Newbie trying butts on WSM


 
R

Reggie Grubbs

New member
Hi All,

I have a few smokes under my belt so far, a couple of chicken smokes and a couple of rib smokes. This weekend I will be trying butts for the first time and could use some advice. We are expected to show up at some friends house at 5PM Saturday with pulled pork. They were doing hamburgers and hot dogs, but when they heard we were bringing pulled pork they nixed the burgers (my backup plan if I screw this up).

So, needless to say, I really need this to turn out well. I have a 18.5 WSM (the new model with the huge water pan), a Maverick 732, and K-blue. I also have chunks of hickory, cherry, and apple. I plan to hit Costco on Thursday to pick up a couple of butts. I will either rub them Thursday night or Friday morning and plan to start the smoke late Friday evening.

So onto the questions:

<LI> water pan - empty or full?
<LI> Rub - what is best? Is there a store bought I could find locally or an easy one I could make without having to spend a fortune on spices I don't already have?
<LI> Wood - I was thinking a mixture of cherry and hickory, any thoughts?
<LI> rack - I was thinking I could do both on the top rack.

Any other advice, tips, things I need to consider?

Thanks!
 
Reggie,

Good questions...all of them!

Water pan full or empty can go many directions(opinions). I prefer a foiled clay saucer (Lowes or Home Depot) nested down in the water pan due to convienience and lack of mess. Just throw foil away and no messy water to fool with. Clay acts as a radiant heat source like a pizza stone as well as a heat shield.

I make my own rub, but a good commercial rub is easy to find. A real easy quick rub if you are at Sam's buying butts, find a spice blend of Garlic/Pepper (Tones I think), then cut it with some raw sugar, kosher salt and smoked paprika. Easy rub and can do for only a few bucks. Some cumin is nice to add if you have on hand. If this is not your comfort zone, try a commercial brand but be careful its not too salty. Salt is cheap and a major filler ingredient.

Wood...I always use hickory along with a fruit wood for balance. I personally like twice as many chunks of hickory as I do of pecan, cherry, apple or peach. Hickory is hard and burns slow. Fruits are softer, burn faster but can make your meats look really dark if too much is used. Experimenting is fun, just be careful not to oversmoke with too much wood as many beginning cookers will tend to do.

For only two butts, I would use my top rack only. My WSM runs a few degrees hotter on top. If you do 4 butts on your WSM later down the road, I would put the two big ones on top, two smaller ones on bottom. Will get done appx same time this way.

Always remember the cardinal rule when preparing for a crowd......Give yourself more cook time than you think you will need. If done a couple of hours early, holding foiled butts two or three hours makes them even better!

Good luck!
 
This is just my non-expert, semi-newbie experience. However I did do this exact smoke about 2 weeks ago and here are my thoughts.

Water Pan - Overnight butt cook, I would fill it up. Reason being is that the water is a heat sink, and it will be almost impossible for the temps to runaway while you are sleeping. Some guys on here like to run empty, but those same guys usually are using temp-control gadgets.

Rub - Just invest in the spices - its cheaper in the long run. Costco has a lot of cheap, big spice bottles. Especially with how much you need to rub a butt. I use the Chris Lilly rec. that is currently on the Virtual Bullet front page, but I add about 1 tsp of cinnamon into it.

Wood - I use 2 hickory and 3 apple chunks. (fist-sized or equivalent) Really the perfect combo IMO for pork butts.

Rack - I just did 2 Costco butts and had initial low temp problems. I think the 2 butts on top restricted airflow, once I moved one to the bottom it worked great. Personally I think 2 6lb+ butts on top is too much for the 18.5. Put the small one on top so you can keep a closer eye on it.

Obviously your mileage may vary. Just my amateur observation!
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For my first butt cook, I used the Mr. Brown recipe (shown on this website) to a tee and the results were wonderful........I did use a little less pepper. I still use variations of this rub on all of my butt/rib cooks.

The recipe includes a spicy but tasty rub and a mop sauce. At the end of the cook, I also added ketchup, rub and more brown sugar (to taste) to the mop sauce and it made a killer BBQ sauce.

I would use more apple and less hickory........just my personal taste. Two on the top rack shouldn't be a problem.

Good advice above........give yourself extra time. You can always take it out and foil it in a cooler.
 
Thanks for the tips so far, keep 'em coming!

I think if I throw them on the smoker about 10PM, that should give me plenty of time don't you think? I don't want to start too early and have them get done while I'm trying to sleep. I'm usually up shortly after 6AM even on weekends. I also don't want to have to hold it too long at temp before we head out for the friends place around 4:30ish.
 
Originally posted by Reggie Grubbs:
Thanks for the tips so far, keep 'em coming!

I think if I throw them on the smoker about 10PM, that should give me plenty of time don't you think? I don't want to start too early and have them get done while I'm trying to sleep. I'm usually up shortly after 6AM even on weekends. I also don't want to have to hold it too long at temp before we head out for the friends place around 4:30ish.
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Depending on the weight. Costco usually sells butts in 2x 7lb cryovacs. 10pm should be fine, just make sure you are running steady before bed. For overnight cooks I like Stubbs. Less ash and chance of a choke-out, but BluK will be fine. Fill up the ring to the max. You'll want to stir up the coals when you wake up, and don't be surprised if your temp drops into the 190 range in the AM from the ash buildup. I take the butts to 200F and pull. Let it rest in foil in a cooler for 90 mins then pull. To reheat put your pulled pork into one of those large Weber foil pans and put a ~1 cup of apple juice and 1 cup of water and foil the top. 1 hour before eating time I throw it on the OTS with indirect coals running at a ~300 degree dome.
 
10pm sounds perfect as a start time, Reggie. If you run slow getting up to speed, you will have a buffer time cushion to adjust. I always like to have a 14 hour window for average sized butts since I cook at 225*

If you end up going the water in pan route, it helps to start with warm or hot water in the pan. Using room temp faucet water will take energy and time to bring up to temp.

Lately, I have been using a coffee can to minion start my coals. I cut the bottom out of a small metal coffee can and use the empty can to form my coals and wood chunks around. I light off 15-20 coals in my chimney until cherry red, then dump into the hollow can. One filled with glowing coals, I remove the can so the lit coals will come in contact with the unlit beginning my minion start. I like the consistency this method has produced. Make sure you use the small coffee can with the bottom cut out...I think this is a one pound can? But certainly not the big can.
 
I am fairly new with a 22.5 wsm I have always used water in the pan which works well. I have to say it is a pain to clean. Amazingribs.com has a real good rub recipe that is easy to put together with common ingrediants and is free. The starting i think is a good idea to leave room for any issues.
I just tried the Stubbs for the first time a couple weeks ago and I would highly recommend for an overnight cook.
 
be sure and "dish out" a hole in the coals to make room for the water pan since you need a full ring of charcoal. I minion over the top and dont' do the can thing for this reason. Plan on adding more wood before you go to bed or maybe put some in the unlit coal.

I do think regular K can choke itself on ashes after 6 hours so glad I had the ET 732 on my overnight--needed to get up and stir the coals.

Not sure what fuel you are using.

I personally think the more spice you put in the butt rub the better since it will mix in with the rest. However I like to mix some thin NC red with my pulled pork.

If it doesn't work out perfectly don't sweat it. YOu can finish it in the oven in foil if you have guests coming. Or you can refill the cooler with beer and wait.
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Just do it!!
 
I also don't want to have to hold it too long at temp before we head out for the friends place around 4:30ish.
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Missed this part. Personally I would REHEAT rather than HOLD. If you get it done, pull it and put it in an aluminum pan and reheat similar to what I posted before. You try to use your WSM like an Alto-Sham your going to end up with dry meat.
 
I highly recommend working out the timing so you can transport the butts whole in a cooler and then pull on-site. They wont have to be reheated and the "live" pulling makes a great show for those who've never seen it.
 
I think S. Frink has a great suggestion! If there is any way to pull onsite, it not only gives you a better product, it allows your guests to have a visual which will whet their appetites. I have personally have held foiled butts in a cooler (Cambro) for several hours before serving. Will come out just fine.
If you know this is going to happen, I would pull the butts at around 190 degrees which is a tad short of where I like them to finish. Once foiled and rested in a cooler or cambro, they will actually rise in temp around 5-7 degrees. I have held butts from noon until 5 pm, pulled and served to the public at 7pm. Won People's Choice Award with the Q, so it must not be that bad of an idea.
 
Lot's of good advise already given here. I also think pulling when you get to your friend's house would be better. I prefer to get up a little earlier in the morning to get the meat on the smoker instead of over-nighting, so I don't have to hold for too long before pulling for dinner time. I usually do 2 butts (on the top rack, with water in the bowl) and smoke in the 250 range, and they are always done at around the 11-hour mark. However you do it, it'll be a hit. Have fun!

Peter
 
I picked up a couple of the Costco boneless butts yesterday afternoon. I got them rubbed and in the 'frig as of last night. I think I'm going to run out and get some butchers twine and tie them. I think I will also pick up some Stubbs instead of my K-Blue. I don't want to have to worry about the ash choking it out while I sleep.


I'm still undecided on water vs no water in the pan. I hate the water cleanup, but worry the temps might get too high without the water. I think I only have about 4 cooks on this WSM so its still pretty new, not sure how its going to hold temps this time.
 
Reggie, since this is your first, I strongly recommend using the water, especially for an overnighter. Helps keep that temp low and slow.
 
I got the butts tied and on the smoker last night around 10:30. I filled the charcoal bowl full with Stubbs, some apple and hickory chunks and started it with 20 hot coals.I also filled the water pan.

The temps have been very stable and consistent all night. I had to get up once around 1:30 when the 732 started beeping. It had dropped to about 215. A very slight adjustment on the vents and she ran all night around 226-228.

This morning once the sun started coming up the winds were moving a little and it climbed to about 250 but responded quickly to another vent adjustment.

Currently the smoker is at 12 hours in and running at 230 and the butts are 183.

It won't be long now!
 
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