Tried my hand at my first 3 1/2 lbs pork butt.

[dmccoy26]

It took 7 1/2 hours to reach an internal temp of 182 degrees. 2 and 1/2 hours longer then I thought I would.

Here is my information.

http://projects.id26.com/2010/04/07/smoking-a-pork-butt-in-an-ugly-drum-smoker/

 

[sfbbqguy]

Looks like you did a great job. I can't believe it took that long for a 3 1/2lb. butt.

 

[bigabyte]

Smaller pieces are harder to gauge cooking time by. Cutting a butt in half will not cut the time to cook in half. A perfect example of this is shoulder cut country style ribs. Those things will take about 3 hours to cook, and they are a pound or less each.

 

[dmccoy26]

Bigabyte,

Aaah, yeah. I didn't think of that. I also attribute the longer time, to opening the smoker and checking the temp every hour.

 

[dmccoy26]

I was using lump charwood as fuel. Is a more uniform briquette better to use? I've used it in the past, but didn't know of the glue/binder in the molded briquettes would change the flavor.

 

[bigabyte]

I prefer lump, but many prefer briquettes. You really need to try each and decide for yourself what gives you the results you like best. Some do not like the flavor put off by some briquettes while others don't notice. Some people find the steady burn of briquettes a good thing while others find no problems getting good burns with lump. Some hate the excess ash from briquettes, others don't mind. There are a lot of factors, cooker type, how you use your cooker, what your personal preferences are...it can get pretty complicated and in the end the only thing to really help you make up your mind is to try them all.

 

[dmccoy26]

Thanks Bigabyte. I'll do so.

 

[dmccoy26]

After going back and looking at my data, I couldn't quite figure out why the temperature dropped so low. At the time, ash build up on the lump charcoal didn't really occur to me.

On the way home from work today, I picked up a Maverick RediCheck wireless thermometer at a local BBQ store.

I've added some excel graphs to my blog this afternoon and I'll be adding some pictures later this evening once I re-heat the pork and pull it apart for sandwiches.

 

[caliking]

you may want to consider the the mav et-7 which has 2 probes. Folks usually use one probe for meat and one for the grate. Another option is the et73, which has probe 2 set up as a grate probe - you can set the alarm to go off if a certain minimum temp is hit... like if it gets too cool in the middle of an overnight cook, it will wake you up so you can go kick the ash buildup off.

And thanks for the detailed info. Aiming to try my first butt soon, so will defintiely refer back to this thread!

 

[Drifter]

I was using lump charwood as fuel. Is a more uniform briquette better to use? I've used it in the past, but didn't know of the glue/binder in the molded briquettes would change the flavor.

I use a mix of Royal Oak lump, and Kingsford, approximatley 50/50. Then I mix chunks of hickory wood in with that. How much hickory depends on how "smokey" you want it, just have to experiment with that.

When I do butts on the drum I usually do them overnight, a 7-8 pound butt usually takes about 10 hours on my drum. I stabalize my temp about 25 degrees hotter than I want (250) then buy the time I wake up 7-8 hours later the drum is down to 200-225 degrees. I use a Maverick et-7 to probe the meat, I set the alarm on it to 195 degrees for butts ( I usually do 2 at a time, they're cheaper in bulk!!) The only time I open the drum is to wrap them in foil @ 140 degrees, if I do that. Sometimes I foil, sometimes I don't, I can't really tell a difference, but my wife says the foiled ones are better???

 

[dmccoy26]

I've got my first smoke ring!

Man was that sandwich delicious!

 

[Willie's BBQ]

i would use a larger bone in shoulder, approx. 6-8 pounds, alot more forgiveable and hard to screw up