First, thanks to all the posts and information to get me started...
A little background here. I've been reading the forums and made the plunge on a Amerique smoker about two weeks ago.
I followed the guides on seasoning the smoker and also chose to smoke a Pork Butt for my first time as that is what many of you experienced folks suggested.
I went with an 8.5# butt and about 3.5 oz of wood and cooked it at 225^ to an internal temp of 197^.
I put this in at 8am Sunday and it took 18 hours to finish. Needless to say, at 2am on Monday I had gone to sleep and trusted that the hold feature on the Amerique would work as it was supposed to. When I woke up at 7am, almost 24 hours later from when I first put it in, I popped open the door to see that it did in fact work. The perfectly cooked butt was ready to be pulled and eaten for breakfast. It was moist and just fell apart as I was pulling it.
Here are some observations and questions that I had.
1. Is 18 hours about right for one 8.5# butt? It seemed like that was a bit long. Could this be the new smoker and should I expect cook times to improve with use?
2. When I woke in the morning appox 4.5 hours after it hit 197^, the hold feature was back down to 145^. The internal temperature probe was also measuring 144^. Is that correct, or should it has held it at the 197^ the probe was set for. This was probably my biggest concern on the operational point. The temp outside was at about 10^ that night.
3. Is there a way to set the hold temperature, or how does it know what temp and how long for different cuts of meat? Is there a limit as to how long it can "hold" a meat. Any others have experience or a time limit they go by?
4. The 3.5 oz wood seemed light and it really didn't seem to penetrate to far into the meat. Will more wood penetrate the smoke flavor further, or just make the outer part more smokey?
5. I made Okie's finishing sauce and was wondering about the consistency and application. After preparing it, it didn't really thicken at all and was still pretty watery. Is it supposed to thicken up, or is it just to be poured over the pulled pork to soak in. I applied it at about 1/2 cup sauce per pound and it tasted great. I was just visualizing more of a thicker BBQ sauce consistency.
Thanks again for all the information and I look forward to your thoughts and suggestions.
Hopefully at some point I will be able to offer a tip or two myself.
Thanks,
smack
Original Post