Butt #2 is in the smoker...

[SherryT]

Hopefully, this will turn out better than the first one (which was good, but it wasn't as good as it COULD have been, KWIM?).

I did learn something, though. I tried using the snake method this time and it "did" get going, but the highest temp I could get was 197deg. It appears the charcoal pan on this unit is simply not big enough/deep enough to get enough "mass" (for want of a better word) on one end of the snake to get the temps up high enough...HOWEVER, in "this" smoker, the snake method might be just the ticket for smoking sausages or Canadian bacon (and I'll put it to the test with the CB that'll be ready to smoke by the weekend).

I guess I could cobble together something like a double-wall ring (two rings, inner ring small enough that the gap between it and the outer is 4 - 5" wide, with the overall height of about 8" or so, and fill the gap between the rings with briquettes...THAT might allow me to get enough mass at one end of the snake to get high enough temps.

ANYWAY...I ended up re-arranging the briquettes/coals into a somewhat sloppy-looking minion setup, added a couple of fist-sized chunks of oak, and away we go.

Will post an update when it's done.

 

[normonster]

What smoker are you using?

 

[SherryT]

What smoker are you using?

MB Charcoal bullet w/mods...

 

[Rings Я Us]

Did you put more than the one.vent on?

 

[SmokinAl]

Good luck!
Sounds like a good start.
Al

 

[SherryT]

Did you put more than the one.vent on?

Yes...the other is on the opposite side. I probably should have put on at least three (they're not as big as the Weber vents)...gonna add an extra two before I smoke the CB this weekend (must have symmetry!).

 

[Rings Я Us]

Yeah. Plug with aluminum foil works..
One day punch 5 million big holes in the charcoal pan and put a round disc bigger than the bottom of the pan of this stuff in it.

Good for ash to fall and air get.in to coals

 

[SherryT]

The good news is that, SO FAR, my temps are holding almost three hours in this time (bouncing around between 245 - 250...I guess it's the wind), so it appears the mods are working!

 

[Rings Я Us]

Can you lift the smoker off the basket ? I have the legs on my basket at I can put a foot on top of a leg to hold it down as I lift up on the handles.

You could put like motorcycle pegs on the basket to use to put a foot on as you lift up. :D

 

[zippy12]

is that a galvanized bucket?

 

[SherryT]

Can you lift the smoker off the basket ? I have the legs on my basket at I can put a foot on top of a leg to hold it down as I lift up on the handles.

You could put like motorcycle pegs on the basket to use to put a foot on as you lift up. :D

Yes...I ran stove gasket around the inside edge of the basket and then ran 4 bolts through around the diameter just touching the bottom of the gasket...slips right off without binding up.

 

[SherryT]

is that a galvanized bucket?

Yes, but, from what I've read, the temp of the basket doesn't get hot enough to cause a problem.

 

[Rings Я Us]

Nope.. you have no coal or flame or exposed part of the basket. Mine gets hot like as in oven hot at the top. My charcoal basket is lower than yours though.

 

[zippy12]

I am of the thinking ...

When doctors 1 year tell you coffee is good for you and the next year it causes cancer....

who the heck knows .. I avoid if I can

 

[SherryT]

I know the cardinal rule is to post photos of the finished product, but I forgot to take any {pleads for mercy as she hangs her head in shame}...it even had bark! :D

I let my coals go too long before I checked them and they basically petered out when the internal temp was at 170, so I pulled the $@%! thing and finished it in the oven (again!), so it was NOT "pullable", but the overall FLAVOR was MUCH better than the first one...I ended up slicing it VERY thin for sandwiches. Tonight, I cubed the rest of it up, drizzled lightly with a mustard-based sauce, and baked it...much better, tender and moist.

I obviously need to work on this whole "keep the heat going" business.

I'll get there...I R-E-F-U-S-E to let this contraption beat me.

 

[Rings Я Us]

You didn't finish it in the oven. It wasn't 203° and pullable :D

 

[indaswamp]

Though it burns more fuel, some guys have coals on the ready burning in a wheel barrow to add in when necessary to keep an even temp. in the smoker...just a thought...

 

[Rings Я Us]

You pull the cooking chamber off the bushel basket and set it aside (if you had a charcoal pan with legs not attached to the cooking chamber) And shake the ash all down into the bushel basket through the holes (you didnt drill in your pan yet) and then you dump more coals on the remaining lit ones you had left in your charcoal pan. Thus adding 5 more hours onto your previous time you smoked for already. :D

 

[Rings Я Us]

 

[SherryT]

You didn't finish it in the oven. It wasn't 203° and pullable :D

When I said "finished it in the oven", what I meant was I put it into the oven and left it there until the probe (Maverick therm) said it was 200...does a mere 3 degrees make THAT much difference???