Ist Butt Cook

BamaBackdraft

Wish me luck! Trying my first low and slow on the BGE. Read and studied TNW and past post and think I'm ready to take it to the next level. :ermm: Got two butts one at 5 3/4 lb and the other at 7 1/2 lb.



Rubbed the big one with Rendevous Famous Seasoning and the little with Corky's Dry Rub(Thanks to my daughter in Memphis). Added Turbinado Sugar to both and rubbed them in real good. Rubbed in some honey mustard and added more rub to it afterwards



Put it on the smoke at 12:45pm.



Shut it down and put on the rain cap. Supposed to get nasty down here in LA(Lower Alabama) later.



Maverick is holding steady at 221 grill temp.

As you can tell by my timing I was scared to do an all nighter. Wait! 13 lbs of meat X 2 hours per pound Going to be an late nighter for sure! In Laws coming in tomorrow and wife wanted to have it ready for lunch. When it gets ready sometime this morning how long can I keep it foiled in an cooler?
Any advise will be much appreciated

AZRP

Keep your dome temp at 250 and you only count time on individual pieces unless they are tied together. So 7 1/2 lbs at 1,5 to 2hours per. Good luck! -RP

Bob-O

Remember that it will not be 13 x 2, it will be 7.5 x2 and 5.5x2.

Bob-O

Sorry about posting what you had said AZRP. You must have been posting while I was typing.

Unknown

Warm the cooler first then wrap well in HD foil and the towels. Leave your maverick meat probe in it. You can leave it in there as long as it stayes over 140. I have made it six hours and was still 150. Hope this helps.
Tom

BamaBackdraft

Thanks AZRP. Had to pull the Tru Tell dome temp up so much because of the meat. Just using the Maverick for grill level temp. So will ease the temp up toward 250. Thanks for the timing lesson. Like that much better. Can I use the Thermapen through the top to verify the Maverick?

AZRP

Not until the meat comes up to temp, the grid level will be cooler than the dome temp. That is why I said to keep the dome at 250, a lot of newbies go for 225 in the dome and wonder why its taking way longer than it should. If your maverick is at grid level 225 will be fine. -RP

JLOCKHART29

As much as you post can't believe you haven't pulled pork before. Looks like your well on the way. At 220 dome its going to take a while. Bump it to 250 or 260 if you want it to speed up a bit. Can't help on the cooler as have never coolered anything. Keep the post coming and more pics!

BamaBackdraft

Thanks JL. Had to pull the dome temp out of the way of the meat so using the Maverick to read grill level temp at close to felt level. AZRP said that 225 should be good at grill level. Will post 1st Butt Cook Part II later, hopefully :ermm:

BamaBackdraft

Thanks JL. Had to pull the dome temp out of the way of the meat so using the Maverick to read grill level temp at close to felt level. AZRP said that 225 should be good at grill level. Will post 1st Butt Cook Part II later, hopefully :ermm:

AZRP

Just for informations sake, stick your thermapen in one of the top vent holes and see how much of a difference there is between what the mavericks reading at grid level and the top. You should see a pretty big difference early in the cook. I like playing with that stuff, just to get a better understanding of what's going on in there. -RP

BENTE

man it looks like you will be there for awhile.. i would let it go as long as it is humanly possible.... i am sure you want to get some sleep tonight but don't plan on much.. but make sure to keep your alarm set for every three or four hours so you can get up and check it.. it is good to see you try it naked instead of waiting on a guru.... it will make you more thankful when you do get a guru.... i will be doing some buts later so i will be around but i am cheating i am going to use my competetor.. now that the fine folks at guru have fixed my probes

AZRP

I just went back and looked at your pictures and didn't realize how high you had those up in the dome. Could be your dome and grid temps may be the same. -RP

Tuck

Looking good. What part of LA do you live in? I just moved from Daphne to Pcola.

JLOCKHART29

I would be interested in that info also. I do not have a instant read but may play around when I get back from town.

Grandpas Grub

BamaBackdraft,

I too am suprised this is your first butt cook. Looks good so far. These should turn out really good being that far up in the dome.

You have good info above.

On keeping the butt's warm after the cook. Use HFAF and I purchased about 7' of thick polar fleece (thick soft blanket type material) from Walmart or any fabric store. I just bought the piece and dedicated it to the egg cooking.

I fold it narrow enough for the meat the wrap the meat in the fleece. I have a cooler to also put it in but so far have not needed to use it.

I have kept butts too hot to pull by hand for 3 to 4 hours when using the blanket. If I am going to have a long hold time I put the Maverick in the meat then wrap it.

Let us know how this turns out. It should be fantastic. You will possibley have different done times with the two sizes so keep an eye on each piece.

GG

The Naked Whiz

The following web page discusses this question: Holding Meat In A Cooler Here is a graph showing the results of double foiling, wrapping in beach towels and then putting into an ordinary cooler:



And remember, if the meat is too hot to pull bare-handed, that only means that the meat is above 115 degrees or so.

Good luck!

BamaBackdraft

Thanks guys! I cracked the vent just a hair more earlier after the grill temp leveled off at 220. Went back at 3:15 and the grill temp was at 230 and the meat was 117. Stuck the thermapen all the way down through the top vent opening(BGE Lg) and it read 246.

Tuck, I stay on the poor side of the bay :woohoo:

Thanks for the words of advice GG.

BamaBackdraft

Thanks NW, you the man!

AZRP

16 degree difference sound about right, let us know how long they take. -RP

BamaBackdraft

Will do. After several hour of the grill temp going between 229-225, it has dropped to 212. Have been fighting the urge to tweak the bottom vent. Should I open up a hair or trust the egg to come back up? Meat temp has reached 152. Cleaned out the egg before the cook and stacked the RO lump according to NW advise with 5 pecan chunks scattered on top.

AZRP

If you haven't opened it for 30 minutes or so and the temp is dropping, yes tweak the vent. Hopefully you filled the coal up into the fire ring. -RP

JLOCKHART29

Also might open bottom vent and wiggle rod the holes in your bottom grate then reset vent to original position if still have temp problems. Keep us updated. Mines done and going to crash soon.