Posted: 12/12/2016 3:02:19 PM EDT
|
I got (2) 10# bone in pork butts I will be smoking this weekend for pulled pork sammiches.
Using real wood charcoal, smoking with hickory. I've done ribs & they take about 3.5 to 4 hrs to get to temp. I need to know about how long these will take? There is a fat cap on the cuts, should I leave this on or trim it off? I would smoke with the fat cap up. Is there any prep to the butts prior to smoking like a salt water brine? I am using a dry rub. |
| don't know how long, as you didn't specify a temp. leave fat cap on, apply rub of choice, squirt on a little yellow mustard, rub it all over with the rub. cook at 225-250 for 3-4 hours under smoke, wrap with hd foil or brown butcher paper and cook until an internal temp of 198-203. take it off, stick in a cooler, let it rest for 30-60 minutes, then pull it out and pull it [the pork butt]. 10 lb'ers- you're probably looking at 12 hours from start to eat, unless you get your temp too high. |
|
Quoted:
I got (2) 10# bone in pork butts I will be smoking this weekend for pulled pork sammiches. Using real wood charcoal, smoking with hickory. I've done ribs & they take about 3.5 to 4 hrs to get to temp. I need to know about how long these will take? depends how hot you're smoking them at There is a fat cap on the cuts, should I leave this on or trim it off?leave it on but cut it in a crosshatch pattern I would smoke with the fat cap up.up or down, doesn't matter much imo. some argue that fat cap down helps keep the meat from burning better Is there any prep to the butts prior to smoking like a salt water brine?you can brine if you want, but i usually inject with apple juice I am using a dry rub.before putting the rub on, slather each one all over with mustard. just cheap ordinary yellow mustard. it'll help the rub stay on and help create a better bark |
|
Thanks for the replies.
It confirms my research on the time. My smoker will hold 220 degrees pretty well without to much fussing in the firebox. I don't wrap my ribs but it seems to be the consensus to wrap butts. I think I'll go with a brine. I'll post up some pics as I go. |
|
Quoted:
Thanks for the replies. It confirms my research on the time. My smoker will hold 220 degrees pretty well without to much fussing in the firebox. I don't wrap my ribs but it seems to be the consensus to wrap butts. I think I'll go with a brine. I'll post up some pics as I go. Ok can lead em to water and what not.... Smoke at 275. Wrapping will speed up the cook time, but yield a soft bark. Dont brine makes the meat mushy. A brine will only penetrate 1/4" in 24 hours. |
|
Quoted:
Ok can lead em to water and what not.... Smoke at 275. Wrapping will speed up the cook time, but yield a soft bark. Dont brine makes the meat mushy. A brine will only penetrate 1/4" in 24 hours. Ok so a hotter temp it is. I might like a softer bark, I got 2 of these butts & being this is my 1st shot at smoking a cut of this size I might try a wrap on one of them. Oh & lead me to whiskey not water unless there's whiskey in it. 
|
|
I go 250ish until I get around 200-203 internal temp. If I'm just cooking for myself, I don't foil since I got all the time in the world and I like the bark. The couple of times I've cooked for others where time was a bit of a concern, I did wrap when the meat hit about 150 deg internal temp with a little beer in the foil to help get through the temperature stall.
No brining or injection necessary IMO, it's a very forgiving piece of meat that's hard to mess up. Even if it ain't "perfect," I promise you it will be tasty. |
|
Quoted:
I go 250ish until I get around 200-203 internal temp. If I'm just cooking for myself, I don't foil since I got all the time in the world and I like the bark. The couple of times I've cooked for others where time was a bit of a concern, I did wrap when the meat hit about 150 deg internal temp with a little beer in the foil to help get through the temperature stall. No brining or injection necessary IMO, it's a very forgiving piece of meat that's hard to mess up. Even if it ain't "perfect," I promise you it will be tasty. I'm cooking them the day before the MIL birthday party. About 40+ outlaws are gonna be there. FML 
|
|
Good advice above. I smoke 10 pound butts regularly and it varies in hours (10-12 hours, usually on the longer side, and I've had them go longer), so try not to mess with it too much and check the temps late. Don't get impatient with a stall if you're looking to pull.
ETA: I agree to plan for 1.5 hours per pound and start checking around 10 hours. If you're talking about your butt, I just had a prostate exam today and am pretty sure I can walk you though it if you have a large banana and a catcher's mitt. |
|
Quoted:
I'm cooking them the day before the MIL birthday party. About 40+ outlaws are gonna be there. FML Start earlier than you think and you'll be fine. Very, very rough rule of thumb I use is to figure about an hour and a half cook time per pound of meat. Of course, we're cooking to temperature, but this will give you an idea of how much time you need to do this damn thing so you can plan accordingly. If if you finish your barbecuing up early, wrap the butts in heavy foil, then wrap a beach towel around that and stick them in a clean cooler. They'll stay hot and toasty for quite a while, and being wrapped up gives the flavors and such time to mingle and get to know each other. I dunno if I'd recommend cooking the day before and reheating the food when it's time to eat. Barbecue is best hot off the cooker, imo. And I dunno the best way to reheat them, someone else probably knows better than I. |
|
Whoa.
Brine? No. No way. Don't make this hard. I thin the fat cap and score it like a ham before rubbing. I smoke fat side up then finish fat side down. Depends on what kind of smoker you have and which side of the meat gets the most heat. Mine heats the top more than the bottom. If mine heated the bottom more I would probably keep the fat cap down the whole time. Plan on one hour per pound at 250-275. That is COOKING TIME not total time including a rest period- more on that later. Now's a good time to discuss the 99 cent thermometer on most smokers. It will tell you it's 275 degrees but the reality is that it is somewhere between 94 and 499 degrees. Get a GOOD thermometer for your smoker. (Tel-Tru) Rub right before cooking. If your rub has a lot of salt and you rub it way ahead of time you're curing it and it can be a bit "hammy" tasting. Toss on the smoker cold. (meat takes on more smoke and has a better smoke ring started cold). Smoke at 250-275 for 5 hours. Thin blue smoke not clouds of white smoke. (if you have a GOOD thermometer Thermoworks smoke to an IT of 150-160 degrees). A lot of people say wrap in foil at this point. DON'T WRAP IN FOIL. After 5 hours (6 if you like a little heavier smoke flavor) stop adding smoke wood to the fire. Leave the butt on the smoker without foiling. Keep the fire burning clean with little to zero smoke. After 9 hours grab the bone and give it a twist- if the butt starts to come apart and the bone is coming free you have created fantastic pulled pork. (If you have a GOOD thermometer Thermoworks just cook to 200 degree IT, let cool 20 minutes THEN wrap in foil and rest at least half an hour or more). If you don't let it cool down before wrapping it will keep cooking. Pull it off, let it sit out 20 minutes to cool then wrap in foil and let rest at least half an hour to an hour. The rest is critical to be moist. The meat will absorb the melted collagen during the rest period making it much moister. If you cook it 12 or 14 hours at 250 Tel-Tru without regard to the IT it will be tender and moist but mushy with no "bite" to it. I get a real laugh when my friends say their buddy cooks butts 16 hours. It's like a purse swinging or dick measuring contest where the winner says they take the longest to cook a 9 lb. pork butt. Run away from these know-it-alls that don't really actually cook BBQ themselves. Buy a GOOD thermometer (Thermoworks). And have a GOOD thermometer (Tel-Tru) on your smoker. If you cook it ahead of time just wrap tightly in foil WHOLE and reheat it later at 350 for about an hour in the foil. You can add some liquid like Coke, Dr. Pepper, bullion etc. If you catch the drippings from the butt they can be added back to the finished product. I've cooked a thousand and that's my boiled down easy method. You can make it harder, wrap in foil to cut the time, fiddle around with different methods but it doesn't really get any better than this. This recipe gives you a great bark, good smoke flavor, good smoke ring, is tender and moist without being mushy. I've talked a few friends thru this that bought new smokers and it's damned near foolproof. |
| I smoke mine at 235, I keep the smoke rolling to 160 internal temp, then I just let it cook till the internal temp hits 195. Pull it wrap in foil and let it rest for 45 minutes to an hour in a cooler, then pull and eat. I don't wrap in foil while cooking unless I'm in a rush, It takes longer, but you get a better bark. |
|
Quoted:
I got (2) 10# bone in pork butts I will be smoking this weekend for pulled pork sammiches. Using real wood charcoal, smoking with hickory. I've done ribs & they take about 3.5 to 4 hrs to get to temp. I need to know about how long these will take? There is a fat cap on the cuts, should I leave this on or trim it off? I would smoke with the fat cap up. Is there any prep to the butts prior to smoking like a salt water brine? I am using a dry rub. Short answer: Brine? No. What? do you live in Florida? 
Thin the fat cap and score it like a ham before rubbing. Plan on one hour per pound at 250-275. That is COOKING TIME Rub right before cooking. Toss on the smoker cold. Smoke at 250-275 for 5 hours. After 5 hours stop adding smoke wood to the fire. Leave the butt on the smoker without foiling. Keep the fire burning clean with little to zero smoke. After 9 hours grab the bone and give it a twist- if the butt starts to come apart and the bone is coming free you have created fantastic pulled pork. Pull it off, let it sit out 20 minutes to cool then wrap in foil and let rest at least half an hour to an hour. If you catch the drippings from the butt they can be added back to the finished product. |
|
Thanks for all the advice from the experts.
Based on advice here & elsewhere I won't cook with the foil wrap. I do my ribs without wrapping & they come out fine. I keep them moist with apple cider spritzer & cook 3 racks in about 3.5 - 4 hours. Should I mop or baste during the process or leave it alone? The rub is Creole Seasoning. Has a nice bite without being overly salty, No sugar if I remember. Attached File The smoker is an Oklahoma Joe's unit, dual fuel. After I did my 1st rack of ribs I was sorry I got the grill with LP gas. The charcoal grill was cheaper & I would have doubled my cooking surface, live & learn they say. At least wife likes it. Attached File Smoking gets me range time as I shoot where the smoker is. |
|
"Smoking gets me range time as I shoot where the smoker is. "
Now I'm REALLY jealous. No need to mop or baste a butt. They have so much fat marbling they just sit there and make their own juice. They are really forgiving. If you get it to 195-200 and let it rest at least thirty minutes you'll be a barbecue god. I'd smoke fat side down on that smoker. Also if you use that Taylor thermometer keep it off the grates. Wad a ball of foil up and stick it through the ball to keep it off the metal grate. That'll give you a closer reading to actual air temp. Or stick it through a tater- just leave an inch of the tip out. Those ribs look damned tasty! 
|
|
Also use a good finishing sauce to add that final little touch.... Below is mine and now it is yours. I do this at the restaurants so it will need to be scaled down.
Best to let the sauce sit overnight before use. Just scale it down to your needs. 1 gallon Apple Cider Vinegar .5 gallon water 1 lb brown sugar .5 cup kosher salt .5 cup yellow mustard .25 cup Worcestershire sauce .25 cup molasses 1 tablespoon red pepper flake .5 cup FRESH lemon juice |
|
Well I got started an hour later than I wanted butt who cares. I got the temp holding at 250 on the grate. I'M almost 3 hours into it with the butts internal temp at 95 degrees currently. THE cuts started at 38 to 40 degrees. At 8am. THERE already developing a nice color.
Attached File |
|
Getting at 8 hrs now. Haven't peeked since 95 degrees and I'm sitting at 149. Slowly creeping up. TEMP at the grill is probably 230 degrees. Gonna ring some steel till its done. I have pics to posy but need to resize on the laptop. The aroma is fabulous. NO homo. This heat and sunshine is a real bitch. Might have to put shorts and flip flops on.
Cooler is ready for the rest. ALSO prepping 3 large pans of baked ziti. |
|
I apologize if this turned into sort of a safe thread, I got so tired last night I just fell asleep on the couch.
Anyway we have success although not without a few lessons learnt. Nothing else to do but ring the steel while I wait. 
My son got a new pup! 
After 10 hours. I had a issue with the heat which was my fault. I took them off at 160 degrees, wrapped them & finished in the oven. 
The bottom. 
It came out fantastic. Bone fell right out, deich's finishing sauce is excellent. Pulled apart super easily & the wife is drooling over it.
My mutt approves. 
Lesson learnt: 1) I would have trimmed the fat cap more. I didn't get a decent bark & having to finish them wrapped didn't help. 2) On larger cuts, at least on my smoker, I can start with a hotter fire in the fire box. |
|
Quoted:
Looks good. Barbeque is one of those things where every cook is a learning process, something you figure out that can applied to the next one. There's always progress to be made, and generally speaking, you eat pretty good while you're making that progress.  Exactly, the dreaded brisket in looming on the horizon. |
|
Quoted:
Looks like success to me. Good job! I think once you get the smoking done there's nothing wrong with oven finishing. With the way it tastes, you're right. The bark would have had more bite I'm thinking. It's certainly juicy, that's making the difference. I've had PP that was all dried out. 
|
|
Quoted:
Exactly, the dreaded brisket in looming on the horizon. Quoted:
Quoted:
Looks good. Barbeque is one of those things where every cook is a learning process, something you figure out that can applied to the next one. There's always progress to be made, and generally speaking, you eat pretty good while you're making that progress. Exactly, the dreaded brisket in looming on the horizon. If you know your cooker and can control the temps, you can do a fine brisket. Nothing to it, IMO. |
|
Quoted:
You're screwed now. You'll never eat bbq out again and like it. The shit that passes for good pulled pork in restaurants astounds me. Right again, we get a bbq to go when you're in a hurry, quick dinner & what knot, bone dry pulled pork. I'll keep that finishing sauce handy, it may save it. ETA: Spelling |
|
Quoted:
Well done sir..... See what i meant by the finishing sauce. It compliments without taking over. I too have finished wrapped the oven in a crunch. Hit me up when you are ready for the brisket. I will walk ya through some tasty brisket. <img src="https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/310667/IMG-0237-110380.jpg " /> <img src="https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/310667/IMG-0226-110379.jpg " /> <img src="https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/310667/IMG-0221-110378.jpg " /> <img src="https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/310667/IMG-0420-110377.jpg " /> <img src="https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/310667/IMG-0419-110375.jpg " /> <img src="https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/310667/IMG-0380-110376.jpg " /> That's some nice looking bark. Your sauce worked great. It was better when it set in the meat for a few hours. When I mixed it up by eye, it had a sweet & tart kinda feel to it, I'd add more heat to it next time. The pan of PP sat for 3 hours with the sauce & it made the pork flavor pop without coloring it beyond recognition. Here's one question the experts can confirm, I like to use Hickory lump real wood charcoal & not briquettes. IYO, does lump charcoal burn hotter than briquettes? I went to 2 big box stores looking for real wood lump charcoal & both places were out. It was like someone cleaned it out as they pallets of it 2 weeks ago. I had a small amount of lump charcoal to start but after it burned off, it seemed like the Kingsford briquettes wouldn't get hotter than 220 degrees. That would be fine if I'm doing ribs. |
|
Quoted:
That's some nice looking bark. Your sauce worked great. It was better when it set in the meat for a few hours. When I mixed it up by eye, it had a sweet & tart kinda feel to it, I'd add more heat to it next time. The pan of PP sat for 3 hours with the sauce & it made the pork flavor pop without coloring it beyond recognition. Here's one question the experts can confirm, I like to use Hickory lump real wood charcoal & not briquettes. IYO, does lump charcoal burn hotter than briquettes? I went to 2 big box stores looking for real wood lump charcoal & both places were out. It was like someone cleaned it out as they pallets of it 2 weeks ago. I had a small amount of lump charcoal to start but after it burned off, it seemed like the Kingsford briquettes wouldn't get hotter than 220 degrees. That would be fine if I'm doing ribs. Yes lump burns a lot hotter but briquettes are more consistent with each briquette containing the same amount of energy or BTU's if that makes sense. If you need a hotter fire just use more. Now, if you want to cook like the pro's and you have the space the very best way is to get the fuel hot in another container before adding to the cooker. I use a livestock water oval tank or a metal trash can cut down to heat the coals. This method will yield the cleanest smoke and allow you to precisely hold temp as you are never adding cool fuel to the fire which will lower the temp of the fire resulting in acrid smoke. The picture below is the best I can find to sort of explain what I mean. Basically weather you are burning wood, briquette, or lump, get the fuel red hot then add to the smokers fire box. 
|
Win a FREE Membership!
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.