New Egg User Here: First 21 hr. Butt a success, thanks to Forum

Joder

First 21 hr. Butt a success, thanks to Forum[p]It’s 10:30 pm. I am basking in the glory of a successful low and slow Boston Butt cook. It was my first. People who tried it weren’t expecting much, but after one taste, they snapped to attention and said things like, “that’s good…that’s really good…that’s really, really good.” and they started grabbing more chunks.[p]My thanks go out to all who have contributed to the Forum. It is a wealth of knowledge.[p]I got my large Egg exactly one week ago. It was it’s fifth use. It’s gone like this: [p]1st day: Chicken (great texture, but hickory too heavy)
2nd day: Ribs (awesome – 5 hrs at 275, hickory from leftover chips from chicken)
3rd day: Burgers (a bit well done, but good 650 F: 3-3-close vents-3)
4th day: Steak (perfect in 8 mins. 650 F: 2-2-close vents-2-2)
5th day: Egg idle
6th day: Start Butt at 9:00 pm
7th day: Eat Butt at 6:00 pm[p]I had my concerns about achieving a low temp. On my first use, I was amazed that the Egg shot up to 600 F in about 20 mins after lighting the starter cubes. I had planned to sear the chicken and then slow cook it. I couldn’t get the temp below 300. I had the vents credit card thin and killed the fire, but the chicken was good nevertheless. [p]I did a forum search on “lo temp” and researched it heavily. I read of folks cooking at 200-225. How did they do it? After much research I determined that you had to sneak up on the temperature; start shutting down at 50 F below target. [p]Following the consensus of countless forum posters, I built the fire according to the Elder Ward Method: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/elder.htm.I started the fire with a single starter cube in the center with top raised, ran inside, took Butt out of refrigerator, rubbed it, placed in on rack over drip pan, inserted remote thermometer, brought it outside. I stuck a fist sized piece of dry hickory in the center, a la Elder Ward, placed pan with rack on pizza stone on grill, closed the top. All vents were wide open. I got a cold beer and settled down to watch the dome thermometer. My target was 200-225. At 175, I shut down bottom vent to one thumb width, top vent daisies fully open, hoping to sneak up on it. It climbed and climbed to 260. Maybe I shut down too late. It was a windy night, so I put a cooler in front of the bottom vent to block the wind. I went to the computer and found a link to Tim M’s website,http://www.tm52.com/bge/ . Tim has made a science of Egg cookery. He suggested top vents almost closed and bottom vents ¼” to ½”. That’s the kind of solid advice I needed. I did as he suggested with ¼” bottom vent opening and went to bed, smelling strongly of hickory. I wasn’t too worried, having read in a post that 250 F with work fine for butts.[p]I got up once in the middle of the night and checked dome temp. It was about 230 F. In the morning, when I woke it was about 230 F. The butt was 147 F. Things were working as they were supposed to! I noticed at mid morning the temp had dropped to 200. Afraid the fire was dying, I opened the bottom vent to about 3/8”. It responded and got back to around 225. At 3:30 the meat was 185 and I decided to “throw caution to the wind” (Elder Ward) and open the vents. I opened the top daisies full and the bottom about 2” wide. It went up to 310, but no more, which is good, I didn’t want to burn it. At 5:17 the 200 F alarm went off. I brought it inside and let it sit while I set the table. I pulled the chunks apart with 2 forks and filled a pyrex brownie dish. I gave the fat, drippings, and shoulder blade to our dog, who thought she had died and gone to heaven. [p]The pork was heavenly.[p]By the way, I had used up all my rub one ribs and was caught short handed. I used Tony Cachere’s Original Seasoning “great on everything”. It is not sold as a barbeque rub, but let me tell you, it was damn good. I had always liked it for cooking and had a big can of it. I rubbed it on very heavily. It seems to just make everything taste good and with a hint of hotness.[p]

Unknown

joder, congratulations. Sounds like you had a great cook and some very good que. That's what it is all about.[p]I'm doing the perfect steak later this afternoon for Peggy and me. My mouth is already beginning to water![p]Later,
Hugh Jass

Mike in MN

joder,
Great post! Thanks for the rundown. [p]I try to keep good notes on the entire cook. Rubs, direct/indirect, marinade times, type and amount of smoking woods, dome temps, internal temps, date and outside weather condition, and finally an assessment of the final product. I highlight the notecard when something really works, so I have my own reference for the next time around. [p]I've had the egg a couple of years, and I always return to the notecards when I do something that's not on my normal routine. (a whole turkey for example) [p]Best of luck in your future cooks....it's a great learning experience![p]Mike in MN