Question for the board...


 
B

Bill M.

TVWBB Member
I will be starting my first all night smoke tomorrow night with 3 Boston Butts. The total weight of all 3 is approximately 18 pounds (2 from BJ's totaling 14 pounds and 1 weighing 4 pounds).

I'll use the Minion Method with applewood in the charcoal, but I'm not sure how many lit charcoals I should start with. The temperature when I begin the smoke should be around the mid 40's with overnight lows in the low 30's.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
 
Bill I wouldn't worry too much about how many to light. Wind would be more of a factor than 40ºish. Like the Minion Method instructions say, light 20 - 40 on cold or windy days.

Use near boiling water in the water pan from the start, light say 20 coals, maybe 30 if it's quite windy. When adjusting your vents down try to keep a vent facing the wind more closed or closed entirely, leave your downwind vents more open.
 
When I added boiling water (doing one of my first cold cooks) I faced a skyrocketing temp! I'd start with room temp water, and light it up with 15 to 20 coals.
 
Just be sure to LOAD the charcoal ring full. You should have no problem going overnight. Do not be in a rush to get up to cooking temp and overshoot. It is much easier to admit that you were too hard on the fire and let it heat up just a little more than it is to cool a too-hot fire off. As far as water goes, before I stopped using water, I took the middle road and used hot tap water.

What part of the Palmetto state are you in ?
 
Bill,

I agree with Vern, make sure your charcoal ring is "full", then light 15-20 briquettes, use hot water from your tap (that'll be fine). Try to block your WSM from the wind if you can, if not keep any bottom vents facing the wind closed.

Dump the lit coals on the unlit, put your wood in, put your water pan in carefully, load up your meat, and put the lid on.

Control your temps on the way and enjoy those first whiffs of apple smoke, uummmm, uummm.
 
I use not less than 15 nor more than 20 lit. Maybe 20 with the colder temp. It's important to have the temp stabilized for a couple of hours before going to bed. That means not having to fiddle with the vents. If you're using water, be sure the pan is full when you turn in.

Paul
 
Thanks for all of the helpful tips. I'm a little nervous about my first all nighter and will probably toss and turn most of the night.

Vernon:
I live in Greenville.
 
Bill,

Don't worry about it; be happy. Just make sure that your temps are stable for a couple of hours like Paul said and sleep well. The WSM is as stable as anything. Have a great cook!
 
Well...the butts have been on the smoker for about an hour. I rubbed all 3 butts with mustard and a dry rub. I also decided to try injecting one of the butts this time.

Hopefully all will go well and I'll be pulling some pork tomorrow afternoon.

Thanks again for everyone's help.
 
The butts have been in the smoker for 2 1/2 hours and the temperature has remained at 248-249°F (measured at the top vent) for the past 2 hours. I think I'll go to bed and try to get some sleep now.
 
So far, so good. Just don't be surprised when they reach that temp plateau at the 160's - 170's, and the meat temp doesn't move for hours at a time, and may even drop a few degrees now and then. Magic is happening. Don't touch it, and have faith in the magic.
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Keri C, smokin' on Tulsa Time
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Keri C:
Magic is happening. Don't touch it, and have faith in the magic.
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Keri C, smokin' on Tulsa Time <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Magic? I knew I forgot to add something.
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I'll try to have faith Keri. However, it's 2:45 AM and I just got up for the first time to check my temperatures. The temperature at the lid was 241°F and the meat temperature was 159°F.

I have a Maverick wireless remote with 2 probes, so I didn't have to remove the lid.
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I'll go back to bed now and try to have more faith so I can get some rest. I've never pulled on 18 pounds of butt before (Boston Butt that is) and something tells me I'll need my rest.
 
Too nervous and not enough faith. It's 5:00 AM and the temperature at the lid is now 236°F and the meat temperature is still 159°F. The outside temperature is 34°F. Looks like I'm resting at the first plateau. If only I could get this much rest.
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By the way, at 2:30 and 5:00 I went outside and lightly kicked each of the 3 legs on my WSM to hopefully remove any build-up of ashes from the charcoal grate. It may be an exercise in futility, but it helps me sleep for about 2 hours.
 
6:30 report:

Temperature at the lid is 235°F, the meat temperature has risen to 162°F, and the outside temperature is 32°F.

And for the first time, I can now see why drinking is an integral part of BBQ.
 
lol, I remember my first overnighter. About like you right now. I just wanted everything to work out so good, I couldn't sleep. It will be fine. What time are you looking to eat? I injected my last butt, (picnic)....was the best one I ever did. May have been a good butt, may have been the apple juice injection. I will do it again tody when I put mine on. May even use pineapple juice for the one butt, apple juice for the other.
A little add on note...I use sand in the water pan, but was going to use the brinkman pan and water this cook. I haven't used it in a while and it is many years old. I put it in the laundry sink and filled it with water to clean it. Came back 10 minutes later.....EMPTY! It had a small rust hole on the bottom. Glad I found that out before I put it in the smoker and filled it lol. That would have been a mess.
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Hello Bill,

Sounds like you're doing fine and the earlier posts are right on the money.

One piece of advice I learned the hard way. When you go to add water to your pan, if it's nearly empty, DO NOT use boiling water.

I did that on my first overnighter. The latent heat in the pan caused the water to flash to steam and I had a steam explosion.

But really it sounds like you're doing great. As they all said.... trust the magic.
 
Good morning, its 6am in indiana and im 14 hours into my first overnight also. Ive got 2 7lb briscut flats from Sams Club on mine. I couldn't sleep much either. This is the first time I have cooked anything this long and going to sleep while the grill is going seems unnatural to me. 240 lid 171 briscut
 
Bob T:
I don't really have a set time to eat today. The rest of the family will be out of the house until around 5:00, so I should have the butts pulled and ready for dinner by the time everyone gets back.

Rob O:
Thanks for the tip. I have a Brinkman water pan I filled with warm tap water (as suggested in one of the messages above). The temperature came up slowly and I was able to stabilize the temperature without any overshoot.

I'm assuming I will have to add charcoal prior to removing the butts this afternoon. If I do, should I add lit or unlit coals?

Also, what is a good exit strategy? I've seen some recommendations about pulling the butts out of the smoker at 190°F, wrapping them in HD aluminum foil, and placing them in a cooler for 2 hours. Is this typical or was someone simply doing this because the meat achieved the correct temperature 2 hours before dinner?

Lastly, I have a 4 pound butt on the bottom rack and two 7 pound butts on the top. Since the temperature is higher on the top rack, can I leave the smaller butt on the bottom rack until the two larger butts are done? I could always take the probe out of one of the big butts and put it in the smaller butt, but I was hoping to take them all out at the same time.

7:45 update:
Lid temperature is 243°F, the meat temperature is 163°F, and the outside temperature is 32°F.
 
Bill, Glad to hear things are on track. Drink a beer and let the magic happen.

As far as adding charcoal, If you anticipate that you may need to add charcoal, you can throw in a dozen or so unlit coals every hour or so. If you start early, you can keep your pit temp stable. If you think you are in trouble you can throw on half a dozen lit coals (I light mine on the turkey fryer in a chimney), however, expect a temp spike.

Wrapping and resting is an integral part of the process. Not only does it allow you to end early, but more importantly, it allows the juices to redistribute themselves, resulting in a moister, tastier product. As the meat rests, the moisture is reabsorbed by the cells. That tip helped me with my london broils which I was cutting fairly quickly off of the grill. I now rest them and have far less of a juice fountain when slicing them.

As far as your end temp, butts are forgiving. I tend to cook the large ones on top and use sand in the pan with the Guru. Typically I pull when all meat is at 195 and frequently the smaller butt is up to 200 or 205. I have never been able to tell any difference. Some folks report having butts pull well at temps of 185.
 
Thanks Vernon. I just added some unlit charcoals and the temp spiked up to around 257°F. I closed the vents and the temperature began to drop down to 150°F within a couple of miniutes.

If nothing else, this all nighter has shown me how wonderful a smoker the WSM truly is if you simply know how to use it correctly. And thanks to the people on this board, my learning curve has been shortened substantially.

Thanks to all who have contributed.
 
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