1st Smoke (Pork Butt) Now with QView

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ccm399

Newbie
Original poster
Dec 28, 2014
24
10
Medina Ohio
Hi all,

New member here. I stopped in the Roll Call section for a quick intro.

So Yesterday I started my first smoke. Boy did I learn a LOT. :)

So the setup is a MES 30 using Hickory and Apple chips. I started the smoke at 232* (about 1/2 way between the 225-240 in the sticky). The Butt was a 4# (just a trial run for the wife and I). I expected the smoke to be ~6 hours so I started at 8am on the nose. I took the Butt out of the fridge at the same time as I started the smoker preheating (about 1/2hour total). So I inserted the temp probe when I put the butt in and it was at 47*. Within 3.75 hours I was above the 140* mark so out of the unsafe zone OK.

The smoke went well until about 170* at which point the temp increase slowed considerably. I figured it was going into a stall so I pulled it, placed it in a foil pan and added 6oz apple juice then double foiled the top. Cranked the smoker to 250* and for the next 2-3 hours the butt climbed to 180. Started doing some "last minute" reading and I see where guys are smoking at >275 so I crank the heat to 275. The butt starts climbing until it hits 192 then it stalls HARD!!! It actually drops back to 190 then hangs there for the next 3-3.5 hours. Then is starts climbing again and I pulled it out of the smoker at 200* on the nose. At this point we are WAY past dinner and I just cover and let it stand for a few hours then pull it.

Man was it tasty! Doesn't even need any sauce!

So at the end it took ~ 17hrs to smoke this little 4# butt.

I think the starting temp should have been more like 250* (and maybe my smoker runs colder than the temp indicator shows not sure yet). That should shorten the smoke time a bit not sure it would get things into the 1.5 -2 hrs per pound though. We'll see. I told the wife we got a stubborn butt for the first go. :)

Chris
 
Man, I hate it when I make a spelling mistake in the thread title! Can a admin correct that for me? Sorry about that!

Chris
 
Don't trust the door thermometer...did some testing yesterday found mine reads about 30 degrees lower than than what my maverick is reading, right after calibration.
 
Chris You can fix the title yourself, go to edit thread

it is right below the title


Never trust the built in probes I use a separate probe for the CC and Meat
 
 
Chris You can fix the title yourself, go to edit thread

it is right below the title


Never trust the built in probes I use a separate probe for the CC and Meat
Thanks! I missed that button. I was in the Edit post section but that did not allow me to edit the title. Most other forums seem to have the title locked down.

My MES 30 does not have a door thermometer? I was using the electronic control unit on the top of the unit. I plan to do the potato trick for chamber temp next time. This will allow me to see the temp at the rack where the meat is rather than wherever the factory decided to place the temp probe.

Thanks for the tips guys!

Chris
 
Chris here is another little trick get a magnet from Harbor Freight you can hang the probe at any height you want.


I have corks on it from when it was on the racks
 
Cool idea. I probably have some magnets around.

I'll post up some pics today. I snapped a couple with my Cell after pulling.

Chris
 
Looks really good. Do yourself a favor and get another set of temp. probes. It is better to know for sure, especially if you happen to be cooking a high dollar bunch of meat in there. I have the Maverick et-732, but the 733 is the newest model and you will find most folks around here use one of these units. I-grill is supposed to be real good too but I have no personal experience with them as I have a windows phone and they don't have an app for them yet. The ones that come on those smokers and most if not all others are nearly always off considerably.
 
Thanks!

I was using a remote digital thermo for the meat (Single Channel Maverick) . I plan to check the chamber temp with it tonight or tomorrow to see how control panel temp compares. Going to try a small Brisket Flat tomorrow or Thursday (Shhh.... this is the Pork section!).
 
Last edited:
Thanks guys,

I got a good bark on it which I really like. The wife said it was great too! The wife must approve as she picked up some more meat to smoke today while she was at the store.

Chris
 
Smoked another butt today. MUCH better! I used an available probe on my new iGrill to monitor the chamber temp and it turns out the first butt was smoked at way too low a temp (as I was suspecting). This time around I was able to get ~ 7 pound butt up to 203* in about 8 hours. Went to 175, wrapped in foil with some apple juice and then took her to 203*. Backed the heat off and let the butt rest a 1/2 hr in the smoker. Took it out then let it rest further under old bath towels (still wrapped). Pulled it then had dinner!

The wife said "I guess we just needed to plan on frozen pizza for dinner to speed up the cooking time!" :)

I picked up the Masterbuilt cold smoker too and so far it work pretty well. Filled it once and shook it once during the process and about smoke clear through until the meat hit about 165 or so. I used Apple and Hickory again.

Chris
 
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