Pulled Pork Butt on a Kettle


 
Bob Correll

Bob Correll

R.I.P. 3/31/2022
I started to get out the Bullet for this cook, but decided I could make another mini-lesson for Blake.
Our grandson has plans to open his own bbq joint someday, and I have no doubts that he will succeed.
He has been wanting to make pulled pork on his 22" OTS, hopefully this post will be helpful.

I started with a 7.5 lb. bone-in butt.
Poured on some Worcestershire sauce, and rubbed with Strawberry's seasoning.
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Drip pan centered with char-baskets full of lit Kingsford on each side.
Hickory wood for smoke, with bottom vents half open, top vent full open.
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A few briquettes added about every 2 hrs. trying to keep the grate temp in the 250/275F range.
I think this pic was about 4 hrs. later.
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Baked beans put on after about 6 hrs.
The bacon chunk is for the beans.
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The internal temp should hit around 190F, but after 8.5 hrs. this one was done, and never got over 175F.
Take heed of TVWB's motto, "It"s done when it's done." You decide, not the temperature, or length of time cooked.
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Easy pullin'.
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Plated up with some coleslaw.
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Tasty stuff, I'll save you some Blake!

Please know that I do not consider myself a grill/barbecue master by any stretch of the imagination.
After 40 plus years of manning the grill, I did not turn out consistently good food until I bought a Weber, and found this site.
A big Thank You! to all the past and present members!
 
Looks outstanding Bob! And be sure to PM me when the blake - Steak<span class="ev_code_GREY">house</span> is about to open! I will be first in line. Great post/vid!
 
Bob:

Thanks for posting - especially with the steps listed. I continually have one devil of a time getting the proper temps in my kettles for a single butt smoke, especially when trying to prevent overshoots; I find I constantly fight the "yo-yo" effect getting the temps to settle in the 250º - 275º range.

Just out of curiosity, about how many briquettes do each of those side baskets hold, and when you add the extra briquettes, are they lit or unlit?
 
Great looking pork Bob! Did the water help the cook. I never use it, but might try your setup and try it out.
 
Thanks guys!

Rooster,
I'm guessing that the baskets had about 10 briqs each to start, I didn't overload them.
Additions were unlit.

Shaun,
I had soaked some wood chips and small chunks in a can, and dumped the water into the pan as an afterthought.
More water might help as a heat sink.

I didn't battle the temps too much, and had spikes up to 300.
It would probably be easier to control if the coals were banked to one side with the butt on the other side.
But it was 65F here yesterday, so I liked tending the fire.
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Another note, the pork was not very smoky, since I didn't use a lot of wood and run the risk of creosote on the meat.
 
Thanks for your reply Bob - I've been using almost a whole chimney's worth - Minion Method - as well as firebricks and foiled grate; perhaps the overall amount of briquettes may be a significant factor in my problem. Next time, I'll just start out with 20 lit and go from there.....
 
Hi grandpa I made a pork butt the same day you did. I will make sure to save some of mine for you.I used my homemade rub, Stubbs chipotle butter injection, rub it a round with some honey mustard.Then I put it in a pan packed brown sugar on top. Then put it on the grill with a water pan underneath it on top of the charcoal. I cooked it for about 7 hours. Then made a Carolina style sauce with the dripping and a few other secret ingredients. So today i had some that was still in my sauce since last night and the pulled pork was very good. also i hope to start posting very soon when i figure the site out more.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Blake Brewer:
Hi grandpa I made a pork butt the same day you did. I will make sure to save some of mine for you.I used my homemade rub, Stubbs chipotle butter injection, rub it a round with some honey mustard.Then I put it in a pan packed brown sugar on top. Then put it on the grill with a water pan underneath it on top of the charcoal. I cooked it for about 7 hours. Then made a Carolina style sauce with the dripping and a few other secret ingredients. So today i had some that was still in my sauce since last night and the pulled pork was very good. also i hope to start posting very soon when i figure the site out more. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Quick learner
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Welcome Blake
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Thanks again for the kind words!

Blake,
You turkey, Gramps is giving you a wedgie for not telling him about your cook
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Actually, I just talked to him, and he forgot to take pics
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and said the cook was "very stressful, but tasty."
I'm now on the lookout for a used WSM for the Blakemeister.
 
Excellent post Bob, and should be a nice primer for anyone wanting to take a stab at pulled pork on a kettle. I have to ask, though: don't you do any sort of Minion for a longer cook like this? It's been a while since I used my kettle for butt, but I think I'd typically dump a full chimney of unlit on either side and top with a half chimney of lit.
 
Great looking meal Bob. I noticed that you had a potato with a thermometer probe through it. I've not seen this before. Is this an accurate way to check the constant temp in your kettle? Love that idea.
 
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