Injecting pork butt


 
J

JayHeyl

TVWBB Pro
After seeing a video online and watching some BBQ show on TV I decided I needed an injector. Having the injector I then needed something to use it on. Enter Costco boneless Boston butt. I bought two packages -- four butts. Late yesterday afternoon I tied up the butts and injected them with a minor variation on the SYD injection recipe from the web site here. I replaced the liquid smoke (which seemed like cheating) with a few tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. The rest was the same (apple juice, apple cider vinegar, lots of sugar, salt...) I'm not sure boneless is the best way to go for injection. Too many gaps.

I did an overnight cook, getting the meat on about 11:30 last night. By 1:30 it appeared the temps had stabilized (same for over an hour) at 240F so I went to bed. Woke up about 5:00 and the lid temp was up to 275F. Higher than I wanted but hardly a tragedy. I close one of the vents and when I checked at 6:00 it was at 250F. The first butt came off about 11:30am; the last about 1:30pm. Each was wrapped in foil and put in the faux Cambro. The baseball game came on (Go Cubs!) so I let them rest until 5:00pm. They were still too hot to handle comfortably so I let the wrapped butts sit on the counter until the game was over.

When I pulled them it was obvious this was by far the moistest pork butt I've ever cooked. The thing that bothered me was the meat felt mushy. It pulled easier than any I've ever done. Even the bits I would ordinarily cross cut with a knife easily pulled apart in my hands. It was almost as though the injection liquid broke down the muscle fibers. They only sat for six hours or so after injection before they went on the WSM, though I guess they spent another 12 hours in the smoker. Is this normal for injected meat or is it due to the acid in the apple juice and the vinegar? Or have I been doing pork butts wrong all these years?

I wish now I had only injected two of the butts like I originally intended so I'd have something to compare. But I had a lot of liquid left and figured I might as well put it to use. I could definitely taste the apple flavor on the chunks that came from well inside. It wasn't strong but clearly detectable to me.

I like how moist the meat came out but I don't really care for the mushy texture.
 
keep in mind they were still cooking while in the cambro, so what, 12 hours in the WSMS and another 6 hours foiled and in the cambro?

Probably over done.

But not because of the injection.
 
Totally agree with Len. Overcooked pork is mushy.
Suggestion... Next time, let them cool to below cooking temperature before packing away in the faux Cambro.
 
Bob and Len are spot on. Always let rest until they come down to about 170*. If you don't foil at the stall, put them on a plate or cutting board and loosely tent to allow to cool to 170*. If you foil at the stall like I do, one they have probed tender, I put them on the cutting board and open the foil to allow them to cool. I then rewrap with two layers of foil and put in the cooler with towels for at least a few hours. This works great and the meat does not feal mushy. Remember that carry over cooking is great for things like steak and tri tip but not for pork butt or brisket. Good luck next time. Remember, it is all about having fun while you are doing it.
 
I guess my new cooler is more effective than I thought. I've also never before let them rest so long before pulling. That was just a matter of circumstance.

Any thoughts on pulling the butts at, say, 185F, wrapping and let rest in the cooler for several hours? In other words, counting on the carryover to take them to proper finished temp rather than waiting until they're butter tender before taking them off the smoker.

I liked the overnight cook because it let me finish way ahead of time and not feel rushed when dinner time rolled around and I was still waiting on the butts to finish cooking. But starting at midnight means some of them may be done before noon and will need to be held for five or six hours. Taking them off the smoker before they're done and letting them finish in the cooler lets that time be put to good use and hopefully the gentle glide to finished temp will make overcooking less likely.
 
JayHeyl said:
I guess my new cooler is more effective than I thought. I've also never before let them rest so long before pulling. That was just a matter of circumstance.

Any thoughts on pulling the butts at, say, 185F, wrapping and let rest in the cooler for several hours? In other words, counting on the carryover to take them to proper finished temp rather than waiting until they're butter tender before taking them off the smoker.

I liked the overnight cook because it let me finish way ahead of time and not feel rushed when dinner time rolled around and I was still waiting on the butts to finish cooking. But starting at midnight means some of them may be done before noon and will need to be held for five or six hours. Taking them off the smoker before they're done and letting them finish in the cooler lets that time be put to good use and hopefully the gentle glide to finished temp will make overcooking less likely.
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Jay, carry over is not always the same, depending on cooking T and thickness and meat.
 
Jay, always go for tender and not time or temp. You never know where carry over will take you. People that have tried that normally wind up with overcooked meat. I always go for tender since that is what always works for me. Good luck.
 
So my question now is related to the exact nature of the overcooking. Is it because the internal temperature got too high? Or because it was held at ~190F for several hours?

I guess I'm wondering if I let the meat cool to IT 170F, as suggested by Bob, am I then safe to wrap it and put it in the cooler for three or four hours? Or will this again result in mushy meat. I'd really like to be able to take the meat off at noon-ish and have it still be at serving temperature at 6pm without it becoming fall apart mush.
 
Another good thread. I've only smoked a few butts since I got my smoker a few months ago. This past week I did one and wrapped it after 10 minutes after taking it off the smoker. I then put it in the cooler wrapped in towels for a few hours. After I unwrapped it, I though it was soggy. I'll try the 170 next time before wrapping.
 
One is trying to break down (denature) the connective tissue (collagen) so that it become gelatin. It is that gelatin that one speaks of when saying the meat is moist. But, cook it for too long and you will loose too much of the connective tissue such that the meat fibre will no longer stay attached to one another, as in mushy meat.

Remedy... cook the meat thru doneness to tenderness. Let cool to a point where it is no longer cooking. Wrap and hold.
 
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