200+ ATBs

[Scott.Trebble]

Hey all,

  It's been awhile since I've been smokin', so I'd just like an opinion or two.

My daughter's getting married Saturday at a campground and I'm smoking some pork butts for sandwiches and ATBs.

Right now, I've got 3 butts on, about 25 lbs for almost 12 hours @~200F, with about 5 hours apple smoke. They're at about 177F IT right now, so they'll come off soon, I guess?
Cool in foil for a couple hours, and then pull ??

I've got about 100 largeish jalapenos and 12 bricks of cream cheese and 6 packs of thin slice bacon. I halved the jalapenos and will probably use 1/2 a piece of bacon on each to get maximum # servings.
I've figured about 3-4 lbs of the pork for the ATBs.

Smoke them for about 2 hours at 220F ?? (that's about the max my OBS will hit ), hopefully I can get them all in in two batches! (how many 1/2shell ATBs fit on a rack?? I'm hoping 25 :-)

Then, since there's no power at the campsite, I will have to wrap the ATBs in foil, and re-heat them the next day on a campsite kitchen type stove, or perhaps a campfire. Any opinions/suggestions on this one??

[hal4uk]

ST, it might be a while till those butts are done @200...  You need to get them up to IT of about 195 to ensure you break down all the collagen (so it falls apart instead of being tough).  You might wanna kick your smoker up to 225

[Wildcat]

Actually I believe that by smoking at 200, you will be able to take out to rest at 180 to 185 with no problem. I smoke at 205 and take out at 190. Always very tender and juicy. You may find it will still take awhile to reach 185. It normally takes me 18 to 28 hours when doing two butts.

[Smokin Soon]

On the reheat thing, the bacon will not have the same crispness as it did after the cook. I did not care for it as a traveler.

[Scott.Trebble]

Thanx for the quick response ..this forum is awesome!
Anyhoo ..the butts got taken off about an hour ago at an IT of about 185F and are wrapped in foil in the microwave oven to rest. Will pull them as soon as I can, cause it's getting lateish.
I realize the bacon will not be so good after a re-heating, ...but such is life :-)
Do you think I should short the cook on the ATBs f I'm going to be re-heating??

[Scott.Trebble]

200 is about all I can get out of my OBS. When the day gets hotter, and the door stays closed...max is about 230..with the smoke heater on.
Maybe I could overvolt it?, ...or maybe my thermometer is reading cool...cause my 3 butts got to 185 out of the fridge in 12 hours @ ~200.?
They're looking great, by the way :-)

[GusRobin]

Instead of overvolting, do the mod to add the second element.
As far as getting higher temps, do you open your vent? Keeping it closed retains moisture  and lowers temps.

[Quarlow]

Scott if you are using the door thermo for the cabinet temp you maybe getting more temp than you think. Also if your temps are right are you using an extension cord. If you are then use one that is atleast 12 ga. and as short as possible. I made my own 15"er just for the smoker. And try to find an outlet that doesn't have anything else running on it. I have to unplug my computer and run a cord for it cause the only outlet I have that doesn't have a bunch of things plugged into it is the one next to my comp.
Try to check your cab temp with a probe thermo to see what your temps are. I use one just for that all the time. Welcome to the forum.

[Scott.Trebble]

Gus... it seems that Quarlow may be correct in that my thermometer may be reading low, as I got 3 butts..25lbs up to 185 in 12 hours @~200 by the door gauge.
I'm just using a short heavy gauge extension, so I'm sure that's not the problem.
I understand that keeping the vent closed will will retain moisture, but I'm unsure why it would lower the temp. I had it closed for the first couple hours, then noticed an excess of moisture so I opened it up, and I think the temp dropped a couple degrees ...could be from a number of factors though.

Just pulled the pork ...it's perfect !! The collagen was like butter :-) The bones just lifted right out.
Will wait till tomorrow to shred it though.      Do you guys wait till it's cold to shred ? assuming you will be re-heating it...?

[DTAggie]

I pull completely then reheat with some apple juice.  Welcome by the way!  Good luck with ABT-Atomic Buffalo Terds

[Habanero Smoker]

Gus... it seems that Quarlow may be correct in that my thermometer may be reading low, as I got 3 butts..25lbs up to 185 in 12 hours @~200 by the door gauge.
I'm just using a short heavy gauge extension, so I'm sure that's not the problem.
I understand that keeping the vent closed will will retain moisture, but I'm unsure why it would lower the temp. I had it closed for the first couple hours, then noticed an excess of moisture so I opened it up, and I think the temp dropped a couple degrees ...could be from a number of factors though.

Just pulled the pork ...it's perfect !! The collagen was like butter :-) The bones just lifted right out.
Will wait till tomorrow to shred it though.      Do you guys wait till it's cold to shred ? assuming you will be re-heating it...?

If you smoked/cooked it at 200°F, it probably was ready to pull at 175°F. I smoke/cook butts like that all the time and pull them at 175°F. I also find that bringing them to this temperature the meat is not as mushy.

Never completely close the vent. That will cause moisture and smoke to back up into the generator. Moisture and goo that is carried with the steam is not good for the generator.

As for why moisture will keep your temperatures down, that is because energy is needed to convert water to steam (evaporation). This energy is drawn from the heat the smoker is producing, those lowering your cabinet temperature. If you keep your vent closed or closed too much, this water will be trapped in the smoker. As it builds up, it will begin to condense, and then more energy is needed to convert it back to steam. So you want as much moisture to escape as possible, without opening the vent to wide to also cause the temperature to drop. Many smoke/cook with the vent wide open at all times. But I use a combination of vent openings; depending on what I am cooking and it's moisture content.

[Scott.Trebble]

Well, the first batch of ATBs is on!  ;D
I fit 24 on each rack for a total of 96. While those are smoking, we'll prepare 96 more!
Rotate the racks after an hour and cook for another hour; smoke the whole time... sound good?
Hopefully the mess is not too bad between batches. The filling was about 1/3 pulled pork and 2/3 cream cheese. We did half-shell jalapenos, and I filled them a little over-full...wasn't sure how much to fill them... and a half piece of bacon was enough to wrap them.

Habanero Smoker...thanks for the good advice on the vent.
I noticed when it was closed completely that my pucks were getting wet and falling apart, making a bit of a mess.

[Caneyscud]

200 ABT's wish I could be there to help alleviate your obvious over abundance!  Seriously, you sound like you are on your way to some great eating.  Just beware of the possible "Jalapeno Morning"! ;D