First Smoke Anticipatoin

[scmelik]

I have to admit I am as giddy as a school girl because I get to fire up the smoker tomorrow for the first and probably only time this spring/summer. I have three butts that I picked up dirt cheap this winter that need to get smoked, one will get done tomorrow and then maybe the other two at a BBQ/camping trip we are having at the end of the month. I never really thought I would be this excited but I keep looking at the clock wondering when it will be morning, I feel like a little kid on Christmas Eve. Thank god I still have the rub to make and trimming to do yet tonight or I would be going crazy. Its probably a good thing I live alone or else I might be committed for a mental disease. Don't worry lots of pictures will be coming.

 

[meateater]

Congrats on your first smoke job. Let the TBS flow and dont freak out when it stalls, grab a cold one and relax it might be a while. Don't try to rush it, low and slow is the name of the game. Get up sone Qview so we can all share.

 

[fire it up]

Wishing you the best of luck on your first smoke Scott.
Hopefully it won't be the only time you fire it up for the year, maybe 30-40 more times after you get a taste of your homemade smoked goodness.

 

[scmelik]

I am trying something different than I normally do on this one. Usually I don't trim a but at all but have always hated that thick layer of fat that you end up pulling off when it comes time to pull, you end up with a large section of meat with no rub and no bark so this time I decided to trim back that thick fat cap. I am also trying a different rub than I usually do, same ingredients different ratios, since it is just me that will be eating this butt I went with alittle sweeter, spicer rub than normal.

Here is the butt before trimming, I didn't get a good picture of the thick fat cap but this one seemed to have a thicker cap than normal, I ended up trimming off about 1.5 half of fat.



The trimmed butt. The remaining fat on there is very thin, I wanted to keep some for self basting and flavor but wanted the rub to get on as much meat as possible.



I also am trying to pre-rub my butt with just a small amount of rub and then before I throw it on the smoker tomorrow I will add a much thicker layer of rub. I am not sure if it will make an ounce of difference or not, probably not.




now the long wait until morning

 

[scmelik]

its not my first ever just the first of the year, the weather has finally decided to cooperate with us here in South Dakota. Will more than likely be my only smoke of the year flying solo, we are having a big BBQ the last weekend of April.

 

[mballi3011]

I would also say you are a tad bit gitty. Now your little per rub you can apply alot of it tonight and then just wrap it up in some saran wrap and then put it in the refrig for overnight. That will give it some more time to soak into the meat that much more before you smoke it tomorrow.

 

[bill in mn]

I would watch the time for dinner or what ever you are serving it for.Butts take some time I'm starting 2 in an hour or so 9:00 pm local to be done at 3 pm tomorrow.I know they will or could take 12 to 14 hrs and then put them in a cooler to rest for up to 4 hrs.Long and slow .I have a MES I'm doing these in for the first time so 225 * for that time should do the trick.I'll watch them a couple of times during the night .And I to get excited every time I smoke anything.

 

[scmelik]

luckily I am the only one to worry about so when its done its done. I have done about 7-8 butts on my ECB and the longest one took 10 hours which is no big deal, I just hope I have enough coals to last that long.

 

[bill in mn]

I'm sorry Scott I didn't read the other post that you said "it's not your first" I've only done 6 prior to this .All seemed to take along time on the UDS but I think the Mes will be right up there in time too. all the best Bill

 

[scmelik]

no worries brother. I have had one done in 6 hours and one that took 10 to 11 the rest were within that 7-9 hour range...its a long smoke but its gonna be nice out tomorrow so I will be able to get some yard work done while I am smoking which will be nice.

 

[scmelik]

well the smoker got fired up about 7:15 this morning, it was tough to get her up to temp with the ambient air tempature at 39 when I lite up but with patients I got there. Butt went on about 8:15 or so and we are rolling along at a good steady 235 which is exactly where my smoker likes to be, it seems I can hold that temp for a long long time as opposed to any other temp. I am smoking with a 2:1 combination of peach to hickory today and my backyard couldn't smell much better right now. I have never used peach before, in fact I don't even like peaches but the smell of that wood burning is out of this world, it might be the best smelling wood I have ever burned.

Alittle QView to get the day started.

 

[northern greenhorn]

Lookin good, can't wait to see the finished job

 

[scmelik]

we are just over two hours in and things are going good....I battled some thick white smoke and low temps for a bit but I think I have gotten things leveled back out. Just put the meat probe in and we are at 129 degrees at the two hour mark which is a bit quicker than I thought I would get there but not bad. Got the smoker going at a nice 233 degrees and the TBS is flowing nicely. Here is a shot at the two hour mark.

 

[scmelik]

well the journey has come to an end, for trying a couple of new techniques today I am surprised how it turned out. I am a big fan of the trimming job I did, I could have probably done just a bit more but it didn't loose any moisture and I didn't loose that big chunk of rub that you normally loose if you leave the fat cap in place.

Because I woke up this morning and didn't have any apple juice, or any fruit juice for that matter I decided that today I was going to go with no basting with the thought that I was not going to remove the lid at all during the cooking accept to insert the therm. Because I wasn't going to baste I figured I would try another idea, instead of foiling once the meat hit 160 I was going to go straight heat and smoke all the way through till I hit 190, then I turned on the oven to 225 and when I got to temp turned it off and put the butt in there to rest until it hit 200, didn't take but probably 1 hour. I am actually surprised how juicy this turned out, I figured it would be alittle dry but I honestly think that this might be the moistest butt I have ever done. It was ended up being alittle tougher than usual to pull so I ended up chopping it which in retrospect is now my favorite way to do it, the bark got mixed in with every bite.

All in all I give myself a B+, and I don't think I will ever foil a butt again.

Now the hero shots. After coming out of the oven.



now thats alot of pulled pork.

 

[northern greenhorn]

Never thought I'd say this to another man, but, that's a nice lookin butt you got there, lol, great job

 

[pandemonium]

lol yeah now thats a good one!!