What's the longest your butt ever took?


 
Daniel Cassady

Daniel Cassady

TVWBB Member
I'm not one of the great voices of experience here, mostly a lurker... but...

I cook the butts at an even LOWER temp, and take longer. I get great rings, and the meat stays moist. I like it this way.

But...
My last cook was all but choked out in the morn, from the ash buildup. I basically had to reload the whole deal!
I also loaded more food on around noon... thankfully. A loin and some Turk-Wings.

The rest of the food came off and was served up for dinner. And the butts kept going...

When I finally pulled the Butts off and let them sit, nobody was immediately interested. When we finally started pickin at it...
O... M... G... !!!

I thought I had experienced the 'Nirvana' before with things I had smoked, but I swear that everything I have done in the past paled in comparison to this one.

After the fact, I found that I had run the pan dry even earlier than expected - I've never run dry for very long before. I'm wondering if that burning/smoking/charring of the fat dripping added to the flavor?

The seasonings were basically the same.
It just roasted for 1.6x the time I normally finish Butts in, and it must have run a good portion of that extra time dry.

Anyone else have insight to longer cooks?
 
I had a somewhat similar experience, I think ??
Probably cooked 12 - 15 butts in my life time so not that experienced. That last one on labor day weekend was the best ever, (that I cooked). I followed the 1.5 HR/LB rule, then let it rest foiled in cooler maybe 2-3 hrs. Then took it out and let it come to room temperature.pulled some of the excess external fat off. Then put in refrigerator over night. The next day sliced it, and reheated gently in a nonstick fry pan on the stove. Maybe one of you more experienced cookers could shed some light on this. thanks, John
 
around 19 hours for a 9 pounder. Now I tend to cook them in the 240-250 range and it cuts about 5-6 hours off of that time, it seems.
 
I usually go about 12-13 hours on an 8-9 lb butt. I have started cranking the temp up also, it's been argued that cooking too low lets it sit and dry out more.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by John Furdyn:
Maybe one of you more experienced cookers could shed some light on this. thanks, John </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Shed some light on what? I was wondering if you could shed some light on why you cool, slice and reheat vs pulling it. Just have me curious on that one.
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I usually cook 4 butts at a time in my WSM and it is not unusual for my cooks to take 20 to 24 hrs at 240 dome temp. The longest I have had a butt take is 25 hrs.
I have also had some finish in the 16 to 18 hr. range.
I have also had smaller butts take a few hrs. longer to cook than the larger ones. You just never know.
 
Matt
I haven't gained the confidence, to smoke over night. Cooked a 5 lb. butt 7.5 hrs @ 225-250.
Let set foilded 2 hrs. Wanted to eat, for lunch next day, didn't know how else to do it. without cookin overnight. As far as slicing it, family member wonder how it would be sliced that why I did it. I spend the winter in Georgia, and the BBQue joint we eat at, serves their pork either pulled or sliced. John
 
Sounds good. Good thing to invest in is a vacuum sealer. You can pull your butt, let it cool some, divide it up in multiple packs and freeze them. I suggest you cool it before you seal it to let the fat and liquids solidify so you don't suck them out into the sealer. When you're in the mood for some pulled pork, boil the bag to warm it back up and enjoy.
 
The two 8 lbers I did this past weekend went for about 22 hrs, but I foiled at the 20 hr point as I had other stuff that needed to go on...
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by paul h:
Dan, what temps were you cooking at?? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Paul,
I don't normally check the temp anymore.
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(you can stop cringing now)

I do know that I'm usually running around 200 though.
I guess I've gotten so 'comfortable' with this unit, that I generally run by 'my feelings' when smoking.
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I prefer an overnight smoke using the MM. Two 9lb butts were at 195 in 13 hours. temp held all night at 250.
 
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