Can't let her down...any advice?

[confederateknowhow]

It's been a while since I've done any smoking...a little less than a year. I've really impressed my new girl friend with my cooking skills and don't want to let her down now! We are also having some out of town family and friends coming. I have two butts to smoke for tomorrow nights dinner. They are both around seven pounds. I'm planning on dinner to be around 5:30 or so. How long can I keep them wrapped in the the cooler once I pull them out of the GOSM BB? I plan on starting them around mid-night, too late or too early? I was figuring about 2 hours per pound, but will use the thermo and adjust accordingly. Smoking at 225* using mesquite wood chunks. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

My girl friend is a photographer, so I'm sure there will be q-view in later posts!

Thanks in advance. Hope everyone has a safe & great 4th. Happy smoking!

CKH

 

[ellymae]

Once you get it to the temp and tenderness you want I usually wrap in 2 layers of foil, then in a heavy towel, then into the cooler. It will stay hot for a few hours easy. The more meat you have in the cooler the longer it will stay hot.  

 

[raptor700]

Allow yourself a minimum of 2 hrs per lb,

And it will stay hot 2 - 6 hrs as long as there's no empty space in the cooler.

 

[confederateknowhow]

Thanks! I think mostly I just doubted myself a little. I'm making some sauce for it now. I'm stoked...

 

[meateater]

your in good hands. ^ ^ ^ Now don't forget the Qview. 

 

[confederateknowhow]

Butts are one and smoke is thin and blue! All is going well so far. The sauce I made is awesome, if I may say so my self. Official verdict to come tomorrow! I used a recipe out of a grilling cook book I have (mainly just for measurements) and I modified it some to cut back on some of the heat. Its supposed to be a "spicy south west" bbq. The rub I used (McCormick Cowboy Rub) is probably a tad spicy for the kiddos, so I made the sauce a little on the sweet side to (hopefully) balance things out. Hopefully I'll have some qview tomorrow or Tuesday after the girlfriend gets here. My camera battery is shot and wont take a charge. I'm gonna have to get that fixed pronto!

 

[SmokinAl]

Everything sounds like it's going well, except for the camera. Hope you get it fixed, we need our Q-view.

 

[confederateknowhow]

The temp spiked up to 260* for a little bit inside the smoker at about 4:30. I don't know if it was a faulty thermo or not, I pulled it and replaced it. Haven't checked it in boiling water yet, but will be doing it very soon! All in all its been good through the night.  Nothing too horrible, I don't guess. I hope things continue this way. The temp has been between 224 and 226 for the last two hours that I slept. I'm ready for some PP!

 

[SmokinAl]

Sounds good. Keep it coming.

 

[flash]

The temp spiked up to 260* for a little bit inside the smoker at about 4:30. I don't know if it was a faulty thermo or not, I pulled it and replaced it. Haven't checked it in boiling water yet, but will be doing it very soon! All in all its been good through the night.  Nothing too horrible, I don't guess. I hope things continue this way. The temp has been between 224 and 226 for the last two hours that I slept. I'm ready for some PP!

Spikes like that do not hurt the meat at all. Actually when I foil, I raise the temp to speed up the process. The girl friend will love it.....but she may end up falling asleep on you with a full tummy.