Okay to finish in the oven

I just got my model 50 Cookshack and have not done butts yet but with my previous Charbroil water smoker I often pulled the butts and finished in the oven. I had difficulty getting that smoker over 200 degrees. Sometimes the butts would plateau at 170 for a long time. Remember, the meat is really only absorbing the smoke during the first few hours (some say until it hits about 140 degrees). So, the smoke flavor is already there.

I usually put them in the oven at about 300 and just used an instant read thermometer to check temps until it hit 190. Then you could foil for an hour or two.

I love to cook and love good BBQ but I am practical as well. I will not necessarily wait 18 hours for a butt to cook if I have a way to speed up the process and the flavor/end results are the same. There certainly is no law against finishing in the oven.

Guess I should make it known, I'm looking for general Que info. I don't own a Cookshack...yet.

I do this often, especially when cooking for others. I'll smoke a brisket or butt and take it to 180 deg or so. From here you can freeze/refridgerate and give to others or eat it later yourself. Just put it in the oven at 250 until it reaches the desired internal temp.

tj, I'm cooking on an offset and several times have had the same problem that you described. Here's what you do. After you've gotten your butts up into the plateau just wrap in foil, insert a Polder type remote thermometer and put them in a 300 degree oven. They'll be done in a jiffy and will be just as good as if you'd finished them in the smoker

No, I think the issue here is to address why it's taking so long. I NEVER had a butt take 2 or 3 hours per pound in my smokette. Ever.

I think the symptom needs to be solved, not just figure a work around.

Not argueing with experience here but found in the short time I have been smoking in my CS that all meats go from that 45-50 counter temp at the beginning to something short of the temp goal and then levels off and is slow to finish. I think the cooler meat early requires the stat to cycle the heating element on more often in the smoker therefore raising the temp a bit quicker in the beginning than the end. I found on the last few butts I did that the meat seems to reach a plateau and then raises at a slower rate. If you need to rush it along a little at this point, turn up the temp on the smoker to 250 rather than 225 and in 20 minutes or so you will begin to see some internal meat temp increase. I still think patience and keeping the door closed pays off though and don't think it is any more expensive to cook in the CS than the oven so good cook records and pre-planning go a long way toward our successful cooking efforts.

I have found that it takes around 18 hours give or take never longer. This time of year it is cold enough out side I put everything in the smoker before I go to bed then I get up around midnight and plug her in. I always have hot food for dinner.

I have a 12 pound well seasoned whole pork shoulder (minus the shank) in the fridge now waiting to go in the smokette early on friday morning. I took all the skin off one side and will face it down. I will load the wood box up with plenty of cherry and apple wood and smoke at 225*F until done. I don't care how long it takes. It will be shredded for lots of BBQ sammiches. It will be good, that's what counts.

Well, actually I went ahead and put it in the smoker this afternoon at 1630 hours, because of impending rain moving in. Post ta get light off and on showers, then steady cold rain moving in tomorrow night. I also decided to put the skin side down, since it has plenty of fat marbled in it anyway. I might even decide to turn the smokette up to 250*F in the morning.

I can taste those sammiches already.

Tjthresh,

Here is what I did last summer on a camping trip.Took my gas water smoker and four frozen butts packed in ice. This was on a Saturday, meal was next Firday at 1.00 oclock.

Pulled butts out thawed and rubbed, repacked in just ice.I order to get the time to cook the butts, to have ready for the 1.00 oclock meal i would have had to stay up all night.

So I started the butts the day before and in about 10 hours I was at 140 degrees. Pulled butts cooled slightly, wraped in tinfoil repacked in ice. Next morning took the butts out of ice opened up tinfoil pack added some honey apple juice mixture. Resealed packets, put them in one of those old roaster ovens, By the way the butts were at 37 begrees whem I took them out of the ice chest.

I than started for the 190 degrees so I would have pork for slicing. As it turned out I restarted them a little to early and ended up with with a temp of 205, more of a pulled pork temp.

To tell you how they turned out, I had one lady that was there from the Carolinas, Who said that she had eaten a lot of BBQ in here life and that back home they BBQ a lot, but my Smoked butts were the best she had every eaten.

So to answer your question, and agree with many others on the form. I see nothing wrong with finishing in the oven and I am not so sure that it does`t improve your end resolts.

Charlie

Thanks for the info guys.
I've decided that I'm going to do 3 butts on my CharBroil electric bullet smoker.

I'll have to put 2 on one rack and one on another. I'm guessing that I would have to rotate these at some point to get them to cook evenly.

I'll start them around midnight on Saturday. That should give me plenty of time to get them finished this time.

Will Wing It - I was thinking about taking advantage of the low temps here as well. Ever think about just getting a timer? Like the ones you can plug lamps into when your on vacation? I sometimes put ribs in when I run home for lunch, but find my self wishing it wouldn't turn on until around 2 O'clock as I like to eat late.

I have thought about a timer, but mother nature has a built in timer in me. Also I would worry that the timer didn't go off. I would hate to wake up and find out I didn't set it right or something happened and blow my dinner.