Please Double Check the Pork Butt Plan


 
S

Spencer P

TVWBB Member
I just received my new 22.5" WSM this week. I want to break it in with a pork butt. I have done some smoking/grilling in the past so I hope this will be uneventful, however I have never used this product before. This is what I would like to do, please look this over and let me know if this makes sense...

1) I will be using Stubbs for fuel. I will pack the ring as full as I can get it with unlit charcoal. I will remove about 20 briquettes from the center and light them. When lit I will replace and also add a few wood chunks.

2) As I have read here on many posts, I should use a clay saucer instead of water to help stretch the charcoal burn time. Both the water pan and saucer will be foiled.

3) Place the butt on the smoker and when the WSM reaches 200 degrees, (I bought a Maverick 732, so I will be able to see what the actual grate temp is.) close two of the three vents completely and close the third to about 20% open. The top vent will be open 100% the whole time. This should hopefully settle the temp around 250 give or take some.

4) Pull the butt off when it reaches 190 and foil and let rest for an hour.

Question: I bought a 7.5lb butt today. According to my calculations, this should take anywhere from 11 hours to 14 hours to cook. With this method will there be enough fuel to run the entire time? The weather right now is in the 90's with high humidity.

I have heard how great this unit is and it's built like a tank. It was worth every dollar. I have read how the temps are easier to control versus using a cheaper unit. Any help would greatly be appreciated. I plan to do the smoke this coming Saturday or Sunday. Thanks in advance...

Spencer
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">3) Place the butt on the smoker and when the WSM reaches 200 degrees, </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Put the meat on when you add the lit and assemble the cooker. Some wait till the temps increase to put the meat on but i see utterly no point in waiting.

Then, when the cooker hits 200, start your vent closings. Me, I restrict all vents equally. For low/slow temps I'll close all to 1/4 or 1/3 open - then watch the climb/stabilization.

Cook time will depend on actual cooking temps. Plan for plenty of time - like 16 hours. That allows for cooking and resting. If done sooner the butt can rest, well-foiled and placed in a toweled cooler (or even a microwave) for many hours.

Remove the butt when it is done - when the meat feels tender when you probe it. Might happen at 190 - might be 195. Internal temp does not cause tenderness; sufficient cooking does.

Fuel should probably be enough. Cooking temp and ambient conditions determine this.

Have fun.
 
If you're new to using the WSM I would suggest using water in the water bowl instead of the clay saucer. There are several reasons.

<UL TYPE=SQUARE> <LI>A New WSM will not seal as well as one that has been seasoned. This can cause extra air infiltration that results in temperature increase.
<LI>Temperature control is a skill that comes with practice. Do not be surprised if you are not an expert on your first try.
<LI>Water boils at 212° F and this will tend to prevent temperature spikes.
[/list]

Stick with water until you can make it to the end of a smoke with most of the water remaining in the bowl and then you know you have mastered temp control.

Also the world will not end if you run out of charcoal before the meat is ready. You can either add more lit coals or you can foil the meat and move it to the oven in your kitchen. I've had to finish a smoke in the oven when heavy rain resulted in precipitous temperature drop late in a smoke and the pork still came out great.

Good luck!
 
I'd also say that 20 hot briqs with a clay saucer may overshoot your target quickly. I know that 10 briqs look measly in a chimney but better to work your way up to temp than try to settle back down.
I have an 18" though so I may be off here.
 
All good advice from the above posters Spencer! I have never used water in mine (I have an 18.5) and have always used a clay saucer foiled. It works very well. Like Kevin said, once you hit 200 close all of your bottoms vents till they are are 1/4 open and wait for 30 minutes to see where you are at and adjust from there. It's very important not to mess with the vents too much or your temps will spike up and down. It's tempting but try to resist the urge! Start checking tenderness at 190, if the probe slides in like butter in a few spots (make sure you check a few and all the way to the center) you should be good to foil and rest! Good luck!
 
Excellent! This is all great input. I appreciate everyone taking the time to go over this and making sure that I wasn't completely off my rocker. We will see how it goes. The weather is supposed to be better on Sunday so I will give it a go then. Thanks again...
 
All good advice. Pork Butt is a great first smoke because it's very forgiving of temp excursions. It cooks great at 220°, or 250°, or higher. When my WSM was new it wanted to cook at 250°+ but after 10 cooks it settles in at 220° just fine. Temp variations happen. The best advice I got on knowing when meat is done is to probe it for tenderness and when it seems right probe it in several places.
 
Even though cooking during the day, I suspect this pork butt might be done a little early.
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Water is a safe bet however I would start with no more than 15 if your not using water and don't worry over rushing it to 200-225 before you start choking it down. If you leave all the vents 100% open until 200ish you will have a bed of HOT coals, I usually leave them open for 20-30min then cut back to 20% and adjust from there.

Kevin's advice is spot on!
 
I appreciate everyone's help. I plan on taking the maiden voyage tomorrow. The weather has been improving daily.

I will keep you up to date on how it goes tomorrow. Thanks again!

Spencer
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by WalterWhite:
If you're new to using the WSM I would suggest using water in the water bowl instead of the clay saucer. There are several reasons.

<UL TYPE=SQUARE> <LI>A New WSM will not seal as well as one that has been seasoned. This can cause extra air infiltration that results in temperature increase.
<LI>Temperature control is a skill that comes with practice. Do not be surprised if you are not an expert on your first try.
<LI>Water boils at 212° F and this will tend to prevent temperature spikes.
[/list]

Stick with water until you can make it to the end of a smoke with most of the water remaining in the bowl and then you know you have mastered temp control.

Good luck! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have a new WSM and i ran a dry cook With Stubbs before i cooked my first butt and i would agree you should use water in the bowl several times before you switch to the saucer. You should also undo the screw on the back of your thermometer and stick it in some boiling water and see if it is close according to your sea level. This will help a great deal to know if your dome thermometer is giving an accurate reading or not.
 
JTodd,

Did you find that it was hard to control? I'm still on the fence. Seems like most people here are fans of the saucer even if it's new out of the box. I understand that with water, it's supposed to be a safety guard against running to hot.

The weather for tomorrow is supposed to be sunny in the mid 90's with a slight breeze. I was waiting for the weather to clear up a bit. Tropical Storm Don was passing by on it's way to Texas and was stirring up the atmosphere. It was hot and wet. Not fun.

I'm getting everything in place for tomorrow. This should be an interesting ride. Thanks again everyone for your help. I'm always open for suggestions.
 
I just did my first butt overnight. Temp control was a bit difficult. The alarm went off after 5 hours with the temp going over 280. I couldn't get it down for quite a while and eventually it spiked again. When the butt was done after 12 hours I opened the lid and found that the water had completely evaporated. Perhaps that is why the temp went up so much at the 6 hour mark.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Stewart Ellenberg:
I just did my first butt overnight. Temp control was a bit difficult. The alarm went off after 5 hours with the temp going over 280. I couldn't get it down for quite a while and eventually it spiked again. When the butt was done after 12 hours I opened the lid and found that the water had completely evaporated. Perhaps that is why the temp went up so much at the 6 hour mark. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

While I'm all for water in the pan in most instances, it can cover up some issues, like a hot fire. Especially until you get some cooks under your belt and the cooker gets seasoned better, occasionally check through the door, and if the water looks like it's near a roiling boil, the fire is too hot, and the water won't last near 12 hours. I'll do this check right before turning in and first thing after an overnight cook. In the morning, even though I use a remote therm with an alarm, the water level will help give me an idea how things went. I'll usually add some then or later in the morning. Just to be clear, the hotter the fire, the faster the water goes down. A gent here recently posted about doing a really long butt cook, 18 hours or more, and never had to add water if I read correctly.
 
I would only add the advice not to "chase the temperature"; that is, you should make small vent adjustments and give the WSM enough time to react, as the temperature will change slowly. If you make big adjustments you may get into a roller coaster situation with your temperature oscillating above and below where you want it, and you making too-large adjustments trying to bring it up (or down) too quickly and overshooting your target each time.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Spencer P:
JTodd,

Did you find that it was hard to control? I'm still on the fence. Seems like most people here are fans of the saucer even if it's new out of the box. I understand that with water, it's supposed to be a safety guard against running to hot.

The weather for tomorrow is supposed to be sunny in the mid 90's with a slight breeze. I was waiting for the weather to clear up a bit. Tropical Storm Don was passing by on it's way to Texas and was stirring up the atmosphere. It was hot and wet. Not fun.

I'm getting everything in place for tomorrow. This should be an interesting ride. Thanks again everyone for your help. I'm always open for suggestions. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have to admit i was pleasantly surprised and here is what i did for my initial dry run and the butt smoke which followed.

1. I aligned my side door directly over one of the bottom vents. I knew there would be a hot spot there because of the vent and the leakage around the access door. This alignment is also the best on my smoker for little to no leakage of smoke from the bottom to the middle section.

2. When i put my lid on i made sure the vent on the lid was opposite the access door and that bottom vent, this way i get the heat and smoke pulling across the WSM. Plus the therm on the dome would be situated over what should be the hottest part of my pit.

3. I used the Minion method for starting the fire it is a lot easier controlling temps on the way up than trying to bring them down.

4. When the temps get to 200-215 shut all 3 vents to 25% open, this slows the climb. When the temps get to 240-250 then i shut the vent directly under the access door completely down. The WSM held steady 225-250 for about 7 hours according to my cook log using Stubbs charcoal.

Yes on both of these cooks i used the water pan because per this board it was suggested to me to learn my pit before i made any changes such as a clay saucer. I do think you will be fine just make small adjustments and give it time to correct before you make another adjustment. You will get some smoke leaking per the top and the access door but it is normal. Hope it goes well and the food is great.
 
Hello All!

Today is the big day for me. I got up a 3:00 a.m. this morning and prepped the pork and got the wsm ready to go. I filled the ring with Stubbs charcoal and burying three fists size pieces of apple wood. I have never used apple wood before so I'm excited to see what it tastes like versus hickory. Reading over the posts again, it was mentioned to start out with 10 briquettes instead of 20. I lit 10 in my chimney and waited until they ashed over. Once they were ashed over, I threw them in a pile in the center of the ring.

I assembled the smoker and put the meat on. I placed the Maverick 732 probes in the meat and on the grate using the supplied clip (very cool, I must say). I ran the wires through the vent in the lid. I synced the Maverick and went inside were it's AIR CONDITIONED! I can see the value of this device already! If you don't have one, I highly recommend it.

Per one of the tips listed, I set a timer for 20 minutes for vent closings. Ironically at 25 minutes, it was up to 185 degrees. Being gun shy, I closed all three bottom vents to about 20%. I waited 30 minutes to give the wsm a chance to adjust. 30 minutes later, the temp was at 235 degrees. I closed the front vent 100% and the other two I adjusted so they were only open about 10%. I waited another 30 minutes and the temp has risen to 250 degrees. I closed the second bottom vent to 100%. This is also where I noticed the the temp gauge in the lid was reading about 25 degrees cooler than the Maverick. An hour later, the temp has risen to 300 degrees. Not wanting to risk extinguishing the fire, I closed the top vent by 50% per Chris advice in the "If your WSM is running to hot" article. Another thirty minutes has passed and the wsm has settled at 330 degrees.

I realize that this is NOT an ideal temperature for low and slow. Again, reading Chris's article, he mentioned that Weber says that it will run unusually hot for the first few cooks until it is seasoned. This was also mentioned by all of you helping me here.

I realize that I'm new to this product, coming from an cheap Char Broil that had no control. I think that once I run a few more meals through it, the seasoning and experience will be much better. I appreciate everyone's willingness to help me get this working properly with great results. I will let you know the progress later today as the meat finishes.

Again, I really appreciate everyone that has taken the time to stop by and give their input. What did we all do before the internet?!

Spencer
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Spencer P:
Hello All!

...Another thirty minutes has passed and the wsm has settled at 330 degrees.

I realize that this is NOT an ideal temperature for low and slow....Again, I really appreciate everyone that has taken the time to stop by and give their input. What did we all do before the internet?!

Spencer </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Spencer, being a detail kind of guy myself, I can really appreciate your first try and your desire to learn. Can't resist this though:

"Before the internet"... you probably would've followed the owner's manual and poured water in the pan so the cooker wouldn't settle in at 330*....and I would probably make better use of my time.
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Try using more than three chunks of apple wood next time for pork butt, especially if it's dry and seasoned (or store bought), and there's nothing wrong with mixing it with a chunk or two of hickory for more kick.

The big wsm is notorioius for cooking HH when you don't want HH, especially at first. As long as the thing fits together decently, you'll probably be ok for cooking low-n-slow after it's better seasoned, but HH with foil after bark formation is an easy plan for good bbq. If wanting to cook low-n-slow though, WATER in the pan is the best plan until you're convinced the cooker is tight enough to stay down around 250* with nothing but a foiled pan in it. Another test is to see how quick you can extinguish the coals after the cook by closing all vents.

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