I found butts on sale at our local HEB for a buck a pound early last week and bought 2 ten pounders. I didn't get to cook last week and was beginning to think I might have to freeze the pork, but I finally got rub made and on the meat Saturday night but could not cook Sunday. I knew I had appointments after noon today and DD and SIL hosted us at dinner in Austin for our anniversary (55) this evening.
So, I fired up the Weber Performer last night. I used the Vortex ring from Owens BBQ (Thank You, Tanya!) and poured a not too deep ring of briquettes around it and generously placed hickory chunks atop the charcoal. Heat was about 275° at midnight last night. I had pulled the butts out of the reefer about 10:00 and let them warm up a little on the counter. So . . . I put them on about 12:15AM and went to bed.
Now, at my age, going to bed is not something you do just once a night like when I was younger. Every time I got up to answer the call of nature, I took a peek at the gauge on top Performer lid. It was at 275° when I put them on; a couple hours later it was at 200° so I opened up the lower and upper vents a bit. Two hours later or a bit more, I checked and the temp was back at 275°.
The Thermopop showed the IT at about 155° when I got up about 9:00AM. It was still below 180° when I left for my appointment. I got back about 2:45 PM and TP showed me a perfect 205° on both butts. I laid out some foil, wrapped them good then wrapped them in an old beach towel and put them into cooler box.
We went to Austin and had dinner and got home about 8:30 PM. A hand in the cooler showed a nice warm temp. I'll leave them there until the morning when I'll open them up and pull 'em. If they aren't too warm still, I'll vacuum pack them in 1 pound packs.
I'll get pics tomorrow of what they look like before pulling and in the vac paks. I have never put meat on the smoker and gone to bed before, but the last few snake fires I've done have been so predictable I thought I'd risk it. I wasn't as careful about laying out the briquettes as I might have been which is what accounts for the temp swings. I did put a 9" pie pan full of water under the butts to provide moisture and to catch drippings. There were times when too few coals were burning and times when they were bunched up and pretty hot, but the heat stayed low enough to make a great smoke. I still had about 6" of unburnt charcoal left in the ring when I took them off.
Any of you guys who have Weber kettles and haven't smoked butts or briskets with them, I suggest you get a Vortex ring from Tanya and give it a try. You can do it with just a snake weave - I've done it - but the Vortex makes things a lot easier. You can also use fire bricks but I've always had a mess on the bricks 'cause I couldn't keep the drippings off them. That really doesn't matter but I don't like the mess. The ring is better.
So, I fired up the Weber Performer last night. I used the Vortex ring from Owens BBQ (Thank You, Tanya!) and poured a not too deep ring of briquettes around it and generously placed hickory chunks atop the charcoal. Heat was about 275° at midnight last night. I had pulled the butts out of the reefer about 10:00 and let them warm up a little on the counter. So . . . I put them on about 12:15AM and went to bed.
Now, at my age, going to bed is not something you do just once a night like when I was younger. Every time I got up to answer the call of nature, I took a peek at the gauge on top Performer lid. It was at 275° when I put them on; a couple hours later it was at 200° so I opened up the lower and upper vents a bit. Two hours later or a bit more, I checked and the temp was back at 275°.
The Thermopop showed the IT at about 155° when I got up about 9:00AM. It was still below 180° when I left for my appointment. I got back about 2:45 PM and TP showed me a perfect 205° on both butts. I laid out some foil, wrapped them good then wrapped them in an old beach towel and put them into cooler box.
We went to Austin and had dinner and got home about 8:30 PM. A hand in the cooler showed a nice warm temp. I'll leave them there until the morning when I'll open them up and pull 'em. If they aren't too warm still, I'll vacuum pack them in 1 pound packs.
I'll get pics tomorrow of what they look like before pulling and in the vac paks. I have never put meat on the smoker and gone to bed before, but the last few snake fires I've done have been so predictable I thought I'd risk it. I wasn't as careful about laying out the briquettes as I might have been which is what accounts for the temp swings. I did put a 9" pie pan full of water under the butts to provide moisture and to catch drippings. There were times when too few coals were burning and times when they were bunched up and pretty hot, but the heat stayed low enough to make a great smoke. I still had about 6" of unburnt charcoal left in the ring when I took them off.
Any of you guys who have Weber kettles and haven't smoked butts or briskets with them, I suggest you get a Vortex ring from Tanya and give it a try. You can do it with just a snake weave - I've done it - but the Vortex makes things a lot easier. You can also use fire bricks but I've always had a mess on the bricks 'cause I couldn't keep the drippings off them. That really doesn't matter but I don't like the mess. The ring is better.
