Why does Boston Butt cook faster in the oven?


 
JeffB

JeffB

TVWBB Pro
I just watched a TV chef cook what appeared to be about a 6-7lb pork shoulder in the oven. It was placed in a covered cast iron pot and it cooked for 4 hours at 275* then finished at 450* for 20 minutes until fork tender.

There was some chicken stock in the pot but maybe just 2 cups so not a lot.

How or why did that butt cook so much faster than on my 22.5 WSM?
 
By the miracle of television? Butt seriously at those temps doing a braise in a covered DO that would be close.

Tim
 
I've often wondered the same thing when I see some cooks on TV. I don't see how it works. Chris did a high heat butt at 325°+ and foiled it after three hours and it still took 5-6 hours. I guess the only thing to do is try it. Worse that can happen is that you have to cook it longer. Just don't do it when company is coming over our you'll risk having a lot of hangry people waiting for your butt to get done.
 
I can shed some light on this, although I cannot attest to the exact times referenced. When cooking in a dutch oven compared to any typical pit you might use, a dutch oven is cooking with mostly radiant heat whereas your pit is cooking with mostly convection.

So you might be saying, well that doesn't make sense because now I have to heat a cast iron pot and then cook the food within it. Wouldn't just be faster to take the pot out of the situation?

The answer is no. Your cast iron cooking device absorbs energy far more efficiently than a chunk of meat, and since the dutch oven is only slightly larger than your chunk of meat it delivers radiant heat extremely efficiently.
 
Last edited:
You ever tried cooking it wrapped in foil the whole time?

evaporative cooling adds some time for sure.
 
So, would this be a worthwhile experiment?:

1. Smoke in WSM for maybe 2 hours, to get the smoke flavor.
2. Put in dutch oven, and back on the WSM for another 2-3 hours (or however long).

Actually, maybe even start it in the dutch oven on the WSM; just leave the lid off for the first 2 hours or so, for smoke flavor (?).

And if this makes sense, would you pull it for pulled pork, or serve it some other way?

Jason
 
Jason Paul said:
So, would this be a worthwhile experiment?:

1. Smoke in WSM for maybe 2 hours, to get the smoke flavor.
2. Put in dutch oven, and back on the WSM for another 2-3 hours (or however long).

Actually, maybe even start it in the dutch oven on the WSM; just leave the lid off for the first 2 hours or so, for smoke flavor (?).

And if this makes sense, would you pull it for pulled pork, or serve it some other way?

Jason
Click to expand...

Yea, similar to how some of us do HH butts or brisket ( instead of a DO we use foil)
But your way is how I do butts for carnitas or green or red chili stew and posole.
Put em on the WSM or kettle for awhile to add some smoke flavour than into the DO for the rest of the cook. I typically do those in cold weather so once covered it gets transfer to the indoor appliance because heat is heat at that point, and why waste charcoal.

Tim
 
timothy said:
Yea, similar to how some of us do HH butts or brisket ( instead of a DO we use foil)
But your way is how I do butts for carnitas or green or red chili stew and posole.
Put em on the WSM or kettle for awhile to add some smoke flavour than into the DO for the rest of the cook. I typically do those in cold weather so once covered it gets transfer to the indoor appliance because heat is heat at that point, and why waste charcoal.

Tim
Click to expand...

Thanks - this is kind of what I thought. In fact I'd like to learn how to do pork two ways: BBQ pulled pork, and carnitas for tacos. I figured the DO would be good for carnitas, but haven't had a chance to try it (and haven't really taken much time to find a recipe, and oh, I don't have a DO :)).

I just made my first pork butt this past Sunday. I didn't want to foil the first time, so it took 11 hours (and probably could have stayed on a little longer). It came out very good, but I'd like to try foil or a DO to take less time.
 
Jason Paul said:
So, would this be a worthwhile experiment?:

1. Smoke in WSM for maybe 2 hours, to get the smoke flavor.
2. Put in dutch oven, and back on the WSM for another 2-3 hours (or however long).

Actually, maybe even start it in the dutch oven on the WSM; just leave the lid off for the first 2 hours or so, for smoke flavor (?).

And if this makes sense, would you pull it for pulled pork, or serve it some other way?

Jason
Click to expand...

Seems like a good use for one of these:
91K4xkJvesL._SX522_.jpg


Putting the butt in the deeper part kind of blocks off the sides, so smoke penetration would be impacted. Putting it on the lid/skillet part , possibly on a trivet or rack, would allow better air/smoke circulation, but it could get messy when the fat starts breaking down and it might overflow the shallow pan. I've got a small (7#) butt in the freezer I might have to try this with.
 
Jason Paul said:
Thanks - this is kind of what I thought. In fact I'd like to learn how to do pork two ways: BBQ pulled pork, and carnitas for tacos. I figured the DO would be good for carnitas, but haven't had a chance to try it (and haven't really taken much time to find a recipe, and oh, I don't have a DO :)).

I just made my first pork butt this past Sunday. I didn't want to foil the first time, so it took 11 hours (and probably could have stayed on a little longer). It came out very good, but I'd like to try foil or a DO to take less time.
Click to expand...

You could also use a disposable foiled pan. Put the butt on the grate for the first few hours than transfer to the pan and foil the top.:)

Tim
 
Pros/Cons to the dutch oven approach. Where is the bark? Would you trim down the butt so there is no fat cap? There will still be a lot of grease remaining that can be drained easily. Lots of things to consider. After I smoke butts, I pan, cover with foil then rest for at least a hour. By that time, most of the bark is soft which my family prefers.
 
It cooks faster in the covered pot due to the increased amount of moisture. Water (steam) does a much better job of conducting heat than does dry air. I read an article a while ago that talked about how long you could keep your hand inside an oven at 200° and how long you could keep your hand in a pot of 200° water.

That's why wrapping in foil speeds up a cook.
 
Last edited:
And I thought it was because my neighbors were sneaking over and peaking under the lid to see what I had in there! :wsm:
 
ChadVKealey said:
Seems like a good use for one of these:
91K4xkJvesL._SX522_.jpg


Putting the butt in the deeper part kind of blocks off the sides, so smoke penetration would be impacted. Putting it on the lid/skillet part , possibly on a trivet or rack, would allow better air/smoke circulation, but it could get messy when the fat starts breaking down and it might overflow the shallow pan. I've got a small (7#) butt in the freezer I might have to try this with.
Click to expand...

I've seen this before and exactly what I had in mind, since I was thinking about a cast iron skillet anyway.

timothy said:
You could also use a disposable foiled pan. Put the butt on the grate for the first few hours than transfer to the pan and foil the top.:)

Tim
Click to expand...

The problem with this suggestion is that I wouldn't be able to buy a dutch oven. ;)

Seriously though, I mentioned I cooked my first butt on Sunday. Now after I've been eating leftovers for a few days, the bark has gotten softer and I think I like it better that way (like Gene mentioned above). The flavor is still there, it's just not as hard/chewy as fresh, 11-hour bark.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top