Planning First Long Cook on Smoke Vault 24

8

87Olds

Knows what a fatty is.
Joined
Nov 22, 2017
Location
Seymour...
Hoping to do a cook in my new Smoke Vault soon. First experiment turned out good. Planning on using hickory chunks this time (read that dry is best), but am not sure how much I need to start with. May smoke a pork butt I have had for some time in the freezer.

Any thoughts, tips or recipes?
 
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Yes, dry wood chunks!
As far as how many chunks to use?
That is totally up to you. Some folks use 3 or 4 fist size chunks.
Some use 6 or more fist size chunks. The longer the cook, the more coal so more wood chunks.
You will have to play with the amount till you find the amount of smoke flavor you prefer.
Then you can play with wood types to see which you also prefer.
I use fruit woods typically for poultry. Oak and or hickory for pork and beef. Or a combo of the woods.
You will want alot of practice :becky:
 
Finding the right amount of wood chunks is truly trial and error. My first rack of ribs I used 7 (Harry Soo recommended) and it was by far to strong for me. Then I used 2 and it was spot on. However, 2 is not enough on a larger piece of meat. Also, how long you let the meat rest before you eat it will give the meat more time for the smoke flavor to intensify. Just food for thought.
 
Did some trial runs the other night with some bratwurst. Started with 4 chunks of hickory.


chunks%201.jpg




Got the smoke going, and I think I finally got the right amount. Had a lot of white smoke to begin with, but came up with this:


smoke2.5.jpg



I had to play around with it a bit to get the temp around 230. Would this be the color of smoke I would want?



Got the sausages done, and had good results (not many on plate because they went too fast!).


sausage1.5.jpg



At this temp, the chunks burned a long time...think it was over 4 hours. Had to add more water one time. I let the chunks continue to burn long after cooking the sausage, just for a test (only took an hour or so for the brats).


Tried again last night with some hamburgers. Think I learned a thing or two from that. Tried to run it around 230 to 240, with some half burned chunks and a few added. Burgers plateaued on me at 149...got done past 160, but it took almost two hours...they did shrink a bit. Think the issue was that I did not have enough water in the pan. Could that have been why it sat for over a half hour at that temp? They were good, but I could have done better. As you said SweetHeat, trial and error.


Planning to do a pork butt this weekend. Will put that in the next post, following this (don't want the posts too long).
 
Ok, on to the pork butt. I am planning on starting this tomorrow night, and am considering using apple chunks instead of hickory, and adding some apple juice to the water.


I'm also working on an East Carolina BBQ sauce recipe. This is very similar to one that I used some time ago that was on the Holland Grill site. This came out great...unfortunately, I can't get the exact recipe, because the company is now closed :cry:. This was the best grill I ever had...they really did not flare up. Only reason I'm not using it is because the bottom rusted out. Really hope someone starts the company back up.


Anyhow, here is my take on the recipe...going to mix it up here in a bit.


2 cups cider vinegar
~ 3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp molasses
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp Texas Pete
1 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper


May vary a bit to get the taste right. Also not sure if I will have to heat first or not. The first time I made this, I just mixed it up.


Planning on making some deep cuts in the meat, including scoring the fat, and pouring some of the sauce over it and letting it sit. This should help break down the tissues.


I have read of so many ways to fix this...some say foil it, others say don't, because it would turn the bark to mush. I personally want some bark, so I may not foil it. I would like to get it to 195, and then wrap it and put it in a cooler. I can pull it later and put it in a crock pot to warm it up.


As for wood, I'm not sure how much to start with...maybe 5-7. Not sure how often I will have to add wood, either.

Another question: fat side of the roast down or up? (have heard success both ways...never tried it fat side up). Don't want to start a flame war :flame:

Just want this to turn out good...been waiting a long time to do this.
 
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Yes, TBS (thin blue smoke) or no smoke is what you are looking for. With proper air flow, the cleaner the fire, the less smoke/no smoke is visible.
Those chunks you show are quite large. Fist size and a bit smaller are more typical size used.
I do not believe adding apple juice to the water pan would change the flavor profile of the pork butt in anyway. But I could be wrong.
Don't forget, you can add different wood types to also get a different flavor profile.
I would suggest not pouring sauce over the top of the butt till after you have a hard set bark like you want. As the sauce will soften and cover up that crispy fat bark. Which alot of folks love.
As far as fat cap up/down. That can very dependent on each piece of meat. How much fat, how thick is the cap. The weight of the butt. Example, quite a difference between a #10 butt and a #5 or #6 butt.
Bone in or no bone.
Bone in butt, I never temp. Once the bone can easily be pulled out/removed. The butt is done. Every piece of meat is different.
Hope that helps.
 
87Olds said:
Did some trial runs the other night with some bratwurst. Started with 4 chunks of hickory.


chunks%201.jpg




Got the smoke going, and I think I finally got the right amount. Had a lot of white smoke to begin with, but came up with this:


smoke2.5.jpg



I had to play around with it a bit to get the temp around 230. Would this be the color of smoke I would want?



Got the sausages done, and had good results (not many on plate because they went too fast!).


sausage1.5.jpg



At this temp, the chunks burned a long time...think it was over 4 hours. Had to add more water one time. I let the chunks continue to burn long after cooking the sausage, just for a test (only took an hour or so for the brats).


Tried again last night with some hamburgers. Think I learned a thing or two from that. Tried to run it around 230 to 240, with some half burned chunks and a few added. Burgers plateaued on me at 149...got done past 160, but it took almost two hours...they did shrink a bit. Think the issue was that I did not have enough water in the pan. Could that have been why it sat for over a half hour at that temp? They were good, but I could have done better. As you said SweetHeat, trial and error.


Planning to do a pork butt this weekend. Will put that in the next post, following this (don't want the posts too long).
Click to expand...

How was smoking the burgers compared to grilling them? I have never smoked burgers, but this is an interesting thought. On to the pork butt, one thing I learned after doing my first was to make sure to trim the fat cap some. My first one I didn't trim it any (or scour it) and some of it rendered, but there was a lot left over to remove after the cook when pulling it apart. The worst part on having to remove so much was that all my dry rub on that part went with the fat cap. The pork was still good, but it bothered me to think that all that dry rub and flavor was wasted. Just a thought on the amount of wood if you use just a few too little you can eat it and like it and know to add more next time. If you go too strong you can still eat, but the flavor will be nowhere near as good (definitely personal preference I just don't like smoke overkill at all). I have never had to add wood chunks to my pork butts. Remember the meat only takes smoke up to 140 degrees. Hope this helps and looking forward to seeing how the cook turns out.
 
SweetHeatBBQnSC said:
My first one I didn't trim it any (or scour it) and some of it rendered, but there was a lot left over to remove after the cook when pulling it apart. The worst part on having to remove so much was that all my dry rub on that part went with the fat cap. The pork was still good, but it bothered me to think that all that dry rub and flavor was wasted
Click to expand...
Something for you to try. Instead of putting dry rub on the fat cap before you cook. Add the dry rub to the pork as you are shredding/mixing.
You will get alot more flavor from the rub doing this.
And save a bunch of time and rub when doing alot of butts.
 
ebijack said:
Something for you to try. Instead of putting dry rub on the fat cap before you cook. Add the dry rub to the pork as you are shredding/mixing.
You will get alot more flavor from the rub doing this.
And save a bunch of time and rub when doing alot of butts.
Click to expand...

Do you rub the butt down pre cook and as you are pulling it apart, or just as you are tearing it apart?
 
Up to you. But I do not feel you need to pre rub. Used to pre rub. But now, just throw them on and add the dry rub once pulled and HOT. Then mix. Much more flavor from rubs but still plenty of porky goodness.
 
I have done the rub before, but I don't think I will this time. Planning on just letting it go until it gets to 195, and then was going to wrap in foil and put in a cooler and pull after it cools. I have some new bear claws I would like to try out. Was going to put in the slow cooker to warm up afterwards.


As for the wood, the chunks are just big enough to fit in my hand.



Got to get moving...almost time to cook! Love the tips and advice!
 
How was smoking the burgers compared to grilling them?
Click to expand...
Not too bad, but they could have been better. Don't think I had enough smoke on them, and they cooked too long and shrunk up. Should be able to get it better next time. Still prefer grilling them.


Just put 5 large chunks on...pan won't hold too many more. Should be enough to get through for awhile.
 
Started smoker about 8...had a lot of white smoke. Took almost an hour to settle down, but still had a lot of it. Put the roast on about 9, and the smoke finally settled down about 20-25 min later. Nice thin smoke now, about an hour in. Hope that other smoke didn't hurt. Temp varying a bit, now at 236. I expect it will fluctuate some.



BTW, put the roast on fat cap up. Should render the fat over the meat. Took remaining juice and poured into the water pan...should make for a nice taste.


I wonder if it would work better the next time I do this if I use my chimney starter to get the wood going...might make for less smoke, and make it easier when you first put the meat on. This smoker lets out a blast of smoke when you open the door if you have too much smoke...at least it doesn't leak too bad.



Gettin settled in for a long night...cold beer!
 
Been a good night. Smoker holding temperature well, around 230 or so. Added a few very small pieces of wood from time to time, up to around 140. Roast is just cooking with heat and steam now, at about 163. Looking pretty good...nice brown color. Don't have the dark bark yet...tempting to add some sauce to the top, but not sure if that's what it needs to get that crust. It will probably take until early afternoon to finish. I've read a lot of posts about it taking 16 hours to cook one.
 
How long depends on time and how large of a butt.
A #6 can be done quick. #10ers take alot more time.
If you are wanting cripsy crust. Any sauce you add will diminish that crust. Unless the sauce has alot of sugar.
You could always raise the temp to 300* to cook faster. Your choice.
Also, once you wrap and hold. If in foil, you will end up with a darker bark than when you first wrapped.
 
Done! Pulled at 195, at almost 5 oclock. Nearly 20 hours! This thing looks beautiful (if the bark gets darker, that's fine with me)!


pb1.jpg




pb3.jpg





This was a 6# butt. Got a taste of the meat...delicious! It is now wrapped and in a pan with ice in a cooler. I will pull the meat in the morning, and put it in the crock pot to warm up. May add the rub when I do that. Having that extra fat on the bottom should make it really good! Might add some of the home made sauce to it.


That was the longest cook I ever did. Pretty tired...took a few naps off and on. Smoker performed perfectly. Really impressed with it. Glad I invested in a set of the bear paws...they really helped when getting it off the grate. Wife was impressed how it turned out...that's a good thing! :thumb:
 
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Roast turned out pretty good. Didn't have too much smoke.



pb4.jpg



pb4.jpg



Finished product (not great image quality)


pb6.jpg


Overall, flavor was pretty good, although a little drier than I had hoped. Still had a lot of compliments. I'll make some changes and adjustments next time. Really appreciate the tips and advice. I'm keeping a log of what I did, so next time it will make it even better.


Will be trying a turkey soon, and possibly spare ribs. Need to see if this smoker will do 325 for the turkey...need to be able to render the fat under the skin. May spatchcock it to make sure it is done.
 
Not sure why it took so long. Still came out pretty good. Might have been too cold when I put it on. Was at 41 degrees...might need to let it come up more the next time. Will be making some other changes to improve it and cut the time, also. I guess that's part of the learning curve.
 
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