got some weather comin' - adjust schedule?

yardbird · Dec 21, 2012

Christmas Eve the plan is to have pulled pork, a turkey, pork shots and a big pan of mac-n-cheese. I rubbed and wrapped the pair of 8 pound pork butts and they're in the fridge getting cozy with the coating. The turkey is thawed. I was going to cook the pork butts tomorrow and the turkey on Sunday so that on Christmas Eve I only had to do the pork shots and mac-n-cheese.

Tomorrow morning they're saying the wind could be 30mph with 45-50mph gusts and blowing snow. What I'd LIKE to do is get the pork butts at least up to 165 in the smoker and then foil them and bring them in the house and put 'em in the oven. With the expected winds.... I'm a bit concerned.

My smoker is wind-screened on 3 sides. I toll a couple of solid core doors that were cut down for something else. They're about a foot taller than my smoker, and I connected them with a 4 foot wide piece of T-111 across the back to make a 3-sided wind break. Think I can keep my Smoke Hollow gasser lit ? Or should I consider shifting this to Sunday? If I can get a pair of 8 pound butts to 165 in 6 hours or so I'd still have time to put those in the oven and get the turkey in the smoker. The turkey is about 14 pounds and will be brined and cooked at 350 to 375 if I can get the heat up that high and keep it there.

Thoughts?

forluvofsmoke · Dec 21, 2012

Be sure your wind-break is going to stay solid, or it could topple and do some damage. I'm not familiar with the Smoke Hollow, but my old GOSM 3405-GW (13,500 BTU) and Smoke Vault 24 (20,000 BTU) never had issues staying lit with a bit of wind-break, as you typically need a higher flame to compensate for the wind sucking heat away from the cabinet walls.

Be sure the burner plenum and venturi are clean and the unit operates correctly throughout the burner control settings ahead of time, just to be sure. If you see a potential problem with the flame looking like it has too much amber flame when on med to med/high (too rich on fuel/air ratio) shouldn't cause a flame-out, but if too lean (lots of blue flame and little amber on high) this could be an issue in high winds. If too lean, you should be able to adjust the venturi (where the screens and baffles [usually] are located on the gas tube going from the control valve to the burner plenum) to cut back the inlet air and make a richer burn, or vice versa.

Situations like this, I like to keep my eyes open for opportunity to better my odds once I start the smoke. You may find that being able to have a back-up plan is best, and to be able to adapt somewhat as you go. Sounds like you're keeping your options open, and that will keep you thinking about what to do if plan A falls apart, and, will plan B do the job or not...

You're on the right track with what you have going, and what you're planning. If it looks too bad to do it in a two-day smoke and wait to do it all on Sunday, my next question would be, is Sunday gong to better weather, or worse? Keep that in mind.

Chamber temp for the turkey should be on track, if you can maintain it at that temp, although 325* should get it through the danger-zone temp/time range OK, so if the higher temps aren't do-able, it will just take a bit longer to reach your desired finished temp...don't sweat that. My gassers can pull a lot higher temps than I generally need, even with wind and cold temps...the Smoke Vault is almost scary with how hot it can get...GOSM not as much, but still can run pretty hot.

Eric

yardbird · Dec 22, 2012

almost 6am here. I really have no time constraints on this pork butt smoke so I think I'm going to wait at least until it's light outside. Current temp 27. Winds 25mph sustained with gusts to 40. Could be challenging, hehehe. The goal for today is to keep them in the smoker to 165. When I foil them, I can bring them inside and stick 'em in the oven. If it turns out that the smoker maintains temps ok and the wind break is working, I have the option of just letting them run the full time in the smoker.

Weather should be better tomorrow for cooking the turkey. :)

smoking b · Dec 22, 2012

Good luck with your smoke! It's really windy here in my neck of the woods as well. My anemometer needs fresh batteries so I'm not sure just how fast the gusts are but it is windy for sure lol. Temp is 28 outside right now. I'd like to smoke something later myself. What wood are you gonna smoke the butts with? Looking forward to pics as well

yardbird · Dec 22, 2012

I'll use hickory on the pork as that seems to be what everyone here likes. Right now I'm not in any of the snow bands coming off the lake so that's a plus. Temperature outside is up to 29 now hehehe....

yardbird · Dec 22, 2012

ok... I'm cookin'

2012-12-22_cold-out.jpg

yardbird
Dec 22, 2012

Yeah... 29 degrees out and wind 25 gusting to 45. Fun, huh?

2012-12-22_ready.jpg

yardbird
Dec 22, 2012

3-sided wind break. The plywood on top is sitting on 3/4 inch spacers. I know...but it's gotta help a little.

2012-12-22_start-8am.jpg

yardbird
Dec 22, 2012

OK, they're in. I'm running a tad hotter than I normally would because I'm expecting temperature swings. If I don't see that happening I'll go out there and tweak it down a bit. The drip pan in the pic is just a grease catcher. I don't use anything that falls into it. I'll get nice juices with less fat later on. These 2 pieces of pork weigh in at 8 pounds each.

Nothing like a brisk morning to get the creative juices flowing. :) Hope the wind break does its job.

smoking b · Dec 22, 2012

Nice little windbreak - has to be a help. Looks like you're off to a good start

davidhef88 · Dec 22, 2012

Hey yard, I'm right up the road in Rochester. I was thinking today would be a good day to do some cold smoking. Lol. This wind is COLD. Still snowing here.

yardbird · Dec 22, 2012

The wind break seems to be working really well. I've started tweaking the smoker temp down. It's SOoooo darn touchy. I'm at about 250. It dips a little occasionally but only a couple degrees. I might hold it at 250 to try to power through the 40-to-140-in-4 thing. Last time I didn't quite make it and that was with one shoulder. Now I have 2 in there AND it's nasty weather. I can slow it down if need be once I'm past the danger zone.

yardbird · Dec 22, 2012

Davidhef88 said:
Hey yard, I'm right up the road in Rochester. I was thinking today would be a good day to do some cold smoking. Lol. This wind is COLD. Still snowing here.

Yeah! When I checked the weather this morning you folks are still in a band coming off Lake Ontario. I have a white coating but the grass is poking through so we only got maybe an inch or inch and a half. The wind is kinda biting, but once I was out there it wasn't as bad as I expected.

davidhef88 · Dec 22, 2012

Can't see the grass here looks like we got a few. Nowhere near the 7 they were calling for but it's picking up again. Pork looks good. Is that some of wegmans 1.29/ lb butts.

yardbird · Dec 22, 2012

Davidhef88 said:
Can't see the grass here looks like we got a few. Nowhere near the 7 they were calling for but it's picking up again. Pork looks good. Is that some of wegmans 1.29/ lb butts.

yup. :)

smoking b · Dec 22, 2012

yardbird said:
The wind break seems to be working really well. I've started tweaking the smoker temp down. It's SOoooo darn touchy. I'm at about 250. It dips a little occasionally but only a couple degrees. I might hold it at 250 to try to power through the 40-to-140-in-4 thing. Last time I didn't quite make it and that was with one shoulder. Now I have 2 in there AND it's nasty weather. I can slow it down if need be once I'm past the danger zone.

Sounds like a good idea. How do you have your windbreak anchored?

yardbird · Dec 22, 2012

Wind break actually isn't anchored. The sides are pieces of solid core door. They weigh a ton. They are about.... hmmmm... 5 feet tall? Somewhere around there. The back is a partial sheet of T-111. 4 feet wide and I think it was 4 ft tall as well. In the spring I'm going to build an actual structure 'cause the wind break is kinda trashy looking. I'm thinking of building something that looks like an outhouse :)

Planters on either side for weight, outhouse in the middle, .. something... still thinkin on it.

forluvofsmoke · Dec 22, 2012

Good start on the smoke. I forgot to ask last night, but if you pork is bone-in and not injectred the 40-140/4hr guideline is null. 225 chamber temp and let it ride a few hours before probing for temps is fine.

Eric

yardbird · Dec 22, 2012

It's not injected and it's bone-in. Chamber temp is more like 250 because the wind makes it dip a little from time to time. Just stuck a meat probe in and the one on the lower rack is at 115 IT after not quite 3 and a half hours. I know the one on the rack right above is probably not at the same temp as the lower one, but I just want a general point of reference right now. I plan to foil at 165-ish and will decide at that time whether to bring them into the oven or not.

My wife asked, "If you foil them and bring them in, will the whole house smell like a smokehouse?" ... I don't know the answer. I've always cooked to completion in the smoker.

forluvofsmoke · Dec 22, 2012

It will give off somne nice aromas from the oven :)

yardbird · Dec 22, 2012

Wind shifted. It's now blowing directly at the door of the smoker. The "open" side of my windbreak. I'm seeing temp swings of 15 degrees. :) I think it's still ok though.

yardbird · Dec 22, 2012

Well the lower rack shoulder is at 160 and it will be getting dark soon. Waiting for 165.

This might be a first.... you tell me... I'm going to use my table saw as the table for foiling. :) I'll need to set a lantern at the smoker, pull the shoulder, run it into my wood shop about 15 feet away, foil it, and run it back to the smoker.

My table saw has a granite top so I'm not worried if I get a drip or 2 on it. I've come this far in the smoker. I think I'm just going to finish them out there. Might be kinda late pullin', but I want to pul them after a rest 'cause I'm not sure they'd pull well if cold. Besides I can chill the meat down faster if it's shredded. heheheh... Can't wait to actually EAT some of this!

smoking b · Dec 22, 2012

Can't say I've ever foiled anything on my table saw before although I did cover it for halloween & served a spiral ham, chips, pretzels, cookies, crackers, brownies, jello shooters, cheese, a plugged watermelon, & lots of peanuts off of it - worked great as an impromptu setup for the party lol.

Looking forward to the finished pics.

got some weather comin' - adjust schedule?

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