Smokin some Butt as I type!

[brewjester]

I'm breaking in my WSM with a pork butt. So far it's going good. 230-250F using Stubb's charcoal with Mesquite and Apple wood chips. Is it a bad thing if the pit temp dips below 200? Should I start some more charcoal or just wait it out? Thanks for any info!
Jeremy

 

[bbquzz]

Very small adjustments on your vents, do your best to keep it steady at 225 + or -. If you are dropping temperature, open them all a little more and check after 30 minutes. If you started with a full load of charcoal it does not seem like you should have to add any for 8-10-12 hours. Remember the BBQ Central Motto "No Picture ... No Cook" Good luck!

 

[bigwheel]

Great day for some butt smoking. Bet it will be the grand prize winner. Butts are very hard to mess up with the number one failure being to fail to cook it long enough and it come out chewy. Have known a few who managed to mess them up by cooking too low and slow for too long. That make it turn into pork jerky aka Tasso. Still makes a great seasoning meat for beans etc. Anything below 300 works just fine. The sweet spot for me is 275-260. Kindly keeps us posted on the progress of the adventure. Thanks.

 

[Greg Rempe]

I agree with Wheel... 260-275 never hurt nobody! I look for 200* internal temp for a finish mark.

Posted from my Galaxy S2

 

[Nick Prochilo]

Just like everybody said so far, 225 - 275 will work fine, I like the 260 range. Somewhere around 200 finish temp will work. If vacuum packing, 190 will work as it cooks some more when re-heating.

 

[brewjester]

It's been flucuating all day. goes from 200-230-250F, then back down again. I've got the water pan filled when it was 250 then dropped to 230. Vents are wide open and seems like the charcoal and wood will only smoke for so long then it drops down again. I need some help on what I'm doing wrong. I've used about half a bag of Stubb's charcoal, 2/3 of bag Mesquite and Apple wood chips. What am I not seeing? any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[Greg Rempe]

Is the top vent open all the way? What about the bottom vents? Your average temperature is still fine!

Posted from my Galaxy S2

 

[brewjester]

Yes its open. All of them are open wide. I'm just worried it's gonna be tough. Thanks for relieving some concerns.

 

[Nick Prochilo]

Are you filling water pan with hot or cold water?

 

[bigwheel]

Dang I am getting Butt Hungry just thinking of all this stuff. Now what is needed on that fine pit is an insulator wind breaker gizmo. Those things loose a bunch of heat in the least amount of coolish breeze. I have a narrow diameter Brinkmann Gourmet which an inverted 55 gallon barrel works great. If you got the wide WSM not sure they make barrels that size. Might have to take off the handles or something like that. Which would really work out well cuz you could mount the handles on the barrel cuz it do get hot. This be for next time of course. In the meantime try to keep the wind blocked off of it. A big washtub upside down over the top works good too.

 

[Greg Rempe]

Foil it... That will keep it from getting tough.

Posted from my Galaxy S2

 

[brewjester]

already foiled it! water and juice mixture was hot, had to refill 2x. thanks guys for the help and we'll see what happens.

 

[john pen]

pics ??? Hello ???

 

[Nick Prochilo]

What John said + don't waste your juice, it doesn't add any flavor. It's only a heat sink.

 

[Crabnbass]

Sometimes you need to knock the ash off the coals every once in a while to keep them burning well during long cooks. Wish I had known that when I was starting out.

 

[bigwheel]

Great advice Crab. They are ECB's with fancy paint jobs. I been preaching this theory for years.

 

[brewjester]

While on the WSM

All said and done! Yummy!!!

 

[bbquzz]

Looks great and that is one clean WSM. Any reason you placed it on the bottom rack?

 

[Captain Morgan]

man that looks good