of that because, in my experience, it burns hotter.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
 
That's my concern, Ken, not enough time. I'd really like to see Pete able to rest the butts a couple hours which really means getting them done by 3--2:30 if he wants to pull the meat a bit sooner or if he'll have other last minute stuff to deal with.

Don't know where his cooker is temp-wise but I'm hoping ~275 anyway. Then, I'd likely foil around noon, 1 at the latest, and return the butts to finish, depending on how the meat was coming along.
 
Pete. I did not notice if you were taking internal temps.
I started two 7 LBS at 2am. I cook @ 300 for butts and picnics, and it just got to 170 int.
Good luck
Tim
 
Thanks all for the replies. I took them in via Blackberry while I was outside cooking / entertaining but couldn't easily respond.

I was able to get the WSM down to a steady 245-250 at the lid. I inserted the digital probe into one of the butts and monitored temperature throughout the morning and afternoon. Temperature responded pretty much as expected, sticking at 170 for a couple hours, then 180 for about an hour, then up to 195. I found that as I moved the probe from butt to butt in the final hours, I could pretty much tell it was done by the resistance of the meat to the probe itself. "Oh that, feels like it's done", which was confirmed 30 seconds later by the digital readout.

I took one off about two hours before serving, another an hour before serving, and the final roast got up to temp basically while people were eating. Tasted great while I was pulling it, but I was underwhelmed once I got it onto the bun. I'm pretty sure though it's because it was cold by the time I got to it, end of the line and after I finished pulling the last butt.

I made up some Carolina Red, but even I have a hard time with vinegar-based sauce. The rest of the Canadians didn't even touch it. I think I need to find a good recipe for tomato-based finishing sauce / BBQ sauce to squirt on top. The store-bought squeeze bottle I picked up was kinda nasty.

The Canadian palate, for large groups anyways:
- can't be spicy
- must be tomato-based

Lessons learned:
- Pick a charcoal brand and stick with it, will likely go for kingsford next time since results with it seem to be well understood by the masses
- Plan for the max cook time
- Make about 30% less per person for this mix of adults and kids (I started with 21lbs trimmed uncooked meat for 40 people including kids, and figure they ate about 12lbs of it).
- Pay better attention to where I put the top grate when tending to meat on the bottom grate. The blistered grill-marks on my calf should help remind me!
- Try to get more sleep, likely by starting earlier. I was running on adrenaline during the party, but crashed after everyone left and am in a bit of a zombie state today at work.

Thanks,
Pete
 
Oh, and the weather was perfect! Temperature in the low 80s, scattered clouds just enough to keep the sun from blazing, and no rain.
 
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