Easter Sunday is my first smoke attempt

[ryanc91]

What's going on guys? Tomorrow Easter Sunday will be my first attempt at smoking! I have 2 racks of ribs and 3 lbs of pork butt that have been sitting in a dry run since Tuesday. I have a brinkmann vertical smoker, royal oak charcoal and apple wood chips. Any helpful hints?! I'm excited and nervous at the same time lol!

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

First is to start with plenty of time, especially with the pork butt assuming your doing pulled pork as they can be stubborned at times. I usually cook ribs & pork butt round 250-275*. Make sure ya have a good thermometer to track the meat IT for the pork butt. Some folks will wrap round 155-165* IT to push thru the stall of the meat which can last a while. I personally do not wrap. I generally pull my pork butt for pulled pork round IT 200-205*. I'll then wrap the pork butt in a few layers of foil & wrap in a couple towels & toss in my camping cooler for at least an hour but generally a couple hrs to rest. The ribs, I just go by when the meat shrinks/pulls back from the ends of the bones. A member here SmokinAl has a thread bout testing the IT in between the ribs but you need a small handheld therm for that like a Thermowand or Thermopen. There's also a method you can use called the bend test or you could use a toothpick, when it slides in between the ribs with little resistance they are done. But if your going for more like fall off the bone ribs, you'll wanna wrap & maybe try the 3-2-1 method or the 2-2-1 method depending if they are babybacks or spares. You'll soon find the method that works the best to get the results you like. This is just my 2 cents here as others will chime in with theirs as well. That's what makes this site great is there is usually a variety of ways to do things & each has their own liking.

Any more questions, just ask !

 

[demosthenes9]

Just an FYI, cook time is determined by thickness of the cut, not by weight.  A 3lb partial butt can take just as long as a full 8lb butt.  It all depends on how thick it is.  I'd start the butt early.  What temp will you be cooking at ? 

 

[ryanc91]

I'm gonna shoot for the 250-75 as previously mentioned. But I'm not quite sure, what's the consensus? It's not that big of a meat

 

[demosthenes9]

I'm gonna shoot for the 250-75 as previously mentioned. But I'm not quite sure, what's the consensus? It's not that big of a meat

That temp is fine.   While the butt might seem small, it will still take some time even at 250-275.  I'm guessing that what you have is a partial/split butt.  Perhaps 3 to 4 inches thick on it's shortest "side" ?

Here's a whole boston butt:

porkshoulderroast.jpg

• demosthenes9
• Mar 26, 2016

Let's say that it's about 12 inches long (left to right), 8 inches deep (front to back) and 4 inches thick.  next, let's say that someone cut the butt in half right down the center from front to back.   End result would be 2 pieces of butt, each one would be about 6 inches from left to right, still 8 inches front to back and still 4 inches thick.      One of those two butts would take just as long to cook as the whole entire butt pictured above.   Why ?  Because the cook time for that butt is determined by the 4 inches of thickness. 

Start the butt early.   If it finishes faster than anticipated, let it cool a bit, wrap it in foil and hold it in a cooler.   You can hold it like that for hours while the ribs are finishing up.  It's better to have a butt finish early that to have a dinner ruined because the butt is taking too long.

 

[saurus53]

Last weekend I smoked 2 boneless butts about 5lb each at 230F until it hit 198F and the other was at 203F. Started at 5:30am and finished around 2-3pm. Came out great! Good luck brother!

IMG_20160313_084712897_HDR.jpg

• saurus53
• Mar 26, 2016

 

[ryanc91]

The butcher I go to is a smoker himself and told me the butt I'm cooking should take 8-10 hours. I'm so excited lol

 

[demosthenes9]

The butcher I go to is a smoker himself and told me the butt I'm cooking should take 8-10 hours. I'm so excited lol

Cool.   What kind of ribs did you get ?  Babybacks or Spares ?   How are you planning to do them ?

 

[ryanc91]

Baby back. They've been in the rub for a few days. I'll be using the 3-2-1 method on them

 

[b-one]

If it's your first smoke I suggest do some ribs 3-2-1 and some no foil good to have variety to see which you prefer! Good luck and have fun!Thumbs Up

 

[dzldawg]

Good luck sir!! Smoking is fun and exciting as well as aggravating at times! I can only give you my short experience of start the butt early as mentioned above, I started mine late one day around 10 am and I was still waiting on it to finish around 2 a.m. Had a little smoker trouble! But have fun and experiment, that's part of the fun!

 

[smokey rich]

That temp is fine.   While the butt might seem small, it will still take some time even at 250-275.  I'm guessing that what you have is a partial/split butt.  Perhaps 3 to 4 inches thick on it's shortest "side" ?


Here's a whole boston butt:

porkshoulderroast.jpg

• demosthenes9
• Mar 26, 2016

Let's say that it's about 12 inches long (left to right), 8 inches deep (front to back) and 4 inches thick.  next, let's say that someone cut the butt in half right down the center from front to back.   End result would be 2 pieces of butt, each one would be about 6 inches from left to right, still 8 inches front to back and still 4 inches thick.      One of those two butts would take just as long to cook as the whole entire butt pictured above.   Why ?  Because the cook time for that butt is determined by the 4 inches of thickness. 

Start the butt early.   If it finishes faster than anticipated, let it cool a bit, wrap it in foil and hold it in a cooler.   You can hold it like that for hours while the ribs are finishing up.  It's better to have a butt finish early that to have a dinner ruined because the butt is taking too long.

FB_IMG_1456608879410.jpg

• smokey rich
• Mar 26, 2016

Finished one......lol

 

[smokey rich]

FB_IMG_1456608879410.jpg

• smokey rich
• Mar 26, 2016

Finished one......lol

I also wrap in foil , then a towel. Place in cooler to keep warmer for an hour or so.

 

[ryanc91]

image.jpeg

• ryanc91
• Mar 27, 2016

And we're off! Been going for about an hour and 20 minutes. Maintaining 240 ish for the time being!

 

[SmokinAl]

Great start!

Good luck!

Al

 

[SmokyMose]

image.jpeg

• ryanc91
• Mar 27, 2016

And we're off! Been going for about an hour and 20 minutes. Maintaining 240 ish for the time being!

Looks good, Ryan! With the babybacks you may want to consider 2-2-1 instead of 3-2-1. IMHO 240 is perfect for ribs, but as you've seen, everyone has their favorite methods that work for them. You'll find yours, too.
Happy Easter!
Dan

 

[ryanc91]

image.jpeg

• ryanc91
• Mar 27, 2016

Ribs are done and delicious!!! Did the 3-2-1 method and they are delicious, I'll try 2-2-1 next time just to experiment!
Pork butt still going for another 3!! Had no problem getting up to and maintaining heat!

Sorry for the tearing of the ribs. I couldn't resist :-)

 

[SmokyMose]

image.jpeg

• ryanc91
• Mar 27, 2016

Ribs are done and delicious!!! Did the 3-2-1 method and they are delicious, I'll try 2-2-1 next time just to experiment!
Pork butt still going for another 3!! Had no problem getting up to and maintaining heat!

Sorry for the tearing of the ribs. I couldn't resist :-)

You're forgiven...[emoji]128521[/emoji]
:points:
Dan

 

[mr t 59874]

And he has risen.

Good job.

T

 

[GaryHibbert]

Great job Ryan.  And on the first smoke to boot!!

Gary