Smoking pork butt and ribs at the same time?

[Ttogull]

Did you put foil on the water pan, either outside or inside? That can sometimes cause water to drip into the coils. See the recommendations of the "How to Foil the Water Pan" if so in the link

http://virtualweberbullet.com/waterpanusage.html

If the water pan is somehow overflowing, there is a risk of a grease fire since grease floats on water.

[mache]

Sounds like things are going along well. Do try to limit the times you open the lid as it take a long time to recover the temperature and lengthens the cooking time overall. The next time you check on things, take an internal temperature of the butt in a thick part of the meat. That will give you an idea of where it is in the cook and how long it will be until its done. Use a nail meat thermometer. If you want to make this a regular thing, along with automatic temperature controllers (ATCs) like the BBQ Guru (http://www.thebbqguru.com/) or the Stoker (https://www.rocksbarbque.com/), I would look into an instant temperature read thermopen (http://www.thermoworks.com/products/thermapen/).

-- Mache

[Ttogull]

I second the use of a good meat thermometer, and Thermoworks (the one Mache recommends) is my favorite. They are accurate, come with a certificate of accuracy, and approved for professional/inspection uses. I love my Thermopen, but I do not use it for smoking. I am very much a no-peek hands-off BBQer. I therefore use probes like

http://www.thermoworks.com/products/probe/tc_hightemp.html

You'll need a thermocouple meter too. I have 4 probes/meters of them and 2 Thermopens. If you have any questions, call them. They are very, very friendly. I once had an issue, and they let me talk directly to the engineer that designed it and I was fixed in minutes.

[Hassouni]

So, I foiled the inside of the pan, I'm not sure how the water ended up dripping down. I have a Thermapen and a Polder probe. It's going along at 240 right now, will be basting the ribs soon, so will insert the probe thermometer in the butt at that point

[Ttogull]

So, I foiled the inside of the pan, I'm not sure how the water ended up dripping down.

You have water dripping down *because* you foiled the inside of the pan. It's a no-no. The link explains why.

[lancastermike]

I always foiled my water pan and never had water drip there is no link in that post thatI see

[gdenby]

Plz, if you get a chance, drop a note on how it turned out.

Fingers crossed that your guests are pleased, and you don't suffer exhaustion.

[Hassouni]

well, serving time is T-3 hours, and the butt is at 182, and the ribs still need a while yet...

[Ttogull]

I always foiled my water pan and never had water drip there is no link in that post thatI see

The link is in post #51 along with a description of where to find the discussion on the rather lengthy page.

Here is the link again.

http://virtualweberbullet.com/waterpanusage.html

I do not foil my water pan (and I've never had water in my coals as well). From the Virtual Weber Bullet link above, it sounds like one might be able to foil given a good quality foil and proper technique. So I should have said "water is dripping because the water pan is not properly foiled." My bad. Also, improperly foiling the *outside* of the pan can also cause water drips, as explained in the link.

[lancastermike]

Ok that makes sense, I never foiled the outside and was careful not to have foil over the edge

[mache]

With the butt at 182 degrees F at T-3 I think you are a little behind the curve. Check again at T-1 to see where things are. I would assume you need to be greater than 190 degrees F to start to get into the done range where a fork or nail thermometer goes into the meat like softened butter.

-- Mache

[mache]

I have no comments on pan foiling as I never use water (I have a BBQ Guru so I don't need it). I always foil the empty pan inside and then put foil over the top. In this way things always stay clean.

-- Mache

[Hassouni]

Mache, I have the thermometer alarm set for 195, so I'm going to take it off then, and let it rest foiled up for half an hour or so before pulling and serving.

The behind the curve thing is from the water drip which really sapped my heat, forcing me to add a small batch of hot new coals for it to get back in the 225 range

[mache]

Let us know how it turned out.

-- Mache

[Hassouni]

Well well it turned out AWESOME!

The butt:

v

I don't have much to compare it to, but it was bloody delicious and my guests loved it. It was just enough food and it turned out great! Thanks for all your tips!

For the record, the butt was on for damn near 18 hours, maybe a bit less and the ribs for 8 or a bit less. That water drip really screwed things up, methinks. In any case, the butt pulled apart just by looking at it, and the ribs definitely met the tear test.

Edited April 22, 2013 by Hassouni (log)

[mache]

Congratulations! The pink in the pictures looks like you got good smoke. If we have gotten you addicted to BBQ, God help you. Work on the water pan driping and think about ditching it and the lack of sleep and saving up for either a BBQ Guru or a Stoker.

Try a full packer brisket next. You are ready.

Best,

-- Mache

[rotuts]

fantastic! you must be glad you put in the effort. are those sweet potato 'fry's' ?? Id like to hear a little more about them.

and im off a little later for a few Anchor Steams. thanks for the reminder!

[weinoo]

Great job, Hassouni. Imagine, all that without a sous vide rig, an app, or some Jetson's like apparatus.

Just don't try to slow cook an egg with that thing .

[Ttogull]

Very nice! I bet your guests are going to remember that meal for long time! Congrats.

[lancastermike]

nicely done. If you look you should be able to find an topic called "behold my butt" from the good old days of EG. In it you would find lots and lots of info about folks smoking butt with all sorts of devices. You may even see things I posted about using my old WSM. There was even a seperate rib smoking topic as well.

That WSM will serve you well. It will cook lots and lots of good stuff.

My wife bought me a BGE for a birthday gift a bit a go and I gave the trusty old WSM away. But that cooker worked like a charm for me in all sorts of weather. I shoveled snow off the patio to get to it in the winter. Cooked many a Thanksgiving turkey in it.

I never used a controller of any kind on mine. I know folks who sware by them, but I don't think it necessary at all.

[Hassouni]

Congratulations! The pink in the pictures looks like you got good smoke. If we have gotten you addicted to BBQ, God help you. Work on the water pan driping and think about ditching it and the lack of sleep and saving up for either a BBQ Guru or a Stoker.

Try a full packer brisket next. You are ready.

Best,

-- Mache

Yeah, the smoke ring was great! It was delicious, but it may be a very time consuming thing to be addicted to....so do you recommend not bothering with the pan? I thought that was part of what kept the heat on the meat low?

fantastic! you must be glad you put in the effort. are those sweet potato 'fry's' ?? Id like to hear a little more about them.

and im off a little later for a few Anchor Steams. thanks for the reminder!

Yeah, I am glad. I'm also VICIOUSLY hungover......

But those are indeed baked sweet potato "fries" - just tossed with olive oil, the dry rub, and some smoked paprika, and baked at 400º till done.

Great job, Hassouni. Imagine, all that without a sous vide rig, an app, or some Jetson's like apparatus.

Just don't try to slow cook an egg with that thing .

hehehehehehehe

Very nice! I bet your guests are going to remember that meal for long time! Congrats.

Thank you and yes indeed!

[mache]

If you get an automatic temperature controller (ATC) you DO NOT need water in the water pan. You can foil it over, keep it dry and use it only as a heat diffuser. ATCs work by using a pit temerpature proble that runs a feedback loop feeding or starving the oxygen to the fire using a blower. In this way an ATC can keep the pit temperature constant to within 1-2 degrees F of your setting. That makes the most of your charcoal. In one cook, I had a brisket go close to 28 hours on a fully loaded ring of charcoal using the Minion Method. All you do is set it and forget. On my WSM I have an early BBQ Guru (Predator) and use a 10CFM blower.

ATCs also have one or several meat probes so you only need to pull the lid off to up to baste and test for doneness. For me, it allowed me to go to sleep the night of those long cooks knowing that the temperature would always remain what I set it to. I makes you WSM work like a regular kitchen oven.

Along with the retail ATCs I listed earlier, there are also a number of Do It Yourself (DIY) projects. Obviously way less expensive than purchaing a unit outright, you do need a talent for doing DIY electronics soldering and software on obsolete computer routers. The one I like is here: http://tvwbb.com/forumdisplay.php?85-LinkMeter-v2-Homebrew-BBQ-Controller).

Hope that helps,

Best,

-- Mache

[Hassouni]

Definitely too complicated (plus it'll eat into my dog budget and rum budget)! If it weren't for the water drip, I'd have had super steady temperatures for at least 16 hours. All it took was occasionally adjustment of the vents. I was amazed that the temperature only varied about 15 degrees from when I went to sleep to when I woke up

Edited April 23, 2013 by Hassouni (log)

[rotuts]

Alton Brown suggested in his BBQ ep that water pans are heat sinks, not moisture developers. cant remember what the Test Kitchen said, as they liked the Webber at that time.

not to start a .... about it, but Im of the AB school.

also a feedback fan system w/o the computer wifi would have greatly interested me when I was doing a lot oa BBQ about 15 years ago

why not? fun is fun, and boys and girls need their Toys!

AB used this one:

http://store.pitmasteriq.com/auteco.html

I think thats a fair price. but you wouldnt have to get up several times a night, and you know, check the beer supply while you were up !

Edited April 23, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

were you able to get those Sweets Potatoes 'crispy' but not burnt? Ive had lots of trouble with SP's