Posted: 6/7/2015 9:15:19 AM EDT
My buddy at work made me an Ugly Drum Smoker so I thought today would be a great day to try it out. This is my first smoke so we'll see how it goes. Started with a 7lb pork butt from the meat market, injected and covered with a Kansas City rub, and I let it sit in an oven bag in the fridge overnight. Using Kingsford briquettes, in the future I'll use lump charcoal but I had a couple 20lb bags that I need to use up, wasn't sure what wood to use so I'm trying chunks of apple wood. Got it up to temp about 8am and put the meat on, now I'm just fighting to keep it around 250. I'm sure it's going to take me a few times before I know what I'm doing but it's been fun so far, hoping I don't screw up the pork too bad. Any idea how long I should let it smoke for? I've read about an hour per pound or once the inside is at 195.
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| Yeah, this is def going to take some practice. I'm having a hard time keeping it at 250 so if it stays between 220-250, I'm going to leave it alone. It's a 55 gallon drum, with a steel charcoal basket on the bottom, 2 weber grill grates, with a thermometer on the top. The conduit just raised the air valve, convenience I guess. It has a couple more plugs in the bottom but I've been keeping them plugged so it doesn't get too hot. |
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Ok, thank you. I just opened another vent to get it a little higher. I am doing pulled pork. Does about an hour per pound sound right? Or just until it's up to temp? Quoted:
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Bump your temp up... 275-300 and if pulling look for a temp of 205* Ok, thank you. I just opened another vent to get it a little higher. I am doing pulled pork. Does about an hour per pound sound right? Or just until it's up to temp? What kind of thermometer are you using for grill temp? I never cook for time, just run a probe in the meat and set an alarm desired temp. |
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I'm late to the thread, how did it turn out? The UDS is a great choice for a smoker!! My first year of competing I used a pair of them and did quit well. I cook at 325 for everything, one of the biggest pitfulls is get focused on time/temp for new pitmaster, you can use them as guidelines but focuse on the meat. Ribs, when you pick them up with a tong in the middle and the droop with out falling apart.... their done. Brisket(flat) when it probs like sticking the thermometer in hot butter its done. Pork but when you can wiggle the bone out its done :) the temps can very from 190-220.
Looking forward to see some finished pics and hear about your first cook!! Clint |
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What kind of thermometer are you using for grill temp? I never cook for time, just run a probe in the meat and set an alarm desired temp. Quoted:
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Bump your temp up... 275-300 and if pulling look for a temp of 205* Ok, thank you. I just opened another vent to get it a little higher. I am doing pulled pork. Does about an hour per pound sound right? Or just until it's up to temp? What kind of thermometer are you using for grill temp? I never cook for time, just run a probe in the meat and set an alarm desired temp. Right now I'm just using a dial thermometer that I have bolted to the lid of my smoker for the smoker temp and a cheap meat thermometer to check the internal temp of the meat. I'll probably upgrade to a digital wireless thermometer in the future but for now it's working fine. Should I consider the dual probe thermometer? |
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I'm late to the thread, how did it turn out? The UDS is a great choice for a smoker!! My first year of competing I used a pair of them and did quit well. I cook at 325 for everything, one of the biggest pitfulls is get focused on time/temp for new pitmaster, you can use them as guidelines but focuse on the meat. Ribs, when you pick them up with a tong in the middle and the droop with out falling apart.... their done. Brisket(flat) when it probs like sticking the thermometer in hot butter its done. Pork but when you can wiggle the bone out its done :) the temps can very from 190-220. Looking forward to see some finished pics and hear about your first cook!! Clint Hi Clint, Thanks for he input. My first smoke turned out great! I had a few friends over that insisted on being the guinea pigs and they loved the pulled pork. I smoked it for about 7 hours, took it off and coated it with the marinade that I injected, wrapped tight in foil, and put it back on for about 2 hrs at 200. The internal temp was right around 200 when I took it off. It didn't take much effort to pull, it fell apart with a fork. We were very pleased with how it turned out. I'm actually going to do another one tomorrow and I am going to attempt some spare ribs. Does anyone have a good rub recipe for ribs that they wouldn't mind sharing? I made a KC rub for the shoulder but was wondering if I should use a different rub for the ribs. I'm also going to try lump charcoal, I used up all my kingsford. I'll post some before and after pictures tomorrow. |
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Right now I'm just using a dial thermometer that I have bolted to the lid of my smoker for the smoker temp and a cheap meat thermometer to check the internal temp of the meat. I'll probably upgrade to a digital wireless thermometer in the future but for now it's working fine. Should I consider the dual probe thermometer? Quoted:
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Bump your temp up... 275-300 and if pulling look for a temp of 205* Ok, thank you. I just opened another vent to get it a little higher. I am doing pulled pork. Does about an hour per pound sound right? Or just until it's up to temp? What kind of thermometer are you using for grill temp? I never cook for time, just run a probe in the meat and set an alarm desired temp. Right now I'm just using a dial thermometer that I have bolted to the lid of my smoker for the smoker temp and a cheap meat thermometer to check the internal temp of the meat. I'll probably upgrade to a digital wireless thermometer in the future but for now it's working fine. Should I consider the dual probe thermometer? I have a Maverick ET733 that has about 20 smokes on it so far. I really like it. Most dial thermometers on top of grills/smokers are known to be horribly inaccurate. The one on my Weber is inconsistently off from -100 to +100. |
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Hi Clint, Thanks for he input. My first smoke turned out great! I had a few friends over that insisted on being the guinea pigs and they loved the pulled pork. I smoked it for about 7 hours, took it off and coated it with the marinade that I injected, wrapped tight in foil, and put it back on for about 2 hrs at 200. The internal temp was right around 200 when I took it off. It didn't take much effort to pull, it fell apart with a fork. We were very pleased with how it turned out. I'm actually going to do another one tomorrow and I am going to attempt some spare ribs. Does anyone have a good rub recipe for ribs that they wouldn't mind sharing? I made a KC rub for the shoulder but was wondering if I should use a different rub for the ribs. I'm also going to try lump charcoal, I used up all my kingsford. I'll post some before and after pictures tomorrow. Quoted:
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I'm late to the thread, how did it turn out? The UDS is a great choice for a smoker!! My first year of competing I used a pair of them and did quit well. I cook at 325 for everything, one of the biggest pitfulls is get focused on time/temp for new pitmaster, you can use them as guidelines but focuse on the meat. Ribs, when you pick them up with a tong in the middle and the droop with out falling apart.... their done. Brisket(flat) when it probs like sticking the thermometer in hot butter its done. Pork but when you can wiggle the bone out its done :) the temps can very from 190-220. Looking forward to see some finished pics and hear about your first cook!! Clint Hi Clint, Thanks for he input. My first smoke turned out great! I had a few friends over that insisted on being the guinea pigs and they loved the pulled pork. I smoked it for about 7 hours, took it off and coated it with the marinade that I injected, wrapped tight in foil, and put it back on for about 2 hrs at 200. The internal temp was right around 200 when I took it off. It didn't take much effort to pull, it fell apart with a fork. We were very pleased with how it turned out. I'm actually going to do another one tomorrow and I am going to attempt some spare ribs. Does anyone have a good rub recipe for ribs that they wouldn't mind sharing? I made a KC rub for the shoulder but was wondering if I should use a different rub for the ribs. I'm also going to try lump charcoal, I used up all my kingsford. I'll post some before and after pictures tomorrow. Get this book. It will give you a shit ton of ideas for rubs, sauces, & marinades. I've had it for about 12 years now and I honestly haven't bought a rub or sauce in over 10 years. http://www.amazon.com/Barbecue-Sauces-Marinades-Bastes-Butters/dp/0761119795/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1434917089&sr=1-3&keywords=the+bbq+bible |
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IMO 205 is way overdone for a butt, even when pulling. I prefer to pull mine and they almost always pull easily after stopping at 195 internal, plus the strands still have meat-like texture instead of mushy. Pull at 193-4, rest 1hr minimum in a cooler wrapped in foil, then pull and enjoy. Cooking butts anywhere from 225 to 300 seems to work just fine for most people, I usually run at 225-230 using a BBQ Guru DigiQ 2.
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Quoted:
Hi Clint, Thanks for he input. My first smoke turned out great! I had a few friends over that insisted on being the guinea pigs and they loved the pulled pork. I smoked it for about 7 hours, took it off and coated it with the marinade that I injected, wrapped tight in foil, and put it back on for about 2 hrs at 200. The internal temp was right around 200 when I took it off. It didn't take much effort to pull, it fell apart with a fork. We were very pleased with how it turned out. I'm actually going to do another one tomorrow and I am going to attempt some spare ribs. Does anyone have a good rub recipe for ribs that they wouldn't mind sharing? I made a KC rub for the shoulder but was wondering if I should use a different rub for the ribs. I'm also going to try lump charcoal, I used up all my kingsford. I'll post some before and after pictures tomorrow. Quoted:
Quoted:
I'm late to the thread, how did it turn out? The UDS is a great choice for a smoker!! My first year of competing I used a pair of them and did quit well. I cook at 325 for everything, one of the biggest pitfulls is get focused on time/temp for new pitmaster, you can use them as guidelines but focuse on the meat. Ribs, when you pick them up with a tong in the middle and the droop with out falling apart.... their done. Brisket(flat) when it probs like sticking the thermometer in hot butter its done. Pork but when you can wiggle the bone out its done :) the temps can very from 190-220. Looking forward to see some finished pics and hear about your first cook!! Clint Hi Clint, Thanks for he input. My first smoke turned out great! I had a few friends over that insisted on being the guinea pigs and they loved the pulled pork. I smoked it for about 7 hours, took it off and coated it with the marinade that I injected, wrapped tight in foil, and put it back on for about 2 hrs at 200. The internal temp was right around 200 when I took it off. It didn't take much effort to pull, it fell apart with a fork. We were very pleased with how it turned out. I'm actually going to do another one tomorrow and I am going to attempt some spare ribs. Does anyone have a good rub recipe for ribs that they wouldn't mind sharing? I made a KC rub for the shoulder but was wondering if I should use a different rub for the ribs. I'm also going to try lump charcoal, I used up all my kingsford. I'll post some before and after pictures tomorrow. Fantastic!! thats all that is important I love Lump vs Charcoal for a UDS but I cook hot and fast. Drop me an PM with your email I'll send you a word Doc with rubs and sauce I've collected. I will say I use a doctored Big Ron's Rub for Comps and I place well. If you every need help just PM me I'm a little slow but I will answer. I just cooked ~500lbs of butts and brisket this weekend for our Solstice vending. Clint Quoted:
IMO 205 is way overdone for a butt, even when pulling. I prefer to pull mine and they almost always pull easily after stopping at 195 internal, plus the strands still have meat-like texture instead of mushy. Pull at 193-4, rest 1hr minimum in a cooler wrapped in foil, then pull and enjoy. Cooking butts anywhere from 225 to 300 seems to work just fine for most people, I usually run at 225-230 using a BBQ Guru DigiQ 2. Temp doesn't matter it a non factor, its all on the bone wiggle, I cook at 325 and 205 roughly would be under done or low end of done 210 is more realistic. At 225 195-205 is easy possible... as long as it wasn't mush and pulled easy good to go. This isn't a comp were money muscle slicing in key and temp needs to be perfect. Just MHO Clint |