Pork butt shoulder digital thermometer question


 
Jason Smart

Jason Smart

TVWBB Member
This will be my first multiple pork butt BBQ on the 18.5" WSM. Not sure if I can get them both on the top rack and probably will have to go top and bottom. Both are 10lbs each. My question is I have an ET732 digi thermo and that means one probe for the meat and one for the heat.

Which butt would you put the meat thermo in....top or bottom rack? Both are almost identical in size and shape...

Thanks
 
I would leave the probe in the top one and check the other through the door when the temp of the probed one gets in the 180's. Top rack butt should get done first, unless maybe you're using a clay pot in the pan.
 
I have smoked four pork butts, two on each rack, in my 18.5 WSM several times so I think you will find that both of the butts will fit on one rack. Ultimately you will need to check each piece if meat separately for doneness so which one you place the probe in will not matter too much. That said the top rack will cook a little faster.

Mike
 
Mike Freel said:
I have smoked four pork butts, two on each rack, in my 18.5 WSM several times so I think you will find that both of the butts will fit on one rack.
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I have as well, and can vouch that one large butt to a rack will cook more evenly than two crowded to a grate. You'll use a little more charcoal since the butts aren't absorbing heat from the outer hot zone, but charcoal's cheap.
 
I went with top and bottom just because it was pretty dang cramped ...especially with my smoker thermo on the top rack too. We'll see how it works out.

Smoking meat and working from home so it should be interesting..:D
 
You don't need a thermometer to cook butts. 1.5 hours per pound, done when the bone wiggles in the butt. Same with chickens, done when the thigh moves easily in the joint.
 
Thanks but I prefer a thermo since I use te other probe monitoring my smoker temp while I work at home. I might as well use it. They were done at 1.20 hours per pound......Turned out great.
 
If your probe is stuck in a vein of fat you will not get an accurate reading. Been there done that, got the t-shirt. Not my first rodeo, bone wiggle is the best indication of when it's done. I try to avoid boneless butts for just that reason.
 
I like to keep the probe in one of the butts on the top grate when I'm doing several. I use it as a gauge to know when I"ve broken through the plateau and when it's time to come back to the smoker and start wiggling bones to check to see what's really done.
 
Sorry but that there is just too funny;)

JimH said:
If your probe is stuck in a vein of fat you will not get an accurate reading. Been there done that, got the t-shirt. Not my first rodeo, bone wiggle is the best indication of when it's done. I try to avoid boneless butts for just that reason.
Click to expand...
 
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