I DID IT

[jillgadget]

ok ..A big shout out to everybody who helped me out especially bear. Got my smoker on Thursday, preseason Thursday night. put in my very first Boston butt using apple chips I started it out really low about 215 and let that go for about 5 hours before I started to bump it up. about 10 hours into it the meat started to plateau which thankfully after reading all the posts I knew would happen, and I tried not to panic too much. I was on a time schedule for my grandsons football game. my thoughtful son promised them that I would make this for the concession stand. talk about pressure. It's one thing if it was dry or horrible for the family, it's another thing to be on horrible for the public. I was running about an hour behind and needed to get it there so threw it in the oven at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes that brought the butt up to about 205. I only had time to let it sit for about a half an hour before I had to start shredding it up. put it in a crock pot and send it off to the game.

HUGE HIT!! I also brought a little bottle of bottled barbecue sauce thinking the kids might not like the smoky flavor. let's just say that there was not a drop of meat left. My son said everyone was raving about it. WHoot whoot

Now I'm making another one for the family since my son didn't even get a sniff of it. thinking of just doing it 190 degrees without bumping up the temperature until the very last hour or so. What are your thoughts? I wasn't sure if there was a minimum temperature to use and since I don't have any time restraint I thought I'd really do it low and slow.

Thanks, the addiction has begun.
Jill

 

[litterbug]

Congrats on the new addition. Which one did you decide on getting?

 

[jillgadget]

I got the 40 inch bluetooth. It was only 329 at Sams end only 3.5% tax. All in all it ended up being less than $40 more than the 30 inch. The meat thermometer looked like it was off by about 5 degrees. I also ordered the Maverick so I'll be able to compare better once that comes in

 

[Bearcarver]

Hi Jill,

The problem with using too low a temp on a large piece of meat is mainly because of the Danger Zone.

The Danger Zone is from 40° to 140°, and you should get uncured meat through that Zone in no longer than 4 hours. If you don't inject it, or temp probe it before a certain amount of time (I wait 3 hours) then you can go longer than 4 hours, but if you break the seal on the meat, like injecting or probing it, you have to treat it like Ground meat, and get the internal temp through the Zone in no longer than 4 hours.

So since you're new at this, I would avoid injecting for awhile (I never inject), and hold off on inserting your temp probe until 3 hours in. Then pay attention to what temps & times you use to get to 140° IT. Then you'll know what temp you need to use if you ever want to inject a piece of meat.

Hoping that makes sense,

Bear

 

[foamheart]

Congrats on a good smoke, next time lets work on your picture taking skills. Can't go wrong with Bear supervising !! He's pretty smart for a ground pounder. I think Ms. Bear keeps him walking the straight and narrow.

 

[jillgadget]

20151003_094529.jpg

• jillgadget
• Oct 3, 2015

20151003_093318-1.jpg

• jillgadget
• Oct 3, 2015

tada!

 

[foamheart]

 

[jillgadget]

Hi Jill,
The problem with using too low a temp on a large piece of meat is mainly because of the Danger Zone.

The Danger Zone is from 40° to 140°, and you should get uncured meat through that Zone in no longer than 4 hours. If you don't inject it, or temp probe it before a certain amount of time (I wait 3 hours) then you can go longer than 4 hours, but if you break the seal on the meat, like injecting or probing it, you have to treat it like Ground meat, and get the internal temp through the Zone in no longer than 4 hours.

So since you're new at this, I would avoid injecting for awhile (I never inject), and hold off on inserting your temp probe until 3 hours in. Then pay attention to what temps & times you use to get to 140° IT. Then you'll know what temp you need to use if you ever want to inject a piece of meat.


Hoping that makes sense,

Bear

Thanks bear. I read on your recipe not too stick probe in until out of danger zone so actually waited extra long knowing it wasn't too high yet. Didn't know it has to rise in temp to 140 that quick though. I wasn't going to inject pork butt was thinking when I do a turkey or chicken. I had your post/recipe up the whole time checking when you change Temps and everything. Lol

Thanks, my success was you're success at explaining

 

[Bearcarver]

Thanks bear. I read on your recipe not too stick probe in until out of danger zone so actually waited extra long knowing it wasn't too high yet. Didn't know it has to rise in temp to 140 that quick though. I wasn't going to inject pork butt was thinking when I do a turkey or chicken. I had your post/recipe up the whole time checking when you change Temps and everything. Lol

Thanks, my success was you're success at explaining

 

[smokingearl]

I love bears step by steps and think the world of his input and methods. The only thing I know of that I disagree with is the do not probe the meat until it's 140 thing. Meat therms were made to be put into the meat when raw and there is no danger in doing so. I asked a couple 40 year chefs and looked around online and basically found there is no danger in inserting a meat thermometer in raw meat. I don't mean to ruffle any feathers, just stating the facts that I came up with after researching the issue.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/234199/when-to-probe

 

[Bearcarver]

I love bears step by steps and think the world of his input and methods. The only thing I know of that I disagree with is the do not probe the meat until it's 140 thing. Meat therms were made to be put into the meat when raw and there is no danger in doing so. I asked a couple 40 year chefs and looked around online and basically found there is no danger in inserting a meat thermometer in raw meat. I don't mean to ruffle any feathers, just stating the facts that I came up with after researching the issue.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/234199/when-to-probe

I go by what I learned a long time ago from "bbally", a "Trusted Authority" of SMF, and an  haccp and servsafe trainer, along with USA food code consulting. The little I know about Food Safety, I learned from him.

Here is what he had to say on this topic:

The "intact muscle" rule for commercial USDA products allows an intact muscle to be cooked to rare using low temp. Provided it has not been punctured.

Unpunctured, intact muscle need only have the outside 0.5 inch pass through 140 degrees within 4 hours. Something easily done at temps of 200 F or more.

Now if you inject it, you have changed the "intact nature" of the meat and should treat it as ground meat or forced meat. This means the inside temp of the meat must pass through 140 within four hours. Usually requiring a temp of at least 275 F or better.

Going under 200 F without intact muscle generally requires that another method of cooking have been used.... Nitrate or Nitrite curing being most common. But lemon and lime juice under a method called ceviche also will do the job, though generally limited to fish.

Most common error that results in hospitalization of people consuming improperly handled intact muscle?

"inserting a temp probe into the intact muscle prior to the outside being above 140F or the probe not being wiped with sterilizer prior to insertion."

The rest of that Thread:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/72852/food-safety-and-low-and-slow-discussion

Bear

 

[daricksta]

ok ..A big shout out to everybody who helped me out especially bear. Got my smoker on Thursday, preseason Thursday night. put in my very first Boston butt using apple chips I started it out really low about 215 and let that go for about 5 hours before I started to bump it up. about 10 hours into it the meat started to plateau which thankfully after reading all the posts I knew would happen, and I tried not to panic too much. I was on a time schedule for my grandsons football game. my thoughtful son promised them that I would make this for the concession stand. talk about pressure. It's one thing if it was dry or horrible for the family, it's another thing to be on horrible for the public. I was running about an hour behind and needed to get it there so threw it in the oven at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes that brought the butt up to about 205. I only had time to let it sit for about a half an hour before I had to start shredding it up. put it in a crock pot and send it off to the game.

HUGE HIT!! I also brought a little bottle of bottled barbecue sauce thinking the kids might not like the smoky flavor. let's just say that there was not a drop of meat left. My son said everyone was raving about it. WHoot whoot

Now I'm making another one for the family since my son didn't even get a sniff of it. thinking of just doing it 190 degrees without bumping up the temperature until the very last hour or so. What are your thoughts? I wasn't sure if there was a minimum temperature to use and since I don't have any time restraint I thought I'd really do it low and slow.

Thanks, the addiction has begun.
Jill

If you want to have even more fun with smoking meat, get a couple of good smoking and BBQ (grilling) cookbooks. Or even find some recipes online. Last week I smoked two racks of baby ribs in my MES 30. I applied a sweet and smoky dry rub I made myself and brushed on an outstanding Kansas City-style sweet and smoky BBQ sauce I also made myself. Both were simple to make. My wife and I have an extremely well-stocked pantry so every ingredient I needed for both recipes was already on hand. If you'd like the names of some of my go-to books I'll be happy to share them.

 

[crankybuzzard]

Looks like she's a quick study!

Great work Jill!

 

[tropics]

20151003_094529.jpg

• jillgadget
• Oct 3, 2015

20151003_093318-1.jpg

• jillgadget
• Oct 3, 2015

tada!

That PP looks great nice and moist.

Richie

  

 

[jillgadget]

Looks like she's a quick study!

Great work Jill!

Thanks cranky, I am motivated and Love a challenge. . Doing 2 chickens this weekend. 1 I'm going to brine, the other just inject. . To see the difference and which my grandkids like best. I give my Quodos to everyone in this site. I'm even giving my ex husband recipes and cooking times for his smoker. Ha ha

 

[jillgadget]

That PP looks great nice and moist.
Richie
:drool:   :points:

Thanks tropics. . It really was. I also stir fried onion, garlic, smoked paprika, corn, black and white beans, spaghetti squash and tomatoes some .. tiny bit of cheddar cheese. I made it as a veggie to complement but found mixing then together was delish for left overs. :-).

 

[crankybuzzard]

Giving the ex recipes!?!?

Damn, she does have it bad! :biggrin:

Seriously, keep going! This hobby is a lot of fun, and can really be a personal challenge.

I'm digging your attitude! Yeah, you've got a follower now!

 

[jillgadget]

QUESTION ::: HAS ANYONE bought Jeff recipe and rubs? Was thinking about it and wanted to make sure it was worth it. YOU guys are my GO TO PEEPS
THANKS, JILL

 

[pc farmer]

I use the rub all the time.  Love it, easy to adapt to your liking.

I haven't tried the sauce yet, I'm not a sauce guy.  

Maybe I will make a batch this weekend to try.

 

[mfreel]

Had to smile when I saw this one.  So glad it worked out!  You'll have to figure out how to send out samples!!!!

Funny thing how butts and briskets never adhere to a time schedule. 

I'll just reiterate what's already been said.  Start off at your normal temp, 225-235, and keep it as consistent as you can for the entire smoke.  Don't panic during your stall.  That's the hard part.  

Thanks for posting!