Just got my BDS. Have a 7lbs pork butt and a rack of pork ribs. If I put the butt in with 6 hrs of smoke, will I over smoke the butt if I put in another 3 hours of smoke when I put the ribs in at 6 hours left so that they are both done at the same time? (225 degrees oven temp).
Hi chrisc151;
Welcome to the forum.
Are you saying you want to apply a total of 9 hours of smoke to your butt? That could be too much smoke for the butt; although a few like it like that. What type of bisquette are you using?
Not too sure about them ending at the same time.
I have had 8 lb butts take 16 hours and others take 22 hours. It all depends on how stubborn the butt is. It will seem like the IT is ramping fast, then you will hit the stall at the 160s.
I have started them at 8 pm, smoked for 4 hours, changed water when smoke done at midnight and went to be with the IT at 125-130. Woke up at 8 am at it was at 162 and done at 1pm. Others took longer.
Better to plan the butt to be done earlier then the ribs, let the butt FTC for a while (can be up to 4-5 hours if wrapped tight). that would give plenty of time to do the ribs. If it was me, I would do the butt the day before, FTC, and fridge. Next day when the ribs are cooking, take the butt in a pan, add some beef broth, cover and reheat in the oven.
Thanks for the replies. Here is my plan:
1. Midnight, put on the butt with 6 (may go 4) hours of smoke.
2. Noon, put in ribs and add 3 hours of smoke
3. All to be done by 6PM, giving the butt a total of 18 hours cook time (if needed) and 7 or 9 hours of smoke). However, I will monitor the butt's IT and take out early or later if necessary.
4. Was thinking about apple smoke, but likely Hickory -- any thoughts here?
Also, does anyone like 'Alder' smoke? Came in my variety pack - never heard of using this wood.
Thanks!
If it was me I would put the butt in earlier. My thinking:
1) I like to change the water and throw away the spent pucks after the smoke and prior to going to sleep. The water gets full of grease and spent pucks and could be a fire hazard.
2) Allow sufficient time to FTC
3) Can always reheat
4) Butt is more forgiving timewise than ribs
Then again the butt could be done quicker and screw up the above plan. But that is the way I would do it and others would have different views.
Thanks GusRobin! What do you guys think about using a bigger water bowl? The one that comes with the BDS seems VERY small!
Gus has steered you in the right direction ;)
A bigger water pan is a great idea. The one it comes with is too small IMHO.
I like to use Alder for fish :)
a number of people use the disposable aluminum pans - a 9X13 (or may be 11) fits perfect.
Thanks everyone for your help. What a great place to help get started with the Bradley!
Welcome to the forum. I use alder for fish mostly. You might want to try just 4 hours smoke for the first go around. The bradleys deliver very intense smoke and you can over smoke stuff easily. I go 4 hrs on a 7 lb'er. I am with gus, you should start your butt at about 8 pm and then if it finishes put it into FTC.
Ribs are hard enough to get right by themselves, I still am not happy with mine. Ribs will take 5 or 6 hrs.
Definitely go with the bigger pan. I find the tin pans that come with those frozen chocolate cakes is just the right size.
Good luck.
Quote from: Quarlow on September 10, 2011, 02:29:48 PM
I find the tin pans that come with those frozen chocolate cakes is just the right size.
Hmmm- sounds like a good excuse to stock up on chocolate cake ;D ;D ;D
ok, I can't seem to get the oven temp timer on the BDS to go over 9 hours and 40 minutes... What gives? Am I doing something wrong?
Quote from: chrisc151 on September 10, 2011, 07:58:21 PM
ok, I can't seem to get the oven temp timer on the BDS to go over 9 hours and 40 minutes... What gives? Am I doing something wrong?
That is as high as it goes. Just re-set the timer in the morning when you wake up.
Thanks for the quick response. Thought there was something wrong. Given that smoking many meats takes longer than 9 hours, I would think they would take that in to account.
This forum is great!
Thought I would report back to you guys. Butt was great -- very moist. Ribs were very dry. Guess I need to baste them more often???
Thanks again for all your help.
Chris what was your temp and times on the ribs? If you tell us how long and your temps we might be able to dial you in.
So, temps were 200-220 for 6 hours (give or take a couple of minutes). Oh, and forgot to mention I am at 6K feet above sea level in Denver... Usually, the altitude causes food to need more cooking time, but... Also, I used apple smoke, not sure that matter, but thought I would mention.
what rack were the ribs on and where was the probe that you were measuring the temp in relation to the meat?
I had them on the second from the bottom and then a pork shoulder on the second from the top... I had my probe in the butt, not the ribs. Was trying to go off of time vs. temp. That the prob?
Quote from: chrisc151 on September 12, 2011, 09:57:50 PM
I had them on the second from the bottom and then a pork shoulder on the second from the top... I had my probe in the butt, not the ribs. Was trying to go off of time vs. temp. That the prob?
Where were you measuring the temp of the cabinet when you say it was 200-220?
Was going off the BDS's digital display.
If the meat was below the probe where the digital takes its temp, then you probably were seeing hotter temps than 200-220. So that probably dried out the ribs.
I would get a remote thermometer and put it under the lowest meat you have and go by that, If you don't get a PID, then you need to adjust the digital temp setting to match what you are seeing in the remote therm. SO if the remote says 250 and the Digital readout says 230m then set the digital to 210 and see what happens.
Thanks! Maybe I'll put the shoulder lower next time and the ribs on top. Plus, I think I need to baste the ribs more often. The ribs tasted great, but just dry.
look in the recipe section for the 3-2-1 method. This is primarily for spare ribs. 3 hours of smoke with rub on the ribs, 2 hours foiled ( I sprinkle with brown sugar, a tablespoon (or a little more) of butter, and drizzle with honey and double wrap --thats FL (foil love learned from Sparky)), then 1 hour (or until tender) with no foil - sometimes I smoke for this hour. With baby backs I do 2-2-1; with short ribs I do 2-1.5-1. In each case the last hour is flexible. I test with a toothpick to see if it is tender.
Perfect! Thanks. Looking forward to next time!