I gotta a dry butt!! 😃


 
G

G.B. Adams

New member
One of the downsides about living in Mexico is, the meat is never aged and has little marbeling. I've had poor success here with large cuts of pork and briskets. I just did a 5# bone in shoulder on my kettle. Indirect, over a water pan, held pretty close to 225 for 14 hours. It was obvious that this was never going to get "fall off the bone", so we sliced it, it was done and tasty, but not juicy... More liked an oven roasted pork loin. So I'm thinking of running up the internal moisture with something like Chris Lilly's injection. Any suggestions? Should I inject overnight or just before cooking... I've heard opinions both ways.
 
I've injected just before smoking with good results BUT as far as injection goes, I think that injection just adds flavour. The liquid may be there but if the meat is dry, no amount of liquid will help.

I've had beef stew where the meat was so dry, you'd think it had been cooked in sand. AND it was cooked in a liquid (as stew usually is ;) ). It had a very dry "mouth feel".

I think it's the quality of the meat that's the issue IMO.
 
14 hrs for a 5#butt is a long time even at 225. I would up the temp to 250-275 and foil and add some beer when it hit 165ish.

Tim
 
That injection works great. Try wrapping at the stall to hold some moisture in. I don't always wrap but with that lean of a butt I would.
 
It's the phosphates in the injections that help with moisture retention. So, if using an injection, make sure it has phosphates ! Otherwise, it's just flavor...
 
Try the commercial injections from Butchers BBQ. I believe his injections already contain phosphate. You can add more, if you have first tried just the injections... Phosphate only is found on page 2 of the injections.
 
I agree with Len.
If you start with a poor piece of meat, you're on to a non-runner straight away.
That's why I always try & buy the best product available. I don't inject.
 
At a little over 5 pounds, and cooking even at 225, it seems to me that it could have been over cooked. Not an expert at low and slow, as I smoke my Boston Butts at 265-275, but that just seems like and awfully long time for a butt that size.
Tim
 
GB.
I did a 4.5lb de-boned pork shoulder yesterday. Cooking temp was 250f-270f for the whole cook. It got to 168f IT after about 4 hours. It then took another 7 hrs to get up to 203f IT.
Although it tasted good, it was a bit dry.
The meat that I used was from a different source than I usually get it from, & I will not be using them again. (It was a well known supermarket, that is owned by Wally World).
For those wondering whether a 14.5 WSM can handle long cooks. It can. I've just had a look, & I have at least a third of the briqs that aren't burnt out. I reckon I could have gone 15+ hrs easily. (Apologies for thread drift).
 
Well Tony, it actually wasn't off topic. Just goes to show that even though pork is pork, not all pigs are created equal ;) . Thanks for posting your own experience.
 
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