BB's & Pork Butt Cooking Tips

Except for chicken, I always try to rest meat at least a couple of hours. Briskets and butts I rest longer than ribs. If you put wrapped ribs with wrapped butts, the mass of the butts will help keep the heat up on the ribs.

You can always wrap two slabs of ribs together if you need to keep warm longer or you can always warm on grill or in oven at later time. I'm with EZ on the rest time.

Slim

The moment that comes in, hook it up, set the temp and let it smoke overnight. Monitor it for the first hour to make sure pellets are running and it comes up to temp.

Like all electronics, shipping can be tough on them and you need to call CS ASAP if it doesn't work.

If it was me, I'd do on PB to practice on Friday, ribs on Sat and cook as I indicate below.

You're asking pretty basic questions, are you new to butts and ribs?

Rule one. NEVER plan your first cook be a big cook. Just not the best option. The key issue is timing and we're not baking cakes here, meat has a funny way of doing it's own thing when it wants.

But we'll help.

How big are the butts? the problem will be trying to time it for an evening eat. They'll take "approximately" 12 hours, plus or minus depending on the size. The safest thing to do is put them on at midnight. Here's how.

And you'll see why you don't want to do this for your first cook.

One of the features of the FE is the cook and hold. But use that to your advantage. Set the "cook" temp at 180 and set the time for 4 hours. Set the HOLD temp for 250. At the end of 4 hours, it will go to HOLD but at the higher temp (you can set hold for any temp, 140 or otherwise).

Start checking when you wake up. If you're REALLY new, you can get up at 4am and check to make sure it went to 250.

You'll be pulling them off between 10 and 4, just depends on a lot of factors, the size especially. Use the FTC method to hold (Foil, Towel, Cooler). Two butts will hold for a long time.

What size of BB's. It matters. Small vs. Loin backs.

I HIGHLY recommend a practice run on Saturday for the ribs. You want to figure out the timing. For me? I do all my ribs at 275. FE taught me that and I love that temp. They could be done around 3 hours, depending.

Oh, did I say don't wait until Sunday to try this the first time

Thanks Smokin,

I'm not new to smoking, just new to pellets and the FE100. Unfortunatley, my unit won't arrive until Friday evening. My shipment was delayed due to weather on your end late last week.

Ribs are small.

What's the minimum burn-in time?

Four hrs will get you a little smoke,and it will improve after several cooks.

When you start,and with a mostly empty cooker,expect some spikes in temp.

If you are running at 225*-250*,even 100* wouldn't be unusual.

Just open the door and dump some heat-like other cookers.

Seems all ours did it about 3-4 times, over that many hrs.

It will settle down after that and get better,with each cook.

Those bright walls scare the therm.

Update-I'm going with St. Louis cut spares instead. I'm really hoping this thing arrives in working order after Smokin's comment.

I'll try to run it all Friday night to break it in, and then start the Butt's on Sat. evening finhsi them up and move on to the spares.

I have used two brand new pellet cookers at contests without any seasoning. No problems.

quote:

Originally posted by SlimJim:
Update-I'm going with St. Louis cut spares instead. I'm really hoping this thing arrives in working order after Smokin's comment.

I'll try to run it all Friday night to break it in, and then start the Butt's on Sat. evening finhsi them up and move on to the spares.

FE taught me this on spares, and I always recommend it.

275, 4 hours. That's it. maybe 4 1/2 for fall off the bone or large ones, but you can check them easy enough and leave them in.

I'm with FF. Turn that puppy on, once you're sure it's working, do a PB Friday night and see how it goes.

You're cutting it close, we'll help where we can.

Here is a tip. When it is uncrated ,open the door,open a beer and look at the best thing you ever did for cooking. Then realize that it will not act right until the inside is BLACK. Don't get worried if the first few rounds are not perfect. It takes time to season it and LEARN it. Congrats and good luck!!!!

Excellent post!

I'm getting excited. I have been sleeping on this decision since December, kinda nice to take my time with such a big decision, read, learn, and study. May have to move up my purchase date. Have to wait until after Valentines Day, when I give my wife her diamond ear rings. After that she won't care what I get and when.

Tom,

Meat up or down and do you flip?

In an FEC,I cook meat up and do not flip.

Eddy's technique gets you very close to where you want to be.

This is with a few slabs flat on the rack.

Slim,

The reasoning for "fat down" really applies in the FE. You tend to get a lot of direct heat on the bottom two racks and the fat server more as a heat sink than anything else.

I would suggest moving it slightly during the cook. If you leave it in one place for 12 hours, the fat will melt into the rack and ruin the whole thing when you try to pull it. Trust me, been there -- done that.

Russ

Now you guys are confusing me!!! Couple more questions:

1) For the ribs, if I want a smokier rib like a stick burner should I do them for a while at a lower temp and then go up?

2) Smokin-I think you we're talking about the butt. So what I'm hearing is fat down on the butts and move them around from time to time. They'll be on frogmats as well.

If you want smokier like a stick burner (oversmoked to me)

Yes, you have to cook it at the lower temps to generate more smoke. The pellets, at higher temps will just burn so clean you get less smoke.

Enough questions (I know it arrives tomorrow and it's killin' you waiting.

Let's get cookin'

Butts came out awesome and are pulled and panned. Ribs are still on the cooker. I took the temp up to 275 for the last 45 min as my Maverick tells me it's only been 220* around the ribs for most of the cook.

Ribs still weren't done after 4.5 hours. I had to finish on the grill at my destination. About another 30 min. They came out great and everyone loved them.

Again, I'm assuming the fact that beacuse the temp on the grate was only 200-225 that they were cooking slower. Not sure why the grill grate temo was running soo much lower. Weather maybe? Didn't have this issue with the butts.

This is the reason we recommend all new FEC folks read the FEC forums.

It is our actual book and doesn't take that long.

That way,you have run most of the several hundred possibles thru your mind,and you, and we ,know specifically where to guide you.

Also,the person that knows your answer may be gone for the week,and you may already have the grill heated.

I was confused by your comment. Just realized that I misread the 250* and it should have been 275* for the ribs all along. Too much info passing thru my aging brain I guess. So I was following the advice, just screwed it up !