On 3-Sep-2007, "Big Jim" > wrote:

> "Karen C." > wrote in message
> ...
> > Well, since the heat knocked us out of our fishing trip, we
> > decided to smoke that other butt in the freezer. We put it on
> > this a.m., about an hour ago. Although the first one was edible,
> > I'm hoping for much better results this time around.
> >
> > DH was supposed to be trying his hand at the smoker today, but I
> > can see wer're going to be feuding all day because he doesn't
> > seem to see how important keeping the temp within the range. (I
> > just went outside and found the temp of the smoker to be 305!
> >
> > I want to have the meat in the 220 to 230 range. DH says it
> > doesn't matter, and he doesn't want to baby-sit the cooker all
> > day.
> >
> > Guess I'm stuck baby-sitting the cooker today. If it weren't for
> > the fact that our DD LOVES pork barbecue so much, I'd let him go
> > ahead and do it his way.
> >
> > Sheesh!
> >
> > Karen C.
> >
> >
>
> Sorry Karen, but IMO he is right. People spend too much time trying to
> keep
> the temp in too small a cooking range. If the pit wants to cook at 305°
> let
> it, don't keep fussing with it trying to keep it lower. If you think it is
>
> too high make a smaller fire.
> I have cooked 100's if not 1000's of BUTTS and I doubt if any one of
> themwere cooked under 300°, most in the 325° range.
> Let it rock, you will like it anyway.

What Jim said. My pit has a sweet spot at about 275° dome temp (NB
Silver offset). That means it runs without fuss or attention at that temp.
Its near 300° near the firebox and more like 250° or less at the far end.
Everything gets cooked at those temperatures more or less. Big
pieces get placed close to the fire. Butts cook in 5 to 7 hours, ribs 4
or less. I don't pay much attention to time. Mostly, I use time to know
when to check on the fire, but mostly I just watch the dome temp and
leave it the hell alone until it starts to drop off. Then, it's time to add
fuel.
I don't F#$% with the vents to get it back to temp. I just dump in some
fuel and get back to my A/C livingroom. I check on the meat the first
time at about 4 hours. Then I might turn big pieces 180° to even out
the heat. One exception is if I have ribs stacked in there. Then I
shuffle them about every two hours to even out the exposure.
--
Brick(Save a tree, eat a Beaver)