Hey gang, new to the smoking world, just got one the other day, smoked a 3 lb. pork butt today, turned out great. meat tasted great, very tender, juicy, but had no smoke or apple flavor (used apple chips), so I have some questions. just got some great help in chat room, but wanted to see some other opinions.
As i said, meat was great, but tasted no smoke flavor. used apple chips, put apple juice in water pan (saw on website somewhere). brined the butt overnight, smoked today for about 3 hours, wrapped and cooked without smoke for last 3 hours. here are my questions:
1. i set temp at 210, but temp stayed around 190-195 most of the time. Is that normal? After I wrapped, jacked temp up to 225 and temp stayed around 200-210 the rest of time.
2. the apple juice in water pan had evaporated (don't know exactly when), and all the drippings from the meat ended up in the water pan, burnt to a char. no grease at all in the drip pan or the grease trap. should I keep liquid in water pan the entire time? and is that normal for the grease to fall into the water pan?
3. I soaked my apple chips in water for about 30 minutes before adding. should I soak longer or shorter to get more smoke. Should you only put one cup of chips in at one time? that's what manual recommended. I read on a forum that people get more smoke by opening damper at top, so I left it about half open the entire time. Got some intermittent smoke, but nothing constant.
Thankks in advance for any responses.
As i said, meat was great, but tasted no smoke flavor. used apple chips, put apple juice in water pan (saw on website somewhere). brined the butt overnight, smoked today for about 3 hours, wrapped and cooked without smoke for last 3 hours. here are my questions:
1. i set temp at 210, but temp stayed around 190-195 most of the time. Is that normal? After I wrapped, jacked temp up to 225 and temp stayed around 200-210 the rest of time.
2. the apple juice in water pan had evaporated (don't know exactly when), and all the drippings from the meat ended up in the water pan, burnt to a char. no grease at all in the drip pan or the grease trap. should I keep liquid in water pan the entire time? and is that normal for the grease to fall into the water pan?
3. I soaked my apple chips in water for about 30 minutes before adding. should I soak longer or shorter to get more smoke. Should you only put one cup of chips in at one time? that's what manual recommended. I read on a forum that people get more smoke by opening damper at top, so I left it about half open the entire time. Got some intermittent smoke, but nothing constant.
Thankks in advance for any responses.