over night cook times?


 
C

Chad Adcox

New member
i just did my first over night cook and had some questions maybe some of you could answer.

1- i cooked a 8lb butt and put it on at 11:00pm
i loaded a 10 lb bag of Royal Oak in the coal chamber. used the minion method with a 1/3 chimney of lit coals. no water in the pan.
2- the temp was running at 250 at midnight and i went to bed. got up at 7 and the temp was 170. i have read of people talking about being able to hold temps for like 10-12 hours. am i doing something wrong?
the butt turned out awesome, but was just curious about not being able to hold the temp for more than 7 hours. any help would be appreciated.
 
Need more info. What was the WSM temp at 11:00? What was the outside temp? Was it windy? How were the vents set? Was there any lump left at 7:00?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by chad adcox:
i just did my first over night cook and had some questions maybe some of you could answer.

1- i cooked a 8lb butt and put it on at 11:00pm
i loaded a 10 lb bag of Royal Oak in the coal chamber. used the minion method with a 1/3 chimney of lit coals. no water in the pan.
2- the temp was running at 250 at midnight and i went to bed. got up at 7 and the temp was 170. i have read of people talking about being able to hold temps for like 10-12 hours. am i doing something wrong?
the butt turned out awesome, but was just curious about not being able to hold the temp for more than 7 hours. any help would be appreciated. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not enough info, but if you're saying the butt was DONE in 7 hours, you did a high heat butt cook with no foil...so congrats. That's quite an achievement.

Lots of things to consider, before "going to bed":

Royal Oak lump, or briquettes? (They make both, and the lump will need to be packed nice and tight if cooking a lot of meat without refueling.)

Also, one butt's not much of a heat sink, especially if you're trying to achieve a long low-n-slow burn. IMHO, if cooking with no water in the pan, it's best done with a full cooker (meat's the heatsink) and/OR done during the day when you can monitor temps. On the other hand though, temps don't have to stay the same throughout a cook, (and they don't need to stay down around 250, either.) Knowing the temp lets you know if rotating is a good idea (if cooking on both grates at higher temps) and obviously helps give you an idea when you'll have bbq.
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Not enough information to really give an opinion.

I have a 22 WSM and my butt cooks usually fall into the following timeline:

I usually do two butts on the top rack (9-10 pounds each).......sometimes I smoke something on the lower rack, but usually not.

I use a heaping ring of unlit K (with some hunks of smoke wood mixed in) and add 1/3 to 1/2 chimney of lit K.....classic Minion Method.

It will stabalize and run all night at about 225 with the top vent 100% open and all of the bottom vents between 0-10% open.

It usually takes 11-13 hours to get to probe tender (usually with an internal temp of 185-195).

Around the 6-8 hour mark I usually stir the coals (this is very important at least for me; I've never gone more than 8 hours without tending the fire in some manner); stirring trhe coals and/or opening the vents should bring the temp back into the acceptable range if your're doing everything correctly IMHO.......sometimes I make it to the end, sometimes I have to add some lit coals toward the end.

I agree that cooking more meat will act as a heat sink........plus you get more cooking for your fuel dollar (pulled pork stores and reheats well). I rarely use water anymore; recent experimenting shows I can run the cooker at 225 without anything in the water pan. I'm thinking about trying a clay saucer to see if I notice any difference.

Hope this helps and good luck on future cooks!!
 
i had the bottom vents open about the width of a nickle. the top was at 100%.
the butt was not done in 7 hours i had to restock some coal and let it go another 3 hours til i hit 180 and then foiled it for another hour to 190. the temp outside was in the 20's and there was lump left over at 7 but the overall temp was around 170
i was just curious how some people say they can get 10-12 hours without having to restock.
 
Thanks for sharing how your butt cooks go, Dwayne. You thought about trying some Competition K or other reliable low ash briquette like Royal Oak? I've had plenty of cooks with no tending to the fire required using Stubbs, except for my last bag.
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I'd go with even less in venting, though.

By the way, how do you monitor temps?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by chad adcox:
i had the bottom vents open about the width of a nickle. the top was at 100%.
the butt was not done in 7 hours i had to restock some coal and let it go another 3 hours til i hit 180 and then foiled it for another hour to 190. the temp outside was in the 20's and there was lump left over at 7 but the overall temp was around 170
i was just curious how some people say they can get 10-12 hours without having to restock. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Much in the way of wind? Cold weather certainly doesn't help in fuel consumption, but the wind will REALLY get ya. A split 55 gallon drum or the same size plastic barrel will really help, (but you need to leave some lip to the bottom to keep it from warping. It's no big deal to remove the barrel to adjust the vents or check the meat if you put some cheap garage door handles on opposite sides.)

Did the lump light easily, or was it stubborn and had a strong smell? Just wondering if it could've had some moisture. I'm really surprised that the butt wasn't cooked farther than that with the vent settings you mention and a dry pan... unless the breeze was very significant.

Did the bag of lump say "Made in the USA"? Domestic RO is supposedly better than the South American stuff, and thankfully, that's what I got at Walmart last time.

Also, what did you do in the way of wood? After reading where Harry Soo (Slap Yo Daddy bbq) said he placed his wood around the outside of the ring, I find that the charcoal seems to burn more consistantly.
 
Oh yeah, I should've mentioned that I've had a similiar experience with lump "leftovers". Not so much from cooks, but small little pieces and dust. I like it packed in tight, but I want lots of nice sized pieces throughout the ring. Lots of little stuff will choke the airflow to the coal bed.
 
thanks Dave........thinking about using Stubbs or R.O..........I'm still in the middle of using up my large stash of K (accumulated using the now defunct Wally World coupon)
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when I start stocking up again, I'm going to start experimenting with different fuels
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by dwayne e:
thanks Dave........thinking about using Stubbs or R.O..........I'm still in the middle of using up my large stash of K (accumulated using the now defunct Wally World coupon)
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when I start stocking up again, I'm going to start experimenting with different fuels </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I hear ya 'bout the coupon. I buy up the K when it's a steal as well. Actually though, I've got a huge wood pile and I'm thinking about starting to make my own lump. Regarding the Stubbs, hopefully that bag was a fluke.

You know, it's sure good to hear that somebody else regularly has the same issue with K blue that I have. Lots of folks claim no problems at all, but I wouldn't think that Chris A. would've documented his long K cooks on his site if having to stir the coals as he notes was that unusual for him.

Oh yeah, do you monitor temps on long cooks with a Maverick or similiar?
 
Chad you got about 7-8 hours out of 10 lbs of fuel, pretty normal in the winter.
To get 12 hours in the winter you probably need more fuel.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by John Ford:
Chad you got about 7-8 hours out of 10 lbs of fuel, pretty normal in the winter.
To get 12 hours in the winter you probably need more fuel. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

John, I forgot about how light those bags are. The Stubbs bags aren't too much bigger, but they hold 15 lbs. of briquettes.
 
Chad, In my experience a third of a chimney is a heck of a lot of lit charcoal to start a minion method. Even in cold weather (cold at least for North Carolina!) I never use more than 20 coals, most of the time 13 or 15, and that on top of a tightly packed ring of unlit coals and wood. I would expect a MM of 1/3 lit chimney to burn down pretty quickly no matter what the effort to control the oxygen. That's just a lot of fire for me. Fewer lit coals, tightly packed unlit, and that baby should run for hours and hours untouched. I hope that is somehow useful, and good luck with more cooks.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by chad adcox:
i had the bottom vents open about the width of a nickle. the top was at 100%.
the butt was not done in 7 hours i had to restock some coal and let it go another 3 hours til i hit 180 and then foiled it for another hour to 190. the temp outside was in the 20's and there was lump left over at 7 but the overall temp was around 170
i was just curious how some people say they can get 10-12 hours without having to restock. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>If you had lump left over after 8 hours with the outside temperature in the 20s, you did OK. It sounds like your vents weren't open enough to sustain 250 in those conditions. If the wind kicked up and you didn't have a wind break, that would also knock down your temps.

For long cooks, I fill the ring to the top with briquettes and put 20 or so lit coals on top. If you use K, you will have to stir the coals at some point; if you use Stubbs or another all natural charcoal, you shouldn't have to stir them since they produce much less ash. I get 14 hrs. in the summer, but on cold winter days, unless you have a wind break and insulation, 10 hours is pretty good. It's harder to get long cooks with lump. If you just pour it in, there are gaps. You have to break some pieces and really pack it in.
 
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