First butt cook on new 22.5 WSM pROn

Sorry for the late post, but Sunday night into Monday was my first cook on my new 22.5 WSM. I decided to do a butt to break her in. I only took a couple pics because it was dark and my camera is a piece of crap.



Prepped the butt. Trimmed some of the fat, and first time using an injection (Chris Lilly's pork injection),slathered and rubbed and waiting for the cooker to come up to temp.



Used some of the Shack attack sauce on the sammies. Everyone thought this stuff was great except the kids but they don't like vinegar to begin with.



Here's a shot of the finished product. Sorry no pics of the cook, I tried but it was just to dark. I used 1 whole bag of Stumps briquettes with the Minion method and the coffee can in the center. I started 15 briqs in the chimney and dumped them in the middle. I also put 4 chunks of hickory and 2 chunks of Cherry through out. It was very cold (about 28 degrees ) and a little windy. I put up a tarp to block out most of the wind. I got 7 hours out of 1 bag of Stumps ( is that good? ) before refueling with lump to keep the temp up. I also cooked at 275 for the entire cook. I also would like to add that I wrapped in parchment paper after about 6 hours when I was happy with the bark. I'm sorry I have no pics of the butt when I took it off the cooker, because it fell apart into 2 pieces when I picked it up. It's internal temp was 198. I then let it rest re wrapped in parchment in a cooler till we were ready to eat. Overall this butt came out pretty good with a flavorful and moist interior. Every one devoured it and said it was one of the best ones I did yet. The only thing I didn't like was that the meat seemed a little to mushy for my liking ( does any one know how to fix that? ) but all in all I'd say this cook was a success.

HeSmellsLikeSmoke said:

Mushy equals overcooked with butts. The IT of the center goes up as much as 10F while you hold it in the cooler.

Temperature is not a good way to determine doneness. You want to go by probe tenderness and the looseness of the bone.

Click to expand...

I probed it with a skewer and it went in like butter. I then wiggled the bone and it came out. I checked it with my digital probe thermometer and The IT was 198. I then rewrapped in parchment and let rest in a cooler. When I unwrapped it it was 200. Perhaps I should not have let it rest for so long ( 2+ hrs? ).

HankB said:

Did you have water in the bowl? If so then cooking much above 225 is likely to use more fuel because you're going to be boiling water. When I'm going for anything over 225, I just foil the pan. I've only done one cook on my 22 so far. I used KB and it looks like I didn't fill the charcoal ring.

I ran with a foiled water pan and two bottom vents open. The cook lasted about 5 hours and IIRC temps were starting to drop near the end. I measured a bit over 300 at the grates but the lid peaked at 285.

Click to expand...

I just used a foiled pizza pan on top of the water pan.