Boston Butt - pink & smell


 
Jon M in NC

Jon M in NC

New member
Two weeks ago I smoked my first butt which turned out great. It was a 8 lbs butt that cooked in 9 hours. Today I decided to smoke two 8 lbs butts together. I made one exactly like I did the one before and one Harry Soo style. For some odd reason it took over 12 hours and the internal temp was 178-199 depending on where I put the thermometer (but on average was in the mid-upper 180's). After a rest, I unwrapped the 1st one and the color is off. Very pink throughout & and it has an odd odor. I think I screwed something up. I think I'll be throwing both of them away. Any thoughts?
 
hmmm...I would run them well past 190....so that there is no place you probe that isn't at least 190. What do you mean by "odd" odor wise? Its pretty hard to screw up a butt...unless under cooked. what are you testing with? You have more mass there so it will take longer and it also depends on the interior temp when they went in. I would expect an 8 lber to take pretty much 12 hours depending on pit temp
 
Even under cooked for pulled pork (178) is still cooked for safety sake. (160)
There's a zero percent chance I'd be throwing them away unless the taste was really funky. But even then, they'd most likely turn into BBQ Beans or Chili.
 
No, it tastes ok. It's just a gamely sent to it. I figured it would take longer with two butts considering that there would be less airflow. I wanted to get it up to 200 F, but the cooker was about out of coals and barely holding 210 after 12+ hours. The meat towards the fat cap & away from the bone was pink through & through. It reminded me if the dark meat in a chicken. The whiter meat, closest to the blade, was a bit tougher. I know it was cook to safety standards, but what caused ths hiccup? What was different this time around? The meat was Swift brand since BJ's was out of there own. It was a bit fattier than the one before. I almost wonder if that was the issue. Besides that I used kingsford's (not match light) coals instead of stubb's and I don't think there's much of an issue there.
 
Chad Bman said:
Even under cooked for pulled pork (178) is still cooked for safety sake. (160)
There's a zero percent chance I'd be throwing them away unless the taste was really funky. But even then, they'd most likely turn into BBQ Beans or Chili.
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The wife said it tasted fine to her.
 
Jon M said:
No, it tastes ok. It's just a gamely sent to it. I figured it would take longer with two butts considering that there would be less airflow. I wanted to get it up to 200 F, but the cooker was about out of coals and barely holding 210 after 12+ hours. The meat towards the fat cap & away from the bone was pink through & through. It reminded me if the dark meat in a chicken. The whiter meat, closest to the blade, was a bit tougher. I know it was cook to safety standards, but what caused ths hiccup? What was different this time around? The meat was Swift brand since BJ's was out of there own. It was a bit fattier than the one before. I almost wonder if that was the issue. Besides that I used kingsford's (not match light) coals instead of stubb's and I don't think there's much of an issue there.
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I just don't think you got it hot enough. There will always be parts of the cut that are a bit more pink but a toughness at all says that you didn't get it hot enough. On a long cook like that I often have to feed more fuel toward the last 1/3 of time. I use a small fireplace shovel to add charcoal to the pit. You need to do it when there is still good embers in there. The gulp of air and more fuel allows you to continue at the temps you want.
 
Chuck Tatham said:
I just don't think you got it hot enough. There will always be parts of the cut that are a bit more pink but a toughness at all says that you didn't get it hot enough. On a long cook like that I often have to feed more fuel toward the last 1/3 of time. I use a small fireplace shovel to add charcoal to the pit. You need to do it when there is still good embers in there. The gulp of air and more fuel allows you to continue at the temps you want.
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I assume you mean the WSM, right? (Hot enough)
 
At that point, the meat has taken all of the smoke & BBQ flavor it's gunna take. Finishing off in the oven isn't a bad alternative to firing up additional charcoal. Lots of guys here will say (and do) the same thing.
 
Chad Bman said:
At that point, the meat has taken all of the smoke & BBQ flavor it's gunna take. Finishing off in the oven isn't a bad alternative to firing up additional charcoal. Lots of guys here will say (and do) the same thing.
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I was thinking about that..... It's a learning process. Nothing is certain in BBQ. Maybe thats why people buy mavericks & digiques. Thanks for the advice, fellas.
 
Chad Bman said:
At that point, the meat has taken all of the smoke & BBQ flavor it's gunna take. Finishing off in the oven isn't a bad alternative to firing up additional charcoal. Lots of guys here will say (and do) the same thing.
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My last two butts were finished in the oven, rather than adding coals after 12 hours. Sounds to me like we both ran out of fuel at around the same time ans couldn't get it to get much higher than 210 at hour 12 or so.

I foiled and finished in the oven, or rather my wife did as I was at work.
 
My last butt was a single 8.7 lb. one and took nine hours. At any time, if I had run 12.0 hrs. and was running out of charcoal you can bet your bottom dollar I wouldn't hesitate to finish in the oven. Nothing wrong with that at all. I admit that I am reluctant to do so, but it has nothing to do with quality of finished product. I just strive to finish what I start - however, it has not always happened for me, either:confused:.

Dale53:wsm:
 
Robert, when you say you cook for only 9 hours, what temperature do you cook it at? I'm guessing you must be in excess of 270?
 
Sam;
Actually, I did the tin can minion method, put the meat on when it was 200 degrees and held it between 225-250 for the entire cook. I use a Maverick 732 and gave you the grate temperature. I didn't pay much attention to the lid temp. I Typically foil the butt at about 160 degrees and pull it when it is tender (can be up to 205 internal, depending on the particular piece of meat).

Dale53:wsm:
 
Interesting. See, I think I need to do an all-day cook rather than the Overnights I've been doing...just to get an idea of where my cooker's at the whole time. I'm guessing that the earlier you foil the meat, the less of a "stall" you get and the quicker it'll speed up those last 3-4 hours?
 
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