Smoke #3 - 3rd & 4th Boston Butts - Aluminum Pan to Catch the Grease?


 
G

Gene_N

TVWBB Fan
Hello,

I'm starting my 3rd smoke in about 4 hours, 0000 EDT. I'm smoking 17.5 lbs of Boston Butt using the Steven Raichlen rub and mop recipes. I just bought the Maverick ET-732 and will use it for the first time; the wires will be placed underneath the lid. I plan to go 12-13 hours. There is a hastily organized BBQ contest at my local pool tomorrow afternoon. If things work out, I will be a last minute entry.

Question. I will fill the water bowl with 6L of water to control the temp. To save cleanup time, I plan to place a spare aluminum pan on the 2nd rack to catch the grease. This way, I can just let the grease solidify so I can pitch in the solid trash. Should I be concerned? Will the drippings/grease dry/burn up and create an odor that could impact the apple/cherry smoke?

I'm going off notes from my 2nd smoke 2 weekends ago. I will use the min alarm settings to wake me if the temps get < 225.

Thanks for looking. I appreciate the feedback. :)
 
As long as your drip pan is in the "shadow" of your water pan, I wouldn't worry about the drippings burning. Anything outside of the pan will get direct heat and may burn, but it probably wouldn't be a problem anyway. Don't worry if the temps get too high -- I generally cook butts at 275-300. No difference at high heat, they just cook faster.
 
Thanks John. My aluminum pan is smaller than the water pan. I plan to place the meat on the rack around 0030 then stay up only long enough to stabilize the lid temp to 220-250. I don't know what temps to expect with my new ET-732.

Question on bark. After pulling all of the inside meat, to get the most out of the bark, I use a knife to shred/mince it more then spread it evenly with the rest of the inside meat? Is the a BBQ term for inside meat?
 
Gene_N said:
Thanks John. My aluminum pan is smaller than the water pan. I plan to place the meat on the rack around 0030 then stay up only long enough to stabilize the lid temp to 220-250. I don't know what temps to expect with my new ET-732.

Question on bark. After pulling all of the inside meat, to get the most out of the bark, I use a knife to shred/mince it more then spread it evenly with the rest of the inside meat? Is the a BBQ term for inside meat?
Click to expand...

The bark is refered to as Mr. Brown and the meat is refered to as Miss or Mrs. White.
 
I'm 8 hours into the cook. The smaller butt (7lb 8oz) is reading 181F internal with 235F lid and 259F top rack temps. I added 2L of water at the 2hr and 6hr marks and mopped at the 6hr mark. Overnight temps held in the 70s with mid 70% relative humidity. I will mop again at the 9 hr mark. My WSM held temps pretty steady thru the night. No wind and steady ambient temps aided this.

I'm trying to find a correlation between the lid and rack temps. I don't see a pattern yet but my sample size is very small. Maybe a pattern will emerge with continued ET-732 use.

Some observations:
1. Overnight cooking is definitely a good practice for low and slow.
2. Things need to happen quick when assembling the WSM or when the cover is off; I equate it to a NASCAR pit stop. So prior preparation is key. I fumbled with the rack probe, it was difficult to place with heavy grill gloves.
3. Using the aluminum pan on the lower rack seems to have it's intended result.
4. I bought the Costco 4'x2' in/outdoor utility table. Good investment.
5. I'm enjoying the "science" of low & slow with the temp readings and maintaining a BBQ log. I bought Myron Mixon's "Smokin" book for more recipes and insight. I think he is more about the "art" of BBQ and going with his gut. It does help when he has decades of experience.
6. Having the therm probes underneath the lid does not appear to be a big deal. It was no added effort when I mopped or added water. I'm having 2nd thoughts on drilling a dedicated hole for the therm probes.

Al, thanks for the BBQ terms.
 
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Gene_N said:
Question on bark. After pulling all of the inside meat, to get the most out of the bark, I use a knife to shred/mince it more then spread it evenly with the rest of the inside meat? Is the a BBQ term for inside meat?
Click to expand...

I usually call the crust "bark" and everything else that's edible is "meat". Not very inventive, I guess.

Sounds like this cooking is going well. Planning ahead is the key to shorter lid-off times, but they're really unavoidable. Don't sweat it - having the lid off is really not as big a deal as it gets made out to be. There's an old thread on here that proved it scientifically.
 
After mopping, my lid temp stayed down at 205F so I pulled the 1st butt, 183F internal temp, cook time is 10 hrs 10 mins. I put the probe into the 2nd butt (9lb 11oz) and it read 176F. I then taped on the legs and added 10 more briquettes with the vents wide-open to get the temps back up to 240-250F to finish the 2nd butt.

I need to work on my end-game to maintain 230-250 temp times. I also noticed that I did not seat the middle section onto the base completely. I'm almost done, I'm not going to try to re-seat it now.
 
I just finished your exact cook -- two Boston butts ( one about 6-1/2 and one about 8-1/2) I'm cooking at similar temps in an 18"WSM. They went on at 9:00pEDT last night with the larger on the bottom rack. The lid temp was around 240°. I mopped them at about 1:00a, tossed in a good-sized apple chunk and said good-night. This morning at 6:30 the smaller butt on top was at 163° and the larger on the bottom was at 161°. The lid temp was a touch over 200°. I mopped them again and wrapped both in heavy-duty foil. I added about 20 briquets and water to the pan and the cooker settled in at 225° for the rest of the morning.

I checked temps a few minutes ago (11:00a) and both butts were at about 198° and like buttah. They are resting comfortably in the cooler for another couple of hours and then I'll pull them.

We're having our annual Smoke Fest tomorrow and I have 6 racks of almost-done St. Louis ribs in the fridge and a 13 pound brisket is going into the smoker tonight. I'll reheat the ribs on a 300° grill and warm the pulled pork in the oven. Hope somebody brings a lot of beer, because mine will be nearly gone by then.

Happy Labor Day!

Jeff
 
Gene_N said:
Some observations:

2. Things need to happen quick when assembling the WSM or when the cover is off; I equate it to a NASCAR pit stop. So prior preparation is key. I fumbled with the rack probe, it was difficult to place with heavy grill gloves.
Click to expand...

I think you'll find that if you eliminate mopping and also start cooking without water things are a whole lot simpler. I never mop anything because I prefer the flavor of the rub I use so all mopping does is booger that up, and the WSM's cook great with an empty foiled water pan, which is very easy to clean up after you're done.

Also, I drilled a small hole in both of mine to thread the probes through and have been very happy with that. Some guys put grommets in the holes, I didn't, and they work just fine.
 
After resting the first butt, it weighed 4lbs 14oz cooked which yielded 3lbs 8oz pulled which is 46% yield from uncooked. I added the Steven Raichlen NC BBQ vinegar sauce and gave it to my first judges (my kids). It passed with flying colors!!! I cut most of the bark and mixed it with Ms White. Using less salt this time, it tasted a bit milder but not as tender as my first butt smoke.

My WSM conked out so I pulled the 2nd butt at 174F int temp, mopped it one last time, wrapped it in foil then put it in a 325F oven to finish off. One hour later, it's at 185F. I will go the full 190F on this one. I will use this butt for the BBQ contest this afternoon.

Jeff, that annual Smoke Fest sounds really cool. My next smoke will be a brisket.

Happy Labor Day to all!!
 
Wow. I finished the 2nd butt off in a 325F oven for just over hour then rested for 2 hrs in a cooler before pulling. I got a 49% yield of very tender and moist Miss White and soft, tasty bark. I finished it off with a vinegar sauce and won 1st place in my local pool BBQ competition. There were 4 other entries of beef and chicken. I won $50 of assorted G/Cs from local businesses.

Can someone suggest a good meat cleaver? It was a good way to finish the day.
 
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