Pork Butt v2


 

EricS

New member
Hello all--

Pork butt #2 got done this weekend, and while it was more of a success than #1, I still didn't get quite the results I was hoping for.

Weight was again about 8 1/2 lbs., again boneless. This time I wrapped with string into the tightest bundle I could manage. Cook temp was 250.

Filed the water pan with sand this time and foiled it over the top.

Put the meat on about 2:30 AM (not intentionally, that's just when I managed to get around to it). Minion method again, but I got one of those oversized coal rings from Cajun Bandit, stuffed to the gills with Kingsford. Put in 35 lit coals and promptly went to bed.

I woke up to find I had slept through the stall. After about 8 hours, internal temp was in the mid-170s and progressing nicely. The ATC was doing a great job--pit temp varied maybe 5 degrees either direction max.

The meat temp slowed its climb around 190. At 193 I started poking for doneness: still not that "butter" consistency, and that didn't develop as I tested all the way up to 200. I would say the resistance near the edges felt like dryness, not like undercooked, and later that would prove to be true.

I finally pulled it off after 14 hours at just a smidge over 200. There's some really good parts, but there's some kinda dry parts around the edges.

Am I right in thinking 14 hours is still kind of an overly long cook? The pit temp stayed pegged at 250 the whole time, and I watched the meat temp closely.

Why would I not get that butter consistency at any point? I've heard of people taking butts up to around 203, but my gut feeling is it would just have gotten even dryer. Earlier on, the bark had a beautiful brown color that made me hungry just looking at it, but it progressed to looking like another blackened meteorite by the end--not burnt, just not looking as good as it did before.

Don't get me wrong; I've been eating this thing all week and thoroughly enjoying it. I'd just like to get some of those fabled results I've actually seen. Should I wrap the next one?
 
Sorry--haven't gotten into the habit of taking pictures yet--I just stick it in my mouth! I'm managing to keep a cook log--I'll have to add taking pictures as part of the process in future.
 
I think you’re going too high, I pull around 190-195 for butts. Get a bone in check by pulling on the bone around 190, if it comes out, scoop the gem out, wrap in two layers of foil, then in an old bath towel (air dried so not much perfume) and slide it in a cooler for an hour or so. AFTER letting the temp stop climbing. (About ten minutes or so)
My last butt, 10.3 lb. bone in, went nine hours ~240*
Off at 190ish, double layer of foil, two old hotel towels, foam cooler for three hours, and it was maybe the best texture I’ve done yet!
Sorry, no pictures, way too busy eating!!!
I wonder if you are getting final temperatures confused?
I take brisket to “200ish” but, not butts.
More collagen in the brisket? I’m not sure but, someone else will speak up.
 
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Why do you wrap it in a towel before transferring it in a cooler (to let the temperature drop after cooking)?

Glad it came out well.
 
Yea I don't temp butts ( and haven't in a long time). I go by time at a certain temp ( 275+/-) for me until I like the color.
Go for probe tender and trust your instincts. If it looks/ feels good then it probably is.:wsm:

Tim
 
Go read some from dozens of threads, on the subject!

Ok, I just tried reading both on here and elsewhere on the internet.

I see a lot of people wrap it in a towel.

I haven't seen the reason why though. The closest I saw to a reason was that it helped keep the temperature up.

But if one's done cooking, and they removed it, do they still want the temperature up? What's wrong it taking it out and letting it cool at room temperature for a bit, then putting it in a cooler?
 
After cooking a butt most of us double wrap it in heavy duty foi, put in a cooler with towels around the foiled meat, and let it rest for 1 to 4 hours. The rest allows the meat to relax and reabsorb the juices. Some let it cool on the counter to 170 and then wrap and rest in a cooler. I just wrap and rest when it's probe tender. I suspect that if you add the rest to your technique you will be happier with the result.

I have gotten butts tender at 195 internal and went up to 205 with a couple to get them tender. Every piece of meat is different and it takes repetitions to figure it out. You're doing fine..
 
Thanks all.

I've got that 203 figure in my head from amazingribs.com--big fan of the site. Not that I had to hit that temp, just that it could've taken that to hit the "tender zone." But my gut feeling was that it was already getting dry and would just have gotten dryer. Maybe I should experiment with a bone-in as that'll be a tighter package--then I can practice my hog-tying to get the boneless more uniform. More butts on the smoker can't be a bad thing!
 
After cooking a butt most of us double wrap it in heavy duty foi, put in a cooler with towels around the foiled meat, and let it rest for 1 to 4 hours. The rest allows the meat to relax and reabsorb the juices. Some let it cool on the counter to 170 and then wrap and rest in a cooler. I just wrap and rest when it's probe tender. I suspect that if you add the rest to your technique you will be happier with the result.

I have gotten butts tender at 195 internal and went up to 205 with a couple to get them tender. Every piece of meat is different and it takes repetitions to figure it out. You're doing fine..

Thank you. Reabsorbing the juices sounds like a good reason.

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks all.

I've got that 203 figure in my head from amazingribs.com--big fan of the site. Not that I had to hit that temp, just that it could've taken that to hit the "tender zone." But my gut feeling was that it was already getting dry and would just have gotten dryer. Maybe I should experiment with a bone-in as that'll be a tighter package--then I can practice my hog-tying to get the boneless more uniform. More butts on the smoker can't be a bad thing!

What if you try bone-in and boneless at the same time? Has anyone else tried that?
 
What if you try bone-in and boneless at the same time? Has anyone else tried that?


Yea I did 4 a few years ago, Two were BNLS and 2 BI. I Put the BNLS on the bottom rack and the BI on top, overnite on an 18.5" WSM and they finished at roughly the same time.
Put all 4 in foiled half pans and into a cambro for a 3 hr rest. I did it for a grad party and pulled each one as needed.

Tim
 
Thanks all.

I've got that 203 figure in my head from amazingribs.com--big fan of the site. Not that I had to hit that temp, just that it could've taken that to hit the "tender zone." But my gut feeling was that it was already getting dry and would just have gotten dryer. Maybe I should experiment with a bone-in as that'll be a tighter package--then I can practice my hog-tying to get the boneless more uniform. More butts on the smoker can't be a bad thing!

I’d recommend trying a bone in before worrying much, when you tie one the idea is that you don’t “lace it like a LeBron James shoe”really tightly, it’s to restore the density of a bone in mass. Wait until bone in butts are cheap (it happens fairly often) at your local chain store, Costco is NOT always the least expensive place to buy, and get three, freeze two, rub one down for an overnight nap and smoke to 195. See what you think,if it’s “wetter” than you want, do the next one a little higher.
Butts are cheap, and very forgiving, try each one a little bit differently and TAKE NOTES! Then you will see what works and what does not work for you. It’s very much personal taste, just because I offer the opinion, it is NOT cast in stone. Experiment and learn, I swear, there is no “Bad” barbecue, some is just better than others.
I posted a thread called “everything just aligned” and that day, it all worked very well. Get back out there!
 
I smoke bone in butts and smoke them until I get an IT temp. of 190 to 193. I inject my butts with chicken stock .. I use a drip pan and mix the juice from the pan after separating the fat from the juice back into the shredded meat. I use water in the pan .. not sand. You're not really looking for tenderness on a butt like you would with ribs or brisket. The IT is most important. I find much higher than 195 the meat starts getting dry .. IMO. I often get requests for my pulled pork so I must be doing something right!
 
I like Amazingribs also but everything they print is not gospel. There's a bit of personal preference and ego there just like here. Dealing with the bone is not a big deal. Walmart has them for $1.76 a pound here and their Butts smoke well. I have paid 2 bucks/lb. more at Publix and the finished product is no better than the Walmart Butt.

Also you probably can't get more boneless butts than bone in on the WSM. 6 Butts on the 18.5 is probably max - either way.
 
FWIW, I never probe butts, I go by temperature, wrapped saucer in water pan.
Something about that sentence just doesn’t look right, or it’s a set up for a bad joke!
 
Yea I did 4 a few years ago, Two were BNLS and 2 BI. I Put the BNLS on the bottom rack and the BI on top, overnite on an 18.5" WSM and they finished at roughly the same time.
Put all 4 in foiled half pans and into a cambro for a 3 hr rest. I did it for a grad party and pulled each one as needed.

Tim

Thanks. How did they turn out?
 
Trying a bone-in sounds like a good comparison. I'll keep an eye out for cheap ones and compare results.
 

 

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