Ten to twelve hour butt help.

[Mike Shook]

Five butts, varied in pre-trimmed weight between 6 and 9 pounds, varied in cooking time between 6 and 10 hours. Temp range on cook 225 to 276 per Thermoworks Smoke.

 

[Bob Bailey]

I haven’t done a butt for some time and I’m not up to dealing with a 15+ hour overnight cook. Any good ideas to get it down to around 10 hours? I’d like to wake up early and have the butt for dinner. If I can start it by 5am and eat by 5pm, that would be great. Thinking a ten hour cook and a 2 hour rest.

Thinking about raising the temp but wondering what a good target would be. 300 degrees? Also thinking about foiling after 5 or 6 hours. The butt (just one) is about 8.5lbs. Any ideas to help me with a cooking plan would be appreciated. Would be nice to get a couple of hours of rest in the cooler if possible. TIA.

A couple of things to speed the process up. Don't be afraid to up the temperature into the 300-degree range. You likely won't find a perceptible difference. Also, keep in mind that brining, injecting, mopping and/or spritzing aren't needed and will cause or lengthen the dreaded stall. Any decent pork butt has plenty of fat and connective tissue to keep it moist and produce a tender and flavorful end product. Any flavor you think the wet additions produce can be added after cooking and shredding. Best of all, you can add to taste.

 

[Garry Milner]

I'm new to low and slow cooking/smoking and I want to give it a try with a pork butt. But first I have some questions that I hope you experienced chefs can help answer. Here's my setup:

Gas grill
Wood chip smoker box
Drip pan full of water
ThermoPro dual probe wireless thermometer

The cooking temperature of say, 225 - is that taken from the thermometer on the grill hood or at the grate level?
I plan to use only the one burner on the left and cook the butt over to the right. Correct?
Wood chips - should I use these throughout the entire cook, and should they be wet or dry?
When the internal temp gets to 195 I should wrap it in foil until it's around 200 or so, then test for doneness?
Is there anything I should do while the butt is cooking (baste or spray juice on it, etc.)?
I want some bark so how do I get that?

Any help is appreciated!

 

[Garry Milner]

Please disregard the wood chips/smoker comments in my above post. I am not going to try to turn my grill into a smoker - I will buy a real smoker and do it the right way. I still want to cook a pork butt low and slow on my gas grill so the other questions are relevant.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks

 

[AndyK]

If I wanted to smoke a pork butt and all I had was a gasser I’d give it a shot.
I goofy rigged mine to smoke salmon and that worked ok.
I bet if you asked the people here they would have some ideas.
Good luck to you.

 

[MartinB]

Most people don't actually cook that low and slow, because it's really pointless.
275 probably a much better temperature for the majority of smoking.
Even 300.
I do poultry at 350.
Wrap it when it has the bark you want. Probably a lot sooner than 195. More like 175 if you ask me. But it doesn't really matter you don't actually have to wrap a pork butt. It's got enough fat