Takin' out the BDS for its Maiden Voyage

NorthernSmoke · May 26, 2007, 03:01:48 PM

The weather finally got decent, so I'm trying out my new smoker for the first time. Picked up the dual read Maverick thermometer at Home Hardware as suggested in the forums and got a nice Boston Butt ready. Here's a few photos:

Early morning, meat sat in fridge all night with rub - now it's ready to go (this is the "Renowned Mr. Brown" recipe from the Smoke and Spice book, BTW):

In the smoker, preheated, and ready to start the smoke:

This is about 1/3 of the way into the cook: I set the smoke to go 4 hrs. and I'm anticipating a 6hr. 210F cook time in the BS with a foil wrapped rest in the oven of 2hr. or so at 195F. Haven't bothered to try and baste - not sure if that was a good idea or not.

I'll post later with some finishing shots and let you know how it turned out. Only problem so far was that I forgot to refill the water dish and it ran dry. I'm not sure if it ran dry before the last puck burned up or after. Oh well.

Any comments, tips, suggestions, etc. would be appreciated.

MWS · May 26, 2007, 05:02:05 PM

Impressive first post NorthernSmoke......Welcome to the forums. You picked a good first project with the BS. Great pics, let us know how it turns out. Looks like you've done your homework. Cheers

West Coast Kansan · May 26, 2007, 05:52:16 PM

Memories of a shiney smoker. What a great first smoke! :D

Gizmo · May 26, 2007, 07:20:50 PM

"Shiney smoker":
Looks like the new guy is getting a good tan there. Won't be long and you won't need the sun screen any more.

NorthernSmoke · May 26, 2007, 08:45:40 PM

Thanks for the comments folks.

Here's the follow-up photos. The shoulder was in for approx. 9 hrs. I ended up finishing it in the oven at 220F. It seemed to plateau in the BS and was really going slowly at the end of hour 6 - it couldn't seem to get past 158F. I pulled it out of the BS at 4:30pm, foiled it and put it in the oven at 220F until 7:30pm (185F internal meat finishing temp). Then out, a short 20 min. rest and, well, you can see below...

Finished in the BS:

Ready to "pull":

Chopped up and ready for some bun action:

It was OK, but the rub kind of killed it. (A) I think there was too much black pepper for my taste, and (B) I think I used too much rub. This was accidental, as I was doing a 4lb. butt, but used a recipe for a 6-8 lb'er. Probably could have backed off a bit.

Second, it was tender, but not "fall apart" like I was hoping for. I seems like a few more hours will be called for. This surprised me, since the recipes all seemed to call for about 1.5 hrs. per lb. meaning 6-7 hrs. should have been enough for this one. Maybe they weren't going for "fall apart" results?

Anyways, it was fun, and it can only get better from here. Looking forward to trying ribs next time.

Again, all comments/suggestions welcome.

Consiglieri · May 27, 2007, 12:04:59 AM

ns: the problem with smoking, is that you never, never, never, know when Mother Nature is going to let you serve this meal. I had the problem today: more than plenty of time to cook a lot of ribs, but in at 9am, out at 7:30 wasn't enough for this set (can you believe that wasn't enough time for a bunch of ribs?)

Anyway, sometimes you just got to ride the smoke wave, not the clock.... Extra horse de overs, extra entertainment, God knows extra beverages.... and a sacrifice to the Smoke Godess who won't finish up this meal according to plan. Mean B!tch, that Smoke Godess.

Wildcat · May 27, 2007, 04:53:24 AM

Congradulations on your purchase and first smoke and welcome to the forum! Got to have patience. I have yet to do a smoke in the time I expected. Do everything early. FTC can take care of extra time in most cases. I had one smoke to last almost 24 hours.

cingnut · May 27, 2007, 06:18:42 AM

Quote from: NorthernSmoke on May 26, 2007, 08:45:40 PM

Second, it was tender, but not "fall apart" like I was hoping for. I seems like a few more hours will be called for. This surprised me, since the recipes all seemed to call for about 1.5 hrs. per lb. meaning 6-7 hrs. should have been enough for this one. Maybe they weren't going for "fall apart" results?

Anyways, it was fun, and it can only get better from here. Looking forward to trying ribs next time.

Again, all comments/suggestions welcome.

I did two 7.5 pound shoulders Thursday... actually started them Wednesday at 4:30PM EST, I pulled them right at around 8:00AM EST at an internal temp of 195 degrees (The smoker temp was an average 210-215). My first attempt at butts I only took the IT to 190, this extra 5 degrees on my second go round made a huge difference in tenderness, it truly was falling apart, I just used my hands to shred it, no tools required.

West Coast Kansan · May 27, 2007, 08:08:12 PM

NothernSmoke, Looks good even if you did not get the fall apart butt you wanted! ;D 158 plateau is the magic point where the piece starts to break down. It can take hours depending on the size :( I have had them break through only to drop a couple of degrees again. Not to rush it through with the oven. ;) When the stall happens I just tell myself I know this is going to be a successful smoke. :) and wait for the finish. This is low and slow and it will feed you well 8)

NorthernSmoke · May 27, 2007, 08:12:14 PM

Thanks for the welcome and the advice, everyone. I'm looking forward to my next effort.

coyote · May 27, 2007, 11:17:17 PM

NorthernSmoke , you are well on your way. Welcome aboard . This board and its' people Will become part of your life. I know it has mine...and I treasure it. Again , welcome.

Coyote

SKSmoker · May 27, 2007, 11:43:00 PM

Welcome to the board NorthernSmoke! When I did my first butt, it hung out at 156 for 6 hours! My butt was about 9lbs and it took 25 hours and it still wasn't at 195! I now start much, much, much earlier than anticipated, as the others have suggested the FTC will take care of everything. The last batch of butts I did, I had the smoker at 250 for the entire time and it still took 24 hours for 2 butts.

Cingnut is dead on about the IT of 195. I pulled my very first butt at 187 because we were getting really hungry, but this time I was able to take it right to 195+ and I couldn't even use the fork. Hands only. Also, I FTC'd the butts for 4 hours, and what a difference. They melt in your mouth. So far, with keeping the cabinet temp at 210, I am averaging 2.21 hrs/lb. At 250, I am at about 1.75hrs/lb. With butts, as others said, it will plateu, and you will wonder what is happening. Let it do its' thing during this time. All the fat and connective tissue break down during this phase. I also hose my butts down with 50% apple juice and 50% pure maple syrup mixed in a spray bottle I have, after the first 1.5hours of cooking, every hour until the butt starts crackling and dripping on its' own. That will make some really great bark.

Hope this helps a bit, and there is so much info on here from these wonderful people, it will take awhile to absorb it all, but it really is helpful. Remember, there are no "stupid" questions!

Happy smoking!

NorthernSmoke · May 28, 2007, 09:01:15 PM

Thanks again for the great advice. SK, your comments about the plateau are really interesting. It's like chemistry class: remember how when you melt ice in a glass, and the temperature doesn't change until all the ice melts because the heat is being used up melting the ice. Once the ice melts, the temperature starts to increase. I wonder if breakdown of the connective tissue in the shoulder works the same way. As the breakdown is occurring, is the heat is being used up in that process? Once the breakdown is finished, the meat starts to heat up again.

Arcs_n_Sparks · May 28, 2007, 09:21:00 PM

exactly......

Arcs_n_Sparks

Tiny Tim · May 29, 2007, 07:15:23 AM

I did a butt in the oven this weekend (waiting for my PID to be built before I do an overnighter in the smoker)...200 oven, put the meat in at 10:45 Saturday night, 10:45 Sunday morning it was stalled at 160 (had been since at least 6 AM) so I kicked the oven up 25 degrees and went to do some errands. Got back at 11:15 and the temp got to 170, but still took until 2:00 to hit 185, at which time I FTC'd for 3 hours. Touched it with my bear claws and the big meaty part fell away from the bone, so I grabbed the bone and the rest of the meat fell away from it.

Knocked it into smaller pieces, hit it with some Iceman's sauce, and vacuum sealed it in 8 ounce portions (some made it's way into my mouth too :D ).