I just got a new smokette. Seasoned the first night, smoked a practice butt (5.8 lbs) the second night (2.5 hours/lb), then smoked 14.8 lbs of shoulder (1.1 hrs/lb) and just pulled out 17.5 lbs of butt (1.05hrs/lb) - Just a couple of questions for those in the know.
First couple of smokes I used a rib rub on the meat which is heavy on the brown sugar. I ended up with a heavy bark and the meat was a little drier than I had hoped. I'm guessing the rub caused the heavy bark, would the heavy bark cause the meat to dry out some?
I didn't rub the last butts at all and they came out the moistest (is that a word?)
It appears that the meat is plateauing around the 170 degree mark, does this make any sense? I can't stay and get good hourly measurements due to that thing called work but it seems that the internal temps get stuck around 170 for 3 to 4 hours. I always set the smokette to 225 degrees.
Getting ready for a large gathering so I've been freezing the meat in zip lock bags as soon as it's rested and pulled. I have added a little Apple mop to some of the bags (Okie's mix) but the rest hasn't been doctored before freezing. Any thawing and reheating advice is appreciated since I've never froozen food before. I will have access to a residential oven during the party.
Dumbest thing I've done so far - left probe in water while I was seasoning the smoker - it never worked again
2nd dumbest thing I've done - left replacement probe on during the whole 2nd smoke - now it doesn't work
Smartest thing I've done - read the forum
2nd smartest thing I've done (tie) - bought a 30 pack of 1/2 size aluminum trays at Costco - 5 bucks has really kept my messes down and I took advantage of discount beer prices while shopping at costco - had to get a cart for this.
Original Post
