Use of the "Texas Crutch" (foil) on pork butt


 
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Dave Lewis

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I cooked a 7.5 lb butt this weekend and my internal meat temps stalled in the 170s for over 4 hours. At the 18 hour mark, the internal temp still read only 175 and I had guests arriving 2 hours later. So I tried the "Texas Crutch" for the first time and wrapped the butt in foil, added a little apple juice, stuck my polder probe back in the meat thru the foil and put the butt back in the WSM. My lid temps were 260-275 this late in the cook to get this butt done. To my pleasant surprise, my internal meat temps rose from 175 to 195 in only 1 hour! I took the butt off and put in the cooler to rest for another hour before pulling. The result, a very moist, delicious butt. My butts always, and I mean always, take far longer than advertised, but the use of foil late in the cook may be my solution when time becomes an issue, especially in competition. I will use it again when my butts hit the 170 degree mark to see if I can duplicate my success and trim several hours off of my butt cooks.
 
Dave, did you notice any differnece in the quality of the bark on the butt? Was it softer, mushy, the same as w/o foil, etc? I have never used foil on pork butts and was just wondering if it had any effect at all. Thanks!
 
I had the same experience during my only pork butt smoke that I've done to date.
The butts were about 7.5 pounds each. At the 14 hour mark, they had been at 170 internal temperature for over 3 hours. At that point I only had a few hours before dinner & the butt temp actually started to dip slightly. I wrapped in foil & they reached 190* at the 15 hour mark. I then unfoiled & left in the WSM for another half hour.
The pulled pork was absolutely fantastic. I don't know how the bark on mine compared to normal because this was my first pork butt. Next time I'll allow plenty of time & try to cook without foil. But.... I wouldn't be adverse to using foil again if I feel I need to.

Jeff
 
Dave, how coincidental. I had the exact same thing happen to me this weekend. I had two 5lb butts in my WSM from 8:00 AM. At 6:00 PM the internal temp was stuck on 175. It was like that for 3 hours. I took them both off the smoker, wrapped them in foil and put them in a 350 degree oven. After about 1 hour they both jumped to 193 degrees. I took them off and only let them rest for about 30 minutes. I pulled them and they were perfect. I was just in time for the party down the street. I got about 6 lbs of pulled pork and it was gone in 10 minutes when I got to the party. The bark was actually better then the last butt I did that was completely on the WSM. I think that I may do this process again. However, next time I'm not going to let them sit for 3 hours at 175.
 
Bruce,
I would say my bark was about the same: moist, not mushy, certainly still a bark. However, I usually let my butts rest in foil in a cooler for a couple to several hours before pulling anyway so I noticed no difference from my usual. Its been awhile since I pulled a butt fresh out of the WSM.
 
Hey there- I have done many many pork butts and have it down to what I believe is science. I start my cook at 5 p.m. on saturday, at 11 p.m. or 12 a.m. I fill water pan baste and flip the butts (usually 4 at a time). Next I ensure cooker temp steadies out, for pork butts 225 -250 range is fine since there is so much fat. Then I go to bed, wake up around 7 a.m. and check cooker temp. At this point I stir the coals to stoke the fire, insert a polder and see what the internal temp is. I then fill the water pan and baste and flip once again. Here is where I agree with other above statements: my pork butts take longer than advertised, in fact, mine AVERAGE 20 hours. I have also incorporated the foil when the internal reaches 170 for 2 reasons, 1 - after a long cook, my smoker builds up an orange/brown layer of crud on the lid that when moved or tapped in any way, breaks of the lid and goes right on the meat. And for the 2nd reason, the meat has to rest anyhow, and when it hits its 170 temp plateau, I'll foil and let it rise to 195 internal. Then I will wrap in towels and let them rest in an Igloo cooler for what can be an hour to as many as 4 hours, closer to dinner time. I have done ALOT of pork butt cooks as everyone loves them and I am requested to make it more than I can keep up.
 
I don't know how much effect the foil had, I never use it. But I get the same thing every time. It sits at 170-175 for hours, then shoots to 200 in about an hour once it starts moving.
 
Yeah Howard, my first thought was that it may have just been coincidence. So I will experiment by foiling when it first reaches 170-175 without letting it stall at that temp and see what happens.
 
Hi there....

What you are seeing I think is a change in physical state from a solid to a liquid of the fat in the pork butt as it renders into grease. This change in physical state is absorbing a lot of the energy (heat) from the smoker and that is why I think it is taking so long in that temperature plateau. Once this rendering process takes place the internal temperature once again climbs as there is no longer solid fat that can absorb the heat.

One thing you can check is to place a pan underneath the butt and take note of when you see the most fat or grease dripping off the meat. I think you will see most of it after that temperature plateau.

Well its my theory anyway...I might be wrong but it sounds good to me...

Regards,
PrestonD
 
Preston's theory is sound.

It's supposed to stall somewhere around 160-170. For hours! This is the part of the cook that makes the meat tender. The collagen (whatever that is) in the meat is breaking down. It absorbs enough energy in the process that there's not enough extra energy to raise the temp. Once that process is done then the temp climbs again. Don't short-cut the process. Let it do it's thing.
 
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