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Overnight Butt on Performer - First try and lessons learned


 
C

Clint A

TVWBB Member
First of all, thanks to everyone on this forum from whom I've learned so much. After reading all the posts and being amazed at what many of you are able to do I tried bone-in pork butt as my first attempt at low and slow cooking. Made a little more difficult because I don't have a traditional smoker. I must say the versatility of the WEBER Performer is amazing when all the tips suggested here are applied. Specifically, I followed Hayden McCall's attempt to do a very similar cook http://tvwbb.com/eve/forums/a/...=423107346#423107346 so special thanks to Hayden for documenting the experience so newbies like me can learn. So here's the play by play:

Trying to replicate this recipe - http://tvwbb.com/eve/forums/a/...0069052/m/7030048663
then this sauce http://tvwbb.com/eve/forums/a/...63&cdra=Y#8790077663

2 rubbed bone-in pork shoulders that weighed 7.5 lbs each (0.99 per lb @ Harris Teeter last week)

Minion Method setup with 2 fire bricks, 55 unlit briqs, 10 lit briqs (K comp & K hickory), hickory chunks mixed in unlit. All on Weber Performer

Recruited some friends to help in the effort

Planning on cooking @ 225-250 for as long as it takes to get to 190' or done (still trying to figure how to figure that out)

It's 4am (5 hours since start) and the temp is 155'

Moving forward to 3:30pm on Sunday, temp finally reaches 190' and seems a little tougher on top than expected but butter soft in the middle

Finished product




In the end it was a 7 out of 10. Family said they loved it but I know it could have been even better. My main mistake was leaving fat side on the bottom and I believe turning so fat side was on the top would have increased rendering during cooking and made it juicier. Thanks again for all the wisdom I look forward to learning from everyone here.
(Also my first attempt at adding pics so I'm sure this will take a couple of tries)
 
Great job Clint. That PP looks nice. And I love the Fat Johnny's sauce.

Thanks for sharing. Did you get much sleep that night? I'm curious how your temps held.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">My main mistake was leaving fat side on the bottom and I believe turning so fat side was on the top would have increased rendering during cooking and made it juicier. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Leaving the fat side up will 'baste' the meat with juices, but that may leave your bark softer than you want it, and the bottom of the butt may be dry.

Leaving the fat side down, which is what I do, will keep the bottom side of the butt from getting dry and tough, and you will have nice, firm bark.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">...Did you get much sleep that night? I'm curious how your temps held. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I didn't get much sleep but the adrenaline of my my first overnight attempt kept me going. Once I got the hang of regulating the temp I slept 3-5am, checked the temp and added briqs, slept 5-6:30am, checked the temp and added briqs. The temp was difficult at first but once I tried keep a handle on it before it got too hot which helped. The kettle is better than expected at holding the temp if you use the firebricks and a water pan on the grate. It would occasionally creep up to250-265' on me but that was part of the fun. I'm sure the WSM does a better job of holding a consistently low temp but with a watchful eye it's not impossible. Enjoyed the experience overall.
 
Clint - first - awesome cook! Congratulations on a successful and tasty effort.

I cooked several butts on my Weber kettles before my wonderful family and office staff graced me with a WSM for my birthday a couple of years ago. I found that cooking butts on the kettle at about 300 degrees and foiling when the meat hit about 165 gave me very good results and took more like 6 hours instead of the 10 - 12 I cook butts on the WSM. The foil helped keep the meat moist but did soften the bark a little bit.

I'd say you now are officially "hooked" and will start combing Craigs List and yard sales for a WSM. In the meantime, take a look at the thread in the Weber Portable Grills section on the "mini WSM" Smokey Joe conversion. If you can find a cheap Smokey Joe on CL, you can build a perfectly serviceable Weber "smoker" for about $50 and it is big enough to cook two butts and will go 9 - 10 hours before you have to dump the ash.

Keep on smoking and keep on smoking the fantastic pictures!

Pat
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Charles Howse:
Leaving the fat side up will 'baste' the meat with juices, but that may leave your bark softer than you want it, and the bottom of the butt may be dry.

Leaving the fat side down, which is what I do, will keep the bottom side of the butt from getting dry and tough, and you will have nice, firm bark. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks for the advice. Good to know it wasn't a glaring mistake but a matter of what type of result you are looking for. How do you keep the top from drying out while you wait for the internal temp to reach your goal? Bark is an understatement for what I ended up with. Again it tasted pretty good but that's the beauty of PP a little fat our dry meat can be discarded without hurting presentation. I appreciate your help.
 
Clint,that's a good looking butt for your first low and slow! It will get better with time and practice. My first couple were terrible,but now it's requested regularly! Keep up the good work!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">
I'd say you now are officially "hooked" and will start combing Craigs List and yard sales for a WSM. In the meantime, take a look at the thread in the Weber Portable Grills section on the "mini WSM" Smokey Joe conversion. If you can find a cheap Smokey Joe on CL, you can build a perfectly serviceable Weber "smoker" for about $50 and it is big enough to cook two butts and will go 9 - 10 hours before you have to dump the ash. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Pat, you know this affliction well. I've been searching craigslist hoping for the elusive used but not battered WSM. The wife is not as crazy about adding another outdoor cooking apparatus to our backyard as I am... Thanks for the tip on cooking. I'll try a little higher temp and foiling. Smokey Joe conversion may work also. Thanks again.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Albert Adato:
...I find that with 60 and 6 combination I can go to sleep and the fire will be going strong 12 hrs later. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's helpful thanks! I'll give that a try and see if I can increase the sleep to watching the temp gauge ratio.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Phil Perrin:
Clint,that's a good looking butt for your first low and slow! It will get better with time and practice. My first couple were terrible,but now it's requested regularly! Keep up the good work! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks Phil. I think you are right. I'll get the equipment and method dialed in and improve the results. I have a couple more bone-in "prisoners" that have been sentenced to the kettle smoker this weekend so we'll see how it goes.
 
Clint,
Good job on your overnighter.
Up until a couple of weeks ago, all I owned were Kettles. Try placing a large water pan filled with Apple juice and water, under your your meat. It will help with Temp. stability and add moisture to the Butts. (Think Steam).

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I always do mine fat side up. As Albert stated, increase unlit, decrease lit to start.
Just keep doing what your doing and your "7" will be "10" +.
 
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