Well, I guess it was about time I got my comeuppance, and I sure did- in
spades. We were at the son's place over Thanksgiving, and he wanted to
have old Dad show him how I prepared and smoked the butts he so fondly
remembers. He has a Bradley we got him about 6 months back, and is now
quite proficient with wings, ribs and brisket, but hasn't done a butt
yet. I also got him a digital controller for the Bradley, but he'd not
used it yet.

Old Dad went with him to HEB and the butcher there found us a really
nice butt in the cooler with a beautiful fat cap that would have done me
proud here at the house. My son was out of the dry rub I make up and
distribute to the family, so we improvised with CYM, S&P, with a little
onion and garlic powder, wrapped tight and kept in the refrigerator for
a whole day to marinate.

In the morning, about 8:00a, we got out the new digital controller,
unwrapped the butt and got everything set up to smoke. Unfortunately,
we did not have a cord to connect the controller to the heating element,
so we began the cooking using the Bradley controls, which featured the
sliding heat control. Things got busy, and we didn't get to Fry's and
get a cord until early afternoon, and by then the hood temperature was
still only about 180f. When we got things properly set up with the
cord and digital controller, I bumped the hood temperature to 210f and
set the meat target temp at 180f., thinking I'd check on it at 180f and
see how loose the bone was.

Well, it never made it. Just about anybody here in the newsgroup,
including your's truly, knows darn well that 1) the meat is done when
it's done and that means the bone is loose. 2) you don't "check" the
meat to hurry things up and 3) the meat is done when it's done and that
means the bone is loose.

About 6:00p, the rest of the supper was ready but (see rules #1 and #3)
the meat wasn't. The kids were fussing, Mrs. Nonny was hungry and
getting mean and my own son and DIL were wondering out loud where poor
old Grandpa had failed. That's where I panicked and violated #1 and #3.
The internal temp was just about 170f and the bone was tight as a
drum. I tried slicing just the outside and all I got for my efforts was
a greasy mess of sliced butt. It was terrible. ( set the digital
controller for 190f, the hood temperature for 220f and just put
everything back in, except for enough to feed the kids right then and
there. The final product, the next day, had no flavor and was tough.

From here on, I'm gonna follow the rules I learned about 50 years back
and not try rushing anything. Lesson learned.
--
---Nonnymus---
No matter how large your boat,
the person you are talking with will
have a close friend with a larger one.
---Observation by my son

"Nonnymus" > wrote in message
> From here on, I'm gonna follow the rules I learned about 50 years back and
> not try rushing anything. Lesson learned.
> --

We've all probably had similar situations. Sometimes you just have to wait.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/

Nonnymus wrote:
> Well, I guess it was about time I got my comeuppance, and I sure did- in
> spades. We were at the son's place over Thanksgiving, and he wanted to
> have old Dad show him how I prepared and smoked the butts he so fondly
> remembers. He has a Bradley we got him about 6 months back, and is now
> quite proficient with wings, ribs and brisket, but hasn't done a butt
> yet. I also got him a digital controller for the Bradley, but he'd not
> used it yet.
>
> Old Dad went with him to HEB and the butcher there found us a really
> nice butt in the cooler with a beautiful fat cap that would have done me
> proud here at the house. My son was out of the dry rub I make up and
> distribute to the family, so we improvised with CYM, S&P, with a little
> onion and garlic powder, wrapped tight and kept in the refrigerator for
> a whole day to marinate.
>
> In the morning, about 8:00a, we got out the new digital controller,
> unwrapped the butt and got everything set up to smoke. Unfortunately,
> we did not have a cord to connect the controller to the heating element,
> so we began the cooking using the Bradley controls, which featured the
> sliding heat control. Things got busy, and we didn't get to Fry's and
> get a cord until early afternoon, and by then the hood temperature was
> still only about 180f. When we got things properly set up with the
> cord and digital controller, I bumped the hood temperature to 210f and
> set the meat target temp at 180f., thinking I'd check on it at 180f and
> see how loose the bone was.
>
> Well, it never made it. Just about anybody here in the newsgroup,
> including your's truly, knows darn well that 1) the meat is done when
> it's done and that means the bone is loose. 2) you don't "check" the
> meat to hurry things up and 3) the meat is done when it's done and that
> means the bone is loose.
>
> About 6:00p, the rest of the supper was ready but (see rules #1 and #3)
> the meat wasn't. The kids were fussing, Mrs. Nonny was hungry and
> getting mean and my own son and DIL were wondering out loud where poor
> old Grandpa had failed. That's where I panicked and violated #1 and #3.
> The internal temp was just about 170f and the bone was tight as a
> drum. I tried slicing just the outside and all I got for my efforts was
> a greasy mess of sliced butt. It was terrible. ( set the digital
> controller for 190f, the hood temperature for 220f and just put
> everything back in, except for enough to feed the kids right then and
> there. The final product, the next day, had no flavor and was tough.
>
> From here on, I'm gonna follow the rules I learned about 50 years back
> and not try rushing anything. Lesson learned.

I have another rule now also. That is I allow AT LEAST 14 hours for A butt.

Chris

Nonnymus wrote:
> Well, I guess it was about time I got my comeuppance, and I sure did- in
> spades. We were at the son's place over Thanksgiving, and he wanted to
> have old Dad show him how I prepared and smoked the butts he so fondly
> remembers. He has a Bradley we got him about 6 months back, and is now
> quite proficient with wings, ribs and brisket, but hasn't done a butt
> yet. I also got him a digital controller for the Bradley, but he'd not
> used it yet.

Sounds like a recipe for trouble. Unfamiliar cooker, trying out
something new on the cooker, etc.

My rule of thumb for butts/shoulders is to allow 90 minutes/lbs
cooking around 250F. If it gets done sooner, great, and it's
rarely not done "in time".

What temperature do you normally cook butts at?

Dana

On Nov 30, 12:15 pm, Dana Myers > wrote:
> Nonnymus wrote:
> > Well, I guess it was about time I got my comeuppance, and I sure did- in
> > spades. We were at the son's place over Thanksgiving, and he wanted to
> > have old Dad show him how I prepared and smoked the butts he so fondly
> > remembers. He has a Bradley we got him about 6 months back, and is now
> > quite proficient with wings, ribs and brisket, but hasn't done a butt
> > yet. I also got him a digital controller for the Bradley, but he'd not
> > used it yet.
>
> Sounds like a recipe for trouble. Unfamiliar cooker, trying out
> something new on the cooker, etc.
>
> My rule of thumb for butts/shoulders is to allow 90 minutes/lbs
> cooking around 250F. If it gets done sooner, great, and it's
> rarely not done "in time".
>
> What temperature do you normally cook butts at?
>
> Dana

90 minutes/lb is a bit on the long side in my experience using the
same temps.
I'm seeing closer to 60min/per for a boneless butt.

Whoops, forgot a small detail, have been putting the butts on the top
rack and haven't checked the temp there. The lower rack run from
215-250 depending. I guess they must be cooking at closer to 275 then.

Nevermind.

Tutall wrote:
> On Nov 30, 12:15 pm, Dana Myers > wrote:
>> Nonnymus wrote:
>>> Well, I guess it was about time I got my comeuppance, and I sure did- in
>>> spades. We were at the son's place over Thanksgiving, and he wanted to
>>> have old Dad show him how I prepared and smoked the butts he so fondly
>>> remembers. He has a Bradley we got him about 6 months back, and is now
>>> quite proficient with wings, ribs and brisket, but hasn't done a butt
>>> yet. I also got him a digital controller for the Bradley, but he'd not
>>> used it yet.
>> Sounds like a recipe for trouble. Unfamiliar cooker, trying out
>> something new on the cooker, etc.
>>
>> My rule of thumb for butts/shoulders is to allow 90 minutes/lbs
>> cooking around 250F. If it gets done sooner, great, and it's
>> rarely not done "in time".
>>
>> What temperature do you normally cook butts at?
>>
>> Dana
>
> 90 minutes/lb is a bit on the long side in my experience using the
> same temps.
> I'm seeing closer to 60min/per for a boneless butt.
>
> Whoops, forgot a small detail, have been putting the butts on the top
> rack and haven't checked the temp there. The lower rack run from
> 215-250 depending. I guess they must be cooking at closer to 275 then.
>
> Nevermind.

Heh, yeah. I have done a couple of boneless shoulders at 250-275
and they were indeed closer to 60min/lbs. 90 min/lbs is conservative
at 250F for me, it might mean the meat is done early and gets to
rest a little longer, much less of a problem than the "everyone's
hungry, where's the meat?" scenario :-).

Dana

Dana Myers wrote:
> Nonnymus wrote:
>> Well, I guess it was about time I got my comeuppance, and I sure did-
>> in spades. We were at the son's place over Thanksgiving, and he
>> wanted to have old Dad show him how I prepared and smoked the butts he
>> so fondly remembers. He has a Bradley we got him about 6 months back,
>> and is now quite proficient with wings, ribs and brisket, but hasn't
>> done a butt yet. I also got him a digital controller for the Bradley,
>> but he'd not used it yet.
>
> Sounds like a recipe for trouble. Unfamiliar cooker, trying out
> something new on the cooker, etc.
>
> My rule of thumb for butts/shoulders is to allow 90 minutes/lbs
> cooking around 250F. If it gets done sooner, great, and it's
> rarely not done "in time".
>
> What temperature do you normally cook butts at?
>
> Dana

Typically, I set the hood temp in the 220f range and butt internal at
185-190f. The time doesn't matter, since the digital thermostat ramps
the hood temp down to the meat setpoint. Generally, a butt that starts
around room temperature takes in the range of 7-8 hours, minimum under
my own circumstances. Personally, I like a lot of the Mr. Brown mixed
in and sometimes goose the hood temp up another 20f to start with, so
that I get more browning. However, IMHO it affects the texture of the
meat and it's a flip of the coin whether I'll do it or not.

--
---Nonnymus---
No matter how large your boat,
the person you are talking with will
have a close friend with a larger one.
---Observation by my son

Nunya Bidnits wrote:

>
> So how do you like the Bradley? Do you have one yourself at home? Its an
> interesting compromise between pellets and wood sticks, using the
> "bisquettes". How would you rate the smoke flavor compared to regular wood?
>

I've had mine for over a year now, and cook with it at least weekly.
It's 100% as represented and does a great job with little hassle. The
weakest part is the puck feeder, which sometimes jams. I found that by
removing it and nuking it with the air hose every 2-3 uses, the jamming
is minimized. I usually even cold smoke a Porterhouse or T-bone before
grilling to get the smoke flavor combined with the super hot from the IR
grill. For Christmas, we even got a bunch of cashews at Sam's Club and
smoked them with a single puck- taking them to the neighbors warm from
the smoker. They were a big hit.

Bradley only has minimal controls, so my (and now my son's) is hopped up
with the digital differential thermostats. That's swell, and lets you
program the target meat temp and hood temp.

---Nonnymus---
No matter how large your boat,
the person you are talking with will
have a close friend with a larger one.
---Observation by my son

Nunya Bidnits wrote:

>>> My rule of thumb for butts/shoulders is to allow 90 minutes/lbs
>>> cooking around 250F. If it gets done sooner, great, and it's
>>> rarely not done "in time".
>
> I find that rule of thumb works pretty well for me at around 225F but
> sometimes I cook even lower. Nonymous said he sometimes starts hotter but
> the bark texture is adversely affected. I get good results with an
> intentional spike at the end of cooking rather than the beginning.

Yup, that's true; I tend to cook large hunks at 230-250F, and the
estimate of 90min/lbs is conservative to allow some margin for being
done early (not late ;-)).

Now that I've started using a DigiQ controller, I may revise the
old rule after some experience with the relative stable temperature
control.

Dana