7.5 pounds, brined 18 hours, mustard and rub, than in the fridge overnight. Next morning started smoking it, went 14 hours until I reached 200. It made some darned good pulled pork sandwiches.

Great to know… Thanks! I’ve recently made a couple of 12 1/2 pound batches of Jalapeno Snack Sticks using regular hamburger (73/27 ratio) and everyone loved them. I didn’t want to risk using the last of my venison, in case they didn’t turn out as good as I expected, but it way exceeded my expectations! Now I think I will order some of the large casings and Jalapeno Summer Sausage Seasoning, and try a 5 lb. or 10 lb. batch with venison and pork butt. A while back, we made 5 lbs. of German Hunter’s sausage, grinding 3 1/2 lbs. of venison, and 1 1/2 lbs. of pork butt. I don’t know what kind of ratio that gave me (not using regular pork fat), but the sausage tasted pretty darned good. Thanks again!

I had a 20 year old electric smoker, and the rack for the chip pan was so high above the element, I couldn’t get it to start smoking until it got to about 300 degrees (and the bottom was starting to rust out, so it was time to be replaced). I picked up a Masterbuilt Pro online for under 150 w/free shipping. I haven’t used it yet, but assembled and seasoned it yesterday. Dual source heating (propane/charcoal). Took the huge vented chip/charcoal pan out, and went with an old 10" cast iron skillet to put my chips in (used a couple of small metal stakes across the burner hole and under the skillet, to give it room to breath above the flame (no problem getting chips to smolder/smoke now). With the flame turned way down, top vent open, and the door cracked it looks like get it down to 120 - 125 for the start temperature step for making snack sticks.

I am on the website every day, and while there, I make my entry for the extra daily entry to the giveaway contest. Today is 9/1/21, and after I made my entry for today, the page still shows 13 hours left in the contest. I happened to click my other tab for livestreams, and see that the giveaway livestream was already held yesterday. I didn’t even think to check the livestream page yesterday, since the contest displayed that it wasn’t over yet. And… I missed it. It’s very disappointing to say the least. John

What’s better than a giveaway? Maybe Walton’s and Meatgistics! Looks like I entered Just in time.

So are we just thinking about creating the smoker groups, or have they actually been created yet?

I wouldn’t expect to hold product for any length of time in the fridge. I would make my beef stick using the supplied spices and cure, smoke them, and then freeze them (I do use carrot binder). I expect that after thawing one, it wouldn’t last in the fridge more than a few days before it would be all eaten.

I have never done a pork butt in my smoker before (mastercraft propane vertical). I have everything else figured out, but nowhere do I see whether or not anyone uses a tray of water in the bottom for moisture. I see that after developing a bark, people spritz the meat with a spray bottle every 15 to 30 minutes, with 1 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar and 1 cup of water. So my only question is… water tray when smoking, or no water tray? Thanks! John

PapaSop - I replaced a very old electric smoker that the chip tray was so far above the element, that chips wouldn’t start smoldering until it hit about 300 degrees (that, and the bottom was rusting out). Thought I’d try other than another electric, because of how poorly the old one worked (thermostat was like the one that plugs into the side of an electric skillet). I bought the Masterbuilt Pro Series MDS 230S Dual Fuel smoker (propane or charcoal). It’s a couple inches bigger in size than the old smoker was, but not much. The smoker box is about 16" wide, 14" deep, and the area where the 4 racks go is about 23" tall. That doesn’t count the lower area that has a separate door where the burner, chips, and water tray go (their chip pan really sucked, so as I saw others doing, I’m using a 10" cast iron skillet for my chips, and that works really well). I didn’t have a lot of cash to work with, and this one came in at less than 150 delivered, and with that, I’m smoking again.

I see it’s fixed (it’s correctly showing 27 days left now).

I’m not picky about when it is, I just don’t want to miss it (done that too many times before). I always have to search and search for information on when the giveaway livestreams are. Take care!

I guess I should bottle for longer term storage, rather than move it to a secondary, or maybe move it to a clean secondary for bottling soon afterward.