Need some help :) 1st smoke as I type


 
Jason Prince

Jason Prince

TVWBB Member
I am smoking for the first time. I put a Pork Butt on at 8:30pm and it's now 11:45pm and I can't get the temp to drop below 275*. I have the top vent open 100 per. and 2 bottom 10 per. and the 3rd closed. Any advice you guys can give me would be much appreciated! I will be up till 3am at least.

Thanks,
Xavier32178
 
I A NEWBIE also but I had to close my top vent 50% on my first smoke for a while to get the temps down ! at one point to get in the smoke zone I had the bottom vents all shut and the top 50% closed . you have to watch careful when learning or you could I assume put out the fire . But 275 on a butt is not a bad thing IMO anyway as one guy told me here there dang near bullet proof and I agree .

First thing I learned quck is RELAX have a beer you will have to work to ruin that butt . I have done a lot a them on a reg BBQ so it is somthing I know a little about .
 
Thanks Guy!...the winds died down and she dropped to 250 now. I think the wind might have been the problem. I am going to keep watching for another 3 hours. Yeah I heard you can't really mess a Pork Butt up. I was more worried that the fire would go out if I had to many vents closed. Thanks again for the advice. I will be posting some pics tomorrow. Have a great Memorial Day!

Xavier32178
 
Jason, no worries. Close 2 bottom vents and leave 3rd open barely. Don't sweat the temp. The pork but don't care and is very forgiving. Leave the lid on and go to sleep. all is well. How many pounds. Happy smoke day.

Mark
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by mk evenson:
Jason, no worries. Close 2 bottom vents and leave 3rd open barely. Don't sweat the temp. The pork but don't care and is very forgiving. Leave the lid on and go to sleep. all is well. How many pounds. Happy smoke day.

Mark </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks Mark!

I just checked it 5 mins ago and it was almost 300*. So I closed one vent and the other 2 are at 10 per and top 100 per. I will try closing another one if the temp doesn't go down enough. Thanks for the reply and advice! As for how many pounds, I was so excited to pick it up because they sell out quick that I forgot to ask lol. I paid $12 for it and it's pretty big...bigger than a dinner plate. I will post some pics tomorrow after its done!

Have a great Memorial Day!

Thanks again,
Xavier32178
 
Jason what are you using in the water pan? Water, clay pot, emty pan......

IMO with my wsm I can close all the bottom vents with a clay pot base in the water pan and keep the temps between 225-275* for 10 hours plus. My wsm does leak a bit so if I have an issue keeping the temps down I wll use water in my water pan.

Also the amount of lit coals that you start with might be an issue. You can always remove some through your door to help reduce the heat.

To be honest you can cook butts at just about any temp. I like to stay between 250-300* lid temp. If you are checking temps at the grate temp then stay around 225-250*. BTW with cooks like this a maverick E73 helps to keep an eye on things without having to run in and out of the house all night. PLus you can set an alarm and get some zzz's in. Vince
 
Hey Vince!

I am using a 14" clay pot in my 18.5" WSM. I have been keeping a temp of 250-300* for the past 9 hours. I got a little worried when it hit 300*, but I guess I will not worry now since you said that temp is fine. I have the top vent at 100 per. and 1 bottom closed and other 2 10 per. I used 1/2 a chimney full of lit charcoal and 1 chimney full of unlit and a few pieces of Mesquite wood chunks. I also have a Oregon Scientific Model # AW131 but wasn't sure exactly how I should run the wire to use it. Any advice you can give me on that would be great
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Thanks for your help and advice!

Xavier32178
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jason Prince:
Hey Vince!

I am using a 14" clay pot in my 18.5" WSM. I have been keeping a temp of 250-300* for the past 9 hours. I got a little worried when it hit 300*, but I guess I will not worry now since you said that temp is fine. I have the top vent at 100 per. and 1 bottom closed and other 2 10 per. I used 1/2 a chimney full of lit charcoal and 1 chimney full of unlit and a few pieces of Mesquite wood chunks. I also have a Oregon Scientific Model # AW131 but wasn't sure exactly how I should run the wire to use it. Any advice you can give me on that would be great
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Thanks for your help and advice!

Xavier32178 </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

To be honest I would close the bottom vents all the way to see if I could get the temps down. Another thing to consider is the amount of lit you start with and how lit is it? Sometimes I find that if the coals are really hot and I use to many the temp climbs really fast. I like to do a slow rise this way you can cut your vents down before you over shoot your target temp.

I have cut back to about ten pieces of lit charcoal when I do my cooks low and slow. I normally use blue bag K. If you are using lump then I find that this fuel fires up much faster. With this being said you might be having an issue with to much air flow. Also way to much fuel firing up the unlit at one time.

As far as your Oregon Scientific Model # AW131 that looks similar to the weber one I have which I believe is made by them as well. Minus the fact yours talks. I normally install the probe in the upper vent or through the access door in one of the little gaps. If you install your door with the handle down you will see what I mean. There are also other ways to do it. On of which would to buy the bbq guru eyelets. This does require that you drill a small hole in your cooker.


Here are a couple pictures of what I had in my photobucket account.
abtsturkeychickensalsa009.jpg


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Thanks a lot Vince! I will try all the info you gave me on my next smoke! I think the amount of really hot coals was to much like you said. It got up to over 250* a few mins after I put the lid on. I think I might also buy the Maverick ET-73 as well. My Pork Butt only took 12 hours to reach 190*. Thanks again for all the helpful advice!

Xavier32178
 
I forgot to add the best thing about this hobby is practice practice practice practice! My wsm gets fired up about every weekend. I love practice.

I guess I should have added earlier with butts I will normally cook until the inturnal temp is 195* or more. I have actually went to 210! Normally if you hold the temp at 190-200* in a cooler for a couple hours all of the fat is redered. (<SP)This makes for very juicy PP.

The last couple I did were boneless cuts(Costco) and I tied them in kitchen twine. Rubbed up with a nice sweet rub(thanks Larry Wolfe) and smoked until ready. I have to say that the boneless/tied butts have been some of the best I have ever cooked. Very consistant cook as far as texture.

Cooking times are what they are. Depending on size, cut of the meat, cooking temp, starting temp of the meat and so on will determine when it's done. You will see guys say it's done when it's done often. Hope your wife doesn't mind you telling her this!!

Your welcome for the help. There are many good folks here that helped and still do help me. You will find that this is a great site for what you are doing. Have a great holiday weekend. Vince B
 
Good morning Jason, and HAPPY SMOKE DAY. How did the butt turn out. Wish I had some for breakfast. I have found using lump and the 18" WSM That a little hot, maybe 1/4 or less of a small chimney, not a Weber, placed on only one side of the cold coals in the ring will keep temps at or near 225, if I only keep 1 bottom vent open and then only 10 %. I also use a wind screen to keep it all relatively smooth. Show us your stuff. I am just waking up here, beans are on, smoke to start at 11am.

Mark
 
Small tweaks of the vents can result in big differences with temps if there's a good breeze on. In worst cases, close ALL vents, including top for 2-5 minutes max. Then open top 50% and more as needed. Ideally, never close the top vent; it encourages that creosote taste on the meat, but a brief shutting down doesn't seem to affect anything.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by mk evenson:
Good morning Jason, and HAPPY SMOKE DAY. How did the butt turn out. Wish I had some for breakfast. I have found using lump and the 18" WSM That a little hot, maybe 1/4 or less of a small chimney, not a Weber, placed on only one side of the cold coals in the ring will keep temps at or near 225, if I only keep 1 bottom vent open and then only 10 %. I also use a wind screen to keep it all relatively smooth. Show us your stuff. I am just waking up here, beans are on, smoke to start at 11am.

Mark </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Mark...It turned out sooooooo good! It took 12 hours to hit 190*. I wrapped it in foil at 9am and stuck in an empty cooler. I pulled it at almost 11am and my parents and wife and I ate an early lunch. I am so happy with how it turned out. It came right off the bone!

Gary...thanks for the advice man! I love all the info I been getting from everyone! I am a big time Charcoal BBQer on my Performer. I was going to get the WSM before I bought that, but was afraid I wouldn't use it. That is not the case now lol. I am also getting the cast iron grill plates soon for my Performer. Can't wait to try those out
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I have chicken quarters for my next smoke.

Xavier32178
 
When using the clay saucer one MUST be very alert to catch the temp on the way up. If you miss than it's insanely hard to bring down without choking out your fire. Once you overshoot your temp the clay will start radiating that heat making it harder to bring down. Often that leads to over adjustement of vents which can choke out your fire.

Especially with butts I'm happy to be 250-300 on the lid. My last cook I "thought" I caught the temp and it still got into the 300-310 range. In the end I had all 3 vents open MAYBE 20% and it held 275-300 for over 15 hrs on one ring of RO lump. That's the true beauty of the clay saucer. I had a good 7 hr sleep and woke up to my thermometer glued to the same temp as when I went to bed!
 
Scooter....that is pretty much how my cook went overnight. I thought it wasn't supposed to go over 250*. So when it hit 300* I was a little worried until Vince told me 300* was ok. It stayed pretty much steady between 250-265* all night after I got it down from 300*. I thought the 14" clay pot worked great 2!

Xavier32178
 
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