Looooooong smoke

Zig · Joined: 01 Mar 2009 Posts: 13

I finally got around to building a UDS with a Weber lid, which is my first smoker. I love the thing, but it just seems that it takes a really long time to get the food cooked. For instance, I put a couple of butts (around 7 lbs each) on Sunday morning around 9:30. I held the temp right around 235 all day using an electronic meter that I tested to be accurate the same morning. At 2:00 the next morning, the butts were sitting at 185. I thought that I was supposed to pull them at 190 or a little above, so I ended up just going to bed and getting them the next morning. I cooked another single butt at a different time and it took over 13 hours to finish up only after I turned up the heat. All of the meat turned out great, but is this type of time normal? I thought that I had read that it should only take around 9 hours or so to finish a piece of meat this size? Am I just smoking something, or is this weird?

I can't complain about how they turned out. The outside was a little dry, but man did it taste good! Melt in your mouth good. Cool

Rocko-la · BBQ Super Fan Joined: 28 Jan 2010 Posts: 467

Was it windy or did the ambient temp drop?

k.a.m. · Posted: Mar 09 2011 Post subject:

Zig, with pork Butts or picnics you can easily run your cooker at the 250� range with no problems. This will speed up your cooks some. A 7lb Butt if it stalls on you can take up to 12 hrs. or a bit more if you do not foil it and your cooker stays around 225� to 240� If you decide to foil after the internal temp hits around 165� your cook time will greatly reduce but your bark will suffer a bit. I hope this helps
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Oz · Newbie Joined: 27 Jun 2006 Posts: 65 Location: Fl.

What k.a.m. says. The higher the temps you run will shrink the meat. I have cooked butts at 300 that tasted great, but had shrunk down quite a bit. I usually cook at 240.
Hey k.a.m., how do you get the little degree symbol from your keyboard?

k.a.m. · Posted: Mar 09 2011 Post subject:

pdc_012659 · Joined: 09 Mar 2011 Posts: 2

Hey Zig, Where in the cooker are you checking the temp? Near the grate or elsewhere? Maybe the temp is lower than you think...

Zig · Joined: 01 Mar 2009 Posts: 13

I have the temp probe directly under the meat and attached to the grate on the bottom side.

It wasn't windy, but the temp outside is pretty cool.

Grills Gone Wild · Posted: Mar 10 2011 Post subject:

Zig - Is the meat sitting on the thermo or is it on another grate below the meat? Kicking up the heat to 250� and wrapping like KAM said we reduce that time dramatically.
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Zig · Joined: 01 Mar 2009 Posts: 13

The probe is clipped onto the bottom of the grate by about a 1/2 inch. The meat is sitting above it, but not touching it. I've also smoked some ribs and a couple chicken breasts on it as well, and all seemed to take a while, but maybe I need to simply drink more beer.

I like my bark, so maybe I'll just stick with it or raise the temp.

SoEzzy · Posted: Mar 10 2011 Post subject:

I suspect the thermometer is off and you actually are not cooking as hot as you think you are.

At 250� my UDS's will cook an 8 - 9 lb butt in 7 - 8 hours.

How often did you take the lid off and take a look? Every time you take the lid off you add 10 -15 minutes to the length of the cook.
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