pork butt sticks to cooking grate when taking it off the smoker??

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jerseydrew

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Dec 7, 2012
336
12
taking a pork butt off the smoker has become a tough proposition. first of all it is stupid hot, then it starts to fall apart in my hands and lastly a lot of the bottom of it sticks to the grill grates

i am wondering if after the first few hours (once the smoke penetrates) should i put it in one of those foil tins?
 
taking a pork butt off the smoker has become a tough proposition. first of all it is stupid hot, then it starts to fall apart in my hands and lastly a lot of the bottom of it sticks to the grill grates

i am wondering if after the first few hours (once the smoke penetrates) should i put it in one of those foil tins?
Foil tins work, so do Q-Matz.  That said, I'm convinced that the foil pans interfere with the smoke getting to the meat, but I can easily be wrong about that.   :)
 
that's why i would only put it in the pan after the smoke penetrates. supposedly smoke is done getting into the meat after 150 degrees. so i figure put the butt in the pan after it has been on the smoker bare for a few hours.
 
that's why i would only put it in the pan after the smoke penetrates. supposedly smoke is done getting into the meat after 150 degrees. so i figure put the butt in the pan after it has been on the smoker bare for a few hours.
My bad  :)  Guess it would help if I read the post all the way to the end  :)

Now I'm feeling really dumb as the thought of doing it mid way never crossed my mind, even though I stop hitting my butts with smoke after about 6 hours.  :D
 
Maybe hit your racks with a quick spray of Pam,, just a thought that's what I do with my racks seem to help a little.
 
When I have the sticky butt problem, I have a very large spatula I use.  It's big enough to scrape the entire butt off, even when it wants to stick a little.

-Man, that sounds seriously wrong.

Another option is to lift it and have a helper standing by with a spatula to scrape off any parts that stick.  You could also cook to a slightly lower IT to avoid it completely falling apart on you just from trying to pick it up.  Unless that's the texture you're going for.  Personally I prefer a tad more chew in it than that when it completely melts.  I want it to shred nice, but still chew like meat.  But that's just my personal preference.

One other thing I've thought of is not rubbing the bottom.  If there's skin on it, the rub is going to waste anyway.  And when there's no skin, I usually scrape off the fat layer on the bottom.  My experience has been that it's the sugar in my rub that makes it sticky.
 
When mines done I usually pull the whole rack out and either run that into the house as is or put on a near-by handy cutting board and trot that into the house. Some guys here use those slick heat proof gloves to grab it but it still may fall apart that way
 
taking a pork butt off the smoker has become a tough proposition. first of all it is stupid hot, then it starts to fall apart in my hands and lastly a lot of the bottom of it sticks to the grill grates

i am wondering if after the first few hours (once the smoke penetrates) should i put it in one of those foil tins?
How hot are you cooking these things at?  I've never had anything stick to the grates of my smoker.  As for the foil pans; if you do not cover them its been my experience that smoke will still get down there over a long cook.  The only down side to doing most of your cooking sitting in a pan would be the need to drain some of the fat drippings off, which could present a whole new set of problems if you are having problems with it falling apart while moving it.  If you only use a pan the last couple hours of cooking most of the dripping collected will not be too greasy too toss back in the meat, and it is a lot easier to pull the meat in the same pan you plan on serving/storing it in.
 
that's why i would only put it in the pan after the smoke penetrates. supposedly smoke is done getting into the meat after 150 degrees. so i figure put the butt in the pan after it has been on the smoker bare for a few hours.
Smoke will actually absorb the entire smoke, but the rate slows down a bit around 150°.

The foil pans do work, but the bark on the bottom gets soft and greasy, so I don't use em. I would try spraying the racks with Pam, and get a big BBQ spatuala for helping to lift them.
 
Pam works well and the QMATZ are a Godsend. But spray the Grates outside as Pam on a Vinyl or Tile Kitchen Floor is slicker than Teflon. Has put many a Kitchen Rookie on their Butt in the Culinary School I taught in. I have no issue with using a Pan halfway through the Smoke. There is still plenty of smoke flavor and great Bark on the rest of the Butt. A couple of Paper Towels will make quick work of soaking up any grease in the bottom of the pan, too risky to try and pour it off...JJ
 
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