I bought another brand and returned it, after further research I believe the Bradley will be my choice. Anyway, next weekend I am doing 20 pounds of Boston butt - two pieces. The first question is: What time the night before do I start the meat to have it done by Noon. Also will hickory work for the smoke?
Welcome aboard. You should probably plan to cook at least 18 hours and possibly 30 hours for 2 butts that size if you do the entire cook in the Bradley. It takes me 18 to 30 for two 7 to 8 pounders cooking at an average of 205 F cabinet temp to an internal meat temp of 190. I recommend planning at least 24 hours. If it is done early you can FTC for 4 or 5 hours.
18 to 30?? Realy up to 30 hours?
I have had 2 eight pounders at 225 take 20-22 hours. I always make my butts the day before, pull, put in the fridge and warm in a crock pot the day of the event. Takes the stress out of timing. Some times you get a stubborn butt.
Quote from: Peborg on May 30, 2012, 07:36:19 PM
18 to 30?? Realy up to 30 hours?
Yes - sometimes it takes up to that for the second one to get done. Keep in mind that I cook at an average of 205 and with the Bradley you are cooking with a light bulb and minature hot plate. This is also taking the meat temp to 190. Cooking as low as I do, I rarely take it to 190. Sometimes 170 is high enough. You should go by the fork test with butts.
After the smoke period in the Bradley you can always move the butts to your houe oven where the heat is more even and better controlled. As WC said earlier, the Bradley is essentially an Easy Bake Oven powered by 5 100 watt lightbulbs once the smoke period is completed.
20 lbs can easily take 20 to 30 hours, depending on the meat and other conditions, a rule of thumb is 1 hr to 1.5 hour so plan ahead.
Welcome to the borads, I agree with the others, that will take a while
keep the vent open
Welcome to the forum.
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Welcome and how did they turn out?
There going on tomorrow at 3 pm, hopefully ready by noon on saturday
Welcome aboard.
If you can get them in earlier, might be better
Like wildcat said - If they happen to finish early, you can always FTC them for a few hours - Foil (wrap them in aluminum foil with a splash of apple juice), Towel (wrap that inside of a large towel), Cooler (place into a sealed cooler - without ice) and let sit for a few hrs. Residual heat will help further break down connective tissues inside the butt. You'll be happy with the results.
And Hickory is a FINE FINE wood to smoke the butt's with! Also -- if you haven't read about it before -- do NOT panic when:
1 -- The Bradley is way off temp. Especially at the beginning when the smoker unit is on ... it will calm down after a few hours and stabilize if you don't open the door.
2 -- Your meat stalls at 150 or so for HOURS ... I mean HOURS and HOURS. It's called "The Stall" and is well documented. It could seriously take 10+ hours to get from 150 to 155 to 160. Once it hits 160+ it resumes a reasonable rate of cooking. If the stall scares you -- you can "Texas Crutch" the meat to get it beyond the stall faster (about 1/2 the time) .. But it's just as good to just let it (slowly) power through it ... just make sure you have the time. :)
Don't forget to season your new Bradley!! It really is important. Also don't forget to spray (insert your favorite PAM like spray here) the racks AND the drip pan on both sides for easy cleanup! Also remove the 2 damn little stickers on the drip pan (it may seem obvious to do so, but not for me and now I have 2 charred pieces of paper that I can't remove).
Read the forums -- lots of tips on Butt making!
Welcome aboard the journey!!
137 and counting, I have until noon tomorrow. I took the pick quick when I added water.(http://img.tapatalk.com/621eaa13-a427-a85f.jpg). Basically if they get done by 10:00am it would be great. 12.5 hours from now.
you are going to hit a stall at about 160 range where it will not rise in temp for 2-3 hours. Don't panic, and don't raise the temp. That is natural and is getting the meat tender.
If I stop the smoking at 140-150 do I close the vent? Or should I keep smoking
Leave the vent open.
I have read about this for two weeks and I keep running into questions. Is it common to stop smoking after 140 and does the meet stop taking the flavor?
Quote from: muebe on June 08, 2012, 06:32:08 PM
Leave the vent open.
And at 140 you're done smoking but keep that vent open. You have to remember that the smoke that a Bradley puts out is very concentrated very pure smoke. The vent needs to stay open to let the moisture out.