Can I salvage my butt? (Failed heating element) D'Oh!!!

[WideGlideMike00]

Was smoking a butt on my new (but seasoned) BDS.

IT of the butt was up to 170* and looking fine. Cabinet temp was a  beautiful steady-eddy of 230* for several hours. Went to change the water and noticed the cabinet temp had plummeted.  :o

Hmmmm... unplugged the unit, ("rebooted" haha) and set everything up again. Smoke gen works, but even after an hour, the heating element - nothing. I could put my finger on it and it was not even warm. Immediately called Bradley customer service. No problem, new element on the way.

So! Last known IT of the butt was 170. Recommendations on what to do with it. Put it in the home oven and bring it up (slowly) to 195-200*? Or shred or chop and enjoy now?
 

[muebe]

Sounds like you caught it early enough...Move it to the oven for the finish ;)

[pensrock]

Yep, set your oven to 225 or so and put the butt in a pan, a little splash of apple juice is a good thing. Wait till the IT comes up and enjoy.

[OU812]

Yep,,, finish in the oven.

But I would keep the butt on the Bradley rack and set the rack on top of the pan.

That way your bark wont be affected by the liquid in the pan, you want about an 1/2" of liquid in there when your done cooking.

I would just put water and a beer in the pan and dont let it go dry.

Then after the cook pour the drippings in a glass bowl and place the bowl in the fridge so the fat will come up to the top and become solid.

Discard the fat and what you have left is some really good pork base to add back to the meat or it makes for some killer gravy.

[WideGlideMike00]

Great advise - thanks. Covered or uncovered at this point?

[WarriorMedic]

Uncovered.  I feel your pain Mike, I lost my heating element after one weekend on the new BDS.  Customer service had a new one to me in three days.  Apparently you got one of the elements from the older supplier.
OU812 is giving sound advice - I did the same thing, following his directions, and it came out great, plus made the house smell AWESOME.

[OU812]

Yep uncovered.


Works pertty good dont it WM?  ;D

[beefmann]

looks like you caught it at the right  time and  move it to the oven till finished

[ghost9mm]

Hey !!! let us know how you made out, alot of the fellas like to know if the advice they give works out...picture are good too...

[OU812]

Hey !!! let us know how you made out, alot of the fellas like to know if the advice they give works out...picture are good too...

Ditto.  ;D

[WideGlideMike00]

Alrighty then - salvaged! Thanks to the encouragement and sage advise of the forum members, here is the outcome. Albeit a hybrid butt, but salvage was the goal and I think I surpassed that. I put the 165* butt on the Bradley rack, over a foil pan (with some "extra" beer) and set the home oven to 225* until the IT read 200. Removed and then covered with foil while a few margaritas were consumed and voila! (probably not the "official" FTC way but hey, when you are buzzed and hungry... well...)

So I can say this is my first official butt, and was absolutely delicious even though it was not done the way I had planned.

If this butt turned out THIS good doing it this way, I can hardly wait for my new heating element and git-r-done the Bradley way!
Note: No BBQ sauce was added to the pulled pork or to the sammies, none needed IMO. (My son called them sliders.) Although I did plop some cole slaw on mine.

Edit: I wanted to add, the rub I used was  Weber "Kansas City Style BBQ Rub" that I found at Sam's Club the other day. No complaints.
Further comparison testing will be required though.  ;D







(please excuse the paper plates)  8)

[SiFumar]

Hey I have plates like that!  ;D  Job well done....looks delicious....only gets better.

[muebe]

Looks like it pulled well...Great job ;D

[OU812]

WOO HOO!

Looks great!

Now I'm hungry,,,,,,, again.

[WarriorMedic]

Nice work.  It looks great, and I bet it didn't last long.  Nothing wrong with finishing it in the oven after the smoke, and OU812's dripping instructions are right on the money.  Mix a little of that liquid back into your pulled meat and WOW.  I plan on doing that pretty regularly now, as it frees up the smoker for smoking something else while the slow cook is happening.  Doing some Cornish hens in the smoker and SRG for lunch today after I transfer the butt to the oven.  Ain't this FUN?    ;D