Thank you to everyone who offered insight and support for my thread from last Saturday, "18" WSM help, please".
So here's how it all went down. First, when I picked up my butts Thursday they were not 10 lbs as said, but 8.5 lbs each, four of them. I needed 40 lbs total, so I got another 6 lb'er and started stressing.
Since the butts from FM are always boneless I twined the butts to keep them together and similar, musturded them, and put on a good bit of rub. I prepped the wsm tightly packed minion style with three chunks of pecan and two of apple. I lit it at 9:30 with 15 kingsford blue coals, put the wsm together, and put on the bbq guru fan. I set it 270, it hit it quickly and stayed there all night.
I used wooden skewers to hold two of the big butts on their sides and 1" apart so I could keep them in the middle of the bottom grate. I did the same to the other two big butts but in something of a V shape for the top grate. I put them all in the smoker at 10 p.m. The first hick up was when my wife put the lid on I barely noticed that she struggled to get it on. More on that in a minute. I watched the Maverick come back up to 270 and went to bed.
I got up at 4 a.m. and took the 6 lb'er out of the fridge, already rubbed, and put it on the smoker on the top. The two top butts already had a crust and had shrunk sufficiently to give me room for the smaller one. But when I opened the lid I noticed that when my wife had struggled to get the lid on it was because a couple of skewer ends were at the edge. When she pushed the lid down she shifted the whole top grate in sufficiently to knock it off one of the holders. When I took the lid off at 4 it was crooked downward, one side resting on the butts on the bottom. More, the butt on the top on that side had slid over to the wsm wall and was looking pretty dry. Not much to do at 4 a.m. so I got it back together as best I could, put on the 5th one, and went to bed.
I got up at 6:30 and prepared to add some more charcoal. I don't know why, but any time I use the guru and fan the coals burn much faster. I lifted the whole (heavy!) top section of the wsm off the bottom and set it aside. I shook down the ashes, added a good bit of charcoal, mixed them up a bit, and put back on the top. I checked the butts; the two on top were hanging at 165, the two on bottom 158, and the 5th at 135.
After a morning full of "day off" stuff I checked them again at 11:30. The tops were at 175, the bottoms at 170, and the 5th at 170. At 3 p.m. the tops were at 198, the bottoms at 195, and the 5th at 198. I checked them all with the thermopen and they were all butter and crusty. I took them off, double foiled them in heavy wrap, and put them in a cooler. I had prepped the cooler with 6 or 7 gallons of super hot water for a few hours. I put in towels on the bottom sandwiching a pyrex heat pad for warmth. I put the 5 butts in, surrounded them with more towels, and closed her tight.
We traveled, and meal time was 7 p.m. I pulled the butts, set everything up, and witnessed people eat like pigs and rave over the quality. The sauce I made from Food Network Mag was the best sauce I've ever made and I again highly recommend it. I ate twice as much for supper as ever eat at any meal!
One last plug: last week I bought the Ro-man Pork Puller. I, too, am skeptical of gadgets, but I get tired of pulling pork while people wait and I miss the fellowship. So I gambled 69 bucks. This thing was great! It took me 10 minutes to pull 5 butts, and that included time to unwrap, de-string, and pour each batch into a serving pan. 10 minutes for 5 butts. This was as good a money as I've spent since I started smoking. If you ever do more than one or two, this thing is worth it, at least to me.
Thanks again for all the help! That's why I love this site!
So here's how it all went down. First, when I picked up my butts Thursday they were not 10 lbs as said, but 8.5 lbs each, four of them. I needed 40 lbs total, so I got another 6 lb'er and started stressing.
Since the butts from FM are always boneless I twined the butts to keep them together and similar, musturded them, and put on a good bit of rub. I prepped the wsm tightly packed minion style with three chunks of pecan and two of apple. I lit it at 9:30 with 15 kingsford blue coals, put the wsm together, and put on the bbq guru fan. I set it 270, it hit it quickly and stayed there all night.
I used wooden skewers to hold two of the big butts on their sides and 1" apart so I could keep them in the middle of the bottom grate. I did the same to the other two big butts but in something of a V shape for the top grate. I put them all in the smoker at 10 p.m. The first hick up was when my wife put the lid on I barely noticed that she struggled to get it on. More on that in a minute. I watched the Maverick come back up to 270 and went to bed.
I got up at 4 a.m. and took the 6 lb'er out of the fridge, already rubbed, and put it on the smoker on the top. The two top butts already had a crust and had shrunk sufficiently to give me room for the smaller one. But when I opened the lid I noticed that when my wife had struggled to get the lid on it was because a couple of skewer ends were at the edge. When she pushed the lid down she shifted the whole top grate in sufficiently to knock it off one of the holders. When I took the lid off at 4 it was crooked downward, one side resting on the butts on the bottom. More, the butt on the top on that side had slid over to the wsm wall and was looking pretty dry. Not much to do at 4 a.m. so I got it back together as best I could, put on the 5th one, and went to bed.
I got up at 6:30 and prepared to add some more charcoal. I don't know why, but any time I use the guru and fan the coals burn much faster. I lifted the whole (heavy!) top section of the wsm off the bottom and set it aside. I shook down the ashes, added a good bit of charcoal, mixed them up a bit, and put back on the top. I checked the butts; the two on top were hanging at 165, the two on bottom 158, and the 5th at 135.
After a morning full of "day off" stuff I checked them again at 11:30. The tops were at 175, the bottoms at 170, and the 5th at 170. At 3 p.m. the tops were at 198, the bottoms at 195, and the 5th at 198. I checked them all with the thermopen and they were all butter and crusty. I took them off, double foiled them in heavy wrap, and put them in a cooler. I had prepped the cooler with 6 or 7 gallons of super hot water for a few hours. I put in towels on the bottom sandwiching a pyrex heat pad for warmth. I put the 5 butts in, surrounded them with more towels, and closed her tight.
We traveled, and meal time was 7 p.m. I pulled the butts, set everything up, and witnessed people eat like pigs and rave over the quality. The sauce I made from Food Network Mag was the best sauce I've ever made and I again highly recommend it. I ate twice as much for supper as ever eat at any meal!
One last plug: last week I bought the Ro-man Pork Puller. I, too, am skeptical of gadgets, but I get tired of pulling pork while people wait and I miss the fellowship. So I gambled 69 bucks. This thing was great! It took me 10 minutes to pull 5 butts, and that included time to unwrap, de-string, and pour each batch into a serving pan. 10 minutes for 5 butts. This was as good a money as I've spent since I started smoking. If you ever do more than one or two, this thing is worth it, at least to me.
Thanks again for all the help! That's why I love this site!
