Best Butt Ever.


 
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Art R

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OK. I fired up using the Minion Method. Maybe had a few too many briquettes on fire at first.

I had already seasoned the Butt with a rub from Dave "Two Horse" Munson's posting a few weeks back. Had it on for about an hour before placing on the top rack at about 6:00 p.m.

Did not record the beginning temp of the WSM, it was only a few minutes after adding the lit coals and assembling the cooker. 2 hours later came out to check it. Temp was at 275 at lid. Closed down two vents and temp dropped over about 25 minutes to just under 250. Opened all vents to about 15%. Went to bed.

Woke up at about 7:30 late for work and got out the door. My wife took the butt off at 8:15 internal temps were about 195. She wrapped it in foil and refrigerated it.

Came home from work and unwrapped it. The fat had congealed and it was easy to separate 3 or 4 large pieces of meat from the bone and the fat was easily scaped off.

Very nice bark. Very nice smoke ring. Reheated in covered dish in microwave on 40% power. Sprinkled a little bit of the rub on it and dug in. WhooHooo! was it good.

Thanks to all for advice on this board. I could not believe the butt came out so good with so little effort.

AR
 
Hi Art, That must have been one huge butt, I still don't think I could sleep at night thinking the WSM was smokin away outside. Did you just warm it up in the microwave? (15 Hours WOW)
 
Did you get a chance to notice what the temp was in the morning?

My WSM cooks better (220ish) with only one vent open slightly. Half to a third way open. I use to think I had to leave them all open a bit. If I leave them all open a bit it rises to 250ish.

My last butt I pulled and bagged all the meat after dinner. I chopped up the bark (spicy) and spread these pieces among the rest of the meat.

So far, the butt is the favorite among my twins. The dogs prefer something with a bone in it.

Congrats Art.
 
Since my ankle is still mending (broken on 9/5) I let my wife check it this morning around 7:40. The cooker was at 250 and holding. I might be slightly wrong about the percentage the vents were open. It's the eyeball method of estimating. Probably between 10 and 15%.

The butt was only a 7.5 pounder. It was cold outside last night about 49 degrees.

AR
 
Art, I slept thru my last Butt cook also, and it turned out fine. I am going to try sand next time because I did have a dry water pan and a bit of a heat spike but it was still great.
Glad you had success!
DP
 
Bren, I was a little concerned about leaving the WSM going all night, but, once you do it your fear will subside quickly!

The key is to get the temp leveled before you turn in. You'd be surprised how well the WSM holds the temp for 8 or 10 hours at a time.

Besides, how do you do a pork butt anyway? Do you get up at 3am to be able to eat it at 6 or 7pm? That's early!!

Give it a try and put your fears to rest!! It'll be great!
 
Art,

Congrats on the overnighter. Amazing how completely forgiving pork shoulders can be!

I still "need" to mother-hen my WSM, so I'll get up at 4AM to smoke on the weekend (yep, my wife thinks I'm nuts but my dogs love it!!!). Heaven forbid I get comfortable to smoke during the week ... I'd need a few cubic football fields to store what would hit the smoker.
 
Bren, No worries mate. The WSM runs itself.
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Bryan
 
I've gotten to the point anytime I do a large cut, i.e. a butt or brisket, I make it an overnighter. I am a night owl and I HATE waking up early. I usually start about 11 or 12 midnight if I want it ready for dinner, or 6 or 7 if I want it ready for lunch. It usually finishes a bit early but I prefer to leave my brisket or butt wrapped in foil for at least an hour before I pull/slice.

I have found that to keep my WSM at about 220-230 overnight I just need to open one vent about 30%. The next day I usually have to open up all the vents to 20-50 percent to keep the temp up over the last few hours. Last brisket I made was 12 lbs and it took 18 hours, plus 2 hours in foil (sitting on the counter, not in the cooker)
 
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