Merry Christmas from Arkansas!

[gstanfo]

Like many others, I glean knowledge from this website often and it is time to contribute my fair share for it. I have only been smoking for 3-4 years so have just learned enough to have a bunch of questions! I started doing some offset ribs on my charcoal grill and eventually purchased a gas 24" Camp Chef Smoke Vault Vertical (from recommendation on this site) which has been a good starter unit for me but am now desiring another smoker so have been researching more.

It is 5:00 am here, I got up at 4:00am to check on the two pork butts I put in at 4pm yesterday. This is my very first question: It always takes me 2+ hours per pound to hit 203-205 at 225-240 degrees, and I always crutch at 170-180 degrees! I read again and again 1:10 to 1:30/pound at that temp but I have never been able to get that result. I have an SNS-500 4-probe digital and multiple quality hand-held digital units. My door gauge reads about 25 degrees low, 250 on it is 225 at that gauge and 250 at the top of smoker, I have done cross-check after cross check and am 100% confident in this. The two butts I have on now are on top rack. 12 hours into the cook one is 162 (7.42 lbs) and the other is 175 (7.1 lbs), so I expect these to be no different. The only way I even make it at 2 hours/lb is with the crutch (which I do because I don't like a crunchy bark). If I didn't do that it would take even longer.

So there is my first question-is this unusual? I did two 10-lb.butts last weekend; 20 hours on one and 22 on the other. I get the same results time after time. I have learned to put them on early enough so I can pour the smoke to them the first 6-8 hours and then get good sleep while they are cooking. Back to smoker, the main complaint about my Smoke Vault is the leakage around the door. I should have added some type of tape or rope seal but now the unit is far too stained and crusty to get anything to stick. So that is the first thing I am looking for in a new smoker!

[58limited]

Merry Christmas and welcome to the Pit! Personally, I always cook pork butts at 275^o to 300^o and it usually takes about an hour per pound at that temperature, give or take.

[realdocBBQ]

First of all welcome to the site! I am just a few hours from you, depending where in Arkansas you are! Well, actually, at the moment on on vacation 4000 miles or so away, lol, but you know what I mean!

Anyways, congrats on the Camp Chef, that's a neat little smoker. I have one myself, and I'm pretty pleased with it.

You are filling the water pan? I can't say it has taken that long for pork butts in my Smoke Vault, but I think I've only done them once or twice, I usually use my pellet smoker, which would probably cook faster due to a little convection.... actually, I think I may have a documented cook I did, let me go look.

Here you go:

https://share.fireboard.io/8E70AC

Lots of info there on that graph, looks like I finished the Camp Chef butt quicker, but if I remember, that was also a slightly smaller butt.... lemme look for pics...

Smoke Vault butt:


Pellet butt:



Camp Chef butt done-ish:



Similar stage on pellet smoker:



Now, the pellet cooked butt looks much more red, but it is in direct sunlight, too, whereas the Camp Chef is enclosed - but I do get better smoke and bark on the Camp Chef, for sure.

Looks like the Camp Chef butt took about 11 hours, though it appears I bumped the temp a couple of times throughout, after getting strong smoke on it. I am going to say this one was around 7-8lbs, and the other one on the pellet smoker over 9 or maybe over 10 lbs. I try to get bigger butts if I can. As you can see, I don't wrap pork butts, either.

Maybe some of that info will help, I dunno. Pork butts are forgiving and you can definitely push the heat up some.

Additionally, what are you wrapping with? Paper or foil? I have noticed when wrapping large hunks, you have to wrap pretty tight, or it seems to take a looooong time to saturate that paper or foil and start penetrating back into the meat. I've often seen temps drop more than a few degrees while trying to get back up to the temp I wrapped, sometimes 5-10F. Layers of air in between the layers of foil or paper will further insulate AGAINST heat, so it takes a while. That's just my observation, and I think it is worse with paper, as it is more likely to trap air in between layers.

<edit> Oh, and don't worry about the smoke escaping the door - it doesn't hurt anything at all. We often get a little bent out of shape trying to get our smokers 'sealed up' but in the vast majority of cases it makes no difference.

[Skip]

Welcome from Minnesota. You're getting some valuable advice already. Glad you're here.

[gstanfo]

Thanks for the quick responses! I do wrap tightly with foil (double or triple),and do use water. I always place a big foil pan in the metal one that came with smoker, I can get up to 10 hours on a pan that way.

Until I figured some things out, I had to bump the temp up to 275+ a few times to get butts done, but it just seems to me (and oh my is this a subjective statement!) that butts are all-around better if allowed to cook the full time at the lower 225-240 temp.

Update on current cook-the smaller butt at 14 hours is 185 and the larger is only 165, box temp has remained at the 230-240 at top where meat is. I just wrapped both and placed the 185 on middle rack and put the other at top left, which seems to be the hottest spot in this smoker. My goal was to be done at 8:00 am (16 hours), which I will reach with the smaller but betting the other will wind up 9:30-ish, or 17-18 hours.

I have kept a detailed smoke log since my first cook on the Smoke Vault 4 years ago, have done butts, chicken, turkey, salmon, sausage, cheese, but butts are by far what I cook the most of, so the 2+ hours per pound has been very consistent for a while. The first few butts I cooked took no longer than 1:30/lb, but I then found that my door gauge was reading bad low and the 225 I thought I was cooking at was actually 275+. After that is when I bought multiple quality thermometers and started checking everything, and since then the 2+ hours/lb. has held very steady.

I am in White Hall, btw, about 30 minutes south of Little Rock.

[Draznnl]

Welcome to the Pit from the Florida Suncoast. You’ve come to the right place for help spending your money on a new smoker. All we need is a little more information and the suggestions will flow. Most importantly, what is your budget? To limit the range of recommendations, what type of fuel source do you want? Stickburner? Pellet? Charcoal? Gas? Electric? Something I’ve left off because it’s 7:30 a.m. and I’m still on my first cup of coffee?

[FleetingSmoke]

Welcome to the pit and nice work on those!

[Allon]

Welcome to the Pit from Central Massachusetts

and

Merry Christmas!!!

[gstanfo]

My budget is 1000 bucks, and as for fuel I really like the propane unit I have but am open to electric or pellet. Charcoal is only fuel I am ruling out-I have friends with charcoal barrel smokers and their products have a great taste and my grills have always been and will always be charcoal but the other three fuels surely make for better-controlled, less-maintenance smoker cooks??

And, I will go ahead with the second topic I wanted to address on this forum-faux cambro. After I finally worked my way to putting my butts in early enough (how many times did I have to push temp and have folks waiting on my main-course meat!!) so they would be done 3-4 hours early, I have found butts will stay above the 140 for up to 8 hours. Last week, on the 2 10-lb I cooked for a potluck at work, my first one was 205 at 3am in the morning. I wrapped in towels and put in igloo cooler. At 6:30 am the 2nd one was done and I wrapped it and placed in cooler and placed on top of first one. Meal time was 11am so I knew the last one done would still be plenty hot but I was nervous about that first one. Before this event, five hours is as long as I had rested one and it would still be 165 or so (again my "done" is 203-205). Well, I didnt open the lid on cooler again until 11am and the 3am butt was 154 degrees, confirmed by my best two thermo pens. I don't plan on making a habit of pushing to this extreme, but 4-5 hours in cooler has never been an issue.

[Starsky]

Welcome and Merry Christmas! The butts I cook are 7 -8 lbs. I cook them at approx. 250 deg. for 7 hrs. Wrap them and finish in the oven. Usually done in 9 - 10 hrs.

[Elton's BBQ]

Welcome to the Pit!
Cheers & Merry Christmas from Norway

[RiverJeff]

Merry Christmas and a Happy new year! Should have all your answers in a short bit! Welcome to the pit.

[Donw]

Welcome from Maryland. Temp is time so next time bump it up to 250. I personally cook at 275 and I’m happy with the time I save and the results.

[gstanfo]

At 8:10 am both butts are right at 200 (full confession I bumped temp up to 275 at 6:30, after wrapping) so again well over 2 hours per pound even with bumping up temp at the end. If left unwrapped at 240 I would probably be looking at 17-1/2-18 hours for these two butts (7.2 and 7.5 lbs.). Again, this is my norm at 225-240 degrees.

Now, unfortunately I have to run into work for 2-3 hours so can get back home for Christmas lunch!

[Allon]

Oh that's sucks.
Go quick. Get back quick...

Be safe!

[rlozinak]

Welcome to the Pit from buffalo. Merry Christmas