Timing on Mr. Brown


 
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Scott Schaeffer

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I have everything ready for my first smoke on Sunday, that is everything but the timing. I plan to do a 6-7 pound Butt which I am picking up from the store tomorrow afternoon. I would like to smoke it the whole way, but for a first smoke, I am a little nervous about an overnight smoke and controlling temp.

I want to eat at around 7pm and my estimation is that a 6.5lb butt should take between 10-14 hours to smoke. Should I just go ahead and cook and foil and spend my time learning my new cooker?

Also, if I want to put the butt on at 8:00am how long can I cook before foiling? What temp should I foil at or does it really matter?
 
If you don't want to try an overnighter, you can also trying getting up in the wee hours (say 3 am)and getting things started and then just napping between checking the temps. I've done that before.

As for foil, if you really don't have the time, then I would foil it at about 4 or 5 pm (for a 7pm dinner). Assuming butts on a 8am (or earlier), that will give you at least 8 hours in the smoke, about 2 hours in the foil, and about an hour rest/pulling time before dinner. You want your butt to be in that 165-185 plateau range for as long as possible before foiling so that the collegen breaks down at it becomes pullable. When I foil my butts, its when their internal temps are in the 170s-180s. Once foiled, the internal temps quickly rise to 195 in about 1.5 to 2 hours (in my experience). I foil them and leave them on the WSM to finish. Don't be afraid to cook your butts at slightly higher temp either in order to get them done. I've cooked them in the 260-290 lid temp without problem if I've been rushed or I just need to get them done for dinner.

Basically, if you really don't feel comfortable with an overnight cook, I'd get your butt on as soon in the morning as you can, cook at 260-275 lid temps, and if it is still in the 170-180 internal temp range by 4 or 5 pm, foil it, stick your temp probe into the meat thru the foil and watch it rise. Don't be afraid to open your vents up all the way and let her rip near the end if the internal temps aren't coming up as fast as you want them.

Just my 2 cents.
 
I agree with Dave Lewis completly. In fact I started a reply along the exact same lines but got interrupted and deleted it. I thought someone would respond, but I had no idea the thoughts would be almost identical to mine.

Paul
 
Scott,
Have a go at it and don't worry. Once you get the temps stable (about an hour - maybe two for a beginner) you'll be pleasantly surprised at how well the WSM maintains a temperature. It's one of the things that makes it so darn popular.
 
Don't know what your local weather will be, but be sure you can protect WSM from WIND. /infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif

If you use the Minion Method, and foil at 165-175 internal temp, the rest will just about take care of itself.

(if you really have to speed things up toward the end, saran wrap it AND foil it. Be sure to use the original "Saran Wrap.")

I do recommend using water instead of sand for your first attempt.
 
I am in exactly the same boat as Scott, and plan to get up at 3.00 am and take naps as per Dave's advice.

I do have a further question though.

Assuming I can keep the temperature around 250 degrees at the lid, at what time do you think I should start checking the internal temperature?

My thermometer is reasonably quick, but not 'instant read' so which do you recommend.

1. Inserting the thermometer into the meat, and replacing the lid for a minute, before checking it.
2. Leaving the lid off for that minute.
3. Removing the meat to measure the temp and then putting it back.

Any thoughts or suggestions will be gratefully received. I don't want to have egg on my face when I present my first meal from the WSM.

Thank you
Graham M
 
Graham

If you have the meat on by 4:00, you probably won't need to foil to be ready to eat by 7:00 p.m. Noon will be 8 hrs into the cook and soon enough to check temp. It really would be better if you had an inexpensive digital therm like a Polder or Taylor to stick in at that time. They're pretty easy to find locally and it might be worth your while to pick one up before or even during your cook. That way you won't be taking the lid off so much and causing temp spikes.

If you're at or below 180 and less than 3hrs from dinner time, go ahead and foil. If you have to use your "instant" read therm, then insert it, put the lid back on and then check. The less time the lid is off, the better.

Good luck and remember this is supposed to be fun !

Paul
 
Thanks for your speedy reply.

Start checking at noon...

I'm afraid there will be no digital therms around here for a while. The recommended retail price of the WSM is ?229 (approx $412) but I managed to get mine for ?199 (approx $358).

I appreciate your advice, especially the last bit. I am going to print it and stick it somewhere prominent.

'Remember - this is supposed to be fun'

Thanks
-GM-
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>When I smoked my first But, I used my Proder to moniter the temps in the smoker and an inexpensive meat thermometer to moniter the Meat after about 7 hours. If you place your thermometer in the right place on the rack, you can read it with a small flashlight through thetop vent hole.
 
I put Mr. Brown on at 9:15 this morning. It was a little later than I would have liked, but the weather is not great and I had to deal with plenty of other things too. Everything started up perfectly.

My question is this: I am able to get the temps stabilized, but they are stabilized at around 255*F is that too high? I am cooking an 8.5 lb. Boston Butt.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Scott Schaeffer:
[qb]
My question is this: I am able to get the temps stabilized, but they are stabilized at around 255*F is that too high? I am cooking an 8.5 lb. Boston Butt. [/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>255* should be fine. That's pretty much in the range for smoking, and butts are pretty forgiving anyway.
Just be patient. Butts average 14-18 hours for me.
 
different people have different opinions and for me I like the range of 225-250 with 250 being the high end. I would back it off just a bit. Much above 250(if you have a temprature spike) depending on what your using for a rub can be less than desirable especially in a rub that has sugar in it.

Lastly if you follow the saran wrap suggestion be sure that you are using the original saran wrap and that your tempratures do not exceed 250 or you may melt the saran wrap. I sometimes use saran while holding (because tems will never come close to 250) but never use it on the smoker.
 
Thanks for the help. I was able to bring the temps down to about 235-240. I think that this is much better. I am going to foil in a few hours and try to speed up the process to have dinner at 7.

Jeff, I am going to do an overnight cook next time now that i know how to control temps. That way I have 14-18 hours.

Thanks.
 
Ok, everything seemed to be going well... Then I stuck the thermometer into the meat at about the 6 hour mark. It read 145 /infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif I want to eat around 7 and it is 5 now. The meat temp is 148 and I foiled about :30 minutes ago and cranked the temp up on the smoker to around 275.

Any other suggestions?
 
I find, for me, 7-1/2 pounders take 13-14 hours to reach 205*, even foiling after 150*, and that's cooking at 250*. So allowing yourself only 10 hours on an 8.5 pounder, even if you're only going to 190-195*, well, you can do the math.

Pork for dinner tomorrow?
 
Scott.....

What Doug was trying to say......NO chance! Your plateau alone should take a few hours. If that critical time is cut short you will have lots of unrendered fat.

I always plan on 2 - 2 1/2hrs. per lb. with temps in the 225? range. Anything much shorter than that and your end-product will suffer.

Graham......

You can very easily get by without a thermo! Just poke the meat after 2 hrs./lb. It will tell you if it is soft enough to pull. A fork is even better...stick it in and give it a twist. Be sure to check in several places as there are 7 muscles that run thru the butt.
 
Scott

When I read and then seconded Dave Lewis's response to your post, I thought you were doing a 6 to 7 lb butt and starting at 8:00 a.m. 8.5 lbs started at 9:00 is a whole other story as I'm sure you now know. It's all a learning experience. Hope you were able to salvage things.

Graham

LOL when I first read your post and saw "uk" I thought University of Kentucky - guess I've been watching too much basketball. Maybe it's not so easy or cheap across the big pond to run out and get a polder/taylor therm. Sorry. There certainly are other ways to test meat doneness. As stogie said or even insert a meat therm late in the cook and then check it every hour or so. Just don't leave the lid off too long.

Paul
 
Ok, so I was able to salvage. A lot of the fat did not render, you are right, however, the temp really came up fast in the last 2 hours. We ate about 1.5 hours late but it was still great. I got good smoke penetration and the Mr. Brown was good, although a little soggy from the foil. I cut away about 1/2 of the butt for dinner and then foiled and replaced the other 1/2 for another 2 hours. It was mighty tasty. All in all it was a great learning experience. Thanks for all of the help.
 
Thanks everyone for your help.
I was really very worried about messing things up, but everything went smoothly.
My thermometer worked quite well. When I stuck it in the meat, the needle whizzed around quite quickly, then slowed down at the end. After about 1 minute it had stopped moving and I could take a reading.
Meat went on at 06.30am and was ready by 20.00pm.
It was very nice, good smoke penetration, and loads (and loads) of meat bagged up for future butties.
I kept a cooking log (the one from this site) and found it very useful.
Next time I'm probably going to do 2 pieces of pork, as the time, effort and fuel cost appears to be roughly the same, only you get twice as much meat!!
Thanks again, after reading this site for nearly 2 years, I am no longer thinking (dreaming) about barbequing, but actually doing it!!
Rgds
-GM-
P.S. Scott, glad to see your cook went well too.
 
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