Four 8 lb butts in a 18.5" WSM for the office party - with "live" Q-View

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dward51

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Nov 24, 2011
2,864
538
McDonough, GA
Well, it's time for that annual office event.  The December pork-a-thon of the office gang.  The "grunts" who do the heavy work have been asking when I was bringing in the goodies, so here we go.

Just started phase one, four 8 pound shoulders, in my 18.5" WSM. Got 'em going over some oak charcoal with some hickory chunks and a few pieces of apple for good measure.  The BBQ Guru should keep my fire tending duty to the usual nearly none (just don't tell the guys at work, they think I slave over this stuff all night long). Here are some pictures. I will update as the smoke goes into tomorrow.

I finally figured out what that Orion Cooker is good for.  Makes a nice WSM dome holder.

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My original ECB charcoal pan that was converted to the oversized water pan for the WSM finally gave it up last smoke. Burned a pinhole through the bottom, as that metal is fairly thin.  So for $5 bucks it lasted 7 years so I guess I got my money out of it.  This time I bought 2 of them and stacked them to help make it a little more beefy.  Foiled and ready for hot water.

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Shoulder all rubbed up and set on the upper and lower racks.  Used a light mustard slather to help hold the rub in place. Not to much spice/heat in this rub as it's mixed company at the office.

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That's all for now.  I will update as the smoke continues through the night and into the morning.  Should not be much to update during the actual smoke as I'm in the "if you're looking you ain't cooking" crowd and with a power draft there is not much need to open the smoker.  Will start spritzing with apple juice and Jack Daniels & honey in the morning at some point though.  That makes one sweet tasting bark.

To be continued......

Phase two will be 12 fatties.
 
Looks like your going to be up all night smoking meat!  Good Luck, remember to set the alarm clock in case you fall asleep
 
Ok, about 4 hours in so here is an update.....

It's 38 degrees with zero wind tonight. 

Did not open the dome but the cold temps are accenting the thin blue smoke quite nicely.  Hmmmm..... flash also accents the fact I need to clean the outside of the WSM too I guess.  Really it does not look "that bad" in daylight (and in the dark it looks great
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)

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Pit is holding steady at the magic 225 degrees and the meat is at 138 so we are on the way.....

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A power draft unit is worth it's weight in gold ! ! !   I will probably set the Maverick up to alert me in case the temps crash during the night. But with a power draft in command, 99% of the time it is a quiet all night'er with plenty of sleep.  Just got to remember where the wife put the probes (that's what I get for leaving them out in "her" kitchen after cleaning them last time).

More to come....
 
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 Just got to remember where the wife put the probes (that's what I get for leaving them out in "her" kitchen after cleaning them last time).

Been there done that got the T-shirt, Just hope she remembers where they are mine didn't. When we couldn't find them,  all I got was well maybe you shouldn't leave your TOYS in my kitchen on the counter. Finally found them on top of the fridge.
 
Looking good Dave! If you find you go through to much fuel in the low temps you can buy a welding blanket for about $30-$40 and wrap it around the WSM (use some metal spring clamps to hold it closed).
 
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Well it sure looks like you are off to a great start now bring it home.
 
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Well, I am burning more fuel than what I'm used to.  It's 8:00am and it's 28 degrees out there now, so that's to be expected I guess..  I topped off the fuel load around 2:00am so I could get some sleep.   Got up about 20 minutes ago and still purring along at 225 degrees so all is well. Internal is 174. Had about 1/3 a ring of fuel, so I topped it off again as I've got quite a ways to go still. Here is the 7:40am re-fuel and first spritzing with "magic juice" shot....

And yes, my back porch "does" smell like a BBQ Joint for sure this morning
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,,,

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Looking good Dave! If you find you go through to much fuel in the low temps you can buy a welding blanket for about $30-$40 and wrap it around the WSM (use some metal spring clamps to hold it closed).
I've got about 2/3 a roll of the 4' wide "Reflectix" material from when I had my house resided. I know some people have use that to make a blanket, but I'm still unsure about what at least appears to be a plastic based product in contact with the hot sides of the WSM. The thought of melted plastic stuck to the WSM does not set well.

33c2a1c7_foil20wrap20around20larger.jpg


Hmmmm..... Now you got me thinking again.   I found this technical info on heat performance on their website.  4 days exposure to 250 degree surface and no impact.

http://www.reflectixinc.com/images/uploads/allpdfs/t20 hot surface performance c 411.pdf

So I took my handy dandy non-contact IR thermometer heat gun out and made some measurements.  Highest temp I could find on the exterior surfaces of the WSM with pit temp at 238 was 158 degrees and that was at the bottom near the fire ring (just refueled so I have a slight spike till it settles back down).  Next highest temps were 144 degrees at the peak of the domed top.  The body ran in the 138's and as low as 119 in some spots.   The thin aluminum door ran 58 degrees in the 28 degree weather. That alone is a testament to the conductive ability of aluminum, but I digress.

Starting to sound like a reflectix blanket may be viable after all (and free since this stuff has been sitting in my basement for 3 years as a left over).
 
Ok, minor update....

10:38am, now at internal of 188 so we are getting closer.  Still purring along at 225.

Once I get the butts pulled and foiled and tucked away in the cooler, I need to make one last run to the store for some fattie material I forgot to get the other day.   Then it's on to phase two - 14 pounds of JD Sausage made into fatties.  And the annual marathon continues....
 
2:00pm update.....

Well, I seem to have hit a plateau.  Holding at 189 and the fuel load was dwindling again, so I reloaded the ring with more oak lump and re-spritzed with magic juice.  Cranked the Guru up a little to 240 also as I need this to be done so I can move on to phase two.    It's close, but not quite there.  Sorry but I did not take a photo while I had the dome off this time.
 
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Ok,  after a short run to the store for some supplies (more on that later), I came home and found the Guru signaling we had hit the 200 degree mark.  22 hours after I first put them on the WSM the 4 butts are done.  Time to pull them, foil them, and let them rest for a while before pulling....

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And as to the supplies from the store.  I was out of zip lock bags for the fattie rolling and I thought this might be a good week to make some "Apple Pie Moonshine".  Yep, it's legal and the kick comes from Everclear (195 proof).  I've not tried it before, but was told it was good.   I'll post how well it works (and the recipe if it comes out good).  But for now, I'm behind and have a whole bunch of fatties to roll.

There is just something about the sound of Apple Pie Moonshine and pulled pork that just sounds, well.....  right.....
 
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2:00pm update.....

Well, I seem to have hit a plateau.  Holding at 189 and the fuel load was dwindling again, so I reloaded the ring with more oak lump and re-spritzed with magic juice.  Cranked the Guru up a little to 240 also as I need this to be done so I can move on to phase two.    It's close, but not quite there.  Sorry but I did not take a photo while I had the dome off this time.
I ran my 22.5" WSM last night with the outside temp of 34° (no wind), and I wrapped it in the welding blanket for the first time. Usually in the winter I have to run with all 3 bottom vents wide open to maintain a steady 250°, but with the welding blanket I closed two vents fully and the third was at 50% open. I really like that the welding blanket folds up nice and small when not in use.
 
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