Questions


 
A

AMumma

TVWBB Member
Hi friends!

Bought my first slab-o-meat to smoke this morning. A 5.5 lb pork butt for pulled pork for some Saturday morning smokage. It's currently hanging out in my fridge, wrapped in butchers paper, in a plastic bag, inside another brown paper bag. Don't want it to leak onto the veggies (call this first timer paranoia). If this wrapping is overkill or will somehow hurt the meat, tell me and I'll unwrap it when I get home at 6. With this now, a few questions.

1. Will the aforementioned butt be good in the fridge until Saturday morning? Was gonna pull it out around 6am to come to room temp. Was going to start the smoker (planning to use the Minion method) around 7:30 (giving myself extra time to figure it out) before throwing the meat on at 8.

2. What do I need to do to the butt before it goes on? Other than the rub, of course. Even my newbie self knows that it needs a good rub.

3. What's all this yappity yap yap about injecting the meat with marinade? I was in WFM today to get the meat and they had a meat syringe. That's not something I've ever worked with before.

4. I prefer all natural charcoal. Stubbs. Will this be an issue? I know most use Kingsford.

That's all for now, but please expect more as we progress and I thank you in advance for dealing with me.
 
1. The butt will be fine in the fridge until Saturday. I don't let my butts come to room temperature. You should get more of a smoke ring with cold meat.
2. I like a good mustard slather. To me, it seems to help hold the rub on and results in a better bark.
3. Injecting is a good way to get some flavor down into the meat. The rub and smoke will only flavor near the surface. The Chris Lilly injection on this site is good. Lately I've been using a pineapple juice/soy sauce injection that works well.
4. I can't comment on Stubbs, never used it.
 
That's a smallish butt and you would think that it would cook quicker, but sometimes them little ones take as long or longer than a big butt.
Don't hesitate if you have to by ramping up the temps or foiling to get it done for supper.
And welcome to the board my friend.:wsm:

Tim
 
AMumma said:
Hi friends!

Bought my first slab-o-meat to smoke this morning. A 5.5 lb pork butt for pulled pork for some Saturday morning smokage. It's currently hanging out in my fridge, wrapped in butchers paper, in a plastic bag, inside another brown paper bag. Don't want it to leak onto the veggies (call this first timer paranoia). If this wrapping is overkill or will somehow hurt the meat, tell me and I'll unwrap it when I get home at 6. With this now, a few questions.

1. Will the aforementioned butt be good in the fridge until Saturday morning? Was gonna pull it out around 6am to come to room temp. Was going to start the smoker (planning to use the Minion method) around 7:30 (giving myself extra time to figure it out) before throwing the meat on at 8. I wouldn't let the meat come to room temp. Just season it about 30-45 minutes before putting it on the cooker. This will allow the meat to "sweat" a bit and for the rub to absorb some of that liquid. Also, I recommend starting your fire about an hour before you put the meat on the cooker. This will allow your charcoal to properly ignite, to begin burning down your smoking wood and for the cooker temperature to stabilize.

2. What do I need to do to the butt before it goes on? Other than the rub, of course. Even my newbie self knows that it needs a good rub. Remember, 8:00am on a Saturday morning is not too early to have a beer or other adult beverage. Rules on drinking early go right out the window as long as you have smoke coming out of the cooker!

3. What's all this yappity yap yap about injecting the meat with marinade? I was in WFM today to get the meat and they had a meat syringe. That's not something I've ever worked with before. Injecting meat is a fun and flavorful way to improve the moisture of the meat but I wouldn't worry about doing any injecting this time around. Learn what the natural flavor is like and then modify with injections as you learn.

4. I prefer all natural charcoal. Stubbs. Will this be an issue? I know most use Kingsford. Stubbs, Kingsford, lump. Whatever floats your boat!

That's all for now, but please expect more as we progress and I thank you in advance for dealing with me.
Click to expand...

See my notes about in red.
 
Some excellent answers here, and really appreciate all the help!

Tried making a rub tonight and it tasted like I was licking the back wall of a salt mine. Got some Sublime Swine rub at the store and I'll be using that instead.

Big fan of the whole 'not leaving it out for two hours' thing. I was actually wondering about that myself. It just seemed a bit counterproductive.
 
I'm a big fan of the Renowned Mr. Brown recipe in the cooking topics section. I've been doing it for ten-plus years, and wouldn't change a thing. :)
 
AM
Nothing wrong with the way you're storing the pork butt. If you're a bit concerned it may leak, put it on the lowest shelf in the fridge so if it does leak it won't contaminate anything.
1). A thin coating of either honey, mustard, sriracha or hoisin sauce on the pork butt to assist with the rub sticking to it. I take the meat out of the fridge and put it on the cooking grate, install the temp probes & put the lid on as soon as I go outside to the smoker.
2). I always set up my smoker the night before. (I don't do overnighters). That way all I have to do is fire up the few briqs/lump & dump them on the unlit. Assemble the cooker straight away and get smoking!! Also, read what Vince said.
3). I don't do injection. I want to taste the porky goodness.
4). What Vince said. Although if you're using lump, pack it tight in the fire basket.
 
Last edited:
Today is the big day! Charcoal is lit and in the chimney ashing over.

One question I have. Probe thermometer. Do I just leave the probe in the meat the entire time it's cooking?
 
Working on getting the temperature down. Running close to 300. Putting the pork on at 930, though I'm willing to wait an extra 15.
 
Re: probe therm. I've seen a few people do it the old-school way. Make sure it's designed to be left in though. Good luck with your cook.
 
Last edited:
AMumma said:
Today is the big day! Charcoal is lit and in the chimney ashing over.

One question I have. Probe thermometer. Do I just leave the probe in the meat the entire time it's cooking?
Click to expand...
It depends on what type of "probe thermometer" you have.
A cheapo "spot check" therm would be destroyed if left in, for example.
My $100 Thermapen would be destroyed as well and I would be a giant fool for leaving it in the cooker as well !

There are some therms that are designed to be left in, but these are not favored in BBQ world.
Probably because the read-out would be smoked over in short order in our smokey environment.

I think that the two most popular therms are the Maverick for continuous temp monitoring and the Thermapen for spot checking.
Maverick (Ivation) is on sale at Sky Mall.....grab one now !
 
Last edited:
AMumma said:
Working on getting the temperature down. Running close to 300. Putting the pork on at 930, though I'm willing to wait an extra 15.
Click to expand...
One of the first lessons in BBQ is to start cutting off air (damping) as you APPROACH your target temp.
I like to start damping when I am 15°F - 20°F BELOW target temp.

As you are finding out, it can be a PITA if you over-run your target temp.
(cut off air and wait for it to drop)
 
Been running at a constant 250-275. Meat smells incredible and I'm going to check the temperature at the 6 hour mark. I'm going to foil it then as well and let it go for two more hours after that and HOPEFULLY we'll be done.
 
Joe F said:
One of the first lessons in BBQ is to start cutting off air (damping) as you APPROACH your target temp.
I like to start damping when I am 15°F - 20°F BELOW target temp.

As you are finding out, it can be a PITA if you over-run your target temp.
(cut off air and wait for it to drop)
Click to expand...

Great to know. You folks have all been such a huge help. I'm so thrilled I found this community.

Just added water to the water pan. There's really not a good way to do that, is there? I pulled the top grate off and just poured in a nice cool glass slowly, being careful not to hit the coals below.
 
Last edited:
AM.

Myself, & a lot of others don't use water. (A foiled terracotta pizza serving dish is a great heat-sink). And yes, I think you're right there isn't a good way to add water. If you're going to use water, personally I don't think you need to add any more water after the initial 1-2 hr start up. Let it ride dry afterwards. That's only my personal experience. YMMV.

As Joe F said, catch your cook temp on the way up. If I'm looking at a 250f cook, I start to close the bottom vents to quarter/eighth open at 210f. Top vent 100% open at all times. If it doesn't rise, then you can always open the bottom vents a wee bit more to get to your cook temp. Bringing the temps down is a PITA, and takes up beer drinking time.

Edit: No probs with asking questions. Fire away. Very knowledgeable here, who are only too happy to pass on their skills. Which has made me a better griller/bbq-er. You know who you are. :)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top