Another Quick Question

I often start at 190* at 10:00 pm then kick the smoker up to 235* when I get up in the morning. I do the two stage to get more smoke and extend the cook time. My goal is to get an 8# butt to finish late afternoon. FTC till dinner. Figure roughly 2.25 hrs/lb with the low start. If your butt is smaller than this, start it later the night before or FTC longer. You can always kick the temp up to 250* or so if things look like they need speeding up.

Thanks Pags... Your explanation is exactly what i was thinking... I did not know i could start at 190*... Good to know ... and yes, i called the butcher this morning and he is getting me an 8# PB for pickup on Saturday with the 'gland' already removed (thanks to you guys on here i knew to ask them that question )

Also, from a lot of reading on here i know that with my first smoke i should start with one chunk of wood, but since the 2 stage method with the temps will be done here, should i maybe use 2 chunks in the wood box? I'm just a little afraid that one chunk will not penetrate the product, or should i not worry about that because one chunk will be enough? I guess i'm just a little worried that with the longer smoke time, one chunk will burn out and the 'smoke time' will not be as long as if i had 2 chunks in there.

again sorry for the questions, just a beginer and trying to learn as much as possible.

Wouldn't be much of a forum if noone asked questions, so no need to feel bad about that.

I'd use a couple chunks, maybe 5-6 oz for a pork butt. If you like more smoke, even a couple oz more.

Thanks Pags. I am pretty confident that even if i only used 1 chunk of wood (2 oz), it'd still be 'ok', but the smoky taste just wouldn't be there. But i also do realize that this is a passion or hobby that is always an experiment. If it's not with cuts of meat, it with wood, cook temps, changing ingredients in a brine or sauce.... But i've also been 'pre-warned' by reading on here... Only change one thing at a time .

Again i've very thankful for your input!


BTW, do you ever watch BBQ Pitmasters?

Yea. Here's the forum's thread on it. It's TVionized, but I still enjoyed it.

Thanks Pags... I saw an episode last night on TV and was wondering what you guys on here thought of it... I was expecting to see 'how' and 'what' and 'what ingredients' they use to cook... But wasn't what i thought... the thread just confirmed to me what you guys were thinking too.

Thanks for all your help Pags!

quote:

Originally posted by Pags:
Wouldn't be much of a forum if noone asked questions, so no need to feel bad about that.

I'd use a couple chunks, maybe 5-6 oz for a pork butt. If you like more smoke, even a couple oz more.

Pags,

What's the most oz of wood you ever used in your SM025? The most I've used in mine is 5.7oz.

BTW-made your meatloaf recipe last Sunday. Fantastic!

SmokinMAINEiac

Yep, I do the same as Pags. 180 before bed, then crank it up to 235 in the morning, unless it's for lunch then 235 all the way through.

I'd use more than one chunk of wood, 3-4 chunks. Also don't forget about the plateau, it'll get stuck around 165-170 for hours, don't worry about it. But after it gets out of the plateau, temps will rise much quicker.

And as for FTCing, you can safely hold it for a good 4-5 hours and it will still be plenty hot.

I've put in a couple 3-4 ouncers and left one or 2 pieces of wood cooked to charcoal and pretty well burnt. Don't know what that equates to since only small smoke was coming off the old chunks at the end of the previous cook. Did this when cooking big items like PB.

Glad you enjoyed the meatloaf. It's pretty tasty. My wife thinks it's too rich. I love it. I still haven't done it with horseradish sauce, but will probably give it a go after all the out of town company leaves after my son's wedding.

Thanks guys, i think i'll go with 2 chunks to start with this first time... Pags, i will be using your 2 stage cooking....

Tonight i'll be making Smokin's "Simple Brine II" and Smokin's "Basting and Serving Sauce"... This way they'll have 2 days to sit in the fridge and let all the ingrediants mingle!

quote:

Originally posted by Duck_Commander:

Tonight i'll be making Smokin's "Simple Brine II" and Smokin's "Basting and Serving Sauce"... This way they'll have 2 days to sit in the fridge and let all the ingrediants mingle!

You making the Simple Brine for the Pork Butt? They really don't need to be brined as they have enough internal fat of their own to stay nice an moist through the smoke. Especially when doing in a cookshack. Jer

no... I'm only going to apply a 'double' layer of rub on the PB. One layer about 2 hours prior to smoking. 30 min prior to smoking i'll get the PB out of the fridge and apply a second layer and leave it sit on the counter, and place in a 'cold' smoker, then turn the smoker on.

In the poultry forum i had a thread stating i'd be making the PB saturday night through sunday morning. when the PB is done i'll remove and FTC it, and then i'm going to smoke about 10 chicken breasts while the PB is in FTC. The brine i'm making is for the chicken. I am making the serving sauce Friday night.

I just wanted to make both liquids a few days in advance and store in the fridge to make sure they were cold, and to allow the spices to mix good.

Am i on the right track of thinking?

Spot on. Take pictures.

Awesome! I def will.

Hi Pags,

Do you find that you get a smokier flavor, with a deeper penetrating smoke, when you start at the lower temp?

I'm not Pags, but I've done a FEW this way. It is more for the convenience of being able to sleep.

PBs are just to dense to get a "deep" smoke flavor. I guess you could inject with liquid smoke?...LOL!

If you want more smoke flavor on the surface, just add more wood about half the way through the smoke...no rule against this. Bigger pieces of wood will smoke for a longer period of time.

I don't know if it penetrates more, maybe a little bit. But it will lay on more of a smoke flavor. Like Cal says, I also do the 2 stage to get the butts to finish a little later the following day and not have to stay up real late the night before.

By getting the butt to finish later, I need only FTC for a couple hrs or so. I haven't had good luck in having the butt stay hot to the touch during a 4 hr FTC, and I use an extreme cooler (guaranteed to hold ice for 5 days in 90* weather, therefore, it should hold heat very well also).

quote:

Originally posted by glennbque:
Hi Pags,

Do you find that you get a smokier flavor, with a deeper penetrating smoke, when you start at the lower temp?

Not so much a deeper penetration as much as an more pronounced smoke flavor.

PS. I'm not Pags either

so i made the brine and Smokin's Servin Sauce last night. I followed Smokin's directions to a "T"... Looked at how much liquid was in the stock pot and figured i'd make a double batch...

Well i brought it to a boil and then simmered for 15 min. Let cool and put it in the fridge before i went to bed. I have one question... After it was all said and done, i had ended up doubling every ingrediant in order to make this 'double' batch.. I'm not a garlic person, so i just used 6 cloves and did not double that...

I taste tested this sauce before storing in the fridge, and i'm thinking i should not have doubled the vinegar as well. It tasted a little too sour or tart or something for me... I left the chunks of galic and bay leaves in the sauce and into the fridge it went.

Do you think by sitting in the fridge the vinegar taste will calm down?

The acidity will mellow a bit but keep in mind, you're using it with pork. The resulting umami (richness of pork combined with acid from apple juice & vinegar) is what your final analysis should be based upon.

/Alton Brown rant

Thanks Max! That's what my father told me last night. He said maybe when it's on the pork it'll have a different taste.

Do you think i should leave the bay leaves in the sauce until i'm ready to strain it and use it, or should i take them out when i get home tonight from work?

Smokin's Finishing Sauce goes very well with pork butt and is not intended for drinking out of the bottle.

We're having 80 people over to the house the day after my son's wedding for a late lunch (lots of out of towners, newly weds don't leave for their honeymoon till the next day and want to party). We're having pork butt, hamburgers and hot dogs (that's what the Mrs. wants), BBQ baked beans, etc. I'm going to mix in Smokin's finishing sauce and some more rub when I pull the pork (2 sets of bear claws in transit), then have squirt bottles of his sauce, Memphis barbecue sauce, and KC type barbecue sauce on the side so folks can add what they'd like to their sandwich. Cole slaw for those "sammiches". I'll have enough pork butt to cover everyone cause the butt will get most all the attention.

I'd pull the bay leaves, but that's me.

PS I'm not Max either.

could you let me know how the 'bear claws' workout? i order and received "the fryer glove" this week (http://www.thebbqglove.com/The_Fryer_Glove.html) and i'll be using them to remove the product from the smoker and also to pull the pork.

i think i'll remove the leaves when i get home today from work... Also, i'm really new to smoking and cooking and all that stuff, however yes i am from Pittsburgh, so maybe i don't know what 'true' BBQ Sauce is, but i'm used to the really thick type of sauce. BUT i've had memphis style sauce before and really liked it. Is there some recipe's on this forum for Memphis?

Finally, and maybe i should email Smokin' from his 101 site, but is there anything i could put into his serving sauce to 'thicken' it up a little?

I've made this Memphis Sauce and really like it.

I wouldn't thinken Smokin's sauce, but that's me.

Thanks Pags. I think i'll try the Mephis next time i BBQ, which will probably be next week! LOL

Check out some of the 35 reviews on this sauce. Many like it. I've cut the pepper a tad on it. The Mrs has a sensitive tongue (taste wise).

?!

JC - Pags was refering to the the post he made about the Memphis Sauce.

thank you .

Just wanted to let you guys know that the PB just came out of the smoker...

Put it in last night at 9:30pm @ 190*
Bumped the temp up to 205* at 12:30am
Woke up at 6:00am and bumped the temp up to 225*
At 11:30am bumped the temp up to 250*.
1:00pm the thermo's were reading 195* internal.

Turned the 025 off and opened the door and what i saw before my eyes was an amazing transformation of Pork!!!

I put on my "The Fryer Glove" gloves and took the thermo probes out of the meet and when i tried to pick up the butt and move it onto awaiting foil, towel, and heater cooler, the darn butt totally fell apart in my hands. I had 3 big chunks of pork in my hands!!!!

I cooked with the 'fat' side down. When i lifted the pork up off the grate, the fat (or what was left of it) stayed on the grate and the meat was in my hands

Me, my father, my mother were all gathered around the smoker at this point and were picking at the pork... We looked like fly's on cow poo! This pork was AMAZING!!!! Good smoke taste, very very juicy, and very good bark, thanks to the 2 layers of the CS Rib Rub.

I took some before and after picks. I'll get some pics as i'm pulling it, and i'll upload them tonight. It's about time for me to put the chicken in the smoker!


PS... I was a little worried with Smokin's serving sauce when i tasted it as soon as i made it. I just tried some pork with this sauce and WOW! me and my dad were just standing there picking pork, dunking in the serving sauce, and stuffin our faces.... WE didn't even say a word, because we were smiling!!!!!! I'll get those picks up later tonight guys!

Thanks to all for the advice, and thanks to Pags for the info on the temp settings.

Oh yea and i used 4oz of hickory.

Nice job Duck.

I remember PB as being the 1st smoke on my Brinkman offset back in the mid 90's. That experience of tasting the REAL DEAL for the 1st time is a mind blower. The ease of cooking one in a CS smoker should almost be illegal

quote:

Originally posted by Duck_Commander:
Put it in last night at 9:30pm @ 190*
Bumped the temp up to 205* at 12:30am
Woke up at 6:00am and bumped the temp up to 225*
At 11:30am bumped the temp up to 250*.
1:00pm the thermo's were reading 195* internal.

It is a Cookshack after all... I would have done three things differently.

1) Don't get up at 12:30.
2) Don't get up at 6:00.
3) Tell everyone that's what you did.

Set it before you go to bed, and bump up the temp whatever time you wake up in the morning. Without an alarm clock.

Glad things worked out for you. It gets better from here. Did you remember to harass your dad for doubting you when you bought the smoker?

I almost hate to admit it, but I never cooked/smoked a pork butt until 2.5 yrs ago when I got my Cookshack. Now all my friends and family talk about my PB, and I never (with one notable exception) order PB at a restaurant. These thaings are just great, aren't they?

Glad you enjoyed it, and way to go.

I agree with Andy, but I do have a 22yr old son and can tell you that 12:30am is a little early for his bedtime...LOL!

CONGRATS!...glad it worked out well for you, make sure you start keeping good notes on all of your cooks. They will come in handy.

Thanks for the good words guys.

Andy - Cal is right, i'm only 27 and on the weekends i'm up till 2 or 3am... I guess i was a little nervous being a first time smoker, i was watching the temps every 30 min or so... And i was up until 2:30am last night. We had a really bad thunder storm last night and the lightning and thunder woke me up at 6am.... so i just stayed up and watched the temps before i had to go to church. Boy, it was really hard paying attention at mass today because i'll i was thinking about was my PB at home on the smoker. LOL OH and yes, my dad kept saying how good everything was, and how "juicy" the chicken was... My girl friend gave it 2 thumbs up. My mom thanked me numerous times for making such a good meal. My aunt and uncle came over and they couldn't believe how good i (the cookshack) made the PB and chicken. Oh and my mom made home made mack-salad, slaw, and something we call 'cheesy potatoes'. Oh yea and everyone raved about the 'idea' of putting slaw on the samich and about Smokin's serving sauce!!!

here is the PB with the second coating of rub just before going into the smoker.




Here is the PB fat cap down in the smoker.




12.5 hrours later.




Smokin's Basting and Serving sauce




New Pitmaster LOL




Finished product





I was so excited to serve and eat the pulled pork and chicken, that i forgot to take a picture of the samich with slaw and the chicken. LOL

You youngsters! Although you're getting a head start, wish I had bought a smoker years ago, didn't know what I was missing. Always fun to see those brand new shiny smokers. Mine looks like a coal mine. Although I finally had to scrape mine down last week since the crust on the top started to fall on the product I was cooking.

Great job, keep the stories coming!

Coal mine. Great visual.

Thanks Guys! My father is now 'planning' on having me smoke a leg of lamb... our family loves BBQ lamb... Although you don't eat it with BBQ sauce, but the people who make it for us, smokes it really good. So this might be a little bit of a challenge. I can't wait to do some baby back's in this thing! i lost 30 lbs this summer, i have a feeling it's all about to come back! LOL.

Thanks for the help guys and i'll see ya around the forum.