Two butts on the mini WSM....advise please


 

Pete Harvey

New member
I'm looking to smoke two butt on my mini. I'm quite new to all of this, as I have only tackled 3 butts and 5 or 6 beer can chickens in the mini. I'm hoping to get advise on how to achieve success with this endeavor. My known variables are as follows:
* I'm expecting the ambient temperature to be in the low 50s
* Each butt will be 7-8 lbs
* using Kingsford Original charcoal
* using Pitmaster IQ110
* top rack on the mini is 4" down from the rim and the 2nd rack is resting on the steamer ring.
* 12" terracotta saucer is attached to the underside on the bottom rack using wire.

seeking answers to the following questions:
* fat cap down? up? trimmed? or combination?
* What temp I should set the IQ110 and how much time I should allow this to take.
* Inject the butts?
* what am I missing?

Thank you in advance,
-Pete
 
seeking answers to the following questions:
* fat cap down? up? trimmed? or combination?
* What temp I should set the IQ110 and how much time I should allow this to take.
* Inject the butts?
* what am I missing?

Thank you in advance,
-Pete

Here are my opinions to your questions:

I've been trimming all the fat cap off butts for quite a while now. I feel the is enough fat in it to keep everything moist and I get more bark this way. I use the fat for other purposes.

I like to cook butts at 250*F +/- 25*F. ...but I don't use a ATC. Your tolerances could and should be much tighter with an ATC. I'd let the temp get to about 300*F and then put the butts on because the 40*F butts are going to zap the heat out of the cooker and it may take a while to recover. I imagine this is going to be about 1.5 to 2 hrs per lb. Wrapping them once the bark is set can help with getting done in 1.5 hrs per lb.

I don't inject butts because I use the meat as an ingredient in a lot of different dishes. ...and it's messy. But that's just me.

Hope this helps.
 

 

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