Practice at smokin Butt!!

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

BayouChilehead

Senior Cook
Joined
Oct 22, 2008
Messages
407
Location
Walker, La.
I am trying to get better at smokin meats. My main problem is constant temp in the smoker (small Char Broil offset). I am trying different things with the coals and vents, like yesterday I made a ring of coal in the fire box and then put the lit coals (about 10) in the middle. I think the lit coals were too many because in about an hour and a half all the coals were ashed over. I am not going to give up, just enjoy the results of practice. Any comments or suggestions are welcome. The butt was a small one I got just forpractice, Here are a few pics of the end product.

Butt after rub marinade over night


Butt in Smoker


Finished


Sliced up


On a bun with fries


Some Pig Candy
 
It looks like it worked out for you.

I had the best results in a chargriller by making a charcoal basket, using the Minion Method for fire management, plugged all the holes in the fire box and chamber that I could find. ( A small hole in the cooking chamber will cause you to have great difficulty in keeping the temps under control ), and making use of thermometers.
 
Food looks great. Fire management is one of the hardest things about BBQ - that's why so many folks have moved to pellet cookers. Nothing wrong with them - but it is a good thing for you to know that off-sets require lots of practice - so don't give up. You may want to use a bit more charcoal and rather than put them in a ring of charcoal place the lit coals on top of a mound of charcoal. This top down method (BBQers call it the minion method but folks who use wood stoves have been using this method for some time with kindling). The idea is that if you start a fire from the bottom the fuel will smother itself when it collapses. I think this is also more efficient than placing lit charcoals in a ring of charcoal.
 
Food turned out good. Like they said patience is on of the keys to learning a new pit. Had a homemade off-set that nearly made me give up on Qing. Now it's not even a second thought. Got to say one of the easiest cookers to learn to use was the WSM but I did alot of reading on how others used it before I purchased one.
 
Thanks all for the kind words and suggestions, I will try the Minion method next time.

mar52, that is the video I got the idea from for the burner in the firebox. I will lengthen the connection from hose to orifice and thanks again.
 
BayouChilehead said:
Thanks all for the kind words and suggestions, I will try the Minion method next time.

mar52, that is the video I got the idea from for the burner in the firebox. I will lengthen the connection from hose to orifice and thanks again.

BC the air intake (venturi) has to get outside combustion air. note how mine is positioned out of the firebox. PM witt about the JB hole :LOL:

Also you can practice temp control here:
http://www.bbqsearch.com/game/index.html
 
BayouChilehead said:
I am trying to get better at smokin meats. My main problem is constant temp in the smoker (small Char Broil offset). I am trying different things with the coals and vents, like yesterday I made a ring of coal in the fire box and then put the lit coals (about 10) in the middle. I think the lit coals were too many because in about an hour and a half all the coals were ashed over. I am not going to give up, just enjoy the results of practice. Any comments or suggestions are welcome. The butt was a small one I got just forpractice, Here are a few pics of the end product.

et-73smokealertLarge.jpg

ET-73 Redi-Chek Remote Wireless Smoker Thermometer ]

Cook on your smoker over and over. You will learn its way and you will learn how to fire it for various weather conditions. I had a New Braunfels Hondo offset and I can tell you it takes some attention. Wind and outside temps are a great factor in the internal cooker temps on that unit.

Get a thermometer that reads the temps on the grate as well as the temps inside the meat. It will be your greatest teacher on how to use your cooker. You want to keep the cooker temps as constant as possible over the whole length of the cook. Try to feel the heat while watching the thermometer, and learn to gauge the heat without the thermometer by remembering how it feels.

Remember: The protein transformation is endothermic, as the fat and tendons break down the temps inside the butt will stall on their rise to the goal of "190-200F". So don't think that the cook as stalled just because you are not seeing a temperature rise near the end as you hold the chamber temps constant. Just keep the faith and remember that the longer it takes to get that last 20 degrees the more fall apart tender the meat will be. Allow yourself plenty of time with no deadlines!

You ain't heatin' water and it ain't gonna follow a natural log model. ;)
 
007bond-jb said:
BC the air intake (venturi) has to get outside combustion air. note how mine is positioned out of the firebox. PM witt about the JB hole :LOL:

Also you can practice temp control here:
http://www.bbqsearch.com/game/index.html

Thanks JB, I will have to modify the venturi area some to get it out of the box but I think it will work, and that (practice temp control) site is cool and educational.

BchrisL said:
Cook on your smoker over and over. You will learn its way and you will learn how to fire it for various weather conditions. I had a New Braunfels Hondo offset and I can tell you it takes some attention. Wind and outside temps are a great factor in the internal cooker temps on that unit.

Get a thermometer that reads the temps on the grate as well as the temps inside the meat. It will be your greatest teacher on how to use your cooker. You want to keep the cooker temps as constant as possible over the whole length of the cook. Try to feel the heat while watching the thermometer, and learn to gauge the heat without the thermometer by remembering how it feels.

Remember: The protein transformation is endothermic, as the fat and tendons break down the temps inside the butt will stall on their rise to the goal of "190-200F". So don't think that the cook as stalled just because you are not seeing a temperature rise near the end as you hold the chamber temps constant. Just keep the faith and remember that the longer it takes to get that last 20 degrees the more fall apart tender the meat will be. Allow yourself plenty of time with no deadlines!

You ain't heatin' water and it ain't gonna follow a natural log model. ;)

Thanks BchrisL for the info , I do have a digital remote thermometer for the meat but its not dual, so I will take your advise and expand my smokin/grillin toy section a little. Oh, not everything "taste like chicken".
 
It looks very good BayouChilehead. Do you cook a lot of cajun food? Ols family recipes? I just got one I will share with you... Mullet stew... ;)
 
surfinsapo said:
It looks very good BayouChilehead. Do you cook a lot of cajun food? Ols family recipes? I just got one I will share with you... Mullet stew... ;)

Thanks sapo, I do cook cajun food quite a bit, but I have never had "Mullet stew" and I hope you are talkin about the fish not the hair cut, if it is the fish I would like the recipe.
 
BayouChilehead said:
surfinsapo said:
It looks very good BayouChilehead. Do you cook a lot of cajun food? Ols family recipes? I just got one I will share with you... Mullet stew... ;)

Thanks sapo, I do cook cajun food quite a bit, but I have never had "Mullet stew" and I hope you are talkin about the fish not the hair cut, if it is the fish I would like the recipe.

Here you go. It's from the Bayou Lafourche area.

  • 6 mullets, cleaned and left whole on bone[/*:m:2f5jur4l]
  • 6 med. potatoes, peeled and halved[/*:m:2f5jur4l]
  • Salt and pepper to taste[/*:m:2f5jur4l]
  • 2 chopped onions[/*:m:2f5jur4l]
  • 2 T. olive oil[/*:m:2f5jur4l]

Put all ingrediants in a pot and cover with water. Boil until potatoes are tender.
In memory of Alidore and Ester Terrebonne, Golden Medows, La
 
Back
Top Bottom