Hello all, Just put on mt WSM 5 10lb pork butts. It went on at 12:30AM and I'm hoping they will be ready at around 5:00PM. I will be serving at 7:00PM. Went with Chris Lilly's rub & injection. Smoking for the first time without water. Filled my 22.5 to the brim with Kingsford and started with the Minon method. With one adjustment to the bottom vents, it's chugging along at 225 F. (it's now 26 F outside) I love my WSM! I'll wait another hour to make sure all is stable and then I'm off to bed. Is it OK that I'm so excited about this? Photos to follow soon.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Tim Quon,

Good luck Tim.

Just a friendly FYI.

This topic would get more attention in the Barbecueing category.

quote:

Originally posted by Tim Quon:
Is it OK that I'm so excited about this?

If you don't get excited about 5 10# butts chugging away then this is the wrong hobby to have... Heck, I'm excited for you

Tim, I'm excited for you!

**** no, I still get excited when I'm going a big overnight cook. Where are the pic?

Good luck on your awesome adventure! I think your time line is OK, might have some challenges as far as your finish time.

I would have tried to start a little earlier and do an overnight. I would have planned for a 10 lb butt time and usually try to allow 2 hrs per lb to be "safe".

But you can always jack the temps if things start to look like there might not be enough time. It's easier if you get done early IMHO as you can store in foil in coolers and hold these thing pretty easily with good results.

If something goes seriously wrong (which I seriously doubt) an indoor oven could be your plan B towards the end of the cook. They will have had plenty time in smoker and will loose nothing in terms of quality if you need to foil wrap and finish in a 350 degree oven.

You probably won't need it as long as you can keep the fire going and temps within 25 degrees pretty consistent.



Show us some pics when you get a chance! You should be pretty far along by now - how are things progressing so far? What are internal temps about now?

quote:

Originally posted by Tim Quon:
Hello all, Just put on mt WSM 5 10lb pork butts. It went on at 12:30AM and I'm hoping they will be ready at around 5:00PM. I will be serving at 7:00PM. Went with Chris Lilly's rub & injection. Smoking for the first time without water. Filled my 22.5 to the brim with Kingsford and started with the Minon method. With one adjustment to the bottom vents, it's chugging along at 225 F. (it's now 26 F outside) I love my WSM! I'll wait another hour to make sure all is stable and then I'm off to bed. Is it OK that I'm so excited about this? Photos to follow soon.

[URL= ]photos 1[/URL]

Its been 13 hours. The temp have been holding steady at 225 F. (Just opened the vent a little around 10:00AM) The butts on the bottom are at 181 F & the ones at the top are at 170 F. In other videos & photos I have seen, the butts are very charred black. Mine are not. Should I be concerned? It's 1:30 now. will I be ok timewise to finish cooking for 4:30? (200 F)

Sure smells good. One of my neighbours from across the street has stopped by to see what the smell was.

From where I'm sitting the color looks just fine. The amount of rub you use and the amount of sugar contained in the rub can also dictate how dark your butts will turn out. Did you rub once or twice? Looking at your rubbed pictures it looks like you may have gone a little light (compared to what I use) on the rub.

Timing, I'd kick your temp up a bit or I think you'll be waiting on dinner. I like to give my butts at least an hour to rest.

Everything is right on track. My bottom rack butts are reading 190 F & the top butts are reading 189 F. I took Larry's advice & kick my temp up to 275 F from 225 F at 3:00PM. Its now 4:00PM. Also I added about 60 more briquettes. at 3:30PM (had all the vents open and could'nt raise the temp) The briquettes did the trick. Wow! 15 hours from a full ring of briquettes for 45lbs of butt at 26 F. Will be foiling soon. Gotta remember to take photos. This is fun!

Success! The butts were ready at 5:00PM. I foiled all of them, placed them in a cooler wrapped in a towel and went to the party. Not a lot of people in this area really knew what pulled pork was so when they were served a generous portion on a bun with my homemade beans, slaw, & no. 5 sauce it was heavenly. People couldn't get enough. They never had anything quite like this.

The meat was so tender & moist. This is the first time I did'nt use water. Just a couple of
foil wrapped bricks. I'm converted!

As I reflect on the positive experience of planning for and preparing a BBQ for 75 people, it warms my heart knowing that I was able to expose a lot of people to "real BBQ".

Next weekend its going to be a 15lb Turkey

quote:

Originally posted by Tim Quon:
As I reflect on the positive experience of planning for and preparing a BBQ for 75 people, it warms my heart knowing that I was able to expose a lot of people to "real BBQ".

Next weekend its going to be a 15lb Turkey

This is why I love this hobby so much...every aspect of it is fun to me; the planning, prepping, cooking, serving and especially the satisfied/happy guests!

As for the turkey, I can't recommend this enough. The recipe calls for a 12-14lb bird but I did a 15 pounder yesterday and it was probably the best turkey I've ever had.

Congrats on the butts!