Boston butt help


 
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Eric Michaud

TVWBB Super Fan
I am doing a Boston butt for pulled pork this weekend and am looking for feedback on mopping or spraying during the cook. Doing it on my Performer with fire bricks and the Minion method. The last time I did it I mopped the butt every hour, some recipes don't do this at all, others less often.

I feel mopping every hour is a pain because it makes it harder to keep my temp steady. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Eric
 
I have done them both ways and don't notice much of a difference. When I do mop, the bark stays a little softer, so it is easier to pull with the meat. But to think that liquid will penetrate a 10lb hunk of pork and flavor it just doesn't seem right. I used Chris Lilly's mop last time I did a butt, and it did give it a nice color, but Im with you-opening the lid every hour to mop just extends the cooking time.
 
I stopped mopping and spraying butts long ago.

I slather them in mustard, rub 'em up, put 'em on, n' let 'em go. I don't open the lid again until the remote therm reaches 185º.
 
I use the KISS method. Keep It Simple,Stupid! Rub it,smoke it,rest it,pull it, eat it! Don't get much simpler!
 
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No liquid is going to penetrate a piece of meat that is cooking. Cooking meat is squeezing all of its own juices out. It's not going to take more in.

At best, mopping is contributing more ingredients to the Maillard reaction that it creating the bark.

Either way, every hour seems kind of excessive, and is making it difficult to maintain temperature in the smoker. With the Renowned Mr. Brown, the recipe calls for mopping halfway through cooking, and every half of the remaining time until an hour remains.
 
I've never found mopping useful. I'd rather inject apple juice mixed with rub into the butt before you put the rub on the exterior. That has always worked for me.
 
I've done it both ways.....both with great results. I've done the Mr. Brown method several times and that seems to be the crowd pleaser. The mop sauce adds to the flavor of the bark and keeps it from drying out as much.......makes it more flavorful when you pull the meat and mix in the bark in my opinion.

I generally follow the rub and mop sauce recipe to the letter.......however, I use less black pepper and more brown sugar to taste.

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Best of luck!!
 
I think mopping is just a pain. If you want those flavors, you can add them in your dry rub or create a wet rub paste if the flavors aren't a powder.

I used to spray w/ AJ, but I have eliminated that as well.

You are only prolonging the cook by adding a liquid that must be heated on the outside of the meat and opening the smoker more than needed, losing the heat you need.
 
Mop? If you want to, feel free. Once an hour? That I don't get. If you want to mop, start at the second plateau (around 180), do it once more when the plateau breaks.

How much flavor do you think you can push into the bark? But feel free.

Rich
 
As a flavoring possibility the only way mops are effective is if they are used very frequently. Mopping a couple times isn't worth the trouble to make the mop. If frequent mopping is not in the cards and one wishes to mop for some reason, concentrate the mop flavors by reduction first.
 
Wow, I must say I am not surprised by the amount of responses here and it is greatly appreciated. Looks like I am going to skip the mop. Lifting the lid just adds time and aggravation seeing I am doing this on my Performer and not a smoker it just makes it that much harder to keep my temps low.

I have been doing the charcoal thing since June so I am still a rookie but this site has been so helpful with tips, techniques and recipes and for that I thank all of you. KISS sounds good to me, I sometimes get so focused on details that I overthink it and make it harder than it should be. I have read a lot of Kevin's posts and have realized its best to experiment with one variable at a time then move on from there. Half the fun is experimenting and figuring out what works. Of course the other half is enjoying the luscious Q when I am done, not to mention enjoying a few New England brewery Storm trooper stouts in the process. I still have a ways to go but have learned so much from you guys since June.

Thanks for the input,
Eric
 
Originally posted by Eric Michaud:
Wow, I must say I am not surprised by the amount of responses here and it is greatly appreciated. Looks like I am going to skip the mop. Lifting the lid just adds time and aggravation seeing I am doing this on my Performer and not a smoker it just makes it that much harder to keep my temps low.



I have been doing the charcoal thing since June so I am still a rookie but this site has been so helpful with tips, techniques and recipes and for that I thank all of you. KISS sounds good to me, I sometimes get so focused on details that I overthink it and make it harder than it should be. I have read a lot of Kevin's posts and have realized its best to experiment with one variable at a time then move on from there. Half the fun is experimenting and figuring out what works. Of course the other half is enjoying the luscious Q when I am done, not to mention enjoying a few New England brewery Storm trooper stouts in the process. I still have a ways to go but have learned so much from you guys since June.

Thanks for the input,
Eric
Click to expand...

I use the Performer for 80-90 percent of my smokes. I think it's so much easier to use than my WSM that I sold the WSM. Since you are planning on not mopping, I think you will be surprised how stable the temps can be on the Performer once it settles in.

I use fire bricks, really load up the charcoal and usually leave the lid down until the temp hits 190. Once I went over 13 hours like that. Now I use a BBQ Guru so temp control isn't a concern at all, but even before that I didn't have fluctuations that were much different than I had with my WSM.
 
"I use the Performer for 80-90 percent of my smokes. I think it's so much easier to use than my WSM that I sold the WSM. Since you are planning on not mopping, I think you will be surprised how stable the temps can be on the Performer once it settles in.

I use fire bricks, really load up the charcoal and usually leave the lid down until the temp hits 190. Once I went over 13 hours like that. Now I use a BBQ Guru so temp control isn't a concern at all, but even before that I didn't have fluctuations that were much different than I had with my WSM."

Just curious if you use a water pan for added heat sink? I use 2 firebricks as well and a pan about half full. They say it isn't necessary on a WSM but with a kettle I am not sure.

Thanks,
Eric
 
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