I received an 18.5 for Christmas and finally got around to firing it up yesterday. I smoked a 7-1/2 lb pork butt all by itself on the bottom shelf. Although the dome thermometer said I was in the zone most of the time (dipped to 200 once or twice when I was out running errands), the internal temp of the roast never got above 180 degrees F on my Polder (verified by an instant-read thermometer). I finally gave up after 14 hours(!) and popped the sucker in the oven at 250 and it completed in an hour. Amazing taste, though!
Can anyone help me figure out what to do differently? Here's what I did:
<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI>Rainy day, low wind, temps in the 50's.
<LI>Minion Method: new Kingsford brickets to top of ring, hickory chunks, 30 lit brickets. Started with bottom vents open 100%. Top vent open 100% for the entire cook.
<LI>Controlled temp per dome thermometer 230-250 with difficulty. Maybe the thermometer reads high, giving me a reading that is hotter than it really was?
<LI>Added 30 more brickets at the 10-hour mark without lighting them first when dome temp dropped below 200 with all vents wide open.
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I had invited a number of friends over and fortunately the only folks who showed up (it was a big football day) didn't eat pork, so we ordered pizza!
Anyway, I'm a little gun shy at this point - the brined and rubbed chicken I had planned to add at the 6-hour mark is going to be oven-roasted today.
Any insights?
Can anyone help me figure out what to do differently? Here's what I did:
<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI>Rainy day, low wind, temps in the 50's.
<LI>Minion Method: new Kingsford brickets to top of ring, hickory chunks, 30 lit brickets. Started with bottom vents open 100%. Top vent open 100% for the entire cook.
<LI>Controlled temp per dome thermometer 230-250 with difficulty. Maybe the thermometer reads high, giving me a reading that is hotter than it really was?
<LI>Added 30 more brickets at the 10-hour mark without lighting them first when dome temp dropped below 200 with all vents wide open.
[/list]
I had invited a number of friends over and fortunately the only folks who showed up (it was a big football day) didn't eat pork, so we ordered pizza!
Anyway, I'm a little gun shy at this point - the brined and rubbed chicken I had planned to add at the 6-hour mark is going to be oven-roasted today.
Any insights?