Tonight - The chimney has been lit...


 
Mike/Jeff, how did everything turn out?

I took my butt off after 16 hours at 195. It turned out really good. Looking back, I almost could have made it through the whole cook without adding charcoal, as I had a lot left, but better to be safe. I was done pulling about 4 hours before dinner, so I put the pan in the fridge and reheated in the oven at 250 an hour before serving. It make everything easier.

Up here pulled pork is not well known and most people had never tried it before. They all loved it. Their jaws drop when you tell them it was on all night, they think you haven't slept and had to stand by the cooker all night...lol. I love this cooker, you hardly have to do anything and it makes you look good.

Chris
 
Hey chris

My pulled pork came out great. I pulled it at 182 after testing in several locations.It was falling apart so i took it off.
The brisket is another story. It came out with good smoke ring great flavor tender but was dry as could be.I think I may have overcooked it.Oh well it was my first brisket i'm just glad it came out tender not chewy like I've hear so many other complain aboutWe'll try again in a week or 2.We gotta lot of food to eat right now.

Later
Jeff
 
Things went well, thank you.

I think I still need to work on brisket flats. It sliced up ok and was flavorful, but seemed dry to me. I haven't had alot of brisket, so it's difficult for me to compare. The only thing I can compare it to, is the pulled pork. But given how moist the butts are, it's not a fair comparison.

At the party, I didn't make a big deal by letting people know I had done the smoking. But for the people that took brisket and pulled pork, I didn't see any left on their plates. I knew the pulled-pork was a winner when I saw someone go back for a second sandwich.

I'm glad I saved a butt for myself. Something to look forward to later today. I pulled the second butt apart, about 6hrs after wrapping and placing in the cooler. It was still steaming hot. Wrapped like this, you can take a butt on the road easily, and pull it apart onsite.

I think I'll have to do this cook again, soon. Perhaps for Father's-Day. I'll have to play it by ear.
 
Oh - Another thing...

I had not used my smoker for about 6months. I know, I know.. blasephemy. Where I had not used the smoker and related "stuff", I made sure to calibrate my thermometers and probes. I found one Polder probe that read 20degrees too low. So, I tossed it. If you are new to this, and are relying on your thermometers and probes, made sure they read pretty close to 212 when you put them in boiling water.
 
I find it interesting to hear how long it takes for each cook to get a butt to 190+...it seems to take me forever...my last cook was 2 6.5lb butts...on at 7pm...220 deg and it was 180F at 2pm the next day...put it in the oven at 300F until it hit 200F. it was great...but 7pm to 2pm is 20 hrs!! how much longer would it take?

Do you guys keep the temp consistly above 220? 240 or 250? maybe that is why it takes me so long...my 220 is pretty much the top grate temp.

BTW, I did not have to add any coals on the cook above..but I only needed about 10% rear vents open all nite to keep 220-225F...didnt even have to get up all nite. I did have to open to 100% eventually by 2pm to keep the temp..but it was at 220 still at 2pm.

Lastly, what temps are you pulling your brisket? I have only done one and it was a full 9 lb'r. I took it out of the smoker at 185F but put it in the oven until it hit 205F...it was very moist and falling apart...I have heard if you finish it at 180-185 it is still very tough and dry..have to get it to 205-210 to get it moist (weird...)... I think I read this on http://www.purplesmoke.com
 
You might want to test/calibrate your thermometers/probes. Perhaps you are getting some inaccurate readings.

I measure my temps at the dome, and run at about 250. This pass weekend, 2 8lb butts took about 15hrs to get then up to 195.

As far as brisket goes, I'm still a-learnin'.
 
I do the same as Mike. I measure through the top vent and it's usually steady at 250-260. My bottom vents are usually about 10-25% open the whole cook. I did one 8-9lb butt & it took 16 hours to reach 195.

Chris
 
Jim, I run my pit nice and cool like you do---I think the 210-225 range is ideal, which is why my cooks take 20 hrs most of the time.

I don't have a set temperature for pulling briskets off. Once you're in the 180's you can start doing the ol' fork test on it---basically, if yer probe slides in as easily as going into warm butter, she's done!
 
Thanks Susan. I guess that extra 20-40 deg can really shorten the cook....but I love my results at 210-225...so I will keep it there.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jim Smithson:
I find it interesting to hear how long it takes for each cook to get a butt to 190+...it seems to take me forever...my last cook was 2 6.5lb butts...on at 7pm...220 deg and it was 180F at 2pm the next day...put it in the oven at 300F until it hit 200F. it was great...but 7pm to 2pm is 20 hrs!! how much longer would it take?

Do you guys keep the temp consistly above 220? 240 or 250? maybe that is why it takes me so long...my 220 is pretty much the top grate temp.

BTW, I did not have to add any coals on the cook above..but I only needed about 10% rear vents open all nite to keep 220-225F...didnt even have to get up all nite. I did have to open to 100% eventually by 2pm to keep the temp..but it was at 220 still at 2pm.

Lastly, what temps are you pulling your brisket? I have only done one and it was a full 9 lb'r. I took it out of the smoker at 185F but put it in the oven until it hit 205F...it was very moist and falling apart...I have heard if you finish it at 180-185 it is still very tough and dry..have to get it to 205-210 to get it moist (weird...)... I think I read this on http://www.purplesmoke.com </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Butts i take to 200 - 205 to break it all down. Brisket i'm not a fan of poking and prodding it. It's all i can do to push the thermo probe into it before i put it on the WSM. When doing Brisket i look at it and figure the desired temp i'm going to take it to. It's based on the thickness. The thinner it is the lower temp is when i pull it. If it's thick then i'll take to a higher finnishing temp.
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I pull butts in the low 190s--I like the chunkier consistency. I do probe briskets. I get a mix of select and choice grades (I never know what'll be available) so finish temps vary.

A brisket note: I strongly recommend cooking packers if they're available and strongly recommend seeking out choice cuts rather than selects. Not that you can't cook great flats or select-grade cuts--you can--I just think that packers are more forgiving (if you can use that term with brisket) and a choice grade offers the better marbling associated with better finishes. It's easier(?) to adapt to leaner cuts from there.
 
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