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So after a few dry runs, I was ready to do my first pork butt on the Akorn. Ultimately, the butt turned out excellent. You can see pics here:
A couple of comments:
1) Bark: I felt the bark was among the best I've managed to do on a pork butt, as it was crispy and flavorful. Very pleased.
2) Efficiency: It ran for 12 hours with the lump previously used for the dry runs, and wasn't particularly full at the start. I will post a pic later when I bring it in, but I'm pretty sure I have more to use for next time. For comparison, the MB560 burns through 8-10 pounds of lump per 8 hours.
3) Temp control: Still more to learn here, but once I get this dialed in, I can see how it will be set & forget. It was leaking smoke quite a bit when I originally picked it up, but I went around and pinched all of the gasket on the lid and ash bucket, which fixed it up marvelously. This thing is air tight and can stay on temp for hours.
4) Lighting: I actually spent a lot of time over at Kamado Guru and reading this guide ( https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...-savage-kamado ), and Meathead's advice is actually the best: the bottom vent is for temp control, and generally leave the top vent alone. Adjusting both vents at once is a recipe for failure, and each smoker is unique. Once I stopped trying to guess at the bottom/top vent combinations, it became a lot easier to get where I wanted to go.
I actually made the same mistake as Jim when cooking with the cold food. My dry runs put me at .75 on the bottom vent for 260 using half of a firestarter, but following the same process led to the temps dropping to 190 once I put the diffuser and cold food on. I opened up wider and got back to 240.
The temp held at 240 from 9:30-12pm before it dropped to 205 and wasn't moving. I opened it back up and dropped a firestarter in where the coals were unlit, and then it held at 230-240 until 6:30pm. At that point, I wanted to get it to 275, but moving from around 1 to 2 did nothing, so I just moved the bottom vent to wide open and eventually it got up to 280. The butt was done around 9pm.
Questions:
1) I assume the too small lighting process (half a firestarter) and mix of old and new lump led to the dropping temps around noon. I think using a full one next time and getting it to 300 before putting the diffuser and meat on should get me to around 225-250 or so. What is the most effective way to mix up the old and lump here to create the best conditions for the next cook? My Weber and PBC always burned everything up so I had nothing left to use. Should I pick out all of the whited-over chunks and leave the unburned ones or is there a better process?
2) Does anyone else wrap the diffuser with tin foil for easier clean-up? Good idea?
3) For most of the day, I was actually hoping to get to 275, so I moved the bottom vent to 2 and 3 eventually, but the temp never really moved off 230-240. Only when I moved it to wide open, did it finally rise to 280. I was pretty puzzled here, as I was under the impression that very small .25 increments were enough to move the temp say 10-20 degrees. Is this a function of the maybe not having a full basket of new charcoal, so it's less responsive, or a function of time (10 hours of smoking) so it's less responsive? What else should I be considering?
So after a few dry runs, I was ready to do my first pork butt on the Akorn. Ultimately, the butt turned out excellent. You can see pics here:
A couple of comments:
1) Bark: I felt the bark was among the best I've managed to do on a pork butt, as it was crispy and flavorful. Very pleased.
2) Efficiency: It ran for 12 hours with the lump previously used for the dry runs, and wasn't particularly full at the start. I will post a pic later when I bring it in, but I'm pretty sure I have more to use for next time. For comparison, the MB560 burns through 8-10 pounds of lump per 8 hours.
3) Temp control: Still more to learn here, but once I get this dialed in, I can see how it will be set & forget. It was leaking smoke quite a bit when I originally picked it up, but I went around and pinched all of the gasket on the lid and ash bucket, which fixed it up marvelously. This thing is air tight and can stay on temp for hours.
4) Lighting: I actually spent a lot of time over at Kamado Guru and reading this guide ( https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...-savage-kamado ), and Meathead's advice is actually the best: the bottom vent is for temp control, and generally leave the top vent alone. Adjusting both vents at once is a recipe for failure, and each smoker is unique. Once I stopped trying to guess at the bottom/top vent combinations, it became a lot easier to get where I wanted to go.
I actually made the same mistake as Jim when cooking with the cold food. My dry runs put me at .75 on the bottom vent for 260 using half of a firestarter, but following the same process led to the temps dropping to 190 once I put the diffuser and cold food on. I opened up wider and got back to 240.
The temp held at 240 from 9:30-12pm before it dropped to 205 and wasn't moving. I opened it back up and dropped a firestarter in where the coals were unlit, and then it held at 230-240 until 6:30pm. At that point, I wanted to get it to 275, but moving from around 1 to 2 did nothing, so I just moved the bottom vent to wide open and eventually it got up to 280. The butt was done around 9pm.
Questions:
1) I assume the too small lighting process (half a firestarter) and mix of old and new lump led to the dropping temps around noon. I think using a full one next time and getting it to 300 before putting the diffuser and meat on should get me to around 225-250 or so. What is the most effective way to mix up the old and lump here to create the best conditions for the next cook? My Weber and PBC always burned everything up so I had nothing left to use. Should I pick out all of the whited-over chunks and leave the unburned ones or is there a better process?
2) Does anyone else wrap the diffuser with tin foil for easier clean-up? Good idea?
3) For most of the day, I was actually hoping to get to 275, so I moved the bottom vent to 2 and 3 eventually, but the temp never really moved off 230-240. Only when I moved it to wide open, did it finally rise to 280. I was pretty puzzled here, as I was under the impression that very small .25 increments were enough to move the temp say 10-20 degrees. Is this a function of the maybe not having a full basket of new charcoal, so it's less responsive, or a function of time (10 hours of smoking) so it's less responsive? What else should I be considering?
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