PDA

View Full Version : I think I made a huge mistake (Chicago/Illinois)


Big slick
03-03-2012, 12:28 AM
Chalk it up to poor planning, but I decided to smoke 4 pork butts tonight on my WSM with 20mph winds and up to 30mph gusts. I'm having a hell of a time keeping my temps up. I'm wondering if I should just smoke the butts for a few hours to give them that smoke flavor and then just finish them off in the oven? If I go the smoker route it's gonna be a long 12-16 hours. I was hoping the winds would die down but they're not going to till Saturday night into Sunday. What would you guys do?

Any other Chicago/Illinois smokers cooking tonight?

Q-Dat
03-03-2012, 12:36 AM
Not in Illinois, but the same time zone. No shame in an oven finish. I say smoke em til your fuel runs out, and then bring em inside to finish. Some of my best pork has been done this way.

fingerlickin'
03-03-2012, 12:37 AM
If i couldn't keep temps at a minimum 225* I would try and get some smoke on em and finish in the oven. Good luck, i'm sure they'll come out great either way!


Sent using tapatalk

BigBobBQ
03-03-2012, 12:40 AM
That would work in a pinch but I have heard it doesn't taste the same as keeping it in the smoker. I have finished in an oven and didn't notice any difference myself but it only had a couple of hours left to cook and it started raining. do you have some sort of shelter you can get under and maybe put up something for a wind block, even a blanket will stop the wind and help things out alot I have done that before when it gets real windy.

Big slick
03-03-2012, 12:42 AM
I'm sitting up listening to the wind crashing into the side of the house. If temps keep slipping I'm pulling them off and closing up shop. I have no shame finishing them in the oven either but the most I ever cooked a pork butt I the oven was for like an hour or two just to finish it off. I've never done a big cook like this before all in the oven. We'll see what happens I guess.

Big slick
03-03-2012, 12:44 AM
I have everything I can think of and use as a shelter but the wind keeps knocking it over so I'm left with some wood and garbage cans to do the job. It's pretty poor looking.

Mark M
03-03-2012, 01:55 AM
Good luck. Way to hang in there as long as you can.

Crash
03-03-2012, 02:10 AM
My opinion...just get them finished. There is no shame in finishe your meats in an oven....especially with the weather situation.

Best of luck, let us know how it turns out.

RevZiLLa
03-03-2012, 03:03 AM
I would try to smoke them to 165* and then wrap and finish in the oven

TomB
03-03-2012, 04:17 AM
Agree with Rev. Hope they and you are tucked inside now.

Big slick
03-03-2012, 07:20 AM
Well I got the smoker running at 260 and had it going at that temp for a good 5 hours. I checked every hour and saw little to no fluctuation, so I figured I was good. Big mistake.

The reason I say that is that I decided to try and grab some sleep so I set my timer for 3 hours around 3:50 and passed out on the couch. Well everything would've been fine if I had checked how much fuel I had left in the smoker before I went to sleep. I woke up at 6:50 walked outside and saw that my smoker was only 114 degrees. I open up the side door only to see a few embers. I quickly run inside grab some pans and remove the butts. The butts were still pretty warm to the touch, but what I didn't take into consideration was all the hot juices inside the butt that were waiting to burn the s#it out of my bare hands when I went to go pick them up. Well I got all of the butts off and inside. I did a quick temp check and all of them fell between 155-165. I figured good at least they were cooked and I didn't have to worry about anything there. I fired up the ovens to 265 and threw in the butts. I'll continue to baste them with apple juice since I have the color I want. I don't think I'll foil unless I see the color getting too dark.

I learned a lot last night. ALWAYS CHECK THE WEATHER BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO FIRE UP THE SMOKER.

I'll never do this again. I got lucky.

bander7003
03-03-2012, 07:29 AM
Good catch. I occassionally run into the same problem with weather... and I tell myself the same thing... of course, until I forget to check the weath again.

CharcoalCowboy
03-03-2012, 08:23 AM
There is no substitute for learning from experience. Some of the best lessons I have learned about what to do have come from living through what not to do. Plus you now have another story to tell your buddies while drinking beer.

mtbchip
03-03-2012, 08:59 AM
....snip......
I learned a lot last night. ALWAYS CHECK THE WEATHER BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO FIRE UP THE SMOKER.

I'll never do this again. I got lucky.

We ck the weather here in San Diego before starting a long low and slow cook. The weather determines if I wear flip flops or actually put on shoes. :becky:

Ron_L
03-03-2012, 09:19 AM
I think this is a BBQ corollary to Murphy's Law.

Pit temps only get out of control when you're not around.

Or something like that.

If you had stayed up the temps would have been fine :-D

Smoke & Beers
03-03-2012, 09:21 AM
I've always looked at the weather as another challenge. No, I don't intentionally plan cooks when it's nasty out, but I've never "not cooked" because of Mother Nature...
Call me :crazy: but I guess it's part of the excitement for me...especially living in Kansas.

Dave Russell
03-03-2012, 09:22 AM
There is no substitute for learning from experience. Some of the best lessons I have learned about what to do have come from living through what not to do. Plus you now have another story to tell your buddies while drinking beer.

Amen to that.

I use a plastic drum around my wsm in windy or cold weather. Cut the top out and most of the bottom so that the drum sits on the dome upside down with just enough gap at the bottom for intake. Works great, especially with a blanket wrapped around the top, but a black one would work better than my blue one on sunny days.

Randbo
03-03-2012, 09:29 AM
Running a smoker in bad weather is a challenge. I want a smoke shack to keep me out of the rain and wind. I think you are going to finish fine in the oven.

Big slick
03-03-2012, 03:01 PM
Pulled all 4 butts and they turned out great! No pics since most of it was packed away as soon as it was pulled.

Thanks all!

LoneStar Smoke Rangers
03-03-2012, 04:46 PM
Glad it all worked out!

Trumanj
03-03-2012, 05:03 PM
Amen to that.

I use a plastic drum around my wsm in windy or cold weather. Cut the top out and most of the bottom so that the drum sits on the dome upside down with just enough gap at the bottom for intake. Works great, especially with a blanket wrapped around the top, but a black one would work better than my blue one on sunny days.

I wonder what a welders blanket would do to temp etc on a UDS?