Overnight smoking

[whistlepig]

I'm too big a wimp to tend a smoker for 12-16 hours so I am entering the whelm of overnight smoking. First on the list is an AMNPS and some pellets. Then I'm going to stick a pork shoulder in the smoker and go to bed. Hopefully some tasty pulled pork. Does anyone else do brisket or pulled pork this way? 

 

[spoolinaz]

I've gotten myself into a routine of getting the meat cooking as soon as possible. Once the meat gets to 140 or so, it doesn't take on much more smoke. So hopefully it gets there before it gets too late, so I can get some sleep. Then just let the temp remote be my alarm. Get up and foil at 165, then into the oven to finish. I've held butts un-pulled for 5 hours in a cooler with towels, and its still too hot to handle. \Dont be afraid to let it get done way early, as long as you scavenge the juices and fat, it reheats very well.

On the flip side, I would like to get an AMNPS as well. 11 hours of hassle free smoke sounds good! Plus all the heat you loose loading wood every hour.Planning to add an access door on my MBXL for that purpose soon.

 

[plj]

Yes, I put butts on at midnight, go to bed, foil @165 which is usually around 6-8am. Coolers & towels are Gods gift to smokers :)

 

[dls1]

I always do briskets and butts overnight in a Cookshack electric smoker, and have been doing so years with excellent results. The procedure pretty much goes as follows:

- 10:00PM Remove meat from refrigerator and apply rub.

- 11:00 PM Put meat in smoker, and set cook temp at 185F

 - 7:00 AM Check internal temp. It's usually in the 140F-150F range. Increase cook temp to 225F

- 12:00 Noon Check internal temp. It's usually i n the 170F-175F range. Increase cook temp to 250F.

- 3:30-4:30 PM Check internal temp. It's usually in the 190F-195F range. Pull the meat and FTC it.

- 7:30 PM Slice/pull the meat and serve.

Obviously, there's always some variation with the times and temps, but they're slight.

Works like a charm every time with little effort and no stress.

 

[whistlepig]

I always do briskets and butts overnight in a Cookshack electric smoker, and have been doing so years with excellent results. The procedure pretty much goes as follows:

- 10:00PM Remove meat from refrigerator and apply rub.

- 11:00 PM Put meat in smoker, and set cook temp at 185F

 - 7:00 AM Check internal temp. It's usually in the 140F-150F range. Increase cook temp to 225F

- 12:00 Noon Check internal temp. It's usually i n the 170F-175F range. Increase cook temp to 250F.

- 3:30-4:30 PM Check internal temp. It's usually in the 190F-195F range. Pull the meat and FTC it.

- 7:30 PM Slice/pull the meat and serve.

Obviously, there's always some variation with the times and temps, but they're slight.

Works like a charm every time with little effort and no stress.

Thanks for the time layout. This is a schedule that would work for me. As soon as I get my AMNPS I'm going to give this a try.  

 

[eman]

I've gotten myself into a routine of getting the meat cooking as soon as possible. Once the meat gets to 140 or so, it doesn't take on much more smoke. So hopefully it gets there before it gets too late, so I can get some sleep. Then just let the temp remote be my alarm. Get up and foil at 165, then into the oven to finish. I've held butts un-pulled for 5 hours in a cooler with towels, and its still too hot to handle. \Dont be afraid to let it get done way early, as long as you scavenge the juices and fat, it reheats very well.

On the flip side, I would like to get an AMNPS as well. 11 hours of hassle free smoke sounds good! Plus all the heat you loose loading wood every hour.Planning to add an access door on my MBXL for that purpose soon.

Please reference where you are getting the information that 140 degrees has anything to do w/ meat taking on smoke???

 

[ismoke]

I did my first overnight smoke last weekend when I needed to get 4 pork butts done by 1:30 at the latest for a work picnic.  I started my fire in my WSM at 11, using the minion method with some wood chunks buried in them to get them to light at different times.  I was in bed by 12:45, slept until about 5:30 when my remote thermometer told me that my temp was getting too hot, got that under control, went back to bed until my son woke me up at 7:30.  Not an ideal amount of sleep, but it worked, and I think I'll probably start doing it this way more often.  Much more convenient than waking up at 3 AM to get a brisket on, in HOPE that I get to eat it for dinner.

I must say, though, I'm continually amazed how good on fuel my WSM is.  I pulled it the meat off at 1:15, so over 14 hours later, and I bet I could have got another 5 or 6 hours on that one load of charcoal.  That helps bigtime when it comes to getting sleep.  It was pretty ideal temps, little wind, and the low is in the low 70s that night, but still.

 

[spoolinaz]

Please reference where you are getting the information that 140 degrees has anything to do w/ meat taking on smoke???

I know I've heard it from AB (Alton Brown) and read it in a thread or 2 around here. If I'm mistaken, I apologize. Seems that BBQ has the largest bucket of lore and myths. I'm learning quite a bit reading around here, love the science behind it. Hence my AB reference...

 

[eman]

Meat will take smoke as long as smoke is applied. The smoke ring quits forming at around 140 degrees.

 

[chef jimmyj]

I always do briskets and butts overnight in a Cookshack electric smoker, and have been doing so years with excellent results. The procedure pretty much goes as follows:

- 10:00PM Remove meat from refrigerator and apply rub.

- 11:00 PM Put meat in smoker, and set cook temp at 185F

 - 7:00 AM Check internal temp. It's usually in the 140F-150F range. Increase cook temp to 225F

- 12:00 Noon Check internal temp. It's usually i n the 170F-175F range. Increase cook temp to 250F.

- 3:30-4:30 PM Check internal temp. It's usually in the 190F-195F range. Pull the meat and FTC it.

- 7:30 PM Slice/pull the meat and serve.

Obviously, there's always some variation with the times and temps, but they're slight.

Works like a charm every time with little effort and no stress.

 Just a word of Caution...This plan is fine as stated...BUT...If you inject anything, punch in Garlic or the meat was Boned, Rolled and Tied, DO NOT smoke at temps below 225*F! For these non-intact meats 8 +/- hours to get to 140*F is risky.  Surface Bacteria that may be pushed in with the injection or entered during cutting has way too much time to grow and form Toxins that may not be rendered safe at the finished temp...JJ

 

[bbqhead]

It is great to put your meats in the smoker and have no worries. I've had all kinds of cookers and supervision was needed to prevent fire going cool or temp spikes . Then I got my cookshack FEC-100 and I was spoiled. I recently added a Ole Hickory CTO, again just program your settings and your time is freed up to do your sides or , sleep...   Good Luck !.
 

 

[keithd]

I'm finding out that AB sometimes makes statements that are just not true.

I know for sure meat will take on smoke at temps higher than 140. I sous vide my briskets to a temp of 174, then I put them in the smoker for 6-8 hours. They get PLENTY smoky. I also think it doesn't affect the smoke ring much as I used to get a good smoke ring when I smoked on a charcoal/stick smoker.

But for overnight smoking, it would be hard to beat a MES 40 (or any electric smoker) and an AMNPS. I do it during the day, but I load up the brisket, start the AMNPS, and then I mostly forget about it until it's done.

 

[spoolinaz]

I know for sure meat will take on smoke at temps higher than 140. I sous vide my briskets to a temp of 174, then I put them in the smoker for 6-8 hours. They get PLENTY smoky. I also think it doesn't affect the smoke ring much as I used to get a good smoke ring when I smoked on a charcoal/stick smoker.

 Wow, you do them whole? I am imagining a huge tub to sous vide that big of a piece of meat

 

[dougmays]

 Just a word of Caution...This plan is fine as stated...BUT...If you inject anything, punch in Garlic or the meat was Boned, Rolled and Tied, DO NOT smoke at temps below 225*F! For these non-intact meats 8 +/- hours to get to 140*F is risky.  Surface Bacteria that may be pushed in with the injection or entered during cutting has way too much time to grow and form Toxins that may not be rendered safe at the finished temp...JJ

i was just about to say the same thing..your first 4 hours are crucial for getting the meat safely above 140 degrees! if i were you i would run the smoker atleast between 225-230 during the night to ge the temps up then decrease temp when you get up in the morning if you'd like.

 

[keithd]

 Wow, you do them whole? I am imagining a huge tub to sous vide that big of a piece of meat

Yep - I made a sous vide water oven out of a Coleman 36 qt 5-day Xtreme cooler. It fits 12-15 lb briskets easily.

I've gotten a chuck roast that was over 20 lbs in there before (not much room to spare!), and other times 2 briskets at the same time that were 10.5 and 11.5 lbs. I just did a 13 lb brisket and a couple 4 lb chuck roasts the other day.

Some people have used their converted beer keg electric brew kettles for sous vide - they're already PID controlled and quite large.

edit -

By the way, here is a pic of my water oven:

PID controller up top, the line on the left is a silicone hose for hot water return, and the 2000w hot water tank element is mounted on back in a separate chamber. The pump is inside the cooler, and I've gone through 4 iterations of pumps so far - the latest is an aquarium pump wrapped in fiberglass and JB Weld. This one is holding up so far - all the others have melted/warped... :-(

 

[spoolinaz]

Thats pretty wicked! Maybe I'll try that for my next culinary venture, after I satisfy my smoking obsession...