Dan C. FL
TVWBB Pro
After work on Friday, I went to the local meat market and selected a beautiful Boston Butt. Then, I went home and finally assembled my new 18" WSM. I was a little concerned by the fact that I had bought an 8 lbs. Butt and had read that it could take up to 2 hours per pound to cook. I posted a thread on here in the New Owners section and received confirmation that it would not take me 16 hours to cook it. So, I set the alarm and was up and moving by a few minutes before 7. After taking the pups out and feeding them their breakfast, I got to work. I whipped up a quick rub and applied it to the Butt.
I had a bag of Maine Wild Apple wood and a bag of Pecan chunks lying around. I asked the wife which she thought she would prefer, and it was decided that we would go with the apple wood. I loaded up the smoker with coals and set it up for the minion method. I was originally only going to use 3 hunks of wood for my first cook. But, one of the three pieces I pulled out was kinda small, so I found another small hunk and went with 4. It turned out to be a good decision.
Just a few short minutes later, and the butt was on.
She's up and running, so it's time to go do things inside. Once I cleaned up my set up mess, I sat down and watched lots and lots of tv with my Smoke receiver next to me.
Baylee had to snuggle up next to me.
I remembered reading somewhere on here that newer WSMs tend to run a little on the hot side. Living in Florida, with a forecast high of 90*-ish, and the new WSM, I decided that I'd be ok with temps right around 250*, and if I could get it in the 220's that would be awesome. The first 3 hours I ran right at 250. Then, she dropped down to the 220s and held there for about 3 hours. Hour 7 saw me hit a low of 200*. I went back out and adjusted the vents a little and for the rest of the cook she ran from 245-252, with the exception of one flare up to 267*. The Butt stalled as predicted in the low 160's, luckily I had read up on here about that, so I knew to expect it. The interesting thing was that I had another stall at 185*...I was stuck there for two hours. Finally, exactly 13 hours later, it was time to pull her off the smoker.
I wrapped it up tight in tin foil and through it in a cooler. The second stall caused us to be a little late for dinner, so she only rested for 45 minutes (I was going to let it sit for an hour or an hour and a half). Here it is as I pulled it.
And my vegetable-less plate (because potato skins, while delicious don't really count as a veggie).
All in all, I'd say it was a really successful first smoke. It wouldn't have been nearly as easy and I wouldn't have felt nearly as confident if it weren't for having joined this forum and read lots of posts. So, thanks everybody!!!
I had a bag of Maine Wild Apple wood and a bag of Pecan chunks lying around. I asked the wife which she thought she would prefer, and it was decided that we would go with the apple wood. I loaded up the smoker with coals and set it up for the minion method. I was originally only going to use 3 hunks of wood for my first cook. But, one of the three pieces I pulled out was kinda small, so I found another small hunk and went with 4. It turned out to be a good decision.
Just a few short minutes later, and the butt was on.
She's up and running, so it's time to go do things inside. Once I cleaned up my set up mess, I sat down and watched lots and lots of tv with my Smoke receiver next to me.
Baylee had to snuggle up next to me.
I remembered reading somewhere on here that newer WSMs tend to run a little on the hot side. Living in Florida, with a forecast high of 90*-ish, and the new WSM, I decided that I'd be ok with temps right around 250*, and if I could get it in the 220's that would be awesome. The first 3 hours I ran right at 250. Then, she dropped down to the 220s and held there for about 3 hours. Hour 7 saw me hit a low of 200*. I went back out and adjusted the vents a little and for the rest of the cook she ran from 245-252, with the exception of one flare up to 267*. The Butt stalled as predicted in the low 160's, luckily I had read up on here about that, so I knew to expect it. The interesting thing was that I had another stall at 185*...I was stuck there for two hours. Finally, exactly 13 hours later, it was time to pull her off the smoker.
I wrapped it up tight in tin foil and through it in a cooler. The second stall caused us to be a little late for dinner, so she only rested for 45 minutes (I was going to let it sit for an hour or an hour and a half). Here it is as I pulled it.
And my vegetable-less plate (because potato skins, while delicious don't really count as a veggie).
All in all, I'd say it was a really successful first smoke. It wouldn't have been nearly as easy and I wouldn't have felt nearly as confident if it weren't for having joined this forum and read lots of posts. So, thanks everybody!!!
They have to make sure its fit for us to get. Our Whitney does that all the time.
