I have been having some problems with my butt's at comp, at what temp is everyone pulling off their pork butt's during a competition?? I've been pulling mine off between 195-198. I then wrap it in a towel and put it in the cooler until turn-ins.

When I unwrap it, it seems to just fall apart in several sections. I've been wanting to slice up the money muscle for turn-ins, but I haven't been able to because everything falls apart on me. I've been wrapping it at 170 and pour a mop over it at the same time.

In the four comps I've done, my pork has placed, in order of comp, 78 of 83, 12 of 41, 27 of 48, and 40 of 53. After the first comp, I started injecting it and using a mop when I wrap. It seemed to help at the 2nd one, but it fell off again at the next two. I haven't made any other changes to it. I'm beginning to think the 12 ranking was a fluke.

I'm wondering if I'm overcooking it, or maybe I have too much liquid in the foil when I wrap? I have a comp coming up next week, and am contemplating taking it off earlier and/or skipping the mop altogether.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Dave

Only take the butt you want to slice up to 175º or so. Your second butt you can take all the way for pulling. Put the first butt on a couple of hours after the second.

do you let it cool, before you wrap and put in a cooler? It sounds like you are bringing the temps waty over 200 if you don't stop the cooking process.

I can pull a money muscle of the smoker at 195 and still get great slices. You have to let it cool though. Usually 20-40 minutes, unwrapped and let it sit on the counter...

That may be the problem. I have usually been pulling it off, wrapping it in a towel, and putting it right in the cooler without missing a beat.

I had considered that leaving it out to cool may help, but wasn't sure. I had been afraid it would cool off too much. At my last comp I left it out to cool, but it was only for 10 minutes or so, which apparently wasn't nearly long enough.

I'll leave it out longer at my comp next weekend and post back on how it goes.

Thanks for the help Scottie and Dan!!

I've been slicing the cones as opposed to money muscle though.

The problem I'm having is chosing what, and how to place the meat in the box.

I honestly think the flavor I'm getting from my pork is awesome, but I can't decide what to put in the box and how to put it. We've been finishing top half or better at the three we've done but still no calls. Anyone with some comp success willing to put some pics or give some ideas?

Just my opinion but 195-198 is waaayyy overcooked. I pull them out at no more than 185. I prefer 182-183 as the exact temperature.

I also have adjusted the times that I put the butts in so that they finish up about 30-45 minutes before processing. The 30-45 mins gives it a chance to rest. I don't wrap them up during this time.

I've gotten some beautiful money muscle slices to put on top of the pulled.

Russ

Are you cooking hot and fast or still at 225?

Me??

I cook at between 225-240. It's not real critical. I usually calculate 1.5 hours per pound of meat for start time.

Watch for the stall at 160 and let it break on it's own. Once it breaks out around 165-170, it will finish pretty quickly. If I'm up against the clock I'll break it out myself but I don't like doing that.

Russ

You guys find it hard to track down a money muscle on a boneless butt?

Hey Dave,

I don't usually. Also, I don't like to do boneless. I prefer bone in because of the meats and fats around the bone. Tasty stuff.

Thanks Vincent. I was wondering because we were gonna get our meats at Costco which only sells boneless but I got three nice bone-in butts instead yesterday, so, problem solved.

At least, the part of it besides cooking!

Good luck. Which comp are you going to?

I've used costco baby backs before in comp and they actually did well.

Comp is BBQ at the Summit in Dillon, Colorado.

My first comp, starts tomorrow!

Looks like alot of fun.

Random question, how does the altitude affect your cooking time?

having never smoked at below 6000 vertical feet, I'm not sure what the difference would be.

In my experience my cooking times seem to run about consistent with what's expected - 1.5 h/lb for pork butt etc.

Fires tend to burn a little cooler at altitude. I've never used water in my pan in the WSM - the terra cotta or empty pan is the way to go up here.

From a physics perspective I'm not sure how much altitude changes the internal dynamics of a larger piece of meat - water in Golden CO (where I live@ 6000 feet) boils at 201* F. In Dillon where this comp. is at 9000 feet, 196F.

Maybe towards the end of a butt or brisket smoke these temps come into play, especially if foiled. But I'm not sure how big of a difference they would make since the meat will spend the vast majority of the cook time below those thresholds.

There are Sam's clubs in Denver. KCBS members get a break on membership I believe. In my experience Sam's meat is as good as Costco and a lot cheaper often paying for the membership in one visit. Sam's has bone in butts. Where I shop they also have CAB COH.

Dave...I cook mine hot-n-fast in pans...325-350 grate. 6-7 lb boneless butts from Costco. Inject and rub up the night before...fire up the bullet with a full load of Kingsford and 3 fist sized lumps of smokewood...foil the water pan but do not use water...put the butts on when your dome hits 250 with largest but on the bottom rack. Don't even look for two hours...just monitor your temp. At the 2 hour mark spritz the butts with apple juice and temp the money muscle...if it's near 170 pull it and foil it with a half cup of 50/50 sauce/apple juice. Back on the smoker to an internal of 190 for the money muscle if you want slices...210-220 if you want pulled...yes 210-220...high heat requires the butt to go deeper into the temp range. I usually pull one butt for the money muscle and let the other go for pulled and bark.

Good luck!
JD

2nd place pork butt...Evergreen State BBQ Championship...

Dave E ? Is the comp a pulled pork or sliced pork comp, or does it not matter how u turn in ur pork. For sliced pork no more than 175 temp, for pulled pork cook till tender.

JD, nice box! Just read the rules of the organization, with that much pork I figured there must be more than 6 judges. I bet they didn't go hungry. And the table captains ate good. What year was your 2nd place?

Mark

Thanks Mark...that entry was last weekend at the Evergreen State Championship here in Duvall. The week before I had a 3rd place in Chehalis with pulled and chunks.