First Smoke Ever

[cranesrule]

Hello all!

What a great site, with some knowledgable friendly folks.
Got an MES and seasoned it yesterday... fired it up today for my first smoke ever! 7.5lb pork butt, slathered with spicy brown mustard and rubbed down good. MES at 225* with hickory chips, apple juice in the pan. Put it on at noon and started spraying with 3-1 apple juice-bourbon at 100*. Stalled BIG TIME at 146*, just now got to 165* after almost 12 hours. Double foiled and waiting on 200* now! Using a Polder dual sensor therm that shows the box temp and internal temp, pretty neat. It stays within +/- 5* of the MES readout, so it looks like the MES is dead on. Wasn't planning on babysitting this late, but it makes for a pretty cool first experience. Going to rest it wrapped in a cooler when it temps out, would it be ok to leave it like that til morning and pull then? And how can it be reheated? Thinking about the micro, would that be ok? Not serving until about 5pm tomorrow. I'll be doing a rack of spares tomorrow and some abt's too, I'll keep you updated, and thanks in advance for the help!

Mark

 

[ronp]

Welcome Mark don't forget to go to roll call and do an official intro.

Here is what I do. Foil in the pan with juices, now set MES to 200" and go to bed. In the morning you can pull it and set your MES to 150 and its good to go to 5 pm tomorrow. Just don't forget to set your time accordingly.

Hopes this helps,
Ron

 

[mossymo]

cranesrule
You are practicing patience perfectly with you first smoke; congrats !!!

Leaving it in a towel lined cooler while you sleep is not a problem.

Personaly, at this time, and it being double foil wrapped with apple juice added I would switch it to the oven, using your internal meat thermometer set to go off at 200º, if that is your desired temp and then move to the cooler.

As far as reheating after it is pulled I use a microwave or a crockpot depending on the circumstances, others here use a rice steamer. Either way I would look into adding or offering the finishing sauce, as it makes a night and day difference for the finished product for me.

Hope this helps and congrats on the first smoke; keep on smoking !!!

 

[smokin365]

Sounds like a typical butt. I have left mine in the cooler for 8 hrs before, and it was still pretty hot, I had it wrapped in 1 big towell and stuffed the cooler full of towels. make sure that you save the liquid that comes out of the cooler and put it back into the meat after you pull it. You can reheat it however you like, but i usually reheat mine in the oven in a covered foil loaf pan. Lookin forward to some qview tomorrow.

 

[cranesrule]

Thank you all very much for the quick replies! Just checked and I am at 171*. I think I'm going to wait it out... I want to see 200 and It'll be a neat story to tell anyway. Then I'll rest it while I rest myself and pull in the AM. So is this typical or a really long smoke like it seems? 171 at 12hrs 45min. P.S. - I'm tired but this is pretty awesome... and it smells fantastic.

Mark

 

[cowgirl]

Sounds like you are doing great Mark! Good luck with your smoke and welcome to the forum. :)

 

[desertlites]

Did he say Micro? all else sounds like going great till I saw that.u got id down-don't nuke it.

 

[mossymo]

Pork Happens.....

Normaly there is a time where the temp stalls, it can be up to 3 hours. That is why I sugggested the oven, temp. alarm and a nap.

Your reward with compliments tomorrow will make it all worth it !!!

 

[cranesrule]

OK, no nuke. I promise. Up to 178* now... Tick tock.

 

[cranesrule]

187*... slowly but surely!

 

[cranesrule]

195*... 30 more minutes and it's nite-nite time!

 

[casterfield]

it sounds delicious. please post some pictures of the finished product!

 

[richtee]

Remember to be CAREFUL removing from the fiol..there's gonna be a cup or so of "liquig gold" in there. Defat it and make a finishing sauce for the pork. Or- just pour back over pulled meat in a pan, cover and heat in oven to serving temps. I DO recommend the finishing sauce tho.

Only thing I see ya did wrong..is ya missed a Roll Call post :{) All this help to a stranger - what a place eh? LOL!

 

[m1tanker78]

I've left a well-insulated butt in a cooler overnight (~7 hrs) and it was still almost hot when I pulled it in the morn'.

Tom

 

[dingle]

What fantastic advice from all. Have I ever mentioned that "I Love This Place"?

 

[cranesrule]

Took the butt off at 2:45 this morning @201*, rested it until about 8:30. Still hot when I pulled it. FALL APART GOOD! Put on some spares at 10am, did them 3-2-1. Also smoked a grouper filet for the wife, and some ABT's w/ cream cheese, mozzarella, parmesan, and sharp cheddar. The pulled pork sandwiches may have been the best I have had. ABT's were awesome, as was the grouper. Ribs were a bit of a disappointment, was going for "fall off the bone" and got "pretty tender". Needs some work. Thanks for the help, the Q was great, now I am actually looking forward to not smelling like a smokestack for a day or two!

 

[richtee]

Fall off the bone is not really what is generally considered a good rib. If in a comp... don't bother turning them in. Pretty tender is... it's called "tug" and it's desirable. Unless YOU like them to fall off the bone! LOL...Now make that Roll Call post!

 

[bb53chevpro]

Your first smoke sounds like it went very good. Congrads. Looking forward to seeing some pictures of it, if you took any.

 

[mossymo]

cranesrule
Great to hear of the smoking success, it only gets better !!!