I have a WSM 18.5 but I use it so infrequently that each smoke is like starting over. I mounted a probe in the lid that I've used unit this weekend. I smoked a turkey Thanksgiving day which turned out great and decided to smoke a pork butt & brisket Saturday. I didn't feel comfortable going overnight even though the smoker runs real stable using the Minion Method.
I started at 6:30 am Sat. morning with two pork butts on the bottom grate and a brisket on top. I used my new Maverick 733 with a probe on the top grate between the brisket & wall and the other probe in the brisket. I purposely tried to keep the grate probe at 240 - 250 knowing this was going to take a while. The brisket temp rose quickly and then I discovered "the hold". After 8 hours (2:30 pm) I added hot water and a chimney of lit coals. I also turned the brisket and butts and gave them a good mop with the renowned Mr. Brown. I mopped a few more times over the following hours.
I decided to keep the brisket in the smoker rather than oven finish and did not crutch it. Growing impatient I added a chimney of hot coals around 11:00 pm and opened all the vents which finally pushed it from 190 to my target of 203F at midnight; a full 18 hours of smoking.
I switched the meat probe to the butts and they were around 190F at the 18 hour mark. Making little progress I added another lit chimney around 12:30 am. This pushed the butts up to 203 F in some spots while others spots were still at 190 F. The meat felt soft as butter and twisting a fork was effortless so I finally took them off at 1:15 am (~19 hours). I let them rest and then pulled them with my new Bear Paws. What an awesome tool!
I think I've learned a few lessons but I would certainly appreciate suggestions from the masters.
1) I should have tracked my lid thermometer temp against the grate probe.
2) Sometimes a digital probe provides too much data. It was a lot easier to check the lid thermometer once in a while and not worry about minor fluctuations.
3) What is the best spot to measure smoker temp with the digital probe? (there's probably two opinions for every master, huh?)
4) Should it have taken this long at ~250F? Neither the brisket or butts were overly large. I wonder if the probe is accurate or if I could have placed it better....
Ultimately, both meats turned out fantastic!
Gracias!
Joe
I started at 6:30 am Sat. morning with two pork butts on the bottom grate and a brisket on top. I used my new Maverick 733 with a probe on the top grate between the brisket & wall and the other probe in the brisket. I purposely tried to keep the grate probe at 240 - 250 knowing this was going to take a while. The brisket temp rose quickly and then I discovered "the hold". After 8 hours (2:30 pm) I added hot water and a chimney of lit coals. I also turned the brisket and butts and gave them a good mop with the renowned Mr. Brown. I mopped a few more times over the following hours.
I decided to keep the brisket in the smoker rather than oven finish and did not crutch it. Growing impatient I added a chimney of hot coals around 11:00 pm and opened all the vents which finally pushed it from 190 to my target of 203F at midnight; a full 18 hours of smoking.
I switched the meat probe to the butts and they were around 190F at the 18 hour mark. Making little progress I added another lit chimney around 12:30 am. This pushed the butts up to 203 F in some spots while others spots were still at 190 F. The meat felt soft as butter and twisting a fork was effortless so I finally took them off at 1:15 am (~19 hours). I let them rest and then pulled them with my new Bear Paws. What an awesome tool!
I think I've learned a few lessons but I would certainly appreciate suggestions from the masters.
1) I should have tracked my lid thermometer temp against the grate probe.
2) Sometimes a digital probe provides too much data. It was a lot easier to check the lid thermometer once in a while and not worry about minor fluctuations.
3) What is the best spot to measure smoker temp with the digital probe? (there's probably two opinions for every master, huh?)
4) Should it have taken this long at ~250F? Neither the brisket or butts were overly large. I wonder if the probe is accurate or if I could have placed it better....
Ultimately, both meats turned out fantastic!
Gracias!
Joe
