Which way to do my butts?-


 
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ERIK MITCHELL

TVWBB Member
Here is my dilema...
My parents, brother, etc are coming over for dinner on Sunday and I want this to be an early dinner, about 3 o'clock. My dad's butcher has told him that a pork butt isn't a good piece of meat to smoke, so of course I feel the need to prove him wrong. I wanted to have the butts done by about 2 or earlier. By my calculations I needed to start them around midnight or earlier. (planning on doing two butts about 7lbs each) The problem is that I have to go to a wedding Saturday night and won't be home until around 12:30 or 1:00 a.m.
So need I need to either start the butts at about 2:00 at which point I'm worried I may be too tired and mess something up.
Or get some sleep and wake up early and start them around 5:00 am and plan on wraping the butts in foil after they reach 165 degrees.
Part of me wants to be a purist and not foil my first butts, but I also don't want to have it be time to eat and not have the food be ready.
Which way would you go?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ERIK MITCHELL:
...but I also don't want to have it be time to eat and not have the food be ready. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
And I would assume your guests would feel the same way. Think of foil as a tool, not a cheat.
 
Erik, I would start Saturday night myself. 12 - 14 hours cook time is a minimun for me. I allow a couple more hours to rest in a cooler before pulling. Starting at 1 or so you still may have to wrap to get done on time, but that is just my opinion so others should help out as well. Some say to bump temps up some to get done quicker but I don't have any experience doing that yet so I will let someone help there.

Randy
 
Erik,

I'd start em when I got home. Have everything ready so that all you have to do is start the fire. You should have enough time.

If not, then start them as early as possible and cook them pretty hot (like 300-320 lid). You'd likely still neeed to foil at some point.

They'll turn out OK, but you'll be yanking more fat out when you pull.
 
Erik,
You may also consider running your temps a little hotter. Rather than running at 225/230, push your cooking temps up to around 250. You will sacrifice some tenderness, but you should accelerate the cooking process. While learning WSM temp control, I had many cooking sessions where the temps wouldn't come down and ended up there anyways. I don't remember ever being unhappy with the results..
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-Matt
 
Maybe you should start them in the evening before the wedding. That way cook 14 hrs, finish in the morning and foil. Reheat and pull later as needed...
 
Erik,

you'll be fine getting them started when you get home. Like the previous advice, you can have them all rubbed up and ready to place in the cooker before you leave. If no rain is in the forcast, heck you could even load up the charcoal for a minion start (i wouldn't recommend that). Let the dome temperture creep to about 275 or so, and you'll be more than fine. Put both on the top rack, you should have the space. You may compromise some sleep because it may take about one or two hours to get to that temperature. Start with 20 or more briquettes will help get it going faster.

If you get nervous about 10:30 or 11:00 am that they're not progressing fast enough, feel free to use that foil tool Doug mentioned.

By 2:00p, the butts should be above 180 or 185. The great thing about butts is they are so forgiving that you can take them off anywhere above 180 and still get some nice pulled sections. If they are cooler than 190-195, you'll have bigger chunks, but hey, those are real good too.

Don't sweat it too much.

One other thing...you're Dad's butcher is dead wrong about the butts, but you know that. Tell all the competition cooks that butts aren't suitable, and you'll be laughed off the premises! Nothing like a know-it-all meat cutter.
 
I know it's a waste of some really good lump charcoal, but I found a place that still had some Wicked Good Competition Blend lump and I was able to get a couple of bags of it. I was thinking of starting the coals before leaving for the wedding, that way it will be ready to go when I get home, and then just toss the butts on. If it lasts as long as I've heard I should have no problem getting throught that amount of time.
 
As already mentioned I would have everything ready including the charcoal. If rain is in the forecast just put your cover over your smoker. When you get home go fire up the charcoal. You can start with a few more briquetts to help get the temp up a bit quicker. I would cook in the 250 to 275 range. I have cooked butts at 250 for 16 hours already. Actually I would try to keep it at 275. Foil is always an option. I would definately get the butts to 190. I find at 185 there is a lot more fat that hasn't rendered.

I was talking to a guy in sams butcher dept the other day and he said they sell alot pork butts and chuck rolls.
 
Having the WSM running while you are at the wedding was a good suggestion, but have something in it so it isn't a waste of fuel. Stick a Chuck roast in it at least. Pulled chuck is great!
I cook at 270-280 dome temps a lot for butts, and there is no difference IMO with the end results than doing it at 225-235. They still come out tender and moist, and it shaves a lot of time off the cook.
 
Erik,
Have you seen this?5 hour pork butt

I do this all the time and most folk's can't tell the difference. Get this on the grill about 5 or 6 am and yank it off the WSM about Noon hopefully. Let it rest for an hour or two in a cooler and pull so it will be ready by 3:00 p.m.
 
Thanks for the advise everyone.
So far I think I am going with majority vote here and try and start them as soon as I get home. Plus I think I have my wife convinced we don't need to stay at this wedding as late as we had planned. I'll have the smoker all ready to fire up so when I get home I'll fire it up Minion style, grab a beer and settle in. If it looks like it's going to be close I'll foil it and toss it back on. I think I will try and go a little hotter than I planned, maybe 260-280, I guess my target temp will depend on what time I'm able to get them on the smoker.
Now if only I had a wireless thermometer, which, I'll be getting as a birthday gift on Sunday, after the cook is done.
Thanks again for the advise.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ERIK MITCHELL:
My dad's butcher has told him that a pork butt isn't a good piece of meat to smoke. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

And tell your dad to get a different butcher.
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Erik,

Your other option is to head over to Libertyville on Saturday (Lamb's Farm KCBS Contest there, yeah baby!), about 2:00p, and scrounge the competition cooks for left over pork butts, take 'em home, and prove that pork butt is not only a suitable smoke meat, but one of if not the best smoke meat!!!

Good luck.
 
My advice is to drink as much free booze at the wedding reception as you can! Go ahead and have everything ready to cook when you get home. Personally I enjoy the challenge of cooking a pork butt with a good buzz!! As long as you can stay up for a good hour or two, you should be fine....go to sleep and wake up the next morning....your meat should be holding at a steady temp. Once it hits 165F, foil it!
 
After talking to my dad again, I think there must have been a comunication break down between the butcher and my dad. Either that or the butcher knows meat but not smoking. My dad said the butchers objection was that these was too much fat and conective tissue for it to be good for smoking. Then again maybe they're just calling things by different names.

I was trying to figure out a way to get over to Libertyville to check out the competition not sure if I'll be able to fit it in though.
 
Erik,

Friday night. Better time to visit anyway. Supposed to be rainy on Saturday. Won't be much BBQ to sample on Friday, but you'll have 39 teams that will feed you as much 'Bull' as you can absorb
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!
 
It sounds like the butcher (like most people) don't know the HUGE difference between grilling and bbq'ing...the top 3 meats for smoking are ribs, butts, and brisket, which are all made for low and slow, not high heat grilling like steak...but, if you're in this forum, this is old news
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ERIK MITCHELL:
After talking to my dad again, I think there must have been a comunication break down between the butcher and my dad. Either that or the butcher knows meat but not smoking. My dad said the butchers objection was that these was too much fat and conective tissue for it to be good for smoking. Then again maybe they're just calling things by different names.

I was trying to figure out a way to get over to Libertyville to check out the competition not sure if I'll be able to fit it in though. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
picked up the butts from the meat market yesterday, one is 6 lbs the other is 5.5 lbs. I think time wise I will be O.K. since they are a little smaller than originally planned. I'm going to rub them this morning, just deciding which rub to go with.
 
I just threw on 2-8lb butt's this morning with the high temp method. It's been around 350-375 at the grate pretty consistently. I'm hopin this finishes around noon or so. It's at about 120 already.
 
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