1st Pork Butt


 

Mark Cov

New member
I am making my first Mr. Brown tomorrow and just wanted to know if anyone had any helpful tips for this kind of meal? Also where and how deep should I put the Maverick et-73 food probe. I have yet to use the food probe so I'm not really sure where the placement should be.

thanks
Mark
 
Pork butt takes a while but it's an easy cook. Use the temperature as a guide for when to start checking for doneness. 185 F is a good place to start testing. One common way to test is to poke with the same probe in a few different spots. It should go in very easily, feeling not unlike room temp butter.

For initial placement, get the probe as deep as you can while avoiding the bone and you'll be good to go.
 
Originally posted by Mark Cov:
Should the tip of the probe be in the very center of the pork?

As close to the center of the thickest part of the meat. Also, you don't want it touching the bone.

Some people insert it from the top, some from the side.

Another tip is that you may see a plateau in the temp of the meat when it gets around 170. Don't sweat it. Thats normal.
 
I'd also add that to me pork butt isn't as consistent as other hunks of meat are for me usually. The thickest part doesn't always wind up being done last for me. Its a good guide but don't be afraid to take the thermometer probe and stick it in some different parts of the meat. It'll all be cooked to a safe to eat temperature, we're really just looking for tender and you'll know when the probe goes in. I always check to be sure all the different "segments" of the butt are tender, sometimes one part takes a bit longer. Ymmv. Good luck, its an easy cook, you'll love it.
 
oh, and Mark... something they all forgot to mention...
save your leftover pulled pork...and
<< SEND IT THIS WAY!
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most importantly, have FUN!
icon_smile.gif
 
Mark, the main mistake that people make for first-time butt is that they pull the butt off the smoker too early (I certainly did). Be patient. When the internal temp hits 185*F, check for tenderness. It may not be done until a temp of 195 or more. Check every half hour until tender. Be patient. Enjoy!
 
So I am going to take the butt off at 195 degress and wrap it in foil. How long can it stay in the foil for? If I take it off at 7 will it be ok in foil until 10?
 
Mark - double foil the butt when you take it off, and put it in a cooler padded with towels, and she will hold 3hrs no problem and will still be too hot to pull by hand.
 
Originally posted by Mark Cov:
So I am going to take the butt off at 195 degress and wrap it in foil. How long can it stay in the foil for? If I take it off at 7 will it be ok in foil until 10?

Mark, as Gary said It may not be done at 185...or 195 for that matter. It's done when it's tender. I did an overnight last night and when it hit 195 this morning it was just about done but not quite. I pulled it off anyway because we wont be eating this until tonight and I'm going to be resting it in a cooler for as long as I can. It will finish up in the cooler.

To answer your question, I've rested butts, wrapped in foil, in a preheated, towel stuffed cooler for as long as 6 hours and it was still almost too hot to pull. Not sure about just wrapped in foil. Do you have a small cooler that you could hold it in? If so, 3 hours is no problem.

Since you have an ET-73, keep the probe in the meat while resting. If it gets close to 140, pull it and either eat or refrigerate it until it's time to eat, then reheat.
 
Also this butt seems to be cooking teal fast. It is a 6 pound butt and it's already at 107 and it's only been 2 hours.
 
Originally posted by Mark Cov:
I dnt have a cooler, I was just gonna put it in my microwave.
Never done it but don't see why it wouldn't work, especially for just three hours. Keep the ET-73 probe in it and pull it if it gets down to 140. Then eat or fridge it.

Also this butt seems to be cooking teal fast. It is a 6 pound butt and it's already at 107 and it's only been 2 hours.
It should "plateau" in the 160-170 range and will stall for quite a while. Sounds about right to me.
 

 

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