Need help please with first smoked Pork Butt!!


 
A

Al Bokolor

New member
Picked up a decent looking small pork butt to be my first one to smoke. All the recipes I have seen thus far involve smoking for 15-20+ hours using 3-4 pork butts. I only have the one as it is really for "practice" being my first one and me still learning my Smoky Mountain Smoker. Plus I really do not have 15-20 hours to check on my smoker . . . maybe once I retire but not right now! So can someone please give me a recipe for just smoking one Pork Butt smoked anywhere between 225-250 deegres for from 4-8 hours? I am guessing that would be enough to get the meat tender enough to become pulled pork.

Thanks everyone!

I plan to smoke tomorrow but I can wait until next weekend if necessary to pick up additional items necessary.
 
Get your WSM going and try for 250-260 degrees..put the butt on with a simple rub and let 'er go..figure no more than 1 1/2 hours per pound. Keep us posted.
 
I'd cut them in half, cook them with a ton of smoke for the first 4-6 hours, foil, then keep going until they're done. Off set your lid just a little (barely) so you can get the temps up, and leave the water pan dry.
 
I do all of my butts overnight starting at midnight. Not something I'd recommend for the first number of cooks though unless you have a maverick ET-732
I've read quite a bit recently about guys cooking butts in the 300-350 range and being done sooner. I haven't tried it yet so no comment from me.
If you don't want (or can't) invest the time, go for chickens. They cook in a couple of hours and are pretty forgiving also.
 
FYI - It's an 8.5 pounder - thanks so far for your tips. I am going to hold off until next Saturday. Then smoke around 225-250 over 8-10 hours. How will I know when it is tender enough to pull and should I ever wrap it in foil or is it ok to leave the butt "in the smoke" the whole 8-10 hours?

Thanks again!!
 
Al Bokolor said:
FYI - It's an 8.5 pounder - thanks so far for your tips. I am going to hold off until next Saturday. Then smoke around 225-250 over 8-10 hours. How will I know when it is tender enough to pull and should I ever wrap it in foil or is it ok to leave the butt "in the smoke" the whole 8-10 hours?

Thanks again!!
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You don't have to wrap it but you can. It's up to you. There are pros and cons for each technique. As far as smoke the whole time: I am a more is less kind of guy when it comes to smoke. I would throw a few hunks of smoke wood on at the beginning of the cook and not add any more when the smoke is gone. Here and here are a couple articles Chris wrote that will talk about smoke wood early.
 
Al Bokolor said:
FYI - It's an 8.5 pounder - thanks so far for your tips. I am going to hold off until next Saturday. Then smoke around 225-250 over 8-10 hours. How will I know when it is tender enough to pull and should I ever wrap it in foil or is it ok to leave the butt "in the smoke" the whole 8-10 hours?

Thanks again!!
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Pull of the smoker around 195-200
Or if the bone can easily be pulled out. You can do either but my last pork I didn't wrap and the bark was good.
 
Al Bokolor said:
FYI - It's an 8.5 pounder - thanks so far for your tips. I am going to hold off until next Saturday. Then smoke around 225-250 over 8-10 hours. How will I know when it is tender enough to pull and should I ever wrap it in foil or is it ok to leave the butt "in the smoke" the whole 8-10 hours?

Thanks again!!
Click to expand...
If you don't wrap it, it will never be pulled pork tender in 8-10 hours. The stall alone could last 2 hours or longer. Whether you wrap or not, it is pulled pork tender when you stick it with something like a wooden skewer or temp probe and it feels very soft right down to the center, no resistance. Another indication of tender is the bone will freely wiggle and lift up and the butt may start to come apart as you lift it. Don't go by time. The meat will tell you when it's tender so be patient. Butts just take a long time at 225-250
 
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4 hours is going to be too short. If you want it done in 8 hours bump the bbq temp up to 275-300, and foil at about 6 hours. 225-250 is way too low for the time frame you're asking for.
 
275f @ the dome, IME, is the low end of high heat. I've only done 2-3 HH butt cooks, & they're 8.5-10 hours instead of 14-20 hours @ ~235f.

I've almost always bought the ones from the SLC Costco, & they're always boneless. I've only tied them a time or two - there's usually a flap that comes loose that gets torn off for samples for myself & friends..... Lotsa bark & pretty tender but not as tender as you'd see going 21 hours. Good though. & sliced pork is pretty good too, so even if it's not pulled pork tender you could still have some of it chopped. No worries, it's all easy as long as you're adaptable!

What rubs are you going to use? What sauces?

Here's one of my favorite pork rubs: http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?32640-A-Butt-Rub-(for-Jane)&p=103465&viewfull=1#post103465 It's VERY unique and VERY delicious!

And a couple of my favorite sauces (#5 & miss piggy mustard sauce):
http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?13616-No-5-Sauce
http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?39043-Miss-Piggy-Mustard-Sauce&p=395535&viewfull=1#post395535
 
This is I believe my first post, but I have been surfing the forums for the last few months since I have gotten my 18" WSM. I have done bacon wrapped chix breasts a couple of times and one tri-tip, but this will be my first time doing pork. I do have a Maverick thermometer to make life easier.

This thread has been great. I have a general summary build from going through all of the replies and a couple of questions. Please jump in if you have any comments or advice:

My summary:

- I will be smoking 2 boneless butts from Sam’s (10.5 lbs total) with the intent of pulling
- smoker should be around 250 deg which means about 1-1.5 hrs per pound
- wood smoke 1/2 the time (mild like apple)
- pork off smoker at 195-200

My questions:
- The 250 degrees level - is that dome temp or temp at the grate level (Maverick grill probe)
- THE WATER PAN - this has been my nemesis so far. I definitely need some advice for how much water to start with and maintain
- Difference between foil or no foil (pros & cons) - I'm open to either method, but if it won't buy me a lot, I'd prefer to not have to mess with it
- If I use the Minion method for charcoal, will I need to add any during the 10-12 hours?

Thanks!
Harry
 
Harry S said:
Harry S said:
- The 250 degrees level - is that dome temp or temp at the grate level (Maverick grill probe)
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That's going to be grate level, i.e. the temp at which your Maverick reads. I almost never pay any attention to the dome temp at all.

Harry S said:
- THE WATER PAN - this has been my nemesis so far. I definitely need some advice for how much water to start with and maintain
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I just fill it most of the way and leave it. Better to start with more than less because when the water boils away, the temp in the smoker spikes.

Harry S said:
- Difference between foil or no foil (pros & cons) - I'm open to either method, but if it won't buy me a lot, I'd prefer to not have to mess with it
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I foil once the butt hits its stall, which for two 10lb butts will be anywhere between 160-170. Actually I've taken to finishing mine in the oven because really, after you foil, the smoker is only a heat source and doesn't do anything to add flavor. The oven temps are more stable and you don't have to worry about maintaing smoker temps. A lower-stress way to finish for sure!

Harry S said:
- If I use the Minion method for charcoal, will I need to add any during the 10-12 hours?
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Not if you fill the ring up.

Remember, don't cook to time or temp. Get you a metal skewer and probe it once it hits 195 or so and yank it when it's tender.
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Great advice given by Andrew. Fill up the charcoal ring add a couple wood chunks. Close vents when done to smother the coals and clean ash out. I keep the used coals leftover from my WSM cook and use on my performer. If you don't have that option just add new to existing coals. Just me but I like fresh new KB in my low n slow cooks. Also I foil the underside of my water pan to keep that clean.
http://virtualweberbullet.com/waterpanusage.html#foil
 
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I also agree with most of Andrews post.

Don't stress about the 250 degrees. (grate temp) If the smoker settles at 240 or 260, that won't change your timeline any. Personally, I shoot for the 275 mark and 12 hours, but anything between 250 and 300 is good enough.

I'm part of the -no water- crowd. I tried it both ways and prefer without. I can't comment to the "needing to refuel" aspect if you use water. There's no doubt having 2 gallons (17 pounds) of water is going to take extra fuel compared to a foiled pan, but I don't know how much. Most of my cooks are in a 22.5 with a foiled water pan.

At some point, you should wrap the butt. Either at the stall (160ish) or when it's done at probe tender (190ish) to let it rest. I've rested for 30 minutes and for 4 hours. I like the longer rest period product better. After 6-7 hours, the meat has taken on all the smoke flavor it's gunna take. Wrapping with foil and finishing in the oven won't produce a 'lesser' BBQ than finishing on the smoker.

Jump in feet first and see what works for you.
 
It turned out great. Some of the things I noticed yesterday as I did it:

- It was about 40-45 outside while I was smoking
- Both butts after removing the fat weighed around 9.5 lbs
- I used the Minion method for the coals
- Mixed in some apple & hickory chunks (2/3 apple - 1/3 hickory)
- I filled the basin about 1/2 full with hot tap water
- I kept the WSM between 245 and 255 for the duration
- I put the butts on at 8:30 am, they hit the stall (165) at 12:30 (4 hours later)
- I double foiled them and finished cooking in the WSM since it was still hot
- I took them off at 2:00 when they were at around 202-203 degrees
- I left them wrapped in the foil for about 2.5 hours then took out and pulled
- They fell apart as I was hoping, had great bark and flavor, and everyone thought they were great

The surprising thing to me was that with the WSM hovering around 250, I was surprised that the total cooking time was only 5.5 hours. I was expecting them to take a couple more?

I am posting a couple of before and after pictures. I appreciate everyones great advice & suggestions!



 
Harry S,

I'd like to make an observation or two.

First of all, it looks like you did an excellent job - the pulled pork looks terrific.

The smoking time is dependent on a number of factors. In your case, the two small butts are not very thick, so you got much quicker cooking time. The Maverick is an excellent tool to let you know what is going on. I use mine for all long cooks. However, you must realize that tenderness controls all (time and temperature let you know what's happening but tenderness tells you when to remove from the smoker). It appears that you did everything well.

Congratulations!

The last butt I did weighed about 8.5 lbs and it took about 9.0 hours. I do NOT use water (I foil the dry water pan) and run my pit at 225-250 for pork butts. I use a tin can minion start on my 18.5 WSM and my Mini-Joe Gold. I catch the heat on the way up (start closing the bottom vents when temperature hits 200 degrees).

I follow Harry Soo's recommendations with his recipe - after the bark is set (about 160-165 degrees) I place in a foil pan and cover tightly. The foil pan makes it easier to capture the juices when foiled. Then I probe for tenderness. I have found some tender at 195 degree and some had to be run up to 205 degrees. Each piece of meat differs and TENDERNESS RULES!

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
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