My no foil butt experiment.

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tlcase

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Oct 9, 2011
124
34
Conrad, IA
Haven't smoked anything for a couple months and it's time to replenish the pulled pork in the freezer. I'm feeling extremely lazy....well tired is more like it....my wife and I brought home son number two from the hospital Monday after spending a week with him in the NICU. I decided to try smoking butts the easiest way possible so I didn't have to mess with them much and I could nap and not worry about them. I applied mustard and rub this morning, foregoing the evening before overnight fridge rest ritual. I placed them in foil pans fat cap down and let them ride it out with some hickory in the AMNPS. The smaller one hit 200 after 11 hours in the 230 degree MES. The bigger one still has 30 degrees to go. I'm not even doing the cooler thing. I simply foiled over the top of the pan and set the smaller one in a cold oven when I took it off the smoker. Going to let it rest for an hour and pull it. I will update with results but for now here is a pic at around 160 degrees.
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Here's the smaller butt after an hour rest in the oven. I did end up turning my oven on to the keep warm setting.
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And here is the first one pulled. I noticed no difference in moisture. My rub usually loses some of its flavor when I foil...not so going this route.
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Still waiting on the bigger one to finish...but if it turns out like this one I'll probably join the no foil crowd.

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I also go no foil in my WSM.  Will foil for a final rest after hitting desired temp and pulling them off the smoker to put in a cooler though.  I also usually let them sit in the cooler for 30 minutes to several hours before pulling depending on where we are going to be eating at (home or elsewhere). 

I'll foil ribs, but never have foiled butts during the smoke/cook.
 
I quit fiddling with foil during the smoking process about a year ago and never looked back. It's so much easier to just let it ride. Might take a little longer but the results are superior in my opinion.......welcome to the dark side!
 
I just tried this recipe, but it came out a little sour and some parts were kind of dry.  I don't know what I did wrong.

My pork butt was 5lbs and it took 10 hours.  I pulled it out at 193 and covered with foil for an hour.  My AMNPS ran out of smoke after 8 hours.
 
 
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