Weekend Butt Smoke


 
J

Jim Smithson

TVWBB Fan
I had a great butt off my WSM yesterday but had a question on cooking temps. I typically run my WSM at 220-225F. I put an 8lb butt on Sat night at 9pm. I used a Stoker, so the temp was at the grill level and maintained throughout the smoke. I ended up increasing the pit temp to 250 then 275 in the early afternoon on Sunday as the meat was only at 175F.

What I normally end up doing is putting the butt into my oven at 325F for about 1-1.5 hrs to finish the final 20F of cooking.

What temperature in my WSM is used to actually get this thing done in the smoker itself?

My end product is awesome, so no complaints, but do others use a higher temp throughout the cook? Maybe 240 to 250F?

Thx
 
Jim,

I also smoked a pork butt Saturday night. It was my first night smoke. I don't own a Stoker. I was a little nervous since it's been pretty cold over last few days. I put the butt on the smoker at 10:15 pm. I stayed up till 11:30 pm to make sure that everything was going fine. I set my alarm for 2, 4, and 6 am. Every time I got up to check the temp. it was solid 250 at the lid. My top vent was at 100% open, the bottom vents at 25%. I did not adjust the vents at all. By 10:00 am meat temp was 194 degrees. I took it off the smoker, wrapped it in aluminum foil for about 3 hours and that was it.
I thought it was my best pork butt yet. Everyone who came over for the super bowl also loved it.
 
It took 15 hours for the last butts I cooked, maintained 225 degrees at the grate for the whole cook. They were around 7-8 lbs a piece after I trimmed them.

The cook time for each is going to vary depending on the amount of rendering that needs to take place. Should be no need to put them in the oven at higher temps to get them done, though it won't hurt the flavor, they probably have soaked up plenty of smoke already. If you want to finish them on the smoker, just need to give them more time, once they get past the plateau state they will come up to temp. No harm in cooking them at a higher temp (like 250-275) if you'd like to get them done faster though.
 
I too smoked a butt over the weekend. It weighed 8.2 lbs. I started mine Sunday about 6AM and pulled it off the smoker a little after 7PM at 188 degrees. The temperature at the grate averaged about 240 – 250. Foiled it and held it in a small cooler for about 45 min. before pulling. My wife says it's the best one I've done.

My butt!
 
Well, I guess I will just increase my temps earlier. I may keep the 220-225 overnight, then raise to 250 in the morning when I add a bit more charcoal.

I did find the Stoker used up a bit more charcoal then without...but it was evenly used and kept my temps up!
 
It used to be through the upper vent, but now that I have a Stoker, the latest was at the grill level (upper grill in this case). Outer edge of the upper grill to stay away from the big ole Butt.
 
Okay. While it is a good idea to keep the therm away from the butt so that you don't end up with false low readings, it is also important not to have the probe too close to the outer edge of the grate where you can get false high readings. Clipping the cooker therm to the meat therm is what many people do.

That aside, though I do butts at ~275 grate most of the time, I will cook lower if an overnight is more convenient and I need the time, usually 240-250 grate is plenty low enough for me. You should be able to finish your butt in the cooker--no having to resort to the oven--and you can do this by increasing your cooktemp from the beginning or, as you think, by simply upping the temp later in the cook to 250, 275, 300--depending on your finish time requirements.
 
clipping the probe to the meat probe is a good idea. I was concerned that the probe was too far to the outside and might be getting a higher temp from the draft up the sides and out the top.

I will try both. thx.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top