# First time running the Masterbuilt 1050 Overnight -- Pork Shoulder smoke and a good lesson learned.



## mcokevin (May 25, 2021)

Ran my 1050 overnight for the first time this past weekend to smoke a pork shoulder for a family gathering for this coming weekend.  I'll be doing ribs day of, so thought it best to get the PP out of the way ahead of time since it reheats so well.   This also served as a great chance to try my new Masterbuilt 1050 on a long overnight smoke.  I am looking forward to doing a Brisket overnight soon, but wanted to try with a less spendy cut of meat first in case it all went wrong overnight.

The good news is it didn't all go wrong, but it went -- not the smoothest.

Got my 9.5lb pork shoulder on the smoke at 8pm Saturday night.  Stayed up until midnight and topped off the charcoal hopper.  Ran the smoker at 225, so with a full hopper I should have about 8 hours of fuel at that temp.  Went to bed and set an alarm for 7, and the smoker is next to my bedroom so I would hear the low temp alarm the MBGs give if the PID controller can't keep the temp you set.  All good - so I thought!  Woke up at 6:30 before my alarm and I am glad I did.  The built-in probe was registering about 220 - lower than set but not low enough to trigger an alarm.  The probe on the middle rack where I was cooking was reading only about 150, and my pork shoulder was only at 148 degrees after 10 hours (in hindsight I think this is where that shoulder stalled, more below). 

I opened the firebox and put my hand below the main charcoal area and it was ice cold - yet there was still combustion and plenty of fuel in the hopper.  I think what happened is that ash accumulated where the combustion should take place and blocked air flow and prevented the "gravity" part of the charcoal from working.  The combustion had climbed a bit higher up in the hopper, but wasn't getting the correct air flow into the cook chamber.  I gave the charcoal grate a really good shake and added a bit more fuel, which cleared all the ash and got the lit charcoal down to where it wants to be.  The smoker climbed back to temp quickly once things were sorted.  So the main lesson here for any MBG owners is to make sure you are clearing any accumulated ash on longer smokes.  If I had done this before I went to bed I think it would have been fine.

Now at this point for this smoke I had to call an audible.  It was about 7am by the time I got everything sorted and we had plans at noon.  I cranked the smoker from 225 to 300 and by about 10am the IT of the shoulder had climbed to 180.  I never hit a stall after the smoker temp came back up, which is why I think this shoulder was in the stall around 148 (lower than usual, but hey).  By this point the bark was set, so I crutched it and threw it in the oven at 325.  Definitely not my normal method but I know a lot of people do PP this way and it turns out fine.  I hit 203 IT around 11:45am and pulled from the oven.  Let rest 45 min and my wife and I pulled it in a hurry, seasoned it, and got it in the freezer for next weekend. 

We were an hour late to our plans, but our friends were understanding (they have enjoyed my ribs before, and will enjoy more food again!). 

Despite everything it turned out to be some of the best PP I've made.  I ran the MBG with a hickory split in the charcoal hopper and got the best looking smoke ring I think I've ever had on a pork shoulder.  I didn't get too many pics because we were in a hurry but I did manage to snap one of the finished tray before we put it in freezer bags.


----------



## normanaj (May 25, 2021)

Glad it all worked out for you.


----------



## krj (May 25, 2021)

Unfortunately all gravity feed smokers have the possibility to bridge off like this. Sometimes it caused by ash build-up, other times it's caused by your charcoal getting tightly compacted. I think in the 3 years I've had my big GF I've only had one occurrence where I had a bridge off. Thankfully that was after I had given it a good powerwash, and was reseasoning it.

Glad your cook turned out. I will say, for me being over prepared for overnight cooks has been good for me. I generally run 2 probes as ambient temp probes set with low/high temperature alarms no matter what cooker I'm using, but especially when I use my GF. This not only allows me to see the variance in my CC, but also if for whatever reason I see a drop on one I know I need to investigate.


----------



## mcokevin (May 25, 2021)

krj said:


> Unfortunately all gravity feed smokers have the possibility to bridge off like this. Sometimes it caused by ash build-up, other times it's caused by your charcoal getting tightly compacted. I think in the 3 years I've had my big GF I've only had one occurrence where I had a bridge off. Thankfully that was after I had given it a good powerwash, and was reseasoning it.
> 
> Glad your cook turned out. I will say, for me being over prepared for overnight cooks has been good for me. I generally run 2 probes as ambient temp probes set with low/high temperature alarms no matter what cooker I'm using, but especially when I use my GF. This not only allows me to see the variance in my CC, but also if for whatever reason I see a drop on one I know I need to investigate.



Thanks - yeah I did have an additional probe for ambient temp but my thermometer is a "basic bitch" model without any of the alarm functionality for low temp   

Might be my next upgrade, though I'm starting to get on thin ice with the wife with as much stuff as I've been buying for the smoker! hah.


----------



## PPG1 (May 25, 2021)

mcokevin said:


> I opened the firebox and put my hand below the main charcoal area and it was ice cold - yet there was still combustion and plenty of fuel in the hopper. I think what happened is that ash accumulated where the combustion should take place and blocked air flow and prevented the "gravity" part of the charcoal from working. The combustion had climbed a bit higher up in the hopper, but wasn't getting the correct air flow into the cook chamber. I gave the charcoal grate a really good shake and added a bit more fuel, which cleared all the ash and got the lit charcoal down to where it wants to be. The smoker climbed back to temp quickly once things were sorted. So the main lesson here for any MBG owners is to make sure you are clearing any accumulated ash on longer smokes. If I had done this before I went to bed I think it would have been fine.


Glad it worked out for you...looks great.  What charcoal were you using.  I generally use B&B or RO but i will use other brands if that's what is available so if there is a chance your issue might have been the product of the charcoal, i would like to try and avoid it.  I cause enough problems on my own...lol


----------



## mcokevin (May 25, 2021)

PPG1 said:


> Glad it worked out for you...looks great.  What charcoal were you using.  I generally use B&B or RO but i will use other brands if that's what is available so if there is a chance your issue might have been the product of the charcoal, i would like to try and avoid it.  I cause enough problems on my own...lol


Hah hah I feel you there!

It was loaded up with Kingsford Original .  I had already planned on switching to competition once my original is out.  Competition has much less ash, and last weekend's situation cemented my decision.


----------



## BBQ Bird (May 25, 2021)

Do you know if using the Hickory split contributed to the bridge?  Possibly fell sideways and clogged the chute?  Never used a full split in my MB gravity and was wondering how it performs.


----------



## mcokevin (May 25, 2021)

BBQ Bird said:


> Do you know if using the Hickory split contributed to the bridge?  Possibly fell sideways and clogged the chute?  Never used a full split in my MB gravity and was wondering how it performs.


It could have, I am not sure to be honest.  I have run it a couple of times with splits but never for longer than a few hours for ribs or wings.  Haven't had any problems until the overnight smoke.


----------



## O C (May 25, 2021)

I did a boston butt Sunday on my GF 980, first low and slow. Started with a full hopper of BB lump at 5:30 am at 225. Around 11:30 am I opened the hopper to see how the charcoal was doing. Thought 'wow that's pretty good for 6 hours', then I decided to poke it just to be sure...whump it dropped about another 6 inches! Topped it off and it finished up fine at 5:30pm. Going to try some B&B and RO briquettes next, I think it was the larger lump pieces that bridged.


----------



## SKade (May 25, 2021)

Glad it worked for you. That’s some good looking food. I haven’t ran into that issue with my 560 but it still has the old style grate. I wonder if it will happen with the new one when I replace. What charcoal were you running?


----------



## mcokevin (May 25, 2021)

SKade said:


> Glad it worked for you. That’s some good looking food. I haven’t ran into that issue with my 560 but it still has the old style grate. I wonder if it will happen with the new one when I replace. What charcoal were you running?


Kingsford Original.  I still have about 80lbs of it left as it's what I always ran in my WSM without issue.  I am switching to Kingsford Competition when I'm out of the original.


----------



## SKade (May 25, 2021)

mcokevin said:


> Kingsford Original.  I still have about 80lbs of it left as it's what I always ran in my WSM without issue.  I am switching to Kingsford Competition when I'm out of the original.


Original is what I usually run. I wonder if filling the bottom with lump or mixing some in might keep it from getting clogged? Smaller ash or less uniformity in the fill. The downside is less time before needing roped off.


----------



## SmokinAl (May 25, 2021)

All I have to say is great job, you figured out what to do under some unusual circumstances. The PP looks delicious! Nicely done!
Al


----------



## mcokevin (May 25, 2021)

SmokinAl said:


> All I have to say is great job, you figured out what to do under some unusual circumstances. The PP looks delicious! Nicely done!
> Al


Thanks Al - much appreciated!


----------



## PPG1 (May 25, 2021)

BBQ Bird said:


> Do you know if using the Hickory split contributed to the bridge?  Possibly fell sideways and clogged the chute?  Never used a full split in my MB gravity and was wondering how it performs.


I use full splits when i do butts "I like the extra smoke flavor" and never had a problem.  I place a small layer of charcoal, then i'lI place the split in the center, surround it with charcoal.  Always seems to work fine.  On shorter cooks it does not go out as easy as charcoal so it takes a bit longer to cool down.


----------



## BBQ Bird (May 25, 2021)

PPG1 said:


> I use full splits when i do butts "I like the extra smoke flavor" and never had a problem.  I place a small layer of charcoal, then i'lI place the split in the center, surround it with charcoal.  Always seems to work fine.  On shorter cooks it does not go out as easy as charcoal so it takes a bit longer to cool down.


Your set up sounds like the plan I want to try.  However,  still more questions:  Does the split burn faster or slower than the charcoal?  Does it usually last the entire cook for a pork butt (or at least until you wrap)?  Any problems maintaining temps?

Thanks


----------



## mcokevin (May 25, 2021)

BBQ Bird said:


> Your set up sounds like the plan I want to try.  However,  still more questions:  Does the split burn faster or slower than the charcoal?  Does it usually last the entire cook for a pork butt (or at least until you wrap)?  Any problems maintaining temps?
> 
> Thanks


I don't know the specific answers to these questions, but I can tell you even with the hiccup I had and having to crutch and oven it after the bark set - running with a split in the hopper gave me a better smoke ring than I ever got on my WSM using chunks.


----------



## PPG1 (May 25, 2021)

It seems to burn on par with the Charcoal.  You would be surprised How long the split last"Usually the entire stack".  No problems with temp the fan handles that.  It is a lot simpler then you think.  Don't over think it.  Try it and see how it works for you.


----------



## BBQ Bird (May 25, 2021)

mcokevin said:


> I don't know the specific answers to these questions, but I can tell you even with the hiccup I had and having to crutch and oven it after the bark set - running with a split in the hopper gave me a better smoke ring than I ever got on my WSM using chunks.



That sounds great.   



PPG1 said:


> It seems to burn on par with the Charcoal.  You would be surprised How long the split last"Usually the entire stack".  No problems with temp the fan handles that.  It is a lot simpler then you think.  Don't over think it.  Try it and see how it works for you.



Will do.  Thanks for the info.  I hope to give a shot soon.


----------



## Bearcarver (May 25, 2021)

Looks Great, Kevin!!!
Looks like your Audible was a Good call.
Nice Job!
Like.

Bear


----------



## mcokevin (May 25, 2021)

Bearcarver said:


> Looks Great, Kevin!!!
> Looks like your Audible was a Good call.
> Nice Job!
> Like.
> ...


Thanks Bear!  Much appreciated


----------

