I'm from Tennessee ...

[jb]

... so it stands to reason that I should throw my hat in the "smoker's" ring, as it were. Enough with the introduction and on with some annoying neophyte questions!

I've never smoked (meat!) before, and I'm excited to get started. After a bit of reading, I decided that a Bradley Smoker was the right fit for me. So when I found one on Craigslist that was virtually brand new, I bought it! I got a model 99001 for 100 bucks- hopefully that was a decent deal?

Anyway, tomorrow will be my first go at this. I spent the last hour prepping the butt. I made Jan's Dry Rub, trimmed some of the fat to please both sides of the apparent dispute in this regard, generously coated said butt and placed in fridge.

It's about a 7 lb butt- any idea how long I will need to cook it? Should I smoke it for half that time? I plan to set the smoker to 225, preheat for about 30 minutes, then put the roast in. Should I put closer to the bottom or top of the smoker? Also, the only briquettes I have are the ones the seller gave me along with the smoker- do they expire? is maple ok for a Boston Butt? The only other kind I have is Apple.

Anyway, thanks in advance for any help... I'll try to post pics if I manage to get a finished product!

[GusRobin]

maple is fine - it is all a matter of personal taste.
At 225* an 8 lb has taken me anywhere from  16-22 hrs  to get to 195* ( if you want pulled pork that is about the temp you need to get to)

I run the smoke for no more than 4 hrs.

I would put it near the bottom unless the only method of measuring the cabinet is the Bradley probe. It that case i would put it near the top to at least get it below the meat to get a more accurate reading.

[TedEbear]

It's about a 7 lb butt- any idea how long I will need to cook it? Should I smoke it for half that time?

Hi and welcome aboard.  Figure on 1.5-2 hours per lb on the total cook time.  Go by IT of the meat for doneness.  I take mine to 195 IT.  Most people go 190-200.  Don't panic and turn up the heat when it goes through the stall phase at around 160 and the temp doesn't seem to rise for a few hours. 3-4 hours for applying smoke.  Leave the vent 3/4 to fully open all the time.  FTC (foil, towel, cooler) for a couple hours afterward to let the juices redistribute before pulling, if you have the time.

[beefmann]

welcome aboard,

jans  rub  is a good  one to get  started with and an 7  lb  pork  roast  will do nicely for your  first  smoke,  maple is  good for  pork go ahead  and  use it,

few things to know first... preheat your box and  puck burner 30 mins, Box temp  220 - 225  F, load  pucks though dont advance yet, open your top vent min 3/4 way open to full  open
after the  30 minute pre heat  load your  meat  fill your water bowl and place it under the  puck  burner  advance  the  first puck onto the burner and close the door, at this point in time the temp inside the box has  dropped  quite a bit,  do not worry  about it,  It is normal and will take a  while to recover if at all,  just  let it  be.  it  will  cook your  pork.

smoke 2 - 3 hours with maple, load 8 - 11 pucks ( last two  will not  be  used except to  push the  pucks onto the burner )  1 puck = 20 to 30  mins of smoke.  After the smoking process  remove the water bowl and  burnt  pucks,, rinse  off  bowl  then add in  some liquid back in the bowl , place  back in the smoker, Use a flavored drink.  this  will help  with keeping  the mead  moist and catch any  juices from the meat...


if you are  doing  pulled pork go to  195 - 200 f on the meat... it will be  1 to 2 hr  per   lb.. also  use the higher  racks

[Tenpoint5]

The guys have you covered. So Welcome aboard

[jb]

Wow! Thanks so much to all!

Here are my notes from this morning:

removed from fridge and let stand 45 minutes before going in smoker
smoker was preheated to 250
decided on 4 hours smoke: 40 min maple 40 min apple repeat cycle 3x
butt went in at 9:45 am
placed on 2nd highest rack so rack surface is close to thermometer
after 10 min (9:55) the temp has only dropped to 220- this concerns me

If there are any takers, I have a couple of questions:

1. Should I reduce the smoking time to 3 hours?
2. Should I try to turn down the temp now to follow Beefman's advice? (Thanks for the detailed reply Beefman!)
3. If yes to #2, how the heck do I know how much to move the slide temp adjuster?
4. Should I be concerned that as of 10:05 (20 minutes after meat went in), the thermometer still reads 220? I would have expected a much more drastic reduction in temp.

Thanks in advance!! By the way, I'm a mathematician and yet it's still tough to crack the codes so I can post!

[jb]

(I know this is not the forum for the kind of discussion I'm pushing, but since this one got started here, I'll finish here. Sorry mods.

Update:

after 40 min (10:25) temp had already climbed from 220 to 225- I'm thinking either the thermometer is very inaccurate or my box was on its way to 300 when I thought it had reached its plateau at 250
So, at 10:25, I nudged down- ever so slightly- my temp adjuster

[Saber 4]

Welcome from Texas, the others have you going good. If you have an extra probe thermometer you may want to drop it in the top vent and position it so it isn't touching anything then you can get a more accurate temp reading than the cabinet sensor will give you.

[tskeeter]

jb, sounds to me like you're headed in the right direction, reducing the temp a bit.  I think the reason that you're not seeing the temp drop that folks talk about is that you're doing just one shoulder.  Due to the mount of time it takes to do a pork shoulder, many folks do several at a time (my last smoke I did four), which causes a more significant temperature drop.  Another thing to be aware of that might be affecting the temps you are seeing is the "Bradley temperature swing".  A stock Bradley will usually operate in a range of 20F +/- your temperature set point.  You might be checking your temps when you're hitting the high point of the cycle.  The amount of temperature swing is not a problem with most products, including your pork shoulder, so no need to worry.  Where it becomes an issue is with temperature sensitive products, such as sausage and fish.  Note, too, that the stock temp sensor is in the back wall of the smoker cabinet.  This is directly above the heating element, where the cabinet is the warmest.  So you're temp reading is likely to be about 5 - 10 degrees higher than closer to the door.

As far as the amount of time you apply smoke for is concerned, the four hours you plan on is what I use.  Maple and apple are milder, sweeter smokes than the hickory that many folks use for shoulder, so I don't think that you'll find that four hours was too much smoke.     

[jb]

Thanks tskeeter!

[jb]

6.9 pound butt
liberally applied jan's rub; fridge overnight
removed from fridge and let stand 45 minutes before going in smoker
smoker was preheated to 250
decided on 4 hours smoke: 40 min maple 40 min apple repeat cycle 3x

9:45 (am) butt went in
placed on 2nd highest rack so rack surface is close to thermometer

9:55 the temp has only dropped to 220- this concerns me

10:25 temp had already climbed from 220 to 225- I'm thinking either the thermometer is very inaccurate or my box was on its way to 300 when I thought it had reached its plateau at 250
So, at 10:25, I nudged down- ever so slightly- my temp adjuster

10:45 my nudge seems to have made no effect, so I nudged a bit more; I also added more water to the bowl since it looked too low on water

11:25 thermometer holding steady at 240; just over an hour and a half into the cook; I'm thinking the total time will be 12 hrs.. but I'll plan to start checking IT at about 10 hrs

11:45 temp crept up to 250... another nudge.. once I find the right temp, I might mark my box with corresponding temp

1:10 checked the water- it was empty- oops

1:55 turned off the puck burner, rinsed out water bowl, filled with apple juice

[jb]

Ok. Last set of questions before I post pics of the finished product later tonight:

1. I turned off the puck burner. Will this significantly affect the overall box temp? Update: It seems that it did. Puck burner back on.

2. Does 12 hours total seem reasonable? Start checking IT at the 10 hour mark?

Thanks to all and will migrate to the proper threads beginning next weekend.

[GusRobin]

You can start checking there but I think it will take longer than 10 hrs. Don't forget that you will hit a stall around the 160s and it will seem like nothing is happening. Don't bump the cabinet temp.

[jb]

You can start checking there but I think it will take longer than 10 hrs. Don't forget that you will hit a stall around the 160s and it will seem like nothing is happening. Don't bump the cabinet temp.

Thanks Gus. Yeah, pretty sure in the stall now- been cooking for a bit over 8 hours and the internal temp is 168.

[GusRobin]

where is TN you from?