Hi all,

I've lurked off and on over the years and read through the FAQ and
google archive. It really is a wealth of information; thanks to
everyone who has shared their expertise here.

I finally decided to jump in with a Char-Broil H2O Electric Smoker.
From the discussions, it seems like a good, inexpensive and lazy way
to start. I did fire it up (empty) today and it came up to 250
degrees very quickly, so it looks like I'll have adequate heat.

Unfortunately, its first outing will be to make pulled pork for a
party this weekend and I'm not going to get a chance to do a lot of
experimentation beforehand.

I think I have a pretty good idea of how to approach it, but I'm still
confused on several points... I've read a a lot of conflicting
opinions and it's not always obvious what the safest route is.

My current plan is:
* Pick up a Boston Butt (or two depending on size) Friday evening, let
it brine overnight.
* 6:30am (Saturday): Start soaking hickory chunks in water.
* Spray the smoker interior down with Pam, wrap water tray and bottom
of smoker in foil.
* Start up smoker at 7am, place 3-4 good sized hickory chunks directly
against element (wrapped in foil?). Bring temperature up to 225-230F
* Apply rub to meat, add it to the smoker by 7:30am. I want to serve
by 9pm, so this should allow enough time for an 8lb butt to cook, rest
and be pulled.
* Let it cook all day, adjusting liquid, chunks and temperature as
necessary.
* Remove meat from smoker once internal temperature reaches 190-195 F.
* Wrap meat lightly in foil, allow to rest.
* When cool enough, pull meat into a crockpot and keep warm until
served.
* Serve plain on hamburger buns, with a few varieties of sauce
available that the people can add at their own discretion.

I have an oven thermometer with a remote digital readout. I'm
planning to stick the probe through a couple of corks and let it lay
on the grill alongside the meat to monitor internal temperature. In
the afternoon, once I have a feel for what the built-in thermometer
should read, I'll ditch the corks and use it to monitor the butt's
internal temperature.

If it finishes early, I assume there's no problem in keeping it in a
CrockPot for a few hours? If it doesn't seem to be getting done, I'll
probably push the panic button at around 6pm, wrap the meat in foil
and finish it in a 300 degree oven. At least I know what I'm doing in
the kitchen, if not in the smoker.

So, there's the plan. If I missed something, please let me know.

Ok, on to actual questions...

* I'm under the impression that, since this is an electric smoker, I
don't have to be overly concerned about creosote. Is it ok to add the
meat to the smoker while still cold?

* If I only have one butt, do you recommend the top rack or bottom?

* If I have two butts, how does it impact the cooking time? Should
they be on the same rack (if they fit) or each on their own rack?
Should I flop their positions now and then?

* Some posters have suggested that the water pan isn't necessary and
just makes it more difficult to control the temperature. Should I
leave it empty or remove it entirely?

* Is it worthwhile to add firebricks around the heating element? I
understand that I don't want them touching the element since it could
confuse the meter and cause the element to turn off prematurely.

* Should the hickory chunks be directly on the element or nearby?
Soaked or not?

* How often should the hickory chunks be replaced? Is there a limit
to how many times you should refill it (say, stop after 4 loads of
wood?)

* Several guides explain how to trim excess fat from a Boston Butt
before smoking. Others suggest that modern pork is too lean and you
need all the fat you can get. Trim or not?

* It's going to be pretty hard to get to the water dish. My current
plan is to remove both of the grills, add boiling water, and then put
the whole thing back together. Will the temperature loss be
problematic?

* The center section of my cooker isn't perfectly round and the lip
sticks out a bit on the side where it should be riveted together.
This leaves a gap between the lid and body about 4-5 inches long and
about 1/2 inch wide at its deepest point. Is this an intentional
design to give the smoke somewhere to escape? Should I exchange it or
try to plug it with some foil during cooking?

Whew... that was longer than I thought it would be.

If anyone has time to respond, I'd deeply appreciate it. I know some
of the questions are probably inane, but there's a lot of conflicting
information out there and it's hard to make sense of some of it.

And don't worry, if I ruin the whole thing it won't be a big deal.
We'll have a keg and other food, so people can get by without bbq.

Thanks,
Greg

The previous post covers it pretty well and explains exactly what I would do
when I had my Char Broil,except for the water pan.

I'd fill mine with sand or water and cover it tightly with foil. It acts as a
"heat sink".

Greg Dearing wrote:
> My current plan is:
> * Pick up a Boston Butt (or two depending on size) Friday evening,
let
> it brine overnight.

IMO, no need to brine a butt. It's got enough fat in it to keep from
goin dry.

> * 6:30am (Saturday): Start soaking hickory chunks in water.

Oh no, don't soak ya chunks. Use em dry, 2-3 good fist-sized chunks.

> * I'm under the impression that, since this is an electric smoker, I
> don't have to be overly concerned about creosote. Is it ok to add
the
> meat to the smoker while still cold?

Yep. No harm done.

> * If I only have one butt, do you recommend the top rack or bottom?

Top

> * If I have two butts, how does it impact the cooking time? Should
> they be on the same rack (if they fit) or each on their own rack?
> Should I flop their positions now and then?

Either way. The top rack'll be a few degrees hotter than the lower
one but there shouldn't be enough variance to worry over. You do know
butts, like brisket, are their own beast when it comes to cookin so
there's no need to switch em back and forth. They's done when they's
done.

> * Some posters have suggested that the water pan isn't necessary and
> just makes it more difficult to control the temperature. Should I
> leave it empty or remove it entirely?

Since this your maiden voyage with the cooker, I suggest you leave the
pan in there empty. Once you have more of a feel for the cooker, you
can take the pan out and see how things differ.

> * Several guides explain how to trim excess fat from a Boston Butt
> before smoking. Others suggest that modern pork is too lean and you
> need all the fat you can get. Trim or not?

Don't trim.
--
-frohe
Life is too short to be in a hurry

Greg Dearing wrote:

> * Some posters have suggested that the water pan isn't necessary and
> just makes it more difficult to control the temperature. Should I
> leave it empty or remove it entirely?
>
> * Is it worthwhile to add firebricks around the heating element? I
> understand that I don't want them touching the element since it could
> confuse the meter and cause the element to turn off prematurely.
>



The waterpan will speed up the cooking little bit due to the greater
specific heat of water vapor. It also makes the inside temps more
stable if the outside conditions are less favorable(wind, rain ect).
Don't worry about refilling the pan though if you decide to go with
water. If you don't , it won't hurt you.

Forget the firebrick though since this the active temperature controls
of the electric element are far superior to passive elements like the
firebricks.




> * Several guides explain how to trim excess fat from a Boston Butt
> before smoking. Others suggest that modern pork is too lean and you
> need all the fat you can get. Trim or not?

Leave it. As a general rule leave the fat and remove the membraness(if
any).

-CAL

I'm a semi-newbie myself having only been into this foray for a couple
of years now. Nevertheless, I have turned out some finger-lickin'
good stuff on my Char-Broil H2O electric.

Your plan sounds great and the suggestions from the previous posters
are on the mark. The only thing that I'd add is RESIST the temptation
to peek at the butt during the process. Only open the lid when you
have to because every time you remove the lid, you lose heat and as a
result, your cook time will be extended. Good Luck!
---------------------------------------------------------
Regards,

Henry D. --------->

Anti-Spam measure in place. To reply, remove "spamfree".

Only thing I'd say is to be on the safe side, allow two hours per pound
(using the weight of the single largest piece of meat, if more than one
are going into the smoker) - so I'd start a good bit earlier than your
planned 7:30 AM start. If it gets done way too early, wrap it in foil,
wrap that in towels, and put it into an empty cooler sized as near to
snugly holding that package as possible - it'll keep for several hours
that way. Even if it gets done *way* too early, since you're talking
about eating so late (9PM), you could just serve earlier. If you go the
foil/towel/cooler route, don't lose the juices that collect in the
bottom of the foil - and don't unwrap that whole package till you've got
it on a big platter or something that will catch the dripping. Pour them
back over the meat when you're pulling it, unless they're just pure grease.

As for chunks, I'd say a total of 7 or 8 approx. 3x3 hickory chunks
total would be adequate, maybe start with 3, add 2 when they burn out,
then two more, but after about 8 chunks, I would not add more.

I think you did well to choose the butt, it's a very forgiving piece of
meat - the brisket, by comparison, is fairly cranky.

Greg Dearing wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I've lurked off and on over the years and read through the FAQ and
> google archive. It really is a wealth of information; thanks to
> everyone who has shared their expertise here.
>
> I finally decided to jump in with a Char-Broil H2O Electric Smoker.
> From the discussions, it seems like a good, inexpensive and lazy way
> to start. I did fire it up (empty) today and it came up to 250
> degrees very quickly, so it looks like I'll have adequate heat.
>
> Unfortunately, its first outing will be to make pulled pork for a
> party this weekend and I'm not going to get a chance to do a lot of
> experimentation beforehand.
>
> I think I have a pretty good idea of how to approach it, but I'm still
> confused on several points... I've read a a lot of conflicting
> opinions and it's not always obvious what the safest route is.
>
> My current plan is:
> * Pick up a Boston Butt (or two depending on size) Friday evening, let
> it brine overnight.
> * 6:30am (Saturday): Start soaking hickory chunks in water.
> * Spray the smoker interior down with Pam, wrap water tray and bottom
> of smoker in foil.
> * Start up smoker at 7am, place 3-4 good sized hickory chunks directly
> against element (wrapped in foil?). Bring temperature up to 225-230F
> * Apply rub to meat, add it to the smoker by 7:30am. I want to serve
> by 9pm, so this should allow enough time for an 8lb butt to cook, rest
> and be pulled.
> * Let it cook all day, adjusting liquid, chunks and temperature as
> necessary.
> * Remove meat from smoker once internal temperature reaches 190-195 F.
> * Wrap meat lightly in foil, allow to rest.
> * When cool enough, pull meat into a crockpot and keep warm until
> served.
> * Serve plain on hamburger buns, with a few varieties of sauce
> available that the people can add at their own discretion.
>
> I have an oven thermometer with a remote digital readout. I'm
> planning to stick the probe through a couple of corks and let it lay
> on the grill alongside the meat to monitor internal temperature. In
> the afternoon, once I have a feel for what the built-in thermometer
> should read, I'll ditch the corks and use it to monitor the butt's
> internal temperature.
>
> If it finishes early, I assume there's no problem in keeping it in a
> CrockPot for a few hours? If it doesn't seem to be getting done, I'll
> probably push the panic button at around 6pm, wrap the meat in foil
> and finish it in a 300 degree oven. At least I know what I'm doing in
> the kitchen, if not in the smoker.
>
> So, there's the plan. If I missed something, please let me know.
>
> Ok, on to actual questions...
>
> * I'm under the impression that, since this is an electric smoker, I
> don't have to be overly concerned about creosote. Is it ok to add the
> meat to the smoker while still cold?
>
> * If I only have one butt, do you recommend the top rack or bottom?
>
> * If I have two butts, how does it impact the cooking time? Should
> they be on the same rack (if they fit) or each on their own rack?
> Should I flop their positions now and then?
>
> * Some posters have suggested that the water pan isn't necessary and
> just makes it more difficult to control the temperature. Should I
> leave it empty or remove it entirely?
>
> * Is it worthwhile to add firebricks around the heating element? I
> understand that I don't want them touching the element since it could
> confuse the meter and cause the element to turn off prematurely.
>
> * Should the hickory chunks be directly on the element or nearby?
> Soaked or not?
>
> * How often should the hickory chunks be replaced? Is there a limit
> to how many times you should refill it (say, stop after 4 loads of
> wood?)
>
> * Several guides explain how to trim excess fat from a Boston Butt
> before smoking. Others suggest that modern pork is too lean and you
> need all the fat you can get. Trim or not?
>
> * It's going to be pretty hard to get to the water dish. My current
> plan is to remove both of the grills, add boiling water, and then put
> the whole thing back together. Will the temperature loss be
> problematic?
>
> * The center section of my cooker isn't perfectly round and the lip
> sticks out a bit on the side where it should be riveted together.
> This leaves a gap between the lid and body about 4-5 inches long and
> about 1/2 inch wide at its deepest point. Is this an intentional
> design to give the smoke somewhere to escape? Should I exchange it or
> try to plug it with some foil during cooking?
>
> Whew... that was longer than I thought it would be.
>
> If anyone has time to respond, I'd deeply appreciate it. I know some
> of the questions are probably inane, but there's a lot of conflicting
> information out there and it's hard to make sense of some of it.
>
> And don't worry, if I ruin the whole thing it won't be a big deal.
> We'll have a keg and other food, so people can get by without bbq.
>
> Thanks,
> Greg

And one last comment from the peanut gallery, I've have 8lb butts take 12
hours cooking at 250-275, so you may want to cook at a higher temp (many do
with good results) or give yourself 2 more hours of leeway, otherwise you
could find yourself serving sliced pork rather than pulled.


--

By the way, as to the difficulty of getting to the water pan, when
you've got two racks of meat going:

A cheapo plastic watering can with a long, thin spout is just the thing.
Dollar stores carry them, I think.

"frohe" > wrote in message >...
> Greg Dearing wrote:

> IMO, no need to brine a butt. It's got enough fat in it to keep from
> goin dry.

Good, one less thing to worry about. I'll give it a rub tonight
instead and then another dose in the morning.

>
> > * 6:30am (Saturday): Start soaking hickory chunks in water.
>
> Oh no, don't soak ya chunks. Use em dry, 2-3 good fist-sized chunks.

Ok... and it's safe to put them directly against the element without
worry about combustion?

Thanks again,

Greg

> --
> -frohe
> Life is too short to be in a hurry

Very helpful advice... I feel a little more confident now.

I think I'll plan to start with water and not worry about refilling
it. I'm also going to start a little earlier with a pair of 6 pound
butts to give them adequate cooking time. I don't really want to get
up 4am to cook an 8lb one.

Thanks to everyone who responded. I'll post and let you know how it
turns out.

-Greg

Greg Dearing wrote:
>> Oh no, don't soak ya chunks. Use em dry, 2-3 good fist-sized
chunks.
>
> Ok... and it's safe to put them directly against the element without
> worry about combustion?

Pardon the cynicism but how else ya gonna get em to burn? Maybe put
em on the element to get started, then move it a 1/4" away to still
get warmed for smokin.
--
-frohe
Life is too short to be in a hurry

(Greg Dearing) wrote in message . com>...
I bought one a couple months ago too. Here's my advice:

> * Spray the smoker interior down with Pam, wrap water tray and bottom
> of smoker in foil.
Don't line the water pan with foil. It insulates the water from the
heat of the pan too much for it to serve as a good heat sink. When I
used foil, I saw the air temperature swing up and down a lot as the
heating element turned on and off. Without foil it varies by only a
few degrees.

> * Start up smoker at 7am, place 3-4 good sized hickory chunks directly
> against element (wrapped in foil?).
I'm still experimenting here. Without foil, the chucks flame up.
With foil, the chucks never start to smolder. If you use foil, don't
let it touch the heating element. The element can melt the foil.
If you see the temperature start to soar, the chunks are probably
flaming.

> Bring temperature up to 225-230F
> * Apply rub to meat, add it to the smoker by 7:30am. I want to serve
> by 9pm, so this should allow enough time for an 8lb butt to cook, rest
> and be pulled.
A 9 lb shoulder took me 10 hrs at 240-250 to reach 190F.

> * Some posters have suggested that the water pan isn't necessary and
> just makes it more difficult to control the temperature. Should I
> leave it empty or remove it entirely?
The water pan catches the grease and you need something as a heat sink
to avoid large temperature swings. Some people use sand instead of
water.

> * Is it worthwhile to add firebricks around the heating element? I
> understand that I don't want them touching the element since it could
> confuse the meter and cause the element to turn off prematurely.
Don't use too many! I tried using a large # of ceramic brickets with
several bad results. It kept so much heat in the bottom that it
damaged and peeled some of the interior paint off the lower bowl. It
also seemed to cause the water to boil more creating too much
moisture. Lastly, the brickets soaked up so much of the heat from the
element that everytime I had to open the top of the smoker, it took
FAR longer to recover the air temperature. Without the brickets, it
usually only takes a few minutes for the 1650 watt heating element to
get the temperature back up.

> * Several guides explain how to trim excess fat from a Boston Butt
> before smoking. Others suggest that modern pork is too lean and you
> need all the fat you can get. Trim or not?
Don't trim and place the butt in the smoker fatty side up. It keeps
the meat moist.

> * It's going to be pretty hard to get to the water dish. My current
> plan is to remove both of the grills, add boiling water, and then put
> the whole thing back together. Will the temperature loss be
> problematic?
I take a 17" long piece of 3/4" PVC pipe, place an elbow on the bottom
and a funnel in the top. To fill, drop it down through the gap in the
side of each rack, rest the elbow on the edge on the pan, and pour in
the water. You can do it with one hand while holding the top over the
rest of the smoker as much as possible with the other hand.

> * The center section of my cooker isn't perfectly round and the lip
> sticks out a bit on the side where it should be riveted together.
> This leaves a gap between the lid and body about 4-5 inches long and
> about 1/2 inch wide at its deepest point. Is this an intentional
> design to give the smoke somewhere to escape? Should I exchange it or
> try to plug it with some foil during cooking?
The gap is basically the top vent for the smoker. Mine is only about
1/4 inch wide.

Good Luck. Pork shoulders are actully pretty easy. They just take a
long time.

Hey all,

I thought I'd post and let everyone know how things went.

I'd say that the cooking was a moderate success. Success because the
food turned out delicious. Moderate because almost nothing went
according to plan.

I picked up two ~6.5lb Boston Butts and also grabbed three ~5.5 lb
chickens. I was guessing that I'd have enough room for both Butts on
one level and could set the chickens upright on the other. When I got
home, I checked the fit and decided that each Butt needed its own
space, which seemed ok since I was going to have about 15 hours to do
all the smoking.

Digging into the FAQ, I mixed up Danny Gauldon's general-purpose rub
and gave the butts a liberal dosage. I brined the chicken in a
cooler, adding onion poweder, garlic poweder, cumin and probably a few
other things I had on hand.

I woke up later than I intended and didn't get the smoker started
until about 8pm. I sprayed the cooker down with Pam and filled the
water pan with boiling water, the temperature came up pretty quickly
to where I wanted it. A final layer of rub, and three foil-lined
chunks (I had decided to experiment throughout the day since there was
so much conflicting advice) against the element and away we went.

I had drilled holes in two hickory chunks to hold my thermometer probe
at meat level and was a little concerned that the temperature wasn't
coming up very well. I had sheltered the smoker between the two decks
of our duplex and given it the dedicated circuit used by my washer,
but the day was overcast and slightly windy and the temperature
hovered around 175 which was clearly not going to get the job done.

Around 9:30am it started to sprinkle and at 10:00pm it started to
downpour. I had been planning to string up a tarp in the event of
rain, but decided that it would be safer/easier to throw the whole
apperatus on our front porch... it was well sheltered there and easier
to get to, but it meant that I could only plug it into the same
circuit used for house lighting so I turned them all off. Temperature
rose to 180 and stayed there. I rolled up a old towel, wrapped it
around the seal between the lid and smoker to provide some insulation,
and tied it to itself with some twine. Now we were up to about 185.

By now it was noon and I was getting concerned. The rain had departed
and the external temperature was 78, but the cooker still wasn't doing
much. Looking over the cooker, I noticed that the element was
spending a lot of time off...which was pretty annoying since we
weren't even up to cooking temperature. I didn't expect it to
anything, but I wiggled the connector a bit and found that if it would
stay on a lot more often when I pushed it all the way up in its
socket. I have no explanation for this. Considering the design, it's
really hard to believe that it had a bad connection so maybe I was
messing with the thermocouple some how? This brought the temperature
up to almost 200 where it stayed for the rest of the day.

At this point I decided it was time to start designing a backup plan.
The pork was going to have to finish in an oven later and the chicken
wasn't going to get any smoke time. I had to leave for a while to
help my friend pick up the kegs and also get ingredients for the
chicken recipe I decided to use. The temperature was still at 200
when I returned.

I spent the afternoon getting our backyard ready for the party (fire
pit, etc...) and also whipped up Corky's cole slaw and Danny Gauden's
potato salad from the FAQ. Probably about 5 pints of each. I changed
hickory chunks three or four times. The wood charred without burning
almost regardless of what I did...foil or not, on the element or just
near.

At 5:30pm, I took the Pork off the smoker, wrapped it tightly in foil
and chucked it into the oven on the other side of the duplex (needing
my own for the chicken). Not knowing his oven and wanting to make
sure that it finished with some time to spare, I had pre-heated it
with a setting of 325. I used my digital thermometer to monitor the
internal temperature of the slightly larger Butt and set the alarm for
195.

For the chickens, I decided to fall back on a recipe that I knew was
really good. Unfortunately, it calls for deboning the chicken while
leaving it whole... not something I was looking forward to with three
birds, but doable. It took me a little over an hour to get them all
deboned. I mixed up an olive oil, goat cheese and rosemary stuffing
for under the skin and rubbed the outside down with salt, pepper and
olive oil. This was fried skin-side down for 10 minutes and then
went into the oven at 450 for another 10.

When the alarm on the pork went off (at 195), I checked the other Butt
and found that it was already at 203. I took them out of the oven and
let them rest in their foil. When I finally got around to unwrapping
them (hour and a half later), they seemed almost perfect. They were
moist and very tender; the bones just pulled out and the meat almost
fell apart when I started pulling. I decided to lightly pre-sauce
it... since this was for a party buffet, I doubted people would do
much seasoning of their own. I mixed in my NC-style sauce until you
could taste it without overbearing the meat.

The chicken cooled and was sliced relatively thin. Maybe because of
my cooking method, I couldn't tell much difference between this
chicken and my usual method of preparing it without brining. Those
both went into their respective crockpots.

By the time I finished all of this and had my kitchen cleaned up, it
was already about 9:10pm and people were already filtering in.
Perfect timing.

I almost forgot... I also threw a pack of Ballpark Beef Franks on the
smoker at around 7pm, since it wasn't being used for anything else.
When I checked back on them at around 9:20pm, they were split,
sweating and a mottled brown. They looked pretty unappetizing. They
tasted 'ok', but I ended up pitching them since they looked so sickly.

Due to the smoker problems, it ended up being a lot of work, but well
worth the effort. Everything got rave reviews, particularly the pork
and slaw. I'm not sure how many people passed through, but we managed
to kill two kegs, about 5 bottles of liquor and two bottles of wine.
The food was demolished, leaving nothing but the chips and a handful
of potato salad.

The best compliment of the night was when I was chatting with a girl I
didn't know outside (friend of a friend). She was working on a plate
and told me I had to go inside and try the food... cause they had some
serious barbecue pork. I told her I'd try it later. :P

Anyways, that's about it. Everything turned out, but I was pretty
disappointed with the performance of the Char-Broil. I'm going to
talk to their customer service tomorrow to see what they think about
my observations, but I'm not hopeful since they weren't able to answer
simple questions about smoker-operation Friday. There's a good chance
that I'm going to take it back (primarily because of the gaping hole
between hood and smoker... but I don't know whether I'll exchange or
look for something else.

Thanks to everyone for their help.

-Greg


(Greg Dearing) wrote in message . com>...
> Hi all,
>
> I've lurked off and on over the years and read through the FAQ and
> google archive. It really is a wealth of information; thanks to
> everyone who has shared their expertise here.
>
> I finally decided to jump in with a Char-Broil H2O Electric Smoker.
> From the discussions, it seems like a good, inexpensive and lazy way
> to start. I did fire it up (empty) today and it came up to 250
> degrees very quickly, so it looks like I'll have adequate heat.
>
> Unfortunately, its first outing will be to make pulled pork for a
> party this weekend and I'm not going to get a chance to do a lot of
> experimentation beforehand.
>
> I think I have a pretty good idea of how to approach it, but I'm still
> confused on several points... I've read a a lot of conflicting
> opinions and it's not always obvious what the safest route is.
>
> My current plan is:
> * Pick up a Boston Butt (or two depending on size) Friday evening, let
> it brine overnight.
> * 6:30am (Saturday): Start soaking hickory chunks in water.
> * Spray the smoker interior down with Pam, wrap water tray and bottom
> of smoker in foil.
> * Start up smoker at 7am, place 3-4 good sized hickory chunks directly
> against element (wrapped in foil?). Bring temperature up to 225-230F
> * Apply rub to meat, add it to the smoker by 7:30am. I want to serve
> by 9pm, so this should allow enough time for an 8lb butt to cook, rest
> and be pulled.
> * Let it cook all day, adjusting liquid, chunks and temperature as
> necessary.
> * Remove meat from smoker once internal temperature reaches 190-195 F.
> * Wrap meat lightly in foil, allow to rest.
> * When cool enough, pull meat into a crockpot and keep warm until
> served.
> * Serve plain on hamburger buns, with a few varieties of sauce
> available that the people can add at their own discretion.
>
> I have an oven thermometer with a remote digital readout. I'm
> planning to stick the probe through a couple of corks and let it lay
> on the grill alongside the meat to monitor internal temperature. In
> the afternoon, once I have a feel for what the built-in thermometer
> should read, I'll ditch the corks and use it to monitor the butt's
> internal temperature.
>
> If it finishes early, I assume there's no problem in keeping it in a
> CrockPot for a few hours? If it doesn't seem to be getting done, I'll
> probably push the panic button at around 6pm, wrap the meat in foil
> and finish it in a 300 degree oven. At least I know what I'm doing in
> the kitchen, if not in the smoker.
>
> So, there's the plan. If I missed something, please let me know.
>
> Ok, on to actual questions...
>
> * I'm under the impression that, since this is an electric smoker, I
> don't have to be overly concerned about creosote. Is it ok to add the
> meat to the smoker while still cold?
>
> * If I only have one butt, do you recommend the top rack or bottom?
>
> * If I have two butts, how does it impact the cooking time? Should
> they be on the same rack (if they fit) or each on their own rack?
> Should I flop their positions now and then?
>
> * Some posters have suggested that the water pan isn't necessary and
> just makes it more difficult to control the temperature. Should I
> leave it empty or remove it entirely?
>
> * Is it worthwhile to add firebricks around the heating element? I
> understand that I don't want them touching the element since it could
> confuse the meter and cause the element to turn off prematurely.
>
> * Should the hickory chunks be directly on the element or nearby?
> Soaked or not?
>
> * How often should the hickory chunks be replaced? Is there a limit
> to how many times you should refill it (say, stop after 4 loads of
> wood?)
>
> * Several guides explain how to trim excess fat from a Boston Butt
> before smoking. Others suggest that modern pork is too lean and you
> need all the fat you can get. Trim or not?
>
> * It's going to be pretty hard to get to the water dish. My current
> plan is to remove both of the grills, add boiling water, and then put
> the whole thing back together. Will the temperature loss be
> problematic?
>
> * The center section of my cooker isn't perfectly round and the lip
> sticks out a bit on the side where it should be riveted together.
> This leaves a gap between the lid and body about 4-5 inches long and
> about 1/2 inch wide at its deepest point. Is this an intentional
> design to give the smoke somewhere to escape? Should I exchange it or
> try to plug it with some foil during cooking?
>
> Whew... that was longer than I thought it would be.
>
> If anyone has time to respond, I'd deeply appreciate it. I know some
> of the questions are probably inane, but there's a lot of conflicting
> information out there and it's hard to make sense of some of it.
>
> And don't worry, if I ruin the whole thing it won't be a big deal.
> We'll have a keg and other food, so people can get by without bbq.
>
> Thanks,
> Greg

(Greg Dearing) wrote:
> Hey all,
>
Greg, BBQ is like war and marriage. Nothing goes according to plan!
Glad the end results were adequate. <g>

--
Intuitive insights from Nick, Retired in the San Fernando Valley

http://operationiraqichildren.org/