First time Boston Butts with Q-view

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Ok, where to start?  At about 7.5 hours into this I reached 160 on the butt closest to the SFB.  I pulled it, rubbed it down generously in dark brown sugar, wrapped it in foil and placed it back on.  About an hour later (30 min. ago), the furthest butt from the SFB reached 160. 

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So far, I’ve burned through about a quarter chimney of cowboys’ hard lump and about 75% of a 20lb. bag of Kingsford Comp. Briquettes.  Also, I’ve used maybe6 or 8 grapefruit size foil wrapped chunks of soaked hard wood (70% apple, 30% hickory).  I’ve been fooling with it relatively frequently here lately.  A few friends stopped by and had to look.  Also, the grill temp dropped below 180 when I was messing around with wrapping the first butt that reached 160.

The way I figure it, I probably have 5 hours left before I think they’ll be ready.  I swapped their positions out on the grill when I replaced the one I wrapped.  Now, the butt that was closest for the first half is now wrapped and the furthest away from the SFB. 

Man, this is fun.

9 hours into it:

Grill - 232 degrees

Meat - 160 (butt closest to grill, unwrapped)
 
13.5 hrs. into it:
Grill - 275 degrees
Meat - 187 degrees





Someone,.... Anyone,..... Please take thus thermometer away from me.
 
erik, that butt I rubbed again and wrapped was freaking amazing.  I rubbed it in brown sugar and wrapped it at 160.  I put it at the far side of the smoker when I put it back on and just assumed that it would still take a little longer to finish given that it still had hours to go and that it was then the furthest from the fire.  The other one I left alone and let it go the whole way unwrapped.  

Here are some pictures of the rest of my afternoon:

Just pulled the 1st one at 160.

Rubbing her down with a little dark brown sugar, and a whole lot of luvin.  Oooooooooooooh yeeeeaaaaah.....

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Action shot!

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rubbed, wrapped and ready.  Back on the grill.  Put the meat probe thermo in the other one now, which is now closest to the fire.

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This is what I like to call a little impromptu spontaneous beer butt chicken. 

My roommate couldn't take it any longer and just had to join in on the fun.  We rubbed it in Roasted Garlic and Peppercorn char-rub and on to the grill she went.

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exhibit 438, said Roasted Garlic Peppercorn rub:

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Time for a break 14 hours into it, time for a break.  I figured I'd head on down to the pool and catch some rays.  Nobody else was there, so I had it all to myself.  

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I'm starting to get a little confused on my times, so bear with me.  I think we put the chicken on at about the 11.5 hour mark.  I know it was on for a total of about 2 hours and 20 min.  Probably too long if you ask me, but that was all my roommates doing.  He wanted to just leave it on there till we pulled the butts, but I had it in the back of my mind that it was probably not going to take longer than 2 hours, especially seeing as how it was right up against the SFB.  

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pulled it after 2.5 hours.  I couldn't find my fast sense meat probe I bought at a hardware store the other day.  So, I didn't track the temps.  It was GREAT!  Just a tad on the dry side, but the flavor was awesome.  I'm learning as we go here; each time I fire this grill up I get better and better.

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One of the legs didn't even make it to the kitchen.  We'll call him,....   stumpy?  one leg?  How about donut?  cause all he can do are donuts.... you know .. spinning on one le..   nevermind.

Anyway, I know what you're thinking.  You're thinking, what the heck was in the two tin pans?  Well, I'm glad you asked

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I took a can of Bush's baked beans (the sweet kind with molasses), and put a few table spoons of ketchup, maybe a quarter cup of dark brown sugar, and the tiny piece up smoked pork fat you saw earlier on the warming wrack all cut up into pieces.  I don't mind telling you that, well,  you should try it.

And now for the money shots!  I got a little turned around with friends showing up when it was time to pull and rest the pork.  Anyone else think it's uncanny the timing the guys have, just showing up right when it's done.  Weird.  

Having said that, I don't think I have any pictures of the butts before I pulled them on my phone, but my girl does on hers.  As soon as I can get a hold of them I'll post them.

This is the butt I rubbed and wrapped.  I definitely could taste that it was juicier and that it had a very subtle smoked sweetness to it.  I took some doing to get it off the grill in one piece.  Not really knowing what I was doing, I unwrapped it on the grill and tried to get it off with tongs.  Bad move, it just about fell apart on me.  I put the foil back on it, wrapped it in a towel and hid it in the microwave until I pulled it.  In retrospect, I think I will not even open it next time and just immediately wrap it in a towel and place it somewhere insulated until it becomes time to pull it. 

Also, the bark was not as pronounced as the other one.  I might eventually get another ET-732 (way down the road when I can justify it), or at least another digital probe and monitor the one I keep the furthest from the flame as well.  I think it was done, at the same time or even a little bit earlier than the unwrapped butt.  

Either way, it was the best of the two IMHO.  Moist, sweet, a tad tangy, and just all around freaking awesome.

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This is the un-wrapped version.  She went the whole way unwrapped and smoking the whole time.  She was GREAT!!  Awesome chewy tangy bark.  I could definitely taste the rub and the sensed a hint of apple too.  The meat was perfect.  Both butts pulled right apart with very little effort.  I left the smoker at with the unwrapped butt at 194 to go pick up the girl from work.  When I got back, the grill temp was at 210 and the meat had dropped back down to 189.  I quickly placed some more coals back on the fire and in less than 20 min I got the meat back up and beyond to 197.  I pulled them both and wrapped them in towels.  All in all I let the unwrapped butt sit for about 25 to 30 min while we got the kitchen cleaned up and the table set.  She was hungry, so there was not waiting any longer; to be honest I was a little anxious too.  

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Time to eat!!!

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Man, I tell you what, what a fun day.  What a LONG day.  I've been up since 330 and had a blast the whole time.  

Things to do different next time.

1. Make a blast flipping coal trey or box or whatever, so I don't have to pick all the hot coals out to dump the ashes.  I did this 3 times because I noticed my coal were having a hard time breathing.  What a pain.

2. More beer

3. Monitor the internal temp of both butts, not just the closest to the fire.  And, maybe unwrap and rub with brown sugar 30 - 40 min. before I pull.  Anyone have any thoughts on this?

4. Stop opening the grill so much.  It was all I could do not to take a quick peep every 45 min. to an hour.  This is probably why it took ~15.5 hours.  

5. More beer

6. I ran out of wood chips about 75 - 85% of the way through it.  I wasn't using much at a time, but more on hand makes me feel better.

7. Use real cut wood.  I'm blogging this morning before I go to get some.  I might have mentioned it before, but I'm going to help a guy clear some storm damage.  We'll see if I can't come home with some old hickory or pecan.

8. Did I mention more beer???

9. Do this on a day where the girl doesn't have to work.  God, I love that girl..

10. And last but not least, more be.....   you get the picture.

This had been a blast.  Constructive criticism is what I'm after here, so if you have any advice or tips on how I could have done this better.  PLEASE, let me know!

Signing out,

Get Smoked!
 
Look like a perfect smoke to me.  Pleanty of left overs I bet enjoy the fruit of your labor.
 
That looks awesome. It's also great to see that the this foil method did make your Butt more moist.

I'm also very new to these boards and never heard of the "foiling" method but it looks like your experiment proved it made a better finished product. I'll take juiciness over bark any day.
 
the foiled one definateley stole the show.  doing two more this weekend. I'm going to foil them both this time.  This time, i'm going to try to make sure to keep my temps at an even 250 the whole way.  I think leaving them at 194 and then coming back 45 min. later to a low temped grill really set me back.  Wish me luck!
 
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