I Feel Like I'm Doing Something Wrong

[FloridaMatt]

Hi Y'all. I'm new to smoking and so far I've made a rack of ribs and a pork butt. Both were amazing, tender, juicy and a lot of fun. The only problem I'm having is the time and I think I'm doing something wrong. I've read a lot of forums and everyone says it takes as long as it takes but count on 1.5 hours per pound and don't be surprised if it takes two, I'm averaging 3. My 3lb rack of baby-back ribs were cut in half before I put them on and took 8 hours, the 4lb pork butt took over 12 just to get to 193. I'm a little nervous to get a 10lb brisket if it's going to take a day and a half, I don't have any fancy auto temp controllers and I'd like to get my skill down before I invest in those.

A couple notes on my smoke, first it's cold. Both were done with the temperature outside being in the 20s/high teens. I've read a lot about the cold not affecting the time so much as the amount of fuel used, I have a digital thermometer on the grate and have been doing a lot of temp adjusting but I keep it in the zone, never gets below 210 when I'm adding fuel and maintain between 225 and 250. The ribs were done on a Weber kettle that I converted to indirect heat. That thing was almost impossible to control the temp (I was fiddling with it every 15 minutes or so) so I went out and got an 18" WSM for the butt.

I did have some issues with the WSM. I did a burn-through of pure charcoal the day before the cook to allow all of the metal to expand and contract and identify the massive leaks before the cook. Even so, after I spritzed the meat at hour 1 the lid didn't fully seat and the internal temp got up to 300 before I figured out the problem. Reseating the lid got me down to 265/270 and that took me more time to figure out I had to cut the box it came in to create a wind break. All in all it was about an hour where the grate temp was over 250. After that I was able to keep the grate temp around 240 for the majority of the cook. Once I started having to add fuel every hour, around hour 9, I was only able to get the grate temp up to around 230, but it held and only fell to 210/215 when I was adding fuel and the temp only took two or three minutes to get back up to 230. I hit three stalls, one at 145 that lasted three hours, another at 170 (that one actually got to 171, then fell to 169 and stayed there for an hour and a half), and the third stall wasn't so much of a stall as the last ten degrees took about 15 minutes each and I made the call to pull it at 193 instead of 195, probably due to having to open the fuel door every hour to add more fuel which cooled the grate. It was still heaven on a bun and I'd do it again in a heartbeat, but I'm wondering why it's taking me so much longer than others' experiences.

I don't inject or wrap, just a rub in the beginning, a spritz of vinegar and rub solution every hour for the first four hours, and directly on the grate until done. I've heard a lot of people say cold weather smoking is very enjoyable, just be sure to have a lot of charcoal, but no one has said anything about increased times. I figure as long as I keep the grate temp where it's supposed to be then the outside temp shouldn't be a factor, but I've figured wrong before. Most people who do talk about the 1.5 - 2hr time also talk about wrapping in foil or peach paper to push through the stall, is there anyone who doesn't wrap that experiences 3hr per pound? If it takes this long than it takes this long but if anyone can see I've been doing something wrong based on my condensed explanation I'd appreciate some feedback.

 

[Bigtank]

Welcome to the forum, others with more experience will chime in but here is what I see.
1 have you checked your thermometer check the probe in boiling water, don't let it touch the pan.
2 I try to cook closer to 275. if your pit is at 210 to 230 it takes along time to go those last 10 degrees.
3 I like to wrap when I hit 150-160 or when the bark looks good, finish at 195 and then let it rest in a cooler for at least 30 minutes.
4 cold and wind add to the time because when you open the pit you lose a lot of heat.
mes electric smokers don't require opening the smoke chamber neither do the pellet grills.

 

[zwiller]

Welcome! Hang in there. Good points made already. I am on team 275F and also a huge fan of the AMNPS + MES combo. Basically it is set and forget.

Here's my take: The problem is the spritz. There's a couple of reasons but the main one is you are opening your smoker. Not good. "If you're looking you ain't cooking". 2nd reason: spritzing adds moisture and that causes evaporative cooling. 3rd: spritzing will not add moisture INTO your meat or really add any flavor. Only way to add it is to inject.

The ONLY time I would ever advocate spritzing is near the end of the cook and the bark is getting out out of control/overdone and this would be quite rare.

 

[noboundaries]

Welcome to SMF, Matt. Glad you're here and looking to perfect your skills.

In cold weather, you need to protect the heat inside the chamber like smoking gold. So here is a little information for you to consider.

The Kettle can be a bit temperamental. There are two types of bottom vents; one Kettle has three bottom vents, and the other type has one with an ash catcher. My old 18" has the three vents (it doesn't get used any more). When I was using it for smoking, I left the top vent fully open, I closed two of the bottom vents, built my charcoal pile over the bottom vent I was going to use to control temps. I'd occasionally start closing down the top vent once I got blue smoke if I couldn't control the temp rise with the bottom vent only.

With the Kettle that has one vent controller and the ash catcher, which is on my 22.5" Kettle Performer, I used magic marker on the ash catcher attachment just above the handle of the vent control. I marked it for 225F and 275F. Eh, I can get close. I use the top vent the same way as the three vent Kettle, placing it opposite the fire.

The Kettle is a great smoker, but does take more baby sitting than the WSM. The trick to the WSM, especially in cold weather, leave that baby closed. I stopped spritzing long ago. I was doing it because I saw it on TV and read about it here. Bottom line, it does nothing to keep the interior of the meat "moist," but the liquid does cause more smoke to adhere to the exterior of the meat. It can also wash away your rub. I never noticed a change in flavor based upon what I was using as a spritz, but many swear by it.

Then I started thinking about what happens when you spritz. From a physics point of view, when you spritz, you've opened the smoker and released heat from the chamber, which has to build again when the lid is put back on. Doing so slows down the cooking process. Second, unless you've preheated your spritz, which no one does, the liquid is probably 60-90F, depending on storage temp. Your meat will generally be north of 150F. Adding cold liquid to hotter meat will pull heat out of the meat, cooling it down and slowing the cooking process. The spritz liquid is trying to reach equilibrium with surrounding temps, but will pull heat out of the meat faster than the air due to direct conduction. Once the liquid temp equalizes with the meat, then it pulls heat from the air, if it hasn't dripped from the meat washing away some of your rub. When it evaporates, this is where the stuff you put in the spritz (salt, sugar, spices) will stick to the meat. Unless you're using something special, you could probably achieve the same flavor profile with injections and rubs.

So, the above is what happens when I take a break from re-writing my novel. Sorry for the brain dump, but now I can get back to work.

Later!

 

[banderson7474]

how in the world is it taking 8hrs for a rack of ribs?? That's insane

 

[Hawging It]

I go 250 degrees on butts and Saint Louis ribs. Ribs ready when you slide your tongs under the ribs halfway and when you lift the slab up they sag and start to split in the middle. Should take 5 hours in ideal smoking conditions. Pork butts, same temp of 250 degrees and I'm not concerned with time on the smoker. When the IT reaches 205 degrees, I pull it off and let rest for 1 hour. Hope this helps.

 

[FloridaMatt]

Thank you all for your responses. Barely 5 hours up and already so much information.
- I did the boil test on my probes. Both read 211 for a solid minute before I pulled them out. I had the same worry but this doesn't look to be the case.
- I'm definitely done with the spritz. Even when the weather gets back up, it was way more trouble than it was worth.
- I like the idea of the pellet smokers but I'm not yet to that point. I liked the idea of using the kettle so I wouldn't be accumulating equipment at a rental property and I only upgraded to the WSM because the small amount of fuel in the kettle burns out much quicker than in a dedicated smoker and then you're left with only about 2/3 of the grate to cook on. I know there are stacking solutions out there but a dedicated smoker really makes things much easier.

I'm going to try another butt next week once the snow passes. I'll shift my window up to the 250-275 range and let you know how that turns out.