So tonight is the night for the first cook on the sm 045. I have 2 questions, is 3 oz of apple wood too much? Also does anybody put a drip pan under the butt or just line the bottom with foil and let it drip? I usually don't trim the fat cap much, but was thinking maybe the juices dripping on the smoker box might produce some flavor.
Thank you
Replies sorted oldest to newest
I let the juices drip on the box. I think they burn off a little and produce some extra smoke flavor. I don't what your ambient temp is but at my house it is -4 deg F. The fats congeal in the bottom pan and produce a cone that can occlude the drain hole so I have to check it every now and then and remove the pyramid.
Thank you yes it's cold tonight about 4 for the low, guess we will see if the sm045 can keep up the heat.
I've cooked down in the minus temperature range many times with my sm066. It should hold the temp just fine. I'll be doing a pork butt Friday night and it may be in the minus territory then. We have been running as low as -19 or so the last few days up in the Dakotas. I sometimes have problems with my external thermometers when the temp goes low.
Now that's cold I appreciate the information, I live in the Western Mountains of North Carolina tomorrow plus 5 and minus 5, the fact that Cookshack has a smaller heating element was a concern of mine in the cold, I will be running a graph so it will tell the story. Since I'm new to electric smokers I see most of the time it says not to pre heat the smoker I was wondering if that holds true in the cold climate?
Thank's again
Ernie
Perfect just what I needed to know, that's what I will do.
Thank's again
Agree with everything here. For your 9 lb butt, 3 oz sounds about right; I might use 3.5 oz. but that's just my preference for smoky pulled pork. I've never used more than 4 oz in my SM066 for anything.
Thank you good info.
Please report back on your results!
Sure will.
I'm a tad late so here is my half penny input: Too little smoke is far better than too much. Go light and work your way up. Good luck!
Not to late I'm getting ready to put it on, do you think 3 oz of apple is ok
Jay1924, the first smoke is in and not too bad, had a power outage while I was asleep but caught it in time. Used 3 0z of Apple wood and the smoke flavor was on the lighter side but not too bad, wrapped at 165 and smoked until 203. I don't like a strong smoke flavor so it was good for me. I went bare bones on this one no spritz, no injection,I applied rub and that was it, I will have to say I was impressed it was a lot better than I thought it would be, everything we have been taught about smoking with smoldering wood actually works in very small amounts, sorry no pictures didn't even think about it. We had a 4 dog panel and I got 4 paws up LOL sorry couldn't help myself. The grand kids keep going in to the kitchen after supper to get another piece of pork.
Excellent, Mountain Man! Rub only is my method too. I don't even wrap since I like a nice thick bark. Glad it was a hit. Happy holidays!
Congrats.........
You're on the road..Enjoy.
mm
Thank you
A couple of pictures from Christmas Eve pork butt. Injected with Butcher BBQ Pork Injection for about 6 hours and then used Meat Church Texas Sugar Rub on first followed with Meat Church Holy Voodoo Rub. Had a pretty good bark on it. Used about 2oz of hickory. The pork butt was pulled and used for pork tacos which seemed to be enjoyed by the 20 folks over Christmas Eve. I haven't used the Amerique very often since I picked up a FEC100 but with the cold weather I went the easy route for me. Smoked at a low temp overnight 210 to 225 degrees, in at 7:30pm and done at about 1pm, internal temperature 202 and probe tested for tenderness, then FTC until time to pull.
