First Smoke! (Pork butt with Q-View!)

[phantomsmoke]

Pork Butt was 5.23 lbs with a large amount of fat trimmed off the bottom.  Not ideal I know, but what the butcher had and I didn't realize until I got home.

Washed, patted dry, EVOO-ed, and rubbed this morning at about 7AM. 

Rub:

1/2 Tbsp Salt

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

2 1/2 Tbsp Chili Powder

1 1/2 Tbsp Ground Cumin

3/4 tsp Chipotle powder

25 cranks of fresh black pepper

2 tsp garlic powder

(Slightly modified from the masterbuilt recipe in the instruction book)

Got everything going and got it on at 10AM.  Put some water in the water pan, which i didn't do for the seasoning of the smoker.  Do most people use water in the pan?  I'll get some pics soon!

Having trouble keeping the smoke going, might have to go to walmart and get the cast iron pan everyone else suggested.  Also heard that the cake pans might work.

I need to get an oven thermometer as well.  I tested the door and it seemed to be pretty close.  I got it going at about 250 F right now.

I'll keep posting as the day goes on! 

 

[deuce]

Pork Butt was 5.23 lbs with a large amount of fat trimmed off the bottom.  Not ideal I know, but what the butcher had and I didn't realize until I got home.

Washed, patted dry, EVOO-ed, and rubbed this morning at about 7AM. 

Rub:

1/2 Tbsp Salt

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

2 1/2 Tbsp Chili Powder

1 1/2 Tbsp Ground Cumin

3/4 tsp Chipotle powder

25 cranks of fresh black pepper

2 tsp garlic powder

(Slightly modified from the masterbuilt recipe in the instruction book)

Got everything going and got it on at 10AM.  Put some water in the water pan, which i didn't do for the seasoning of the smoker.  Do most people use water in the pan?   I'll get some pics soon!

Having trouble keeping the smoke going, might have to go to walmart and get the cast iron pan everyone else suggested.  Also heard that the cake pans might work.

I need to get an oven thermometer as well.   I tested the door and it seemed to be pretty close.  I got it going at about 250 F right now.

I'll keep posting as the day goes on! 

You will find people that use water in the pan, some use other liquids, and some that use sand, all for different reasons but for the same purpose. Water or sand helps in part to make it easier to control smoker temp. I personally use water and have good luck with it, but many people use sand and also have great luck with it.

An oven thermometer is ok, but if you can swing it, spend the extra money and get a good thermometer such as the Maverick ET-732. I tried an oven thermometer at first in addition to my door thermometer and was not happy with the accuracy of either one.

Good Luck!

 

[supercenterchef]

I'm a no water kind of guy...but everybody is different (which means there's prolly no absolutely right answer...)

Bring on the q view!!

 

[startedsmokin]

I use the stock water pan in my masterbuilt xl...get about seven hours before I need to reload. Also picked up a ten inch flat cast iron pan which def helps with smoke control...strongly recommend that. Good luck with your smoke. :grilling_smilie:

 

[phantomsmoke]

The rubbed butt:

IMG_0212.JPG

• phantomsmoke
• Jul 29, 2012

At the 1 hr mark:

IMG_0215.JPG

• phantomsmoke
• Jul 29, 2012

At the 5.5 hr mark I had the following:

IMG_0217.JPG

• phantomsmoke
• Jul 29, 2012

171.3F Internal Temp.

Getting there!

 

[phantomsmoke]

It's seems to have hit the wall in the 173-174 range.  Trying to get this thing ready to eat!!  C'mon now!

 

[phantomsmoke]

I let the temp rise a little bit and got an internal of 194, close enough for me!  Took about 8 hrs 20 mins.  Now its wrapped and resting.  I plan on letting it rest about 30 mins and then pulling.  I'll have more pics in a bit!

 

[bomftdrum]

Looks good.Thumbs Up

 

[scarbelly]

Looking good 

 

[dragonmaster194]

So far so good, keep hanging in there!  Steve

 

[phantomsmoke]

It was delicious!  I'll add some more photos later on.

I let it rest in the foil for about 45 mins and then pulled it out.  It has a delicious bark and a great smoke ring.  There were some juices, but it was a little bit drier than I thought it would be.  It may be because the temp spiked at the end and the fact I didn't use any spray on the meat through cooking.  Now I just need to finish pulling and package it up.  Suggestions?

 

[dragonmaster194]

If you have a vac sealer use that, if not zip-lock bags with as much air squized out.  If you are going to use it within a few days refrigerate, otherwise freeze.  To reheat, put bag and all in water and reheat.  Steve

 

[phantomsmoke]

Thanks for the advice!  Any additional juices to go in with it?

 

[bar-b-que blues]

Very Nice!

 

[dragonmaster194]

You may want to add a finishing sauce or just a bit of apple juice.  Depends on your tastes.  Steve

 

[jarjarchef]

Great job!!

 

[smokinhusker]

Great job! I add just a bit of the meat juices to my PP before I vac seal and freeze. 

 

[driedstick]

Very nice