Follow up on my 62lb smoke

[Mikecosta]

With the help of a lot of people on this board we developed a plan for a 100 lb two stage pulled pork smoke on a BD6 rack smoker.  The plan was to do 2 X 50lb smokes over two weekends culminating in a 200 person church feed on June 28th.   The plan was to put 4 hours of smoke on 50 lbs of butt and to finish it off in an oven, uncovered with a little bit of apple juice/water in the bottom of each pan.  I deviated from the plan and ended up doing every thing in the BD6.  The following are the details of the smoke.

I rubbed/wrapped/refrigerated 8 butts totaling 62lbs.   I pre-heated the smoker(317F). it took 57 min. After loading the 8 butts the oven temp went to 154F.  The meat internal temp was 52F and the BD6 oven temp reading was 225F.  I was very surprised at the differential between my temp readings and the BD6 readings.  My readings were from an oven probe located in the middle of the oven 3/4 up.  The meat readings were from a meat probe in a butt in the 5th row.  After a couple of hours things seemed so easy I made a decision to complete the cook in the BD6 and not transfer to the oven.  After 12 hours  my oven probe read 213f, the meat temp was 143 F and the BD6 oven temp reading was 225F.  The BD6 oven temp  indicator over the 12 hours went from 225 up to 285 down to 185 and back to 225 at the 12th hour.  What this reinforces is that you really Need  accurate independent probes of your own or you will go crazy trying to address the swings in temp.  My oven probe showed steady progress for 154F to 213F (at the 12th hour.
The internal butt temp hit 145F after 5 hours and stayed there for 8 hours.  THIS WAS MADDENING!!

At the 15th hour the 2  butts on the bottom nearest the heating element were at 190F. I then removed them(wrapped and in the cooler for 2 hours,pulled then vacuum wrapped).  The same was done at the 16th hour and the 17th hour.  The last 2 butts were done at the 19th hour. 

It was easy but I was amazed at the variability of the process.  The 4 hour difference between first and last butts. How long they stayed at 145F(8 hours).  I used the RoMan puller attachment on my power drill and it  was great. It pulled each butt in about a minute.  I wound up with 37lbs of pulled pork starting with 62lbs.  Exactly 40% shrinkage.  I will be doing the same process next week but after doing it once the second time will really be a breeze.  Again This was made so much easier by great people willing to pass on their knowledge to rookies like myself.  BY THE WAY I COULDN'T RESIST A PULLED PORK SANDWICH AT 4 AM IN THE MORNING.  IT WAS WONDERFULL!!

[FLBentRider]

Thanks for the update Mike.

Temp swings are a fact of life without a PID. Pork butts in particular do not care about swings.

Rotating racks should even out the cooking times a little.

I measure the temp just below the lowest butt. If you measure above the meat, it has a cooling effect, this means that the meat below the probe is getting a higher temp than you are measuring.

[TestRocket]

Mike,

Congrats! I like it when a good plan works out and it sounds like you got it done! I know what you mean about using an accurate independent probe. I'm setting up to use my OBS in a few hours and I decided to check the thermometer built into the door. Its reads low by 17 degs in boiling water. That helps to understand the difference from it and my other probes on my last two smokes. Good luck on the second half of your cook!

[DTAggie]

Good job Mike.  You will have some happy folks soon.

[classicrockgriller]

I stand and applaude.

Wish I could see it, but we have no pictures to look at!

Boo Hoo!

Congrats on a Job well done.

[Mikecosta]

I took some pics.  I now have to figure out how to post them.

[KevinG]

This should help get those picutres up.

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?488-Answers-To-Bradley-Smoker-FAQ-s&p=768#post768

[KyNola]

Way to go Mike!  Sounds like you got this under control.  Won't give you any advice because my much more learned friends have been here before me but congrats on not panicking when the butts stalled with the IT for several hours.  That's when the magic happens.

Nice job!

[DarqMan]

Big time KUDOS!!!  Done like a real pro!

Now about those pics ;D

[EZ Smoker]

So you've got 37 pounds of pulled pork in the freezer, and your doing the rest next weekend, then you serve it at the church?  That's awesome!   Keep us updated as this unfolds.