Last 8 1/2 lber took me 9 1/2 hours. But I increase the heat once I have the butt wrapped in foil.
ECB and the Minon method
- Thread starter bill r
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- Aug 15, 2012
- 18
- 11
The weekend I did brisket and pork shoulder together I cooked them Friday evening into the wee hours of Saturday morning. When they were done I did as Bomftdrum suggested--I double wrapped them in heavy duty foil and put them in a cooler with some old pillows on top of them in the cooler and went to sleep. When I got up 5 hours later they were still reading 165 degrees on my digital thermometer. At that point I shredded/pulled the meat apart and put it in disposable aluminum pans (which I just wash and reuse over and over again) and put them in the fridge until Sunday evening. On Sunday I heated the oven to 270 degrees and put the pans covered in foil in the oven for about an hour. When it was time to eat the meat was perfect.
I didn't have a digital thermometer with an alarm that would go off at 2:00 am in my bedroom . . . until this smoke---while putting the meat on the smoker I managed to drop my cheap digital thermometer in the bucket of water I was soaking wood in. I ran down to Wally World and they only had one model of Taylor digital thermometer (which happened to be a really nice one with a remote alarm that I could keep with me on the couch). :) I think it was about $30.
On the same trip I picked up a couple bags of Royal Oak lump charcoal for the first time. It burns WAY better then the Cowboy junk I have been buying at Home Depot!
I agree with Bomftdrum, plan on about 16 hours, maybe give yourself an hour or two extra on the back end just in case your meat plateaus for an extra long time. If you don't want to be up ALL night don't be afraid to finish the meat in the oven for the last few hours. I've done this a time or two and it has always worked out well, just lay a heavy smoke on the meat early if you plan to finish it in the oven.
Good Luck! Let us know how it turns out!
I didn't have a digital thermometer with an alarm that would go off at 2:00 am in my bedroom . . . until this smoke---while putting the meat on the smoker I managed to drop my cheap digital thermometer in the bucket of water I was soaking wood in. I ran down to Wally World and they only had one model of Taylor digital thermometer (which happened to be a really nice one with a remote alarm that I could keep with me on the couch). :) I think it was about $30.
On the same trip I picked up a couple bags of Royal Oak lump charcoal for the first time. It burns WAY better then the Cowboy junk I have been buying at Home Depot!
I agree with Bomftdrum, plan on about 16 hours, maybe give yourself an hour or two extra on the back end just in case your meat plateaus for an extra long time. If you don't want to be up ALL night don't be afraid to finish the meat in the oven for the last few hours. I've done this a time or two and it has always worked out well, just lay a heavy smoke on the meat early if you plan to finish it in the oven.
Good Luck! Let us know how it turns out!
deanoaz
Meat Mopper
Forum responses that said to plan on 2 hours per pound seem to agree all around, so I guess that is my yardstick.
Thanks for all the help!
Thanks for all the help!
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Really there is no real problem with that. If it does end up done early, just leave it wrapped up in foil for its resting period.Forum responses that said to plan on 2 hours per pound seem to agree all around, so I guess that is my yardstick.
Thanks for all the help!
bomftdrum
Smoke Blower
deanoaz
Meat Mopper
I was just prepping for it. My butcher is supposed to call me when he gets one of the size I want.
golfpro2301
Smoking Fanatic
I am currently in the process of doing my first minion method smoke. I have the masterforge charcoal pretty much the same as the Brinkmann. The mods I have done was sealed the lid and door to prevent leaks. Drilled (4) 3/8" hole on top for smoke to escape. Installed a BGE vent on the front of the charcoal area to regulate air flow. raised the charcoal grate up from the bottom 2" and attached a piece of expanded sheet metal to the outer edge of the charcoal grate that stands 6" high to create a basket. I was really excited to try out the minion method because of all the babysitting I was doing before. I didnt have a can to put in the center so I just filled up the basket and removed about half a chimney out of the middle. Lit the coals and dumped them on top. I foiled some Peach and Pecan wood and put them on top. After about 1 hour the temp was up to 210* so I put on my 5# boneless butt. This is where the problems start. The temp kept climbing all the way to 300*. I checked and there were no flare ups. I had an extra ketchup bottle I use for my sauce so I filled it with water and poured it over the outer coals to put them out. after this the temp has settled in around 260-270. This is still a little too hot but I am tired of messing with it so I am hoping it will go down. I feel like I have done everything the same as everyone else on here but you all are getting better temp control. can anyone let me know where I went wrong? I know you want pics but I currently have a BUTT on there and like an idiot I didnt take pics at the start (sorry).
deanoaz
Meat Mopper
Not a crusty old-timer at this, but my ideas would include:
1. Holes in the top, in my opinion, should have a damper over them to close down when the temperature gets too high. On my ECB, I took a damper off my old Weber and put it on the top of the lid. My temp starts dropping when I close it down. That in combination with the BGE vent at the charcoal basket might help control your temp's.
2. You might be using too much charcoal if you are filling a 6" basket. My charcoal pan is only 4" deep and I just barely put the chunks to the top, around a gallon paint can (new from Lowes) into which I dump my burning chimney chunks after well lit. If the temp is starting to climb over that much time, it sounds like an over-abundance of charcoal is starting to become lit and you have more than you need. I keep my soaked smoke-wood, mini-chunks in banana-shaped foil packets (holes in the top), but also put a few on the burning chimney chunks after the dump in the can and its removal. My theory is that this helps create smoke until the foil packets start smoking.
Just my ideas. Good Luck!
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bomftdrum
Smoke Blower
I'm thinking too much charcoal to start as well. On my ecb if temps start rising I just open my door and usually will bring it back down.
golfpro2301
Smoking Fanatic
Yeah I took out a lot of the lit charcoal and waitied until it got down to 255*. Once it got down I put the body back on and closed the door. It maintained 250-275* for the next 9 hours with very little babysitting. I was really impressed. I think next time I will only fill it about 4 inches. I am having a hard time getting my wood chips to burn. I am putting them in foil canoes with the top part open. It smolders for about 30 minutes but produces very little smoke. any ideas on how I can improve this?
deanoaz
Meat Mopper
I'm not sure how you are setting up your charcoal pan. Here is a picture of my pan, where I put the empty can in the middle, chunks around that, then my smoke packets on top of that (I think the canoes need to be on top of charcoal chunks). It shows what the charcoal pan looks like after filling the paint can with lit chunks from the chimney and removing it. I am now sprinkling a few smoke wood mini-chunks on the lit middle to get some early smoke before the packets start putting out smoke, since they take awhile. When they do start putting out smoke, it is sometimes hard to see as it is a very thin, blue smoke.
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gotsmoke80
Fire Starter
I am going to have to try this . I have been using Briquetts for my last three smokes and it seems the temp goes thru the roof, I also think I need to add a vent to the top , I did all the basic mods to my new ECB , outside legs two thermometers I think I am using to much charcoal in the beginning which is why my heat gets so high.
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