Pork Butt Prep the Night Before?


 
M

Matt Ellis

New member
Hey all, I'm going to be doing my first pork butt this weekend. Really excited as it'll be my first long cook. I'm not at the stage with my temp control yet where I'm willing to go overnight, so I'll be waking up early Saturday morning (3ish) to get everything fired up. My question is, should I be doing anything to the butt on Friday night? I actually won't be getting the meat until Friday after work, so at most it'll have about ~8 hours to sit before everything gets going. I'm planning on going with a mustard spread then rub on top as that worked out well for my ribs, but wasn't sure if I should be doing that the night before then letting it sit in the fridge? Or should I just prep it while the WSM is settling into its temp in the early hours?
 
I'll give my opinion.
I don't think it will matter much one way or the other.
I'd do any trimming the night before, not sure how steady my hands would be at 3 AM. :)
Good luck, I'm sure it will turn out great!
 
I am not a perfectionist and I keep smoking simple. To experiment once, I did inject and rub the night before but if there was a difference I am not keen enough to notice. The vast majority of times I prep it just prior to or during the time my smoker is getting ready. Sometimes I use mustard, sometimes I don't. Good luck!
 
It's really all a matter of preference. The salt in the rub can get drawn in and do some good if you put it on the night before. I don't trim butts that much so I usually do it while the WSM is coming up to temp.
 
You might have your wits about you better on Friday evening, and has been mentioned before, sleepy eyes and sharp knives are a bad match. (I am wearing the band aid as proof of that advice.)

Regarding your confidence about an overnight cook, consider getting your fire stabilized by around 11:00, then put the butt on and give yourself a couple of hours to get it settled with the meat in place. You can get 5 hours of sleep in without much risk and you'll likely be waking up to the stall. What helped me immensely was the iGrill -- it tracks the temps (pit and meat) while you sleep and will give you a line graph showing any spikes or cool-downs that may have happened. You can then make the appropriate adjustments for the rest of the cook. You need an iPhone or iPad.

A thin mustard slather definitely helps hold the rub in place and the vinegar in the mustard helps counter any bitterness from the smoke. You didn't mention the weight of the butt, but on my first one, I was very surprised at how long it took to cook -- quite a bit longer than a brisket of the same weight. Give yourself plenty of time. You can always wrap it in foil in a cooler and it will keep hot for up to 5 hours.

Good luck and good satin'.

Jeff
 
My take. I do alot of early riser butts. I never trim commercial butts ( the other white meat ) because IMO it's leaner compared to farm raised pork ( which I do trim)
So to answer your Q, I rub right as i'm firing up the WSM.
Good luck and try it one way and if that aint happening switch it up.

Tim
 
Salting meat in advance of cooking it causes actual physical changes to the muscle fibers. At some point along the timeline you'll notice the difference vs salting it a few minutes before you throw it on. Depending on how big your shoulder is and how much salt and how much time, it may not make any difference to you. It might take 24 hours of dry brining for you to notice or care. If it was me I'd do it as prep the night before while I'm still awake because I'd probably fuss with it anyway, but I also use a rub with no salt in it so those are separate operations.
 
Hope I get credit for keeping my reply simple. :p
Cooking butts is not complicated, and the different methods have very minimal differences, in my opinion.
I've tried most all of them.
 
Bob Correll said:
Cooking butts is not complicated, and the different methods have very minimal differences, in my opinion.
Click to expand...

I like your style! This is a hobby for me. It just so happens to also feed the family. If it were difficult, or required hard work, I'd take a nap; I already work hard at the day job. And if I had to do an overnight brine I'd have to buy a dedicated fridge.
 
Thanks for the replies, everyone! I'm definitely gonna take this cook easy and not sweat it too much, really seems like you can't mess a butt up too much. Thing I'm most looking forward to is cracking the first beer in the pre-dawn hours! Might put me right back to sleep though!
 
It's a very forgiving piece of meat. I've made countless mistakes and it still has always been at least decent enough to eat and enjoy. Pretty hard to completely screw it up. Good luck!
 
Bob Correll said:
Hope I get credit for keeping my reply simple. :p
Cooking butts is not complicated, and the different methods have very minimal differences, in my opinion.
I've tried most all of them.
Click to expand...

I agree. I've done butts semi smoked and deep fried and that was interesting. ( still haven't tried it with ribs tho):)
Means and methods are up to the individual and the final product is all that matters.:wsm:

Tim
 
timothy said:
I agree. I've done butts semi smoked and deep fried and that was interesting. ( still haven't tried it with ribs tho):)
Means and methods are up to the individual and the final product is all that matters.:wsm:

Tim
Click to expand...
I’ve deep fried ham before and it’s very interesting, well worth it! I’d never considered smoking and frying a butt but, there is a certain, “Aw, you’re kidding” sentiment about doing it, much like the first time I did a ham for an unbeliever.
That goes on the list...
 
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