After reading all the helpful posts, I decided to give it a try. Bought a 4.45 pound butt, gave it a dry rub the night before, and got the smoker up to 210 by 9:00 a.m. I had read 1 and 1/2 hour per pound, so figured 6 hours. It was only at 160 internal by 6 hours, so I wrapped it in foil and snacked on the ribs I had put in with the butt. It ended up taking 9 hours to get to 190, but was it worth it! We had awesome pulled pork sliders with cole slaw. My neighbor liked it so well, he came home the next day with his own smoker!
Boston butt
- Thread starter Roy Allen
- Start date
G Savrnoch
TVWBB Super Fan
Congrats on a great first cook of a butt. 1.5 hours per pound is a good estimate tool but don't count on it. Without knowing more details of your smoke it's hard to guess why it took a little longer - but het, it came out good regardless.
Robert McGee
TVWBB Gold Member
Roy;
That's the way to go! I do Boston Butt at 275 degrees simply to shorten the cooking time. I find NO adverse affects with the higher temperature.
I normally run to 165 degrees or so but don't foil until the bark is set (normally about the same time as it hits 165). Then, I start checking for tenderness at 195 but don't pull it until it's ready. Sometimes it is 195 but sometimes it takes until it's up to 205. Tenderness determines all...
Keep on smokin',
Dale53
That's the way to go! I do Boston Butt at 275 degrees simply to shorten the cooking time. I find NO adverse affects with the higher temperature.
I normally run to 165 degrees or so but don't foil until the bark is set (normally about the same time as it hits 165). Then, I start checking for tenderness at 195 but don't pull it until it's ready. Sometimes it is 195 but sometimes it takes until it's up to 205. Tenderness determines all...
Keep on smokin',
Dale53
Dwain Pannell
TVWBB Hall of Fame
Glad it turned out well. As you've probably already figured out your low 210*F temp (dome temp or grate temp?) caused the extended cook time. Cooking low and slow is fun but you have to plan more than 1.5 hrs per lb for it. Cooking at higher (225-250*F) temps will get you home closer to your 1.5 hrs per lb. I probably run even higher at 250-275-ish but I rarely foil a butt.
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Smaller butts cook somewhat faster than large ones, but not as much as the weight would suggest. In other words, 1.5 hrs per lb might work for a 9 pounder but not a 4 pounder at the same temp. Doneness for something like pork butt results from a complex combination of both time and temperature.