First butt questions

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I just smoked my first butt yesterday, and i have some questions about how it turned out.

First, the details:
the butt was 4.5 lbs at the store. I trimmed about .5 lbs of fat off of it. one pocket of fat ran through the middle of the butt, so after i trimmed that off, the butt actually looked like two small butts connected by a thin strip of meat. During the smoking process, the two halves separated, so you might say I had 2 2-lb butts.

Rub was BRITU, i used standard method for charcoal, and filled my water pan with ice (my standard practise to get the temp down to 225-250). I smoked for 7.5 hours at 230-250 (temp of air right next to butt). at 7 hours, the temp of the butt via polder was 195-200(4 different spots). i took it out at 7.5 hours and let it sit for 30 minutes. I turned the butt over twice during the smoking. I smoked using duraflame charcoal, hickory and apple.

Now, the butt pulled pretty easily, but the meat was inconsistent: half of it was really moist and tender and the other half was really dry and chewy. The pulled pork I get at my local bbq joint is always tender.

Now my question, why did (parts of) my pulled pork get dry? I have a few theories:
1. The butt was too small, and the outside is always dry.
2. I cooked it for too long; maybe i should aim for 190-195 F next time.
3. the BRITU has too much salt in it
4. I cut off too much fat.

what do you guys think? Any advice is appreciated.

dan
 
Sounds like you had a boneless Butt. Try tying it up the next time and DON'T TRIM THE FAT OFF. The fat keeps it moist while cooking. Try and find bone in butts IMO they cook up nicer. 195 - 200 range is fine for butt. I think you just over trimmed it.
 
I'm going to say the first half of 1, and 4.

That was a mighty small butt and I don't believe you should trim ANY fat off of practically ANY butt. I no longer even trim the big thick fat cap that is on occasional butts, and wow, what a great end product.

Next time just leave it all in one piece and take it to the same temp as you did today and it should work out ok. I doubt the BRITU is the culprit.
 
Welcome to the board, Dan.

It's likely that the butt was too small for the length of time it cooked, imo. The ouside is not'always dry'; you should not have that. I do not trim butts. I pull in the low 190s but many people prefer a higher pull temp and the meat is not dry. I think as small as your pieces were, they cooked too long.

Try again with a bone-in butt. I much prefer 6.5- 8-pounders but that means an overnight cook, but I like those. Additionally, make sure you wrap and rest a couple hours or more when it's done.
 
Butt too small. Get bigger butt.

Did you flip the Butt? Flipping at the halves is considered, by some, to be a good thing. (10 hour cook, flip at 5, 2.5, 1.25).

Where did you take your temps? You may have been at 190 in the section you checked, but 205 in another.

I don't like too much fat. I find it ok to trim the butt a little. Even with the long cooks, fat rendering out, and connective tissue gelatinization, I find butt can be...a bit fatty. You have to separate it when your are pulling it apart.

IMHO pulling with your hands is the easiest method. You might need some rubber/silicone gloves to do it though, as it can be HOT!

Q-on!

AR

p.s. IMMHOO (in my most humble of opinions) there are better rubs for the Butt than BRITU.
 
Thanks for the replies. I've actually been lurking here since i got my weber last summer, but I've only been doing ribs until now (ribs are super easy).

I turned the butts over twice: once at 4 hours and again at the 6 hour mark.

My butt had a small bone in it, sticking out one side. I imagine the butcher cut it so i would have a boneless butt, but just hit the bone at the edge.

I check it in two different spots in both sections = 4 different spots. my butt temps were all in 195-200 range. it plateaued at about 170-180 for hours 5-6 until i opened all the bottom vents and got the grill temp to 250 instead of low 230's.

I don't mind separating the fat from the meat during pulling if it gets me moister pork.

I don't mind pulling with my hands; i get to sample all the different muscles.

This was a practise butt for when the inlaws come in July. I plan to have a 8 lb bone-in which I'll cook overnight. I think I'll try the mustard thing and no fat trimming.

However, if i don't trim the fat, i can't get rub on the meet under the fat (and I'll just throw away rubbed fat when i pull) What if I trimmed the fat, and then placed the fat on top of the meat during the smoke. that way, the fat will melt into the meat and keep the top half of the meat moist?

dan
 
Dan, Not sure if you are thinking of doing this but here's a heads up. You don't want to trim the fat cap off the top and put rub on then put the fat cap back on. That makes for a nasty rub chalky paste layer. Your making this harder than it has to be. Put rub on Butt place Butt in WSM and cook it low and slow @ 225 and most of the fat will be gone when it's done.
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And, there is enough fat in butt for moisture. You need not trim it off and put it back on. If you want to trim some fat for barkability you can, but just pitch it or give it to the dogs. I just salt, rub, and stick 'em in as is.
 
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