Smoked Boston Butt???

Hello, Avins!

Do a search here for "pulled+pork" and you will see that nearly all of us have made it at one time or another. I think it is probably the most popular thing to smoke.

Good luck!

Take a look at this thread. The only change is most of us found that at 225-250*F Smoker temp it takes 2 hours per pound. I usually plan an extra 2 hours to CYA in case something happens, this includes at least an hour rest wrapped in foil and towels and stuffed in a cooler. If you finish early you can keep the Butt in the cooler up to 5 hours and it will stay pipping hot. I like to rub the meat with yellow mustard then apply a good coating of my Rub, wrap in plastic and let it rest over night in the Refer to soak up some flavor. I then smoke it, rest it and pull the meat I add my Finishing Sauce, Vinegar based and tart, to moisten the Pulled pork and serve on rolls topped with a sweet KC Style BBQ sauce and Coleslaw. Here is the Rub and Finishing Sauce recipe. Good Luck...JJ

Try this... It is Mild and compliments different style sauces well...If you want spicier increase Blk Pepper to 1T and add 1T Wht Pepper and 1T Mustard powder. The Foiling Juice, at the bottom, makes a Rib Glaze at the end. You can add 1/2C Ketchup and 1T Mustard to make a more traditional BBQ Sauce....Anything else, just ask...JJ

Mild Bubba Q Rub

1/2C Sugar in the Raw (Turbinado)

2T Sweet Paprika (Hungarian)

1T Kosher Salt

1T Chili Powder (contains some Cumin and Oregano) Ancho Chile is same without cumin, oregano etc.

1T Granulated Garlic

1T Granulated Onion

1tsp Black Pepper, more if you like

1/2tsp Grnd Allspice

Cayenne or Chipotle Pwd to taste, start with 1/2tsp and go from there.

You may also like this for Ribs and I use this when I Foil my Pork Butts as well...

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/110881/foiling-juice-chef-jimmyj

JJ's Finishing Sauce

2C Apple Cider Vinegar

2T Worcestershire Sauce or more to taste

1/4C Brown Sugar

1T Smoked Paprika

2 tsp Granulated Garlic

2 tsp Granulated Onion

2 tsp Fine Grind Black Pepper

1 tsp Celery Salt

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper or Chipotle powder. Add more if you like Heat.

1/2 tsp Grnd Allspice

Combine all and whisk well. Let rest, at room temp, 30 minutes for the flavors to meld together.

There is a dizzying array of recipes for pulled pork on this and other bbq websites , but what he gave you right there is it in a nutshell....follow that and you will make pulled pork that your guests will talk about for months!
(And I am totally stealing that finishing sauce recipe) good luck!

Chef JimmyJ said:

Take a look at this thread. The only change is most of us found that at 225-250*F Smoker temp it takes 2 hours per pound. I usually plan an extra 2 hours to CYA in case something happens, this includes at least an hour rest wrapped in foil and towels and stuffed in a cooler. If you finish early you can keep the Butt in the cooler up to 5 hours and it will stay pipping hot. I like to rub the meat with yellow mustard then apply a good coating of my Rub, wrap in plastic and let it rest over night in the Refer to soak up some flavor. I then smoke it, rest it and pull the meat I add my Finishing Sauce, Vinegar based and tart, to moisten the Pulled pork and serve on rolls topped with a sweet KC Style BBQ sauce and Coleslaw. Here is the Rub and Finishing Sauce recipe. Good Luck...JJ

Click to expand...

I've had them take anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours per lb. (Except for the time that I had to go to the store and had somebody else watching the smoker - that one ended up being 3 hrs per lb due to a precipitous temperature drop.) I can run charcoal or burn sticks in my smoker, and I've found that burning the sticks cooks things a bit quicker. I suspect that it has to do with airflow much in the same way a convection oven cooks things faster than a standard oven. It doesn't take much of a change in the rate of air flowing over the meat to make a big difference in energy transfer rates. Equipment can and will make a difference. If there is a difference in quality between using charcoal or sticks, I can't detect it, so I just stick with, well, sticks. It's cheaper and a little faster.

The individual butts can make a difference as well. Last time I made some, I had two butts that were within less than an ounce of each other and one took a full hour and a half longer than the other. Same smoker, same species, same cut, same weight, same conditions and there was a very noticeable difference in time.

Avins said:

Chef Jimmy J,
How often do you add chips? As long as it seems to take, I'm thinking chips every hour will be to much. When do you add the finishing sauce?
Thanks for the reply sounds great!!!!

Click to expand...

You'll have to experiment with what you like. As long as your smoke is thin and blue, put as much or as little as suits your tastes. Same with the finishing sauce. I sometimes eat pulled pork without a finishing sauce. It depends on my mood. When I do use one, I make a very New Mexicanish one. I don't have exact amounts, since there is often variation in my end goal and also the ingredients aren't always consistent, so I just mix things to taste:

NM Red Chile Pods, dried (I've been told that I like my chile "battery acid hot." Get what suits you as even mild NM red chile can taste very good.)
Honey/Brown Sugar/Molasses (I prefer honey, but use whatever sweetener you like)
A smallish onion, finely diced and sautéed until clear
Fresh garlic cloves, typically 4 or 5
Vinegar, I normally use raspberry or apple cider vinegar
Blackberries ~24ozs or more depending on your taste (You can substitute raspberries, but blackberries make for a better sauce, IMO)

Put the blackberries in a blender and turn them into a slurry. If it is too thick to blend other stuff, go ahead and add a little vinegar. Add your garlic and take your red chiles, break off the stems and throw them in, skin, seeds and all and keep on blending them and letting things sit for a bit and then adding more, blending, letting things sit. They're dry, so when you blend them, they will absorb moisture and it will thicken the sauce, hence the letting it sit for 30 or 60 seconds. Keep this up until you have the desired heat, consistency and flavor. You'll probably have to occasionally add some of the vinegar to keep things thin enough to let the blender do its job. Now, simply add honey and vinegar until it has the right amount of tang. I always do it a bit at a time. Once this is done, it should be blended into a very smooth mixture. Now, pour it all in a pot, stir in your sautéed onions and simmer it for at least 30 minutes.

FYI, there can be a lot of variation how hot NM red chile is. Even if you get the same brand and heat rating from the same place, you will notice a difference, although mild will generally be pretty mild. Then you start comparing what you get from the store vs getting a large sack of the stuff from Lemitar, and the range of heat gets much larger.

I'd keep it simple at first....Go buy some sort of pork rub from the supermarket, rub it down and put it on the smoker. Cook it until it reaches the desired temp (190-205 depending on what you want to do with it), take it off, wrap it in foil and let it set for a couple of hours wrapped up in towels inside a cooler.

Once you get the smoking process down then you can start mixing it up but if you don't get the basics right all the other stuff doesn't mean squat.

The Masterbuilt will burn up 1/4 Cup of chips every 20-30 minutes, Do Not add more at a time, it can catch fire and/or blow the filler out 3ft, been there done that. At a minimum you want to be adding chips for the first 3-4 hours. I would highly recommend you get an AMNPS Pellet smoke Generator...http://www.amazenproducts.com it is high quality and will give you up to 10 hours of TBS without tending...

 The finishing sauce is added to taste at the end. You can adjust the recipes to your taste, making it more spicy, or sweet accordingly. Garand talked about a South Western profile, adding 1-2tsp of New Mex or other Chile Powder and 1/2-1tsp Cumin plus some Cayenne for heat and you are there! Have fun...JJ

Chef JimmyJ said:

Take a look at this thread. The only change is most of us found that at 225-250*F Smoker temp it takes 2 hours per pound. I usually plan an extra 2 hours to CYA in case something happens, this includes at least an hour rest wrapped in foil and towels and stuffed in a cooler. If you finish early you can keep the Butt in the cooler up to 5 hours and it will stay pipping hot. I like to rub the meat with yellow mustard then apply a good coating of my Rub, wrap in plastic and let it rest over night in the Refer to soak up some flavor. I then smoke it, rest it and pull the meat I add my Finishing Sauce, Vinegar based and tart, to moisten the Pulled pork and serve on rolls topped with a sweet KC Style BBQ sauce and Coleslaw. Here is the Rub and Finishing Sauce recipe. Good Luck...JJ

Try this... It is Mild and compliments different style sauces well...If you want spicier increase Blk Pepper to 1T and add 1T Wht Pepper and 1T Mustard powder. The Foiling Juice, at the bottom, makes a Rib Glaze at the end. You can add 1/2C Ketchup and 1T Mustard to make a more traditional BBQ Sauce....Anything else, just ask...JJ

Mild Bubba Q Rub

1/2C Sugar in the Raw (Turbinado)

2T Sweet Paprika (Hungarian)

1T Kosher Salt

1T Chili Powder (contains some Cumin and Oregano) Ancho Chile is same without cumin, oregano etc.

1T Granulated Garlic

1T Granulated Onion

1tsp Black Pepper, more if you like

1/2tsp Grnd Allspice

Cayenne or Chipotle Pwd to taste, start with 1/2tsp and go from there.

You may also like this for Ribs and I use this when I Foil my Pork Butts as well...

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/110881/foiling-juice-chef-jimmyj

JJ's Finishing Sauce

2C Apple Cider Vinegar

2T Worcestershire Sauce or more to taste

1/4C Brown Sugar

1T Smoked Paprika

2 tsp Granulated Garlic

2 tsp Granulated Onion

2 tsp Fine Grind Black Pepper

1 tsp Celery Salt

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper or Chipotle powder. Add more if you like Heat.

1/2 tsp Grnd Allspice

Combine all and whisk well. Let rest, at room temp, 30 minutes for the flavors to meld together.

Click to expand...

Do what JJ posted. His finishing sauce is excellent and the rub looks good too. As usual JJ nailed it.....Sorry, I can't add to perfect...............

Awwww...Thanks Randy ...JJ

Avins......my 1st one was rubbed with McCormicks Cowboy rub. Smoked with hickory chips....and was good. Its really easy. You will adjust your tastes the more you get to play with different meats and recipies. Don't get overwhelmed....just have fun. These folks here will not stear you wrong.

When only doing a couple couple of butts for personal use I rub (have great success on my creole, brown sugar rub), then wrap in plastic wrap and keep in fridge 2 days ahead of time. Then before I put on the smoker I inject with a mixture of the rub, brown sugar, 1 part apple cider vinegar, and 3 parts apple juice. After the smoke wrap in foil and put in a very well insulated cooler for in my opinion a min of 2 hrs or a little longer. When you open the foil the butts practically pull them self apart. lol, There's my .02