First Smoke - small Boston Butt

[garbadee]

Put stone ground mustard on butt then Bad Byron's Butt Rub and placed in frig overnight.

Got up at 6:30 AM and pulled butt from frig.  Added more dry rub and let sit about an hour.  Started warming smoker.

Finished my morning routine, put butt in OBS, and 4 hours of Special Blend Bisquettes. 

Ready to smoke:


Headed to work.  Called wife 5 minutes later and asked her to put water bowl in.  30 minutes later was informed I should have warned her there would be so much smoke when she opened the door to put in water...  Ahhh the best of plans.  My bad...

She turned off smoke generator when 4 hours was up and knocked last biskquette off the burner into bowl of water to be sure it would be out.  Kept monitoring temp.  Did have to adjust temp slide to compensate for generator being off.

The wife monitored the smoker while I was at work.  Kept temp a little over 200 degrees.  We had an obligation from 4-6PM so she checked it before she left home.  I got home at 6:30PM.  Box temp was 225 and meat thermometer was pegged (assuming a little over 200).

Finished product:



Covered in foil and rapped in towel for an hour then pulled pork.  Meat came out good but I think I could do better.  Ready to try another flavor wood.

Picking:


Lesson learned is we probably could have turned off smoker at 4PM and would have been fine.  Also, I have ordered a remote digital thermometer to better track temp and pucks to push last bisquette off burner.

Now for the questions.  I have 2 more Boston Butts and 2 racks of baby back ribs.  Would like to try a couple different rubs.  Open to suggestions for rubs, type of wood (only have special blend right now so may have to stick with that), and/or change in method to my technique above.  Remember this is only smoke #2 so don't make it too hard on me...

Also, how do people run probes to remote thermometer?  Through the vent on top???

[FLBentRider]

Nice job on the butt.

I would first ask what you thought could be better about this cook.

I use a lot of Hickory on pork.

You didn't mention what rack you put the butt on. I would avoid the bottom one if your smoker is not full.

I run the probes through the vent or the door.

[garbadee]

Think I would like to try Hickory too. 

As far as better goes, I dried it out a bit too much for my liking but it was close.  Hoping watching the temp a bit more will make it better.  Also I wasn't impressed with this rub.  It was OK but thinking I can find something better.

Used the bottom rack.  Will move it up next time if I'm not doing a large smoke.  Thanks for that advice.

There is a vent in the door?

When they say to scrape off the bark, how much do you scrape off?

Thanks for the note.

Ed

[classicrockgriller]

Pull your pork and chop up the bark and mix it with the pulled pork.

No vent in door, only in roof.

You can cut your finished IT from 200 plus to 190 to 195.

I'd still say you did good.

[MPTubbs]

You did very good.....for your first smoke?

From the picture I see the meat is moist....good job!

On butts and briskets I use 7 hours of hickory and have had no complants on it being to smokey.

[Caneyscud]

Good looking job on the butt - looks mighty delicious.  You did a great job on the first smoke.  The dark meat is my fav.

Repeat after me......  Do not scrape off the bark!   Do not scrape off the bark!  Do not scrape off the bark! 

Scraping off the bark, especially on a butt gets rid of a lot of flavor.  On a big butt, you have a mighty small bark to meat ratio.  You did out a piece of meat from the middle of a big butt, and you probably could not tell the difference between a smoked butt and one cooked in an oven.  But when you pull/chop everything (bark and meat) together it all falls in love and delivers to us a new creation - pulled pork barbecue!  Happy days are here! 

Rub - gonna be fun finding the one you and your loved ones love - terrible thing having to try all that barbecue!   ;D  I quite often don't use rub - just salt, pepper and some cayenne.  I like the smoke and meat to be the star.

There is no vent in the door - he meant to either run the thermometer lead wire through the vent on top of the smoker, or just through the door seal (between the seal and the frame) - just close the door on it.  There are pros and cons for either way. 

A little dry - then probably IT was higher than needed.  Another thermo could help with that - or use what you have, just monitor a little better and take the meat out as it reaches 200 .  Also test the thermometer for accuracy.   Boiling water is most always 212 if your thermometer can read that high. 

Wood - Hickory is an excellent choice, however, I am one who cannot discern much of a difference between woods except maybe mesquite - probably because of it's resinous nature. 

Next time - I wouldn't do much different on technique.  Seems solid.  Just watch IT a little better.  Many here will preheat the smoker to 250-265, put the meat in, then adjust the temp down to your desired cooking temp.  I would suggest 225.  The high preheat attempts to overcome the temperature drop because of putting a big piece of cold meat in the smoker.  I don't think you gain anything by going with a lower temp except longer smoke times. 

The baby backs will take a little different technique.  Mainly you don't monitor IT and the cook is much shorter than for a butt.  I usually rub and stick in the smoker at 225 (consistent eh!)  For me baby backs take anywhere from 3 to 5 hours usually around 4.  When they start looking done in say 3.5 hours or so, I start checking for doneness.  Is the meat shrinking and leaving the bone ends exposed.  If you pick up the end of a rack with tongs does the rack bend down.  Pull some bones apart - is it tender enough for you?  Stick a fork between the ribs and rotate - how much resistance?    There are also some very good techniques eschewed by others on the forum - usually indicated by numbers - i.e. 2-1-1, 3-1-1, 4-1-1, 3-2-1.  The first number is the number of hours of smoking nekkid.  Then you wrap the racks in foil with a splash of some flavorful liquid and sealed and put back in the smoker for the next number.  When that time is up, the rack is unwrapped and but back on the smoker nekkid for the remaining number of hours of the smoke (sauce is usually applied during this time also).  So 2-1-1 means 2 hours of nekkid smoking, 1 hour of braising in foil, and then 1 hour uncovered.  Baby backs don't usually need the long smoking time - there are more tender than spare ribs.  So the 2-1-1 or the 3-1-1 are good starting points.  These times are generally good for cabinet temps of around 225. 

[Tenpoint5]

You did a great job of prepping for "THE WIFE's" first cook. As I understand it your wife did all of the hard work of watching and slaving over the smoker while you was off screwing around pretending to be working. Shame on you for trying to take credit for all HER hard work!!!

The butt looks like it turned out just fine. How did it taste?

[OU812]

I was thinkin the same thing as 10.5  ;D

The butt looks good from here.

If its still a little dry next time, after the smoke, put a foil roasting pan on the rack below the rack your butt is on and fill it half way with liquid, I use beer, then when the butt is done you will have some good drippings. Put the drippings in the fridge wile the but is FTC then after the fat has become solid scrape it off and discard. Now you have some killer juice you can put back in the butt after you pull it.

[Ka Honu]

There are also some very good techniques eschewed by others on the forum ...

Caney - I think you meant "embraced" or "recommended" or something similar.  "Eschew" means to avoid or shun.

As I understand it your wife did all of the hard work of watching and slaving over the smoker while you was off screwing around pretending to be working. Shame on you for trying to take credit for all HER hard work!!!

I disagree.  It sounds like he did exactly what he should have.  A guy's gotta focus his energy and creativity wisely to ensure that things are done correctly.  This is often best done by assigning any actual labor and other menial work to others less suited to such demanding cerebral pursuits.  "Man up," Chris!

[garbadee]

Well I spoke too soon.  Had some of the pulled pork for dinner with and without the Vaunted Vinegar.  It was perfect.  Looking forward to this weekend. 

Thanks for the words of encouragement and advice.  Will keep you informed.

BTW, the Wife loved the comment 10.5!!!!!

Ed

[Caneyscud]

KH,  Good catch!  I had fat fingers, and meant to type enchewed.  Its in Shakespeare's english so it is in the KJV.  Thought it meant to embrace, (at least that is what I thought I learned), but now googling it - not too sure. 

But then again....

There are also some very good techniques eschewed by others on the forum myself, Pachanga, and others. 
                                                                               ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Ka Honu]

As my momma used to tell me, "Don't eschew with your mouth open."

[Tommy3Putts]

Good Job Garb.  I had similar issues with my first brisket in the bradley.  I've learned to embrace the "fat cap."  Tis better to have too much fat later, that can be trimmed, than to have trimmed away too much before the smoke.  My trimmed brisket didn't have enough fat on it.

[Pachanga]

Garbadee,

I eschew the small water bowl that comes with the smoker.  On a long smoke, it will end up having to be emptied of pucks and refilled as it becomes dry.  A disposable, half size steam table aluminum pan fits perfect in a Bradley.  Fill it with boiling water during the preheat phase.  If it needs more water, refill with boiling water.  This will help with any dryness issues, even though your photos look as if that is not a problem.  A photo of the pan is in this thread.

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=12061.0

A Maverick remote, dual probe chamber and meat monitor is a very good investment.  You can run the wires through the top vent or the door seal.  I choose the vent.

As Caney infers, monitoring IT will give you some clues as to when it is time to poke the meat to find that perfect temperature for pulling.  

I like to smell the smoke roll, so I use milder woods; mainly apple with some hickory and oak mixed in.  I concur with Caney.  The Bradley mesquite is too strong for my taste buds (and I come form mesquite country) but it is fine for short smokes.  

Smoking styles for ribs or any other meat is a personal preference.  While Caney and I are naked smokers, others prefer the numbers method.  Experiment and develop your own style.  Everything on this board should be considered  as guidelines or suggestions.  The Bradley makes smoking easier but there is still some art that is applied.

It looks like you are off to a great start.  You are already way ahead of me; my wife has never helped with the grunt work.  Nice job.

Good luck and continue,

Pachanga

P. S.  Eschew, in small West Texas towns, is defined a little differently.  In a sentence, it is commonly heard as follows.  "My daddy, heschewed on my a** for a long time when I wrecked the car."

 

[garbadee]

Thanks for the encouragement.  I put a picture of the Butt on my Facebook account and the wife posted "Yum. I loved your butt honey. You did a good job. "  My cousin told us to cut it out...

Anyway, got rid of the glass thermometer and have replaced it with the Maverick 73.  Also starting to drool over the Auber dual probe PID. 

Think I'll try seafood this weekend.  Shrimp, scallops and maybe fish.  Hope my Alder gets here but may have to stick with the special blend since it is all I have right now.

My friends at work say I am lying about having the Bradley since I have brought anything in to sample yet...

I do have one big problem with my Bradley.  I keep reading the forum and now am hungry all day!!!!!