Midnight Pork Butts


 
B

Bryan Rice

TVWBB Super Fan
It is midnight and I just put two pork butts on the WSM. It has been raining here for the last couple of hours, but it stopped just when I went to light my fire, and then stopped again right when I went outside to put the butts on the smoker! Good BBQ Omens.

I got the butts from the Whole Foods at Union Square in Manhattan (I had to ask for them and they couldn't believe I wanted the whole pack) - the package contained two butts that totaled 12.3 pounds.

The pork is organic and looked pretty nice, but I won't scare you with how much they wanted per pound.

I slathered them with mustard and then put on my rub. The butts were boneless and pretty loose, so I tied them up.

I debated whether or not to inject them, so I decided to inject one and leave the other alone.

I am going to check the hood temp one more time and then head off to bed.

I am looking forward to a great late lunch/early dinner tomorrow and seeing which butt I like best.

Sweet BBQ Dreams to everyone!
 
B, Looking good my friend. We got hammered here with thunder storms early tonight. I was able to get the Tri-Tip done before the heavens opened up( hail and tornado warnings).
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Keep us posted on the cook and always, if you have a questions just ask. We'll do our best to answer you.
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Thanks for the encouragement!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bryan S:
Keep us posted on the cook and always, if you have a questions just ask. We'll do our best to answer you.
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</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I just checked the temp and it definately dropped when I added the meat, but the WSM seems like it is doing well and ready to let me rest easy until the morning.

I have to get up at 5:30am to drive my girlfriend to the subway for work - perfect timing for me to baste, flip, and switch the butts from the one rack to the other.

I am getting hungry just thinking about it.
 
Well I just got up a little while ago and the temp was low again (sub-200), but I opened the vents, and it picked back up.

I did a quick check and it is looking good, now I am going to mop, flip, and switch the butts.

On edit: Here is a shot of the top butt at 6am.

I think this is going to be a late-late afternoon finish - but I am under no particular time constraint today.

The best part of self-employment is being able to bbq all day on a Tuesday! Woo hoo.
 
Looking real good. I've paid a bunch per pound at Whole Foods but I've always liked their meats.
 
I am at the 12 hour mark and my first temp readings show an internal temperature of somewhere around 160 - which makes sense to me considering I had lower temps for the beginning half of the smoke. I am sure it is just hitting its temp plateau and I probably have another couple hours...though I will monitor it closely just in case.

I can't wait to eat.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by K Kruger:
The plateau can be very lengthy--not always--but possible. Worry not. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Luckily, I don't have a set time that I am shooting for - this time whenever it is done I will be happy.
 
Bryan

How's the butt coming along? Nice pic, I may have to go get one now. What did you inject into the butt? Can't wait to see your finished masterpiece.
 
I am at the 14-hour mark and they are still in the temp plateau - holding around 160. This the point where I start to question my thermometer - but I am using the force to let go

I injected the butt with a mix of apple juice, pomegranate juice, E.V.O.O., salt, and sugar.

Since I'm not sure what effect the injection should have on the meat, I'm not sure if I made the injection a strong enough flavor.

I will post some more shots when there is more progress.
 
Sounds good. Hold tight, Kevin was right on when he said it could be at a plateau for a very long time. Just think of it this way, the bark is getting better every minute you wait
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Matt Faery:
Sounds good. Hold tight, Kevin was right on when he said it could be at a plateau for a very long time. Just think of it this way, the bark is getting better every minute you wait
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</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Now that is a comforting thought!
 
Bryan, do you have a comparison for us about your injected butt vs. your un-injected one? Inquiring minds would like to know.
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Thanks,
Rita
 
When Kevin said a very lengthy - wow - this has been my longest smoke (and most meat at one time).

The internal temp of the butts hit 190 at 6:45pm - almost 19 hours later! I used several thermometers, and in a couple places on each butt - it really took that long.

Curiously, the injected butt and the non-injected butt had almost identical temps throughout the entire smoke and finished with a couple of degrees of one another.

I just wrapped them in foil and put them in a cooler to rest. In a bout an hour or so, I will pull them out and start comparing.

I will post pics and my observations later tonight.

I am so hungry I can hardly stand it.

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WOW! That's a looooooong time to wait for your USDA-recommended 3-ounce portion of meat.
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Looking forward to your comparison.
 
Hey Bryan... sounds like things turned out well.

what was the difference in the texture, flavor and moistness of the injected v. uninjected?
 
Well, first and foremost the butts turned out to be really tasty. Thanks to everyone who has shared thier knowledge and encouragement.

Overall, these butts came out at least as good as any I have ever made, and possibly even better.

The only strange thing was there wasn't really much of a defined smoke ring on either butt (the last couple I smoked had a much more saturated pink on the outside), which puzzles me considering the length of the smoke.

Any ideas why? I used apple wood this time (which I never used for a butt) with a couple pieces of mesquite.

The difference between the injected butt and the other one was, frankly, difficult to discern.

Both butts were incredibly moist - in fact there was still such a decent amount of fat that I think it could have smoked for several more hours without much harm to the meat inside.

I think the injected butt had a more moist looking appearance . It seemed to glimmer more. It also seemed to have an overall pink color that I did not notice on the other butt.

The meat was tender and fell into shreds in my fingers. It was not mushy - I was really happy about that.

I couldn't really taste any difference - this could be because I didn't really give the injection too much flavor. I didn't want to over do it, but I might have been too tame. If I inject again, I will defintely be more aggressive with the flavors.

In regards to the long smoking time, I think I must conclude that at some point, while I was sleeping, the temp must have dropped much lower than I had guessed this morning.

I also noticed that smoking this long kind of dulled my rub flavors (possible creosote from too much smoke?). The rub seemed kind of "spent", but I added some more rub and a little sea salt to the pork after I pulled it and that really woke it up nicely.

I placed the pork from each butt into two piles and asked my girlfriend if she could tell a difference. Interestingly she said she could tell a slight difference and she liked the non-injected pork narrowly better. Hardly real data, but interesting nonetheless. (She also used to be a vegetarian until she met me, but that is a different thread...)

I must conclude from all of this that I need to smoke some more butts and keep experimenting! I need more practice to reduce as many variables as I can in order to have a more controlled test.

Injecting the butt sure did not hurt it, but I can't say that I am convinced that it makes much difference for my current WSM skill set. Maybe when I really can perfect the butt, I will be able to use something like injecting with greater impact.

Regardless, I was really happy with it all, I ate several sandwiches and put the rest away for quesadillas tomorrow.

Sorry the pictures are so blurry - I have to get a new camera, so I have been stuck with my phone camera, which does a less than great job in low light settings.

I am still perplexed about the smoke ring situation, but my belly is full and I am very happy.
 
regarding the time...

I've actually had a 4 pound butt take almost 14 hours before... and I know the temp never got below 220, and was usually around 235. So, sometimes meat just does that. weird as it is.

Interesting that the injected and non injected had only very small discernable flavor differences. I've never injected butts, thinking that the flavor kind of stands well on its own. Though, I suppose if you wanted to accent the butts with a certain flavor (say mexican) then you could make a kickin' spicy injection or something. Who knows.

Astoria, eh? Good food in your parts. I head down there every once in a while for certain food. Used to be a mexican bakery there (was called hidalgo) that served oaxacan tamales. Mmmm...
 
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