New to smoking

Victoria D said:

The meat temp was in the 190s when I took it out. I was expecting to be smoking for 12 hours. I will follow a recipe for a good rub next time and an injecting solution. Apparently there is a lot of humility in this smoking experience for me.

Click to expand...

Victoria, 4 hours to 190 is extremely fast.   What size was the butt to start with ?  Second, was it boneless ?  Third, what did you use to determine that you were smoking at 275?

Victoria D said:

It was a small, 6lb bone-in butt. I just used the smokers highest setting, 275, to determine the smoker temp and the digital probe that came with the smoker to determine the meat temperature until I took it out, in which case I used my instant read thermometer.

Click to expand...

I'd wager that the MES temp is off quite a bit and you were smoking at a much higher temp than 275.    Even a small little 6 lb butt should take longer than 4 hours.   Heck, my ribs take longer than that  .  I'd guess that you were closer to 325 or so in temp.

Some people around here are proponents of "hot and fast" and a temp of 325 for Butts would be fine with them.   I haven't done it, so I'm in no place to argue about it.    What I can say is that high temps will shorten cook times, which in turn will lessen the amount of smoke that the meat will be hit with.   I believe this is what happened with your cook.    There's a number of ways to try and fix that.     You can either increase the amount of time the meat spends absorbing smoke by lowering the temp, OR, increase the amount of smoke hitting the meat.    The difficulty with the latter option is that you have to be careful as to what type of smoke you are producing.   

Something that might be very beneficial is a product called an AMPS sold by Todd at Amazenproducts (he's a site sponsor).  Basically, it's a metal grid/maze that you fill with whatever species/variety of wood pellet that you prefer.   Most people light one end and just let it burn to produce the smoke.   IF you want more smoke, you could light the other end as well to get twice the volume of "thin blue smoke".  If you want a whole lot of smoke, you could light the pellets in the center as well and get four times the smoke.

I use a similar product from Todd in my propane smoker.  It's a tube smoker called the AMNTS.    On most cooks, I'll fire up one tube and just let it smoke away.  On some cooks, I prefer a heavier smoke so I'll have 2 of the tubes smoking away.

One thing I'd definitely look into is a Maverick probe thermometer or an oven thermometer to check and see what the chamber temp really is in your MES.

Victoria, I saw you were a cater, smoking even when done hot and fast is a long duration cook. You can figure just for approximation 2 hours per pound. 2  1/2 for low and slow. You are using an inexpensive electric smoker. Electrics are slower than fire breathers. An example, With my MES normally I figure a 20 to 22 hour cook for a 9 lb. butt. 

Victoria D said:

I am going to do another test drive in the next few days. I have all the information on the pellets and now I need to contact Todd. What a cool sounding product! I am planning on purchasing the pellets and awesome thermometer. Seems like a must if I want to do this correctly.

Click to expand...

Speaking for myself, yeah, Todd's products are awesome.   Once you get them figured out, you get perfect smoke that goes for quite some time.   On a long butt smoke, I fill two tubes at the beginning, then refill them once about 4-6 hours in and that's it.   10-12 hours of good smoke with minimal effort.

Good luck on the upcoming test drive.   I'd say that the most important thing is to get an accurate reading of your chamber temps.

Victoria D said:

lectrics are slower than fire breathers. An example, With my MES normally I figure a 20 to 22 hour cook for a 9 lb. butt. 

Click to expand...

.

At what temp?[/quote]
I normally do low and slow that's 220 for me. Make sure though you test the thermometer for accuracy.

Victoria D said:

image.jpg

• victoria d
• May 8, 2014

It's a miracle. Got 180 lbs of butt smoked and pulled and the taste and texture are passable. I feel as though I am doing a disservice to the forum by posting questions without first purchasing the pellet generator and suggested thermometer. It's not in the financial cards right now, but when it is I will be harassing you again with my questions. Thank you for all of your input that made this endeavor possible!

Click to expand...

You've got to realize, digital thermometers and aux. smoke generators are pretty new to the scene and people have been smoking long before they were.

Smoking is a state of mind, a laid back idea of no stress and patience. Wither its a good book or a iced down case of long necks, its all about enjoying the down time long enough for a cheap tuff piece of meat can be transformed into the most deliciously tender and moist taste sensation you'll ever put in your mouth.

We don't do that, we just start it and allow it to become what it should with patience and a smile. Sure we take the credit humbly, but we just stick 'em in and add heat, they do the rest.

Keep at it, learn the old ways....... they make the new ways much easier and definitely more understandable when you know the reasons.

Thermometers keep you safe while learning, and an aux generator just allows you to treat an electric mostly like a fire breather which is the most familiar type of smoking.

Victoria D said:

image.jpg

• victoria d
• May 8, 2014

It's a miracle. Got 180 lbs of butt smoked and pulled and the taste and texture are passable. I feel as though I am doing a disservice to the forum by posting questions without first purchasing the pellet generator and suggested thermometer. It's not in the financial cards right now, but when it is I will be harassing you again with my questions. Thank you for all of your input that made this endeavor possible!

Click to expand...

Victoria,

Congrats on the successful smoke !!!!

Foamheart said:

 
You've got to realize, digital thermometers and aux. smoke generators are pretty new to the scene and people have been smoking long before they were.

Smoking is a state of mind, a laid back idea of no stress and patience. Wither its a good book or a iced down case of long necks, its all about enjoying the down time long enough for a cheap tuff piece of meat can be transformed into the most deliciously tender and moist taste sensation you'll ever put in your mouth.

We don't do that, we just start it and allow it to become what it should with patience and a smile. Sure we take the credit humbly, but we just stick 'em in and add heat, they do the rest.

Keep at it, learn the old ways....... they make the new ways much easier and definitely more understandable when you know the reasons.

Thermometers keep you safe while learning, and an aux generator just allows you to treat an electric mostly like a fire breather which is the most familiar type of smoking.

Click to expand...

Yep yep yep to all of the above!!   People somehow managed to smoke some really good meat for years without all these newfangled gadgets.   That said, they sure do make things a lot easier and a lot more convenient, especially when you are just starting out.

That's Great, Victoria!!

I'm real glad you made out Ok, and it went well for you!!

Congrats!

Bear

Congrats on the smoke, how did all the people like it? Be waiting to hear about your next smoke

Gary S

Victoria, thinking back to your test run, I'm dying to hear some more details about your big cook.   How long were the butts in ?  Did they cook evenly or did each have a mind of their own ?  What final temps did you take the butts to ?   Did you get a temp on each one, or pull them all at the same time ?  Yada, yada, yada.   The more details the better