Game plan for first Pork Butt - how's this sound?


 
C

Christopher A

New member
Hi guys - itching for some pulled pork on my relatively new 18"-er. (So far, I've done baby backs, chicken and made some smoked salsa). I put together a quick "cheat sheet" of rough guidelines. I know some of this can vary and a little may be subjective, but all thoughts welcome if anything seems really off here - thanks!

1. Starting with a 4-5 lb. butt (just three of us eating this). Hopefully de-boned by butcher.
2. Trim off the major fat.
3. Night before, rinse then cover in kosher salt and refrigerate
4. Somewhere around 7 or 8 AM on day of smoking, pull out, slather w/mustard and cover with dry rub
5. Start smoker (debating either pecan or apple wood)
6. Fill water pan (I know this one's hugely subjective)
7. Get Pork on there - then settle in to wait for what will probably be between 7 and 10 hours?
8. Shooting for a smoker temp 250-ish (but not going to overly sweat it if heads closer to 280 - I keep reading pork is forgiving)
8. Shooting for an internal temp of around 185
9. Pull my pork off when it reaches that temp (and there seems to be a nice bark)
10. Debate finishing off in oven at 300 for another 10 min?
11. Let rest for at least 30 minutes.
12. Pull with bear claws
13. Heap on rolls - having options bbq sauce on the side
14. Hopefully sit down to eat around 6 PM

Make sense?
 
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I should have also added, given it's my first time and I'm trying to keep it simple, I was also planning on not overly worrying about the "stall" - and simply hoping to "low and slow" right through it. I'm also not sure if I'll nee
 
I personally wouldn't worry about applying a dry brine of salt the night before.

I've gotten vg results just doing the rub the night before to let it 'set up' overnight - really just as a time saver on cook day.

Budgeting 2hrs per lb may be wise if you don't plan on wrapping when (not if) you hit the stall. :rolleyes:

Just watch the internal temp and your clock - if you are running short on time and in that stall stage - wrap it and put it in the oven would be my suggestion - wrapping has always worked for me to push past the stall to get to 'done' (temp and tenderness) when the clock is ticking loud.

I personally like bone in for my butt cuts - it's a good test for 'done' if it wiggles like a loose tooth about ready to drop out.
 
Between 6 and 7 is there any laps of time ? Do you wait for the smoker getting cooking T ???
Finishng internal T is too low.
Complete the session in the smoker till the meat is 195F. Then double wrapp in foil and blankets and let it rest for at leat 1 hour.
 
I just apply a heavy coat of rub a day or two before cooking and rewrap it with plastic. Let it sit in the fridge for a day or two so the meat can pull in the spice flavor. I don't like to slather it in mustard.
 
Don't pull from smoker at a set temp. When the temp hits 195, use a probe (temp probe or toothpick or even a fork) to test for tenderness. A probe should go into the meat like a knife into work butter. If it is not there then keep cooking for another 30 mins. and try again. Repeat until the butt is probe tender. That is also why I like a bone in butt. This has always worked well for me. Also, you should keep the butt in the fridge until you are going to put it in the smoker. Also, don't put meat on smoker until billowing white smoke is gone and you are getting thin blue smoke. Then put meat on. My opinion of wood for pork is to use apple chunks. Good Luck.
 
Christopher A said:
Hi guys - itching for some pulled pork on my relatively new 18"-er. (So far, I've done baby backs, chicken and made some smoked salsa). I put together a quick "cheat sheet" of rough guidelines. I know some of this can vary and a little may be subjective, but all thoughts welcome if anything seems really off here - thanks!

1. Starting with a 4-5 lb. butt (just three of us eating this). Hopefully de-boned by butcher. I like mine with the bone.
2. Trim off the major fat. Don't trim to much off.
3. Night before, rinse then cover in kosher salt and refrigerate No need for this step.
4. Somewhere around 7 or 8 AM on day of smoking, pull out, slather w/mustard and cover with dry rub I cover mine the night before and pull out about as i start the smoker. It takes about an hour for temp to settle in on WSM.
5. Start smoker (debating either pecan or apple wood) Both sound great to me.
6. Fill water pan (I know this one's hugely subjective) I used to do this now i don't.
7. Get Pork on there - then settle in to wait for what will probably be between 7 and 10 hours? I think you are looking at 6-8 hours with that small of a butt.
8. Shooting for a smoker temp 250-ish (but not going to overly sweat it if heads closer to 280 - I keep reading pork is forgiving)
8. Shooting for an internal temp of around 185 I agree with others 195-200
9. Pull my pork off when it reaches that temp (and there seems to be a nice bark)
10. Debate finishing off in oven at 300 for another 10 min? Please don't unless you are pressed for time.
11. Let rest for at least 30 minutes. Rest for an hour in blankets and a cooler as others have recommended.
12. Pull with bear claws
13. Heap on rolls - having options bbq sauce on the side
14. Hopefully sit down to eat around 6 PM Enjoy

Make sense?
Click to expand...


I put my recommendations next to your steps. Pork is forgiving as I have screwed up many I thought and everyone loved them. I have been asked to cook others while I cook my own. Maybe i should charge but I never do.
 
Thanks to all for the great advice. Very happy with the results of my pulled pork. Quick summary: Got a 4.5 pounder, trimmed some fat off. Applied my rub the night before. Put it on about 8 am. Maintained a pretty steady inside smoker temp of 225 to 250 with very minimal vent adjustments. Around 4 pm, my hardwood started to fizzle out (not bad I'd say - 8 hours), as the temp started to plummet to 160. I quickly (somewhat panicked for some reason), fired up the chimney starter and dump the lit coals onto some fresh unlit coals. Stayed at 160 for about 30 minutes...then finally got going back up. Nicely settled into 250 again. 5:40 PM I got a 197 degree reading from the meat, and the resistance felt right when I inserted thermometer. I took it off, double-foiled, toweled and dropped in cooler for 50 minutes. Pulled. And wow, it was great. No sauce even needed! Thanks again guys. Took a little longer than I thought (9 hrs. 40 min), but that might have been because I wasn't quite ontop of the fuel running down as quickly as I should have. I know many of you don't even use the water pan. But for those that do - I found no need to ever fill it again beyond that initial filling. The juices from the pork seem to keep it pretty much at 40 percent full the entire time. Is that odd?
 
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just curious, how did you measure your smoker temp? 9 hr 40 min seems like a very long time for a butt that size. I wonder if your smoker temp was lower than you thought. Not that it affected the quality but the time.
 
Hey Keith - i haven't yet decided on a thermometer for internal smoker temp - so using Dome therm. Figuring after a few smokes, regardless of how off it may be from actual temp, I'll get a sense of what it is relative to what the actual may be. Then it ends up being the same thing - just take into account and adjust for my dome.

I see your point - it did seem to take a while, but I do think much of that may be because I didn't catch the temp plunge (due to burning hardwood running low) in time. By the time I restocked my fuel, I may have delayed my flow by an hour....
 
Don't you love it when a plan comes together?

FWIW, pulled pork also freezes and reheats well (esp. if you have a vacuum sealer), so the next time you do this, load up a couple of butts and just freeze the leftovers. I always freeze in smallish portions so I only need to defrost what I need. I'll make up some 1/2 pound pouches to take to work for lunch and put the rest in 1 pound bags, which is enough for me & my son for dinner (the wife doesn't eat pork).

Finally, I'd suggest trying one bone-in. In my experience, that's a great indicator of doneness. I don't even start poking it until the bone is wobbly. The only time I buy boneless is if I'm cooking it in chunks or chopping it up for grinding.
 
Chris,

Sounds like the butt turned out great!!! Well done!!!

As mentioned above, I like bone in, shoot for 195-200* before probing, use water but don't refill, etc... Lol

I have had that issue of not paying attention close enough and ran out of charcoal. Took a little to get going again, but all turned out well.

I have the dual probe Maverick thermometer and have been very happy with it. Model 732 or something like that...

Keep on smoking!!!
 
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