To foil or not to foil, that is the question.

T

The Stig

New member
Yesterday I smoked a butt and tried a different method. Yes I foiled it. Now I realize many people do this but for me ...well dangit I like the "Bark" and I dont want to destroy the fine pork candy I have made so have never foiled the butts.

My normal method is to start out just a little higher in temp for the first 45 min or so to get the bark started then come down to 225-250.

Well yesterday I foiled it at around 165 and pulled it around 195. Was it good, yes, did I loose all my wonderful bark, pretty much. I dont think I will be using the foil again. Not saying it wasnt good, I just need my bark.

What about you guys?
 
sparky

sparky

New member
i have tried foiling before. it cuts cook time. i w/ you, i like bark also. its the best part. stig, wheres the pictures buddy. how long did you cook it for? temp? come on, teach some of us new ppl w/ hasty bakes.
 
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T

The Stig

New member
Sparky, I didnt get pics but I will give you a rundown of the basics. Just so you know, I sent out with the pure intent of answering a question you posed to me ther other day. I answered it the other day with our "general" answer but I had really never set out to see just how long I really could burn on one load of coal so I will get that out of the way first.

Parameters
257 (all SS gourmet)
Ambient temp 63
Wind 5-10 and gusting to 20
Fuel- Hasty Bake Lump
Temp monitoring - 4 oven themometers at different points inside the hood.
Meat- Tyson 8.6 lb from Wally
Wood Chunks - Hickory
Fire starting method- Hasty Bake gel, sorry once again not trying be captain sales guy but I used chimney's for many years but the gel is where its at as far as im concerned. I say this for a few reasons, the main one being that you can control how the fire starts by the pattern of the gel you lay down (for those that dont know, the proper method for starting a fire in a Hasty Bake is to start the fire in the ashpan underneath the coals then lower the firebox down to just above the fire and this will light your coals from below) anyway, having control of how the fire starts is exremely handy because now not only can you control how much of the coals start but in what pattern and what location. I think you can see where im going with this.

I loaded the firebox up fully from end to end and slightly mounded in the center. Hood open, and placed a circle of gel about the size of a tennis ball or baseball in the ashpan at the point where it would line up with the coals on the far right side of the firebox once the ashpan is slid into place.

Once I had a glowing heart about the size of a tennis ball I applied the heat deflector opened all vents, shut the hood and allowed the unit to come up to temp

Butt was placed in the center of the upper rack. I usually start my butts at a slightly elevated temp (300-320) for the first 45 minutes or so to get my bark started. I also make sure, and I dont care what anybody says I always put big meats on the cooker at room temp. Yes even birds, they just cook much more evenly and it cuts out a good chunk of time. But thats just me. After that first bit I close the vents completely and allow the cooker to come down to 225-250. When it gets down to 260 or so I will slightly crack the right firebox inlet vent that way the temp will still fall but wont dip too low before the coals start to get going again. There where some windy spots yesterday where I had to close all the vents and just upen up the lower right side Rotiss hole as the wind would try to cause the temp to start rising a little.

Every few hours I would check the temps but it held a good steady 225-255 for hours and hours. Now, at about hour 4 I did open up the firedoor and rake all the coals from the far side back to the near side. but it just kept chugging away. At hour 6 I added more coal. It could have went for another hour or so but at that time you run the risk of having too little in your box to start the next load. So at this point I would say 6 hours, but you will need to rake them a few times. 7 hours is possible, plus as well as this thing hangs onto heat it stays warm for a good long time after the coals are out. So if you had a goal to get 8hrs out of cooking out of 1 load, man that would be pushing it but I would not call it impossible. Of course there are alot of variables in there also.

As for time, I usually dont go by time but it was on about 10 hrs . I usually just go by what the meat feels like. I know with a butt that depending on the size its gonna be 8-10 (or more if you get a stubborn one) hrs so I just usually break the crust around the bone and give the bone a wiggle and see where its at. Mind you though, im a good cook but im not a competition cook and to me I look for different things in bbq than competition judges. I cook for fun and to eat good food and drink an occasional adult beverage. I dont cook for stress. LOL
 
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