Planning First Smoke--Three Questions Please

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Thanks timber jet. I'll toss the fattie in the freezer @ half-hour before I put it on...

I started the butt at 10:30, and I've spent the past hour trying to even out the temp between 220-240ish. I realized that I can't use both burners on LOW because even that is too hot, so now I'm trying to get a good temp with just one. I'm pretty close, though it takes more playing than I was hoping for.

I think a needle valve is in my future!
 
Well, the evening was a huge improvement over my previous pseudo-smoker, but still required @ 6 trips out to adjust (maybe more). Thankfully I'm a light sleeper so I hear the beep quickly, get out there (brrr), then can rest deeply or fall asleep quickly.

My smoke is..darn near invisible. I was concerned of not seeing enough of it, but I'm definitely burning wood chips enough and it smells great, so I think it's just that this smoker doesn't pump clouds of it out??


Finally getting a handle on how to keep my temps in the right range. It's interesting that my two Redi-Chek thermos read so differently but I'm pretty sure it's all about placement of the probes, and the fact that I'm only burning one of the two burners. I've switched back and forth to learn the effect, and sure enough, the probe on the burner side reads higher.

I am definitely going to find a good needle valve. I'd like to be able to use both burners (more smoke, even heat) but currently with both on the lowest setting, temps get too high.

My fatty just it 165 as I type this -exactly 2h. :-)
 
(Now how in the heck am i going to grab that smoking hot log-o-liciousness?)
 
Wow--the fattie looks and tastes great!




I was worried that thr turkey bacon wouldn't crisp up, but actually it did--more than the regular bacon. Next time I'll try 100% turkey bacon.

Happy camper!!

More pix of the pulled pork and hot peppers later today!
 
Very Nice looking Fatty, Geek!!!
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Looks Mighty Tasty!!
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Bear
 
That's a pretty ambitious first smoke. You definitely have bigger briquettes than me! 
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 That fattie looks great, though. One of these days I'm going to have to make a breakfast fattie myself.

I'm anxious to hear how everything else turned out, and any feedback from those lucky enough to be invited.
 
Thanks guys. It is a little ambitious, but I figured that since I'm gonna be smoking that big ol' butt, I might as well put a few other things in there too!

It's 2:10 my time now, been smokin' that butt since 10:30 last night, and I now know the pigs favorite number is 170, cause it's hanging at that temp for a long while. I know this is typical and I just need to wait it out, but as I see dinner time just a few hours away, it is tempting to crank up the heat!!

No worries though, I'm committed to this now.

I wholeheartedly endorse the idea of a breakfast fattie now too! That thing was great, and it just served to stoke me and my wife up for dinner tonifht too. I'm pretty sure that will be our norm now!

I'm struggling now to keep temps down for some reason. I did have one instance where my wood chunks caught on fire (tweaking the foil wrap deal--need more smoke!). But now it just seems to want to move around a bit too.
 
Nice looking vittles    Well done !!      Agree with Bear   

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Gary
 
Well... After 21 hours,mi finally hit 195*! I did raise the temp for the last 40 minutes or so... I know, I know. But it didn't seem to do any harm, as everything tasted great. Wife, kids, and guests all enjoyed.

Thanks for all the tips and advice gang! Here are a few final pix from my first big smoke. :yahoo:

 
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It all looks great and you learned alot about the smoker and how the meat reacts...JJ
 
Butt looks Great, Geek!!
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Goes good with that super Fatty you made!!
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Now you're getting the hang of it !!!
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Bear
 
Did everything turn out with the flavors you expected ?  You beans look good too. Your pork looks tender and moist. Can't get much better than that. I know it was a Long smoke, but you didn't panic and hung in there. Maybe next smoke will go a little faster and smoother.

Good job    ----     
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Gary
 
Thanks guys! Gary-to answer your questions... In my notes I told myself to start the smoke 24h in advance, and not to pull out the butt until 200-205*. I removed it at 195* bc we couldn't wait any longer, and I pulled it right away. So the pork was tender and juicy, but not quite as well done as I expexted. Now..everyone loved it so I guess it's all good!

That fattie was a huge hit. We had leftovers the next day (today) and I think the flavors were even better. We did not like the fat chunks in the regular bacon--didn't crisp up enough. So next time I'll go 100% turkey bacon.

The beans. Omg. Those things were the surprise of the cook. I added some sausages that I had leftover from the fridge, and some drippings from the roast, and a little brown sugar. I smoked them for the final 3h and they were just spectacular. Honestly -the flavor of those beans rival anything else in the smoker for me!!

The jalapeño peppers were quite excellent too. The cream cheese had a slight light brown color from the smoke, and NONE of the cheese oozed out. The bacon was nicely cooked but not crispy. Need to think about maybe cooking those on the bottom rack, closer to the flames?

One final note--in cleaning up today I decided to do the boil test on all 4 of my probes. I confirmed my assumption that the delta that I was getting during the cook was in fact due to the left vs right placement in my smoker. All 4 probes read 212-213 when water boiled. So they really are accurate, but since I'm cooking "lopsided" with one burner, the smoker temps are not even. In search of a needle valve now.

Thanks for the help and support y'all! I'll do another smoke in s few weeks. I shot two wild boar last weekend and the meat is at the butcher now. I will have some nice looking ribs that I am to try next. Never smoked ribs before...time for more reading!
 
Sounds like it all went off without a hitch!  The pictures look good, I'm sure it tasted even better than it looked!  Great job and a great first smoke!
 
Thanks guys! Gary-to answer your questions... In my notes I told myself to start the smoke 24h in advance, and not to pull out the butt until 200-205*. I removed it at 195* bc we couldn't wait any longer, and I pulled it right away. So the pork was tender and juicy, but not quite as well done as I expexted. Now..everyone loved it so I guess it's all good!

 
I started off with the 225 temps as well but soon found I could cut my cook times down with no loss to tenderness or flavor if I ran the smoker at 275. Absolutely love to pull from smoker around 200-205 and let rest at least 30 minutes before pulling. Fall off the bone tender!!
 
Whatever works and your happy with, I would stick with

Gary
 
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