Meat Placement -- Which Shelf?

[thrifty token]

Smoking my first Boston butt this weekend on a [color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]ECB Vertical Charcoal Smoker.  Since I don't need both shelves, which one should I use?  One closest to the heat, or the one up by the vent?.  Thanks for your help![/color]

 

[forluvofsmoke]

With the water pan, you get more steam and less smoke the closer you are to the pan, so higher up will give the most smoke reaction and flavor. Be sure to monitor the smoke chamber temps at or near grate-level with a probe thermometer if possible, as many stock smoke chamber thermometers are painfully in-accurate.

Have a great smoke!

Eric

 

[thrifty token]

Thanks for the advice!  I've got a food probe and a shelf probe thermometer.  Not going to depend on the ECB door for temperature reads.

I'll post the "first smoke" results and story when completed.  ~~ Thrifty

 

[forluvofsmoke]

You're welcome, hey, since I'm not familiar with your smoker, you may want to measure the clearance between the door opening and the grate, as meats get taller when they begin to shrink from cooking. I've seen 7 or 8lb butts increase in height by over 2", so make sure there is adequate space for this so you can slide the grate out when it's done smoking. If not use the lower grate position.

Oh, and be ready for lots of fire tending with the charcoal ECB. Hope you did some mods, and this isn't your first smoke on the rig, cuz temp control issues may quickly become a battle. Ash build-up in the ECBs are probably the most haunting of any problems with a charcoal fire and very prominent, to say the least. Long smokes will drive ya nuts, adding hot coals to get temps up, only to find that the fire can't breathe enough to continue burning. Lastly, don't let internal temps of the butt test your patience...it's a long smoke.

Eric

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Thrifty, be sure to "calibrate" the food probe in Ice and Water to be sure of your temps.

Have fun and...